Alan Wieder – Building Community Through Street Photography

In this episode I speak with Alan Wieder, a street photographer, oral historian, and author whose book We Will Not Be Removed: The People of King School Park documents four years spent photographing at a park in Portland, Oregon. The book captures the daily lives of a predominantly African American community in a gentrified neighborhood.

Alan’s journey into this project began in July 2020 during a political protest when he encountered a group of men at King School Park. After asking permission to photograph them and returning the next day with prints, he became a daily presence at the park for the next four years. What started as casual documentation evolved into deep relationships with the community, particularly with elders like Carl, Tracy, and Rosie, who had lived through the neighborhood’s transformation.

The park serves as a gathering place for people who were displaced by gentrification but continue to return to what they consider their neighborhood. Alan captures not just portraits but candid moments that show the connections within this community. His approach reflects lessons learned from studying with photographers including Bruce Gilden, Peter Turnley, and Constantine Manos.

Beyond the photography, he conducted interviews with community members about their experiences with displacement and their connection to the neighborhood. The book combines images with quotes from residents, creating a narrative about resilience and belonging. Mitchell Jackson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who grew up in the neighborhood, wrote the foreword.

Alan’s background as an oral historian and his previous work documenting race and class issues, including research on anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, helped shape his approach to this long-term project. Now based in Asheville, North Carolina, he continues street photography while planning visits back to Portland to share copies with the people who made the project possible.