As with the portraits in the previous installments of this series I have focused on the talented, dedicated, and creative people who have made significant contributions to the art, character, and culture of this city and state—in this case a filmmaker, a novelist, a journalist/novelist, a memoirist, and an actor/musician.  

My aspirations have remained the same: to document the contemporary cultural landscape and to produce a decent photograph—a photograph that acknowledges the medium’s allegiance to reality and that preserves for myself and others a unique and honest sense of the subject.

Brian Lindstrom

Brian Lindstrom is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. His films include Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse, which explores the issues surrounding police use of force; Finding Normal, which follows long-time heroin and crack addicts who are trying to rebuild their lives; and Mothering Inside, which focuses on the Family Preservation Project — a program at Oregon’s only women’s prison.

His most recent film, Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill, is an intimate look at the troubled life of a 1970s singer-songwriter. Lindstrom has received grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Regional Arts & Culture Council, among others. He holds an M.F.A. in directing and screenwriting from Columbia University and has taught in the Northwest Film Center’s Young Filmmakers Program since 1994.

Michael Keefe

Michael Keefe is a novelist and short-story writer. He is the author of the novel All Her Loved Ones, Encoded, and the story collection Western Terminus: Stories and a Novella. His short fiction has appeared in Tahoma Literary Review, Thin Air Magazine, and Summerset Review, among others. A former music critic, Keefe has written for PopMatters and Sound-on-Sound. He sings and plays rhythm guitar in a local band, Budget Airlines, and is an Events Coordinator and Publicist for Annie Bloom’s Books.

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Emma Pattee

Emma Pattee is a climate journalist and fiction writer. Her journalistic work has appeared in numerous publications including The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. Her fiction has appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, Idaho Review, New Orleans Review, Carve Magazine, Citron Review, and Alaska Quarterly Review. Pattee’s debut novel, TILT, was a national bestseller, a New York Times Editor’s Choice; and named by NPR, Time, Vogue, and Bustle as a best book of the year.

Karleigh Frisbie Brogan

Karleigh Frisbie Brogan is an essayist and memoirist. She is the author of Holding: A Memoir About Mothers, Drugs, and Other Comforts. Her essays have appeared in numerous publications including The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Lit Hub, Entropy, Poets & Writers, and NAILED. She is an Oregon Literary Fellow in Nonfiction and a recipient of the Leslie Bradshaw Fellowship. She holds an M.F.A. from Portland State University.

Ben Tissell

Ben Tissell is an actor, musician, and educator. He has worked with Portland Center Stage, Broadway Rose Theatre, Portland Playhouse, Third Rail Repertory, Lakewood Theatre, Profile Theatre, and others. As a singer and musician, he has performed on All Classical Radio and with the Portland Singing Christmas Tree, PSU Opera, Queer Opera, and many more. Tissell currently serves as a Professor of Theatre at George Fox University.

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• See K.B. Dixon’s previous 24 Cultural Landscapes photo essays for ArtsWatch here.