Spokane photographer aims to tell Spokane’s story, one picture at a time

The idea is a simple one: Everyone has a story.

So far, there are 15.

Bruce, Tom, Jade, a couple of Johns.

Timothy Eberly doesn’t usually ask their names. When he does, it’s only on a first-name basis.

“It’s what they did or what they’re telling me that’s important,” Eberly said. “It’s not their name.”

He’s more interested in what their days are like, how they got to this particular place, where they might be headed.

He wants to share snippets of their lives.

The self-taught photographer created Humans of Spokane, a website and accompanying social media accounts that share stories and portraits of folks he sees on the streets of downtown. He hopes to expand the project and post more photographs as he accumulates them.

“It may be a smaller area, but people are no more interesting in New York than they are here,” Eberly said. “When it comes right down to it, they’re the same.”

He originally called the project Faces of Spokane, then changed the name when he said he learned of – and was inspired by – Humans of New York, the popular website that features portraits and stories of New Yorkers. Its tagline is: “New York, one story at a time.”

Humans of New York has garnered more than 20 million followers on social media since it was started by photographer and blogger Brandon Stanton in 2010. It’s also yielded two best-selling books and expanded to include special, focused series – on inmates, cancer patients, refugees and travels in countries including Ukraine, India and Uganda.

But, when Eberly started his project about two years ago, he said, “I hadn’t heard of it yet.”

Once he had, of course, he decided to play off of its name. Still, he said, all of the work – the photography and stories of Spokane locals – is original.

On his website, he describes his mission as “connecting people to people and sharing stories about their lives.”

When he has time to spare – which isn’t all that often – the Nine Mile man drives or walks a loop around and under Interstate 90, looking for characters who catch his eye.

Many who do are homeless. Most are also men.

Eberly seeks people with attributes that stand out to him: tattoos, musical instruments, hats, animals, handlebar mustaches, looks that take time to acquire or maintain and might be influenced by the elements.

“A lot of homeless, if they’ve been there for awhile, they show their experience,” Eberly said. “And I think it’s fascinating, especially since any of us could be there.”

Eberly, 49, lost his job in 2013 and now works as a self-employed web designer and developer. He considers photography a hobby.

When he started doing portraits of people in downtown in 2012 or so, he showed a few of the images to former co-workers, who – he said – liked what they saw and encouraged him. Humans of Spokane grew from there.

“It’s definitely not about me,” said Eberly, who created the Humans of Spokane Facebook page in March 2015 and launched the website shortly after that.

It’s not motivated by race, religion, economic status or politics, either, he said.

“If you’re an atheist or Christian, to me, you are just as interesting,” Eberly said. “Your stories are going to be just as fascinating. It doesn’t matter if you’re the owner of a Fortune 500 company or homeless, you’re just as interesting. Whether you’re rich or poor, it doesn’t matter.”

Similarly, on the Facebook page for Humans of Spokane, he posted: “We are not left. We are not right. Everyone has a voice.”

And everyone doesn’t live in New York.

Bob Hetnar used to live in New Jersey. He was born there, raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands and moved to Spokane in 1978.

This is the fourth season he’s owned and operated the Spokane Dogs hot dog cart. He’s used to posing in selfies with people who are drawn to his signature hot dog-shaped hat. He didn’t mind when Eberly wanted to do a portrait of him, figured it might be good for business.

“This is so much fun. That’s why I do it,” said Hetnar, 59. “This ain’t bad at all. I might make a few bucks. That’s wonderful. If I don’t, that’s OK, too.”

Hetnar parks his cart at Howard Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard, across the street from Riverfront Park. “This is the best corner in town,” he told Eberly.

In the introduction to humansofspokane.com, Eberly writes, “It can be difficult to hear a person’s story when they walk a different path than you.

“Have you ever been curious about other people’s lives but were afraid to ask or didn’t have the time to sit down and listen to their story? What made them rich? How did they end up on the street? What is their story? What is yours?”

Click on the button below those words to share your story with Eberly via email. (So far, no one has. The button is a relatively new feature on the site.)

Click on the faces of others to read about their lives.

There’s Craig, pictured with a guitar, and Bruce, shown with long, gray-streaked hair and a short horseshoe mustache. Look, also, for a U.S. Army veteran in a wheelchair, a couple who “dated by just going to church” and have now been married for 17 years, and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu teacher born with club feet.

Under the image of an unnamed man with a toothy smile and handwritten cardboard sign that declares “2 ugly 4 prostitution,” the caption reads: “I choose to be without a home because I like to be free.”

Then, meet serious-looking, 11-year-old, wide-eyed Jade, whose story starts, “I’m really kinda sweet most of the time,” and a lifeguard, whose caption says, “I probably wouldn’t have this cool job over the summer if it weren’t for me trying out for the swim team in high school.”

