Highlighting Portland through street photography and portraits of strangers

Pale Blue Wave, an Instagram profile with more than 80,000 followers, highlights impromptu photos and portraits of strangers around Portland, mainly taken in downtown. The photographer who created the Pale Blue Wave account says he appreciates the style of the residents he sees walking around. In the videos, some Portlanders appear surprised and flattered to be noticed on their commutes going about their day. The interactions and on-the-spot photo shoots take place quickly, typically lasting about 10 minutes or less. We hear more from Ryan, the photographer behind Pale Blue Wave, about his project.

Editor’s note: We are only using Ryan’s first name to protect his privacy.

This transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.

Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. If you walk around Portland, there’s a chance you could be stopped for an out-of-the-blue photoshoot. An Instagram profile called Pale Blue Wave highlights impromptu portraits of strangers taken around Portland, often downtown. The first few photos got a few dozen likes. A recent one got 163,000. Our next guest is a photographer behind the account. I should note that we’re just using his first name, Ryan, to maintain his privacy. He says he started the project six months ago to see the world with fresh eyes and then it took on a life of its own. Welcome to Think Out Loud.

Ryan: Thank you for having me.

Miller: What was going on in your life before you started this project?

Ryan: The story starts like two years ago basically. I had an injury that basically destroyed my quality of life for a while. And I ended up getting surgery, hip surgery, after a year and a half. And it felt like, for that year and a half, I was kind of looking out a window looking at my life going by.

Miller: Literally?

Ryan: I mean, I was functional. I could walk but I was just in pain basically and suffering. So I got hip surgery after a year and a half of that and after hip surgery, I started being able to walk, as I was healing from hip surgery. And I started a daily walking routine. And it was really on those walks where I started to kind of reintegrate back into the world. And it was really interesting because I was, like you said, kind of seeing everything with fresh eyes again.

The smallest things, while I was on these walks, would bring me a ridiculous amount of joy like a squirrel chasing another squirrel. That could make me just feel amazing. And it was kind of that mindset I was in where I was reflecting on my life. And I made the decision then that I wanted to get back into a more creative piece of my life that I had basically been neglecting for 15 years as I worked on my professional career.

Miller: So a kind of receptivity to joy and to the outside world combined with a desire to get back to making stuff, to being creative, making art. When did you say, I’m going to actually pick up a camera and walk around with it?

Ryan: I thought I was going to do video at first because my background when I was doing creative stuff was video. And so I bought a camera. And I’ve done other content types of creation, like a chess channel, so smaller things. And so I was just like, I want to get back into it and I just went and bought a camera. I did a lot of research, bought a camera thinking I was gonna do video. But the camera I bought was great for video and photography. So right around that same time I started, I found the series on YouTube that was all about street photography.

I just fell in love with the idea and went out that day after kind of binge watching this YouTube series. I went downtown and started taking photos and they were very bad. In my stuff now, I’m very critical of it, but those were especially bad. Everyone starts out like that, I’m sure. And I’ve only been doing this for six months. So I started that day. And then literally, I’ve been doing that probably five to six days a week downtown for six months.

Miller: What was it like the first time you stopped someone, a stranger, and said, “Hey, can I take your picture?”

Ryan: I remember, his name is Nevada. And he had a Talking Heads shirt on and a big mustache. What happens is I’m just drawn to the subjects. I had done candid stuff before where I’m not approaching people and asking. And that makes it even more difficult. So I wanna actually get a good portrait of this person. And so I approached him. I look back now and I don’t know if I was actually that nervous because there was really nothing riding on it.

Miller: Nothing to lose?

Ryan: Yeah, I was just free. This whole thing for me has been freedom, just going out on the street with no expectations, very little photography background and doing whatever I want. I have no agenda. I have no one telling me what to do. And yeah, he stood at me and I just asked him and I look back and I’m like, was I nervous? I can’t really remember. But the actual portrait turned out pretty cool and it’s actually on my Instagram. You have to scroll down, but you can find it.

Miller: In addition to the photos, you post sort of edited versions of the GoPro video that’s always running that is a kind of telescoped version of the whole interaction, from “Hello, can I take your picture?” to your actually taking some of the pictures. Let’s have a listen to one of them.

[Recording starts]

Ryan: Hey, excuse me. Hey, hey, I do portraits just from Portland, just on the streets. So, yeah, I’m really liking your hair.

Person on street: Thank you.

Ryan: Yeah it looks pretty awesome. Yeah, I’m wondering if I could take some pictures.

Person on street: Sure.

Ryan: Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Yeah.

Person on street: Like now?

Ryan: Yeah. Yeah, it will be like less than five minutes basically. You good with that?

Person on street: Yeah, of course.

Ryan: OK. What’s your name?

Person on street: Isaiah.

Ryan: I’m Ryan. Good to meet you.

Person on street: Hi Ryan, good to meet you too.

Ryan: Let me actually look right here.

Person on street: Do you want me to take my jackets off?

Ryan: No, no, no. Keep it on. Yeah. Yeah, looks great. Yeah, you’re looking really good.

[Camera clicks. Recording ends]

Miller: You often compliment people on their hair, on their coats, on their shoes. And it’s fascinating because there’s video, as we just heard, in addition to the photos. And I can see people light up. I mean, you say “I like your hair” and most people say immediately or they just sort of smile. What do you think is happening when you give somebody a compliment?

