This is Part 3 of my series chronicling my adventures in Portland last weekend. You can also read Part 1 and Part 2.
The hipster culture in Portland can be a bit overbearing, but one of the best parts is the feeling of discovery you can get while walking down any random street. We had the opportunity to do this a few times, and a wide variety of reactions filled my head, including: “I didn’t know you could sell a 30-year old vintage, stained smelly chair for $80!” and “Apparently, creepy doll heads combined with Christmas lights can exist as part of a thriving doll art market.”
I took this photograph of a woman who was manning the cash register at a “pipe shop.” Her true passion was making her own perfume. The shelf behind her is loaded with her different scents, and the ingredients she uses to make them. Some of the scents were okay; others were underwhelming. But at the heart of it all was the dream to make something valuable, something beautiful, no matter how niche. And that’s an impulse I can totally relate to and admire.