“Photographing the tunnel was grand, even in the smallest detail…
Catherine Bassetti was born in Seattle and grew up in the eastern foothills overlooking the city. Catherine's interest in photography began at age 19, filming her adventures while traveling by train as a performer for the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. This evolved into a lifetime devotion to the craft.
At Antioch College, a study-abroad opportunity took her to Madrid, Spain, where her career began in earnest as a photographer. Over the next 15 years in Europe, she worked in commercial fashion, advertising, and photojournalism.
Returning to the Northwest, she added Graphic Design to her repertoire and opened her photography business for corporate, public, and private clientele. Documenting Seattle’s new tunnel was, in a small way, her own contribution to the city where her parents and grandparents were part of Seattle’s early growth and development.
On the job inside the tunnel during early construction
It Began…
One morning in late January 2014, I packed my camera gear in the car and drove to the waterfront, alongside the Alaskan Way Viaduct, a road I’d taken many times before. But on this cold, drizzly day something new was afoot, as I parked at Pier 48 and walked to the trailers lining the underpass at South Dearborn Street.
The lot was a sprawling open space, covered with rows of neatly stacked giant curved concrete segments, above which hovered an ominous tower gantry. We signed in, walked to the landing of the scaffold, and started down the 100 feet of winding metal steps. Focused on keeping pace and not tripping over my steel-toe boots, it wasn’t until we reached the ground that I had my first look at... the beast. The mouth of the tunnel was a breathtaking sight. Surrounded by towers of pilings pegged into the earth, holding back the earth and groundwater, we walked up and into the cavernous dark hole.
By the time we walked our way back through the tunnel into the open air, my head was spinning. I had a million questions.
Little did I know at the time that they would all be answered over the six years documenting the historic project and creating this book.
There was no shortage of opportunity to make the innate come alive in the lens. I met skilled men and women whose energy was unstoppable and work ethic admirable; with whom I made enduring friendships. This book came to life as they shared their own experiences on the job.This was one of the most surprising, demanding, fulfilling, and thought-provoking assignments of my career. My hope is that readers can sense the magnitude of dedicated labor and engineering that built Seattle’s new tunnel.”
— Catherine Bassetti
