Jim Lommasson, What I Carry: A collaborative photo+writing storytelling project with Portland’s Street Community

OPEN/CLOSE: May 1 – 31, 2025

Opening Reception: Saturday, May 3, 3-5 pm

Street Poets + Gallery Talk: Saturday, May 10, 3-5pm.
Street Poets + What I Carry Video: Saturday, May 31, 3-5pm.

PLACE Galleria
PLACE 735 NW 18th Ave,
Portland, OR 97209
Phone: (503) 334-2080
Gallery Hours:
Monday – Friday: 8 AM–6 PM
Saturday: Open for Reception and poetry events
Sunday: Closed
free admission

what i carry

A collaborative photo+writing storytelling project with Portland’s Unhoused Community

I believe in the power of art.
Since 2010, I have dedicated my work to collaborative projects with communities displaced from their homes and their homelands.These projects encompass the stories of refugees, genocide, and Holocaust survivors who bear the burdens of the diaspora.

My “What We Carried” projects examine themes of departure and the enduring impact it leaves behind. Each project deepens my connection with the communities with whom I collaborate. What I Carry focuses on Portland’s unhoused community.

These photo/writings serve as a poignant reminder that any of us could find ourselves in need of shelter, should one or two circumstances in our lives shift.

Through this process of personal storytelling with object/photographs with the participants’ handwriting, giving voice to the those who are rarely heard illuminate the resilience and humanity behind each object – and the person carrying it.

This project with the unsheltered members of our community aims to remind us of our shared humanity and that we are all one family.

It’s been said that my What We Carried projects “humanize” the refugee.

But it’s not the refugee (or the homeless person) that needs to be humanized,

…it is us.

– Jim Lommasson