OLYMPIA, Wash. — Cooper Carras captures the faces of the helpful, the hopeful, the heart and soul of Olympia, celebrating them with his stunning images.
"This is, for sure, a passion project," Carras said.
Carras has worked with three different presidents, and even a young district attorney named Kamala Harris.
"I was in a little hallway with Kamala Harris and one other person, waiting for President Obama to come out," Carras said. "I don't know if that was her first time meeting him, but it was mine."
He's snapped special events for the rich and famous.
"Destination weddings all over the world," Carras said.
But the project closest to his heart and home is the current ongoing photo series called "Lifting Up Olympia."
"Trying to really get a photo that captures just them without other distractions," Carras said.
He documents the faces of residents who are working to make his city better.
"I think there's a lot of different ways that people provide support, whether it's through having a small business, or through creating art, or through volunteering," Carras said.
Today's subject, Monique Ossa, owns the Ossa Skinworks shop in the historic heart of Olympia.
"A lot of the joy for this project is just meeting these people and hearing about what they're doing," Carras said. "They're not in it for the glory. They're just doing what they do."
"This is the easy part," he told Ossa. "You just get to be yourself."
Ossa has helped other women open businesses near hers, revitalizing the neighborhood.
"I just see my community in all of its kind of diversity and beauty," Ossa said.
Lifting Up Olympia
Other faces in the series include a retiree named Chris Hyde, who makes soup for anyone who wants or needs it, and vendors from the Olympia Farmers Market.
"Some of them have been doing that for 30 or 40 years," Carras said.
Together, these dozens of portraits represent the city's current vitality and future potential. Carras hopes this will be a project without end, an ongoing tribute to the people "Lifting Up Olympia."
Cooper Carras' "Lifting Up Olympia" is on display in the windows of the Goldberg Building, Fourth Avenue and Capitol Way in Olympia, until the end of November. It's part of the "Solidarity" exhibit, presented by Olympia Artspace Alliance.
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