Ryan: You know, I haven’t thought about that a lot honestly. And actually the first time I thought about that was when I did the pre-interview for this, when they asked me that. And I think, just the shock of being approached by someone with a GoPro strapped to their chest and a huge camera is gonna be alarming to people. It does not happen every day. And then I think compliments in general just are not…people just don’t usually go around complimenting. You don’t see that a lot. I feel like that also is probably a little surprising.

Miller: Do they always feel sincere on your part or is it ever a way to just get someone to say “yes” to a photo?

Ryan: It’s always the thing that drew me to them. So what I’m complimenting is the thing that drew me to them. And it’s interesting because every time I am drawn to someone, it’s kind of the same but different every time.

Miller: What do you mean by that?

Ryan: Well, it’s the same because it’s that pulling force that I just know. It’s a thing where you just know.

Miller: And it seems like it’s hard for you to put into words what it is that attracts you to somebody whose picture you want to take?

Ryan: Yeah, it is. It’s kind of like this feeling. But also there are definite times where it’s like, wow, that hair is amazing and it needs to be photographed and we need to do a portrait, and I know 100% I’m going to approach them.

Miller: How often do people say “yes?” The ones that we see are, by definition, these are the ones when people say yes, you don’t push the post. The ones where someone says, “Don’t put me on your site, don’t put me on Instagram.” How often do people say that?

Ryan: I would say it’s like 80%, “yes.” But it’s interesting because in winter, I’m getting a few more “nos.” So I had a streak of like 10 nos in a row and then I went and got a haircut. Is this me? What’s going on here? But yeah, I was surprised at the 80% figure. That seems really high.

Miller: It does seem high. Four out of five people are saying sure, I will take five or eight or 10 minutes out of my day for a stranger, walk a little bit around the corner where he says the light is better, and let him take my picture, and put it online for the world to see. Most people say “yes?”

Ryan: It is a big leap of faith on the people’s part who agree to do this, especially nowadays with Instagram, social media. It’s basically giving a lot of trust to an individual to treat them with respect. And ultimately put out something that’s solid.

Miller: Let’s have a listen to another interaction you had with somebody in the street not too long ago.

[Recording begins]

Ryan: Hi there. Hey, excuse me? Hey, I do portraits around Portland, of strangers. I’m just liking just your whole look. Looks great. Oh yeah? I’m wondering if I could take some pictures.

Person on the street: Uh, I’m kind of in a hurry.

Ryan: It’s like less than three minutes. Can I show you what I do really quick?

Person on the street: Yeah. Does it go on social media?

Ryan: Yeah. So a lot of social media. So, like some of these get like a million-plus views. But I think you’d be good and you have nice eyes. I think you’d look good in a portrait.

Person on the street: [Laughter] I decline because I’m sorta shy.

Ryan: You’re shy? That’s okay, most people are shy. Yeah, but I think you have a good look to you. I think it’d look good.

Person on the street: Alright.

Ryan: Yeah, just like that. You can even look away from me because that’s a good, like shy move. This looks great. Can you try super serious?

Person on the street: OK.

Ryan: Yeah, there you go.

[Recording ends]

Miller: Where did the name come from - Pale Blue Wave?

Ryan: Yeah, so the “pale blue” part is based on Carl Sagan’s pale blue dot, which just had a big impact on me when, at a certain time in my life, I was realizing how crazy it is to be on this planet and alive. And then the wave part is, to me, like seeing things very visually. So it’s very much like a wave, kind of a metaphor for my life in general, where it has a ton of momentum. Sometimes you’re riding high on the wave and you’re getting interviewed at OPB. And then sometimes the wave sucks you in and hits you against the coral and bashes you around. So that’s Pale Blue Wave.

Miller: So many of your videos begin with you saying, “Hey, excuse me, I’m a photographer,” and then people pause and they take out earbuds from their heads. It happens over and over and over. It’s such a tiny moment but it reminds me how closed off we often are to each other in public. What’s it been like just to break through that and to have these moments with strangers?

Ryan: I think that’s interesting also. The biggest thing for me is, this whole practice of doing this is literally, if I do a two or three hour session, it’s like a meditation for two to three hours where I’m just observing. And yeah, you do see a lot of headphones. You see a lot of phone use when you’re observing, right? Your head’s kind of up and you’re looking at everything. And then to be able to break through it feels great. It feels so good when they agree.

And then the nerves come. Like, OK, now I have to execute, which is hard. The hardest part for me is ensuring that I execute because those people do give trust. The thing that feels the best is to comment at the end of the video. If I get a comment from that person and they’re like, “Wow, that was a, that was awesome.” Then I’m like, OK, I did my job. It doesn’t matter how many other likes, if they like it, that’s what feels great. But yeah, breaking through feels good.

Miller: Has this changed the way you think about yourself in public?

Ryan: 100%.

Miller: In what ways?

Ryan: So I thought I was an extremely introverted person. I really thought that and I said that all the time. And it was interesting because as soon as I started doing this, after each interaction, I would just get the biggest rush, kind of like a buzz, where you’re like, “Wow, that was amazing. Like, that just happened.” And I had so much energy and I realized that that was an extroverted part of myself that I had no idea existed.

Miller: Ryan, it’s great to have you on. Thanks very much.

Ryan: Thank you for having me.

Miller: Ryan is the impromptu portraits and street photographer who uses the Instagram profile, Pale Blue Wave.

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