Olympic Manor looks analytically at the vernacular architecture of the Seattle area, specifically focusing on mid-century homes in the Olympic Manor historic neighborhood. As a non-Seattle-native, Kate’s been intrigued by the common architectural styles of single family homes that have surrounded her for the past four years. While channelling two of her greatest artistic inspirations, Ed Ruscha and the Bechers, she’s aspiring to create an objective archive of a small portion of the built landscape that others might not think to notice. The gridded display of these images innately asks the viewer to compare and contrast the subjects. She finds herself continuously returning to this same question: how do our neighborhoods define and inform us? The work asks viewers to reflect and consider the defining qualities of their own homes.

Kate Whitney-Schubb is a senior at the University of Washington majoring in Photomedia, with minors in Architectural Studies, Art History, and Urban Design & Planning. Originally from Santa Monica, California, she’s interested in architectural photography, historic preservation, and documenting vernacular life. These values greatly inform her Photomedia work as she’s fascinated with the idea of how our homes and built environment shape us. In addition to her passion for photography and historic preservation, Kate loves to create postcard sized work with watercolors and carbon paper, along with collecting actual postcards from every gallery she visits.