Jedediah Aaker, beard champion, Barfly Party Bus host Credit: Photographer: Kirk Crippens

Wired brings us this story of yet another out-of-towner who wants to suckle and cash in on the Portlandia teat (oh, hello Lauren Weedman)—meet San Francisco portrait photographer Kirk Crippens who came to town to shoot a series of photo portraits that originally were supposed to debunk the stereotypical claims made by Portlandia… or so he says. From Wired:

[When Crippens] was granted a month-long artist residency at NewSpace Center for Photography in Portland, he wanted to test this dominant narrative and hit the streets to meet real people. Throughout the month of April, for his series Portraitlandia, Crippens made 45 portraits. He expected his work to stand in sharp contrast to the fictions of Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen, but at the end of it all found that there was significant overlap between their view and his.

Apparently Crippens reached out to friends to find these “real people,” and so… here ya go, Portland! A PICTURE THAT DEPICTS WHAT YOU’RE REALLY LIKE!

Jedediah Aaker, beard champion, Barfly Party Bus host
  • Photographer: Kirk Crippens
  • Jedediah Aaker, beard champion, Barfly Party Bus host

See? Photographic evidence that Carrie and Fred are right! Thanks, Kirk Crippens! You may now return to San Francisco, confidently wrapped in the warm glow of a job well done! (See the rest of the series here.)

Seriously though, I get that Jed in his cat suit (whom I adore) is just as much of a “real” Portlander as me, you, or Joe McBlow who sweeps the Plaid Pantry on the nightshift. And yes, there are a few non-quirkster photos here, the photography is all very pleasant to look at, and who doesn’t like to see a picture of Ron Funches (and Mercury commenter DamosA)? HOWEVER. Crippens shouldn’t pretend he’s doing anything other than hooking his wagon up to the Portlandia gravy train, creating art solely for the benefit of those who are already buying into Portlandia‘s narrow viewpoint. It doesn’t exist to celebrate the “different,” it celebrates what the artist thinks out-of-towners will find “freaky.” YEAH GODDAMMIT, I’M A GRUMP. I guess you’ll just have to excuse me if I get a little weary of lazy projects like this which present Portland as being a side-show for tourists.

That being said, if you want to see portraits of actual, really real Portlanders—ones that don’t include a single participant wearing a cat costume—check out Intisar Abioto’s work on her site The Black Portlanders. If you’re from out of town, it’s a much better place to start.

Bang bang, choo-choo train, let me see you shake that thang. Wm. Steven Humphrey is the editor-in-chief of the Portland Mercury and has held the job since 2000. (So don’t get any funny ideas.)

15 replies on “Portrait Photog Sets Out to Debunk <i>Portlandia</i>—Debunks Himself”

  1. YES, I was waiting for this post! I totally noticed DamosA in there, but it seemed sad to point out that I can now recognize grumpy Internet commenters in real life too.

  2. Sam Adams and Ron Funches have actually been on Portlandia. And probably more than just those two.

    And thanks for the old man dick surprise.

  3. So he counts John McAfee as a Portlander? A British guy who moved here a month ago?

    I guess that’s a pretty high bar, and totally not just click-bait.

  4. He should’ve shot a Vanity-Fair-cover-like group pic with McAfee, Darklady, DamosA, and Lion Guy, and sold it to Palahniuk for the cover of an updated “Fugitives and Refugees.”

  5. Admittedly I liked the pics of Nik, Rachael, and Jed, but I did find it amusing they attempted to debunk Portlandia by taking pictures of someone in Portlandia.

  7. All these people seem pretty real to me too though. I mean sure, there are more piercings and tattoos than you’d find in a lot of places, but those aren’t really all that weird anymore are they? Certainly not for a dude from SF, right?

  8. Why didn’t he film me at my desk financial analyzing for the man in head to toe Old Navy 80 hours a week? Pretty sure that wouldn’t make it onto Portlandia yet here I am…

  10. @AMA

    Yeah, they’re definitely as “real” as the rest of us (as I mentioned above)… but I think I would just be a lot more comfortable about this project if the photog would’ve been more upfront about it. Like “Here are a bunch of Portlanders who inspired Portlandia” rather than inferring that “this is what everyone who lives in Portland is like.”

  12. Like there aren’t plenty of wierdos in the Bay Area- oh right unless they are secret yuppies or trustafarians they’ve all been priced out and have to live in Oakland or a homeless shelter.

  15. This got posted on Reddit and Damosa made two accounts to argue with me and agree with himself.

    Also: fuck this shit in the face.

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