A Visit to Photographer Charity Burggraaf's Studio in the Bemis Building

November 12, 2014 1 Comment

Any of the photography you see in the main areas of our website is produced by the wonderfully talented, Charity Burggraaf. You can see more of her work on her website. Last week we had the opportunity to visit her new studio in the Bemis building, which is fortunately very close to the chocolate shop.

The Bemis building has a rich history. Built in 1904 the factory was originally used to create burlap bags to serve the nation’s industries. Construction was typical of the time, using heavy timber post and beams with a brick exterior. By 1915 the factory could no longer keep up with demand and expanded to 115,000 square feet of available space.

Since then the factory has served many different needs. Derelict and broken for a while, it underwent a massive renovation in 1995 to become a live & work artist facility. Today it has beautiful wood floors, dramatic hallways to hang large pieces of art, and massive windows providing north facing sunlight, which Charity claims to be her favorite kind of light for taking photos.

Charity, knowing us, provided some wonderfully fancy cookies and a jar of specialty jam she picked up at a market in Ballard. It was delicious, of course. And we did leaver her with a few cookies left.

We highly recommend attending an art show at the Bemis. It’s four floors full of wonderfully interesting work and you’ll feel like you’re getting a dose of Seattle historical culture, as well.