Some of their stories are four sentences. Others are longer, a few paragraphs.

Portraits are in color or black and white. Eberly shoots them with a Canon T3i that’s usually outfitted with a 50mm f/1.8 lens.

“The 50 is very up close and personal,” he said.

Eberly tends to gravitate toward non-business types, people who live on the fringes, panhandlers, people – he said – others might avoid.

“I take their photo as if they are a celebrity,” Eberly said. “They are that important to me.”

He’s shot celebrities in Spokane, too – Chuck Norris, Cuba Gooding Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, to name a few.

That was back in 2005 and 2006, when more movies were filmed in Spokane. Eberly was hired to shoot stills. IMDB.com credits him as the still photographer for five films: “Home of the Brave,” “Lonely Hearts,” “The Choke,” “End Game” and “The Cutter.” He also did some reshoots for “Mozart and the Whale.”

He shoots landscapes, too.

Eberly became interested in photography in high school. But the equipment – a camera, rolls of film – was expensive. He didn’t start dabbling until digital photography became more widespread in the early 2000s.

By then, he was back in Ellensburg, where he had grown up and where his father had worked as a math professor at Central Washington University. Eberly took a few classes there, too, after graduating from Ellensburg High School in 1984 and before moving to Seattle for about eight years in the 1990s.

Eberly moved back to Ellensburg to care for his father, who died in 2000, then stuck around rather than return to the West Side.

“Too much rain, too much mold,” he explained.

Eventually, he moved to Coeur d’Alene, which, he said, “was like my healing city.” He moved to Spokane in 2010 and started his street portraits about two years later. But, he said, he’s always been interested in how other people live.

“When I was 6 years old, I asked my aunt what it was like to be her,” said Eberly, who asks the same question of folks he finds near the river, beneath the underpass, at the bus plaza, in the park, on the street.

He’s fascinated by the life and images of Vivian Maier, a Chicago nanny and street photographer whose cache of images, film and other belongings were discovered at auction in 2007, two years before she died. The story is told in the documentary “Finding Vivian Maier,” released in 2013, about the same time Eberly heard of her.

“She was a witness to the world,” he said. “I’m just blown away by that. Most of her stuff is candid. Mine is not.”

Eberly always asks before he shoots. About half of the people he approaches say yes. “Some do. Some don’t. The ones with the signs usually don’t mind. If they have a sign they’re usually pretty personable and open to talking or sharing the moment.”

He’s never felt in danger while pursuing portraits. It does, however, sometimes feel nerve-wracking to approach strangers.

Some seem confused. Why would you want to take my picture, they wonder. One woman answered with a string of expletives, chasing him off.

“Our society is not so trusting anymore,” Eberly said. And, “Maybe some are hiding and don’t want their face on the Internet.”

But, “If they let me take their photo, the conversation usually begins to flow. It just happens. Everybody’s got an interesting story to tell.”

He finds afternoons between 2 and 5 are best.

“Mornings, no one’s out yet,”said Eberly, who doesn’t take notes.

Humans of Spokane is a one-man show, and Eberly works from memory or records conversations on his smartphone. It’s difficult, he said, to shoot and ask questions and write at the same time.

“It feels awkward to me,” he said.

Plus, he said, “There are personal hang-ups I have. I’m not a very good writer at all.”

Eberly, a husband and father of three children – two boys and a girl, ages 12, 9 and 8 – doesn’t consider himself a journalist, but “kind of a spectator.” He aims to be neutral, an objective observer.

But sometimes, he switches voice – from third-person to the subject of his portraits to his own. And sometimes, such as with Craig’s story, his opinion slips in.

“Craig moved to Hollywood when he was younger and worked as a dishwasher in a club where he played on open mic nights. … He would like to see Spokane do a music night in the park. I think it would be a good idea, especially if we could get some of these street performers up there.”

Talan Wilhelm is unnamed in his post. But many will recognize the street musician who plays recorder in downtown Spokane with his cat, Muffen.

Eberly starts his story in Wilhelm’s voice: “I have been living in Spokane for four years. The people here are really nice. Some of the nicest I have met in the world.”

Then he transitions to his own: “When I asked him what style of music he likes, he said whatever makes him feel good. I asked for an example and he started playing something … light and airy. It was from his heart, not a song he had memorized.”

In all, Eberly said, he’s done about 30 portraits since he started the project. Not all are on the website. Some are only on Instagram. And some of them Eberly would like to redo – finding the subjects again, asking more questions, adding to their short stories.

“I feel like I don’t have time to keep it going,” Eberly said. But, “I’d like to maintain and build it somehow.”

There are so many more folks out there.

“I just haven’t gotten around to taking your picture yet.”