The iconic Gum Wall of Seattle is being cleaned today so I thought, in it’s honor, I would re-post a blog I wrote at Pinhole Obscura a couple of years ago. Enjoy!

Exposure time: 1 min 35 sec.

The Gum Wall of Seattle. This is, at once   disgusting and captivating. According to Wikipedia it started in the early nineties when theater patrons stuck gum to the wall of Post Alley and placed coins in the gum blobs. Why they did this is unknown. But the tradition carried on (sans coins) and now the walls of the alley are covered in used gum blobs and it is passed off as “collective art.”

Is it art? I think it is. There is something about the collective nature of it that I find completely fascinating. It is repulsive but it is also colorful and pretty in its weird way. And it smells good too! The entire alley smells of sugary sweetness.

Exposure time: 1 min. 35 sec.

Camera: Zero 2000
Film: Ektar 100
Pinhole: 0.18mm
Focal Length: 25mm
ISO: 100
Aperture: f138
Dev: C-41 by Lab
Scan:Epson V500