Exit133.com: Tacoma Then and Now

Tacoma Then and Now (21. March 2007, 20:37 by Derek Young) ~ Simply Amazing

Do you remember those amazing photos of Tacoma from the eighties that we talked about a few months back? We had the great fortune of meeting the photographer, Steven Cysewski, last week when he was visiting Tacoma and taking photos. We talked cameras. We talked Tacoma. Steven and Gordon Swetland have partnered up on Tacoma Then and Now – a website inspired by the original photos that hopes to document the changes going on in our city. The site is young. The team is looking for photographers and volunteers to help document and share the story. Get out your old Nikon, your spare change, or some time and help the cause.

Link to Tacoma Then and Now

Previously on Exit133

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Thanks for the tip! TTaN is going to be a great site!

I hope that someone has an old photo of the Webster Apartments. That was my first home in Tacoma.

1 | Posted by Erik S | Mar 21, 09:02 PM

We talked Tacoma. Steven and Gordon Swetland have partnered up on Tacoma Then and Now – a website inspired by the original photos that hopes to document the changes going on in our city.

Great project. I love it. I know downtown pretty well but some of the pictures of the 1980s photos were difficult to place now.

I would love to see the old photos of buildings and areas lined up side by side to see how they were restored (or not).

Also, seeing the original buildings set up besides the new buildings that replaced them would be great to see as well to see what we have lost.

Yesterday, the mayor spoke of the “whiskey row” buildings that were lost when the parking garages were built. Those would be great to see as well.

2 | Posted by Erik | Mar 21, 09:25 PM

Any word on whether there are prints of Cysewski’s work for sale? I would love to have a couple of those photos framed and in my home or office…

3 | Posted by Alison | Mar 21, 10:38 PM

It was cool to see his work featured in the latest issue of City Arts for March/April 07 too.

4 | Posted by sparkrobot | Mar 21, 11:53 PM

i love the shot of the woman with the umbrella crossing the street, and the old puget sound bank in front of her.

http://www.cysewski.com/seattleweb/tacoma/images/tacoma184.jpg

5 | Posted by nitsuj | Mar 22, 03:42 PM

Interesting that while some of the decay has been replaced and removed, much of it lingers as it has since well before these photos were taken. I bet the Hilltop actually looked much better in those years, before the drug gangs arrived.

6 | Posted by drizell | Mar 22, 08:43 PM

I’d bet most of Tacoma’s troubles began after World War 2 when the Navy sailed out of Commencement Bay. The Hilltop gangs came along because they could afford to live in an economically depressed area. Housing prices along with help from the city, police, and the Hilltop residences are doing a lot to clean up The Hilltop. Watch those Hilltop comments too. There are blocks on Hilltop that are much nicer than some of those north end addresses.

7 | Posted by Hill Top Guy | Mar 23, 02:44 PM

Thanks for all the great feedback! We have just launched this project a few days ago, along with several others we hope to bring Stephens work into the public eye. I think the best thing about what we are doing is, that we are hoping to present our site, and other materials as a community project, hopefully with side by side comparisons, prints and cards that maybe offered to offset our costs. We are wide open for suggestion and comments…please keep it coming. If you would like to contribute photo’s, short stories, or anything that maybe of interest please email us at info@tacomathenandnow.org Thanks again

8 | Posted by Gordon Swetland | Mar 24, 08:52 AM

We are wide open for suggestion and comments…please keep it coming.

I think the challenge is to take pictures now at the same angle and position as possible to the original pictures.

This would really highlight and contrast the changes to the area and buildings and make the original pictures look more in context.

9 | Posted by Erik | Mar 24, 10:12 AM

Erik, and everyone we plan to recreate Stephens work right down to the exact foot prints he stood in, angle, and enviormental contion as possible. If you notice some photo’s have wet streets, some have haze/fog…some show the funky umbrella. We are going to do this project and recreate all of the above the best we can. Our photographic team will watch weather reports and survey and prepare each site. This won’t be a shoot and run project by any means. Hope this helps.

10 | Posted by Gordon Swetland | Mar 24, 01:16 PM

Erik, and everyone we plan to recreate Stephens work right down to the exact foot prints he stood in, angle, and enviormental contion as possible.

Cool. That will make a great project. Can’t wait to see it.

11 | Posted by Erik | Mar 24, 09:09 PM

Erik check this link its the oldest photo of the webster I could find http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldgdetails.asp?id=BU-13620&vhash=S&i=3

12 | Posted by Gordon Swetland | Mar 25, 08:51 PM

Very nice picture. Thanks. I am glad that building survived.

13 | Posted by Erik | Mar 26, 10:48 PM

For any exit 133 readers that would like to join us on a photo shoot recreating Stephen Cysewski’s 1979 images please email us at info@tacomathenandnow.org for more information. We will be having coffee and retracing Stephens footsteps this Thursday 4/5 2 9 am.