All rights to this photograph is reserved the photographer

Recently my kids asked if we could go to the top of the Space Needle to see the view. It’s been a mild winter so far, and it was fairly clear so we headed out to play home-town tourist. I took this shot with my M6 TTL, a Summicron 50, and Neopan 400. I wanted to capture the juxtaposition of the aging Space Needle (built for the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962) with the modern architecture of the Experience Music Project building (designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 2000). For me, this outing was a good reminder that, as Paul Strand wrote, artistic inspiration can be found anywhere – far from where you live, or right on your doorstep.

Why I use a Leica:
I use Leicas for several reasons: The act of having to set everything manually helps me slow down and really make intentional compositional choices rather than rushing and hoping for the best. My M6 is small, compact, and easy to take everywhere which means I never have to use the ‘I wish I had brought my camera’ excuse. And then there are the lenses—they constantly amaze me.

Please visit Karen Carter-Schwendler’s Flickr photostream for more Leica shots.

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