Lenore
As a young woman Lenore spends much of her young life vacillating between seeking a living in low wage, fast food establishments and the small lingerie shops that dot Portland's boulevards.
She moves over 27 times before the age of 30 and spends countless nights in the motels that thrive off of Portland's evicted and chronically poor. I spent time photographing several examples of venues Lenore describes in her narrative using a medium format Pentax 67 camera and some expired Ektar film. A few images are digitally captured.
These are not all the actual places Lenore stayed or worked but I hope they provide a sense of place and context for her story and the story of so many young mothers in Portland.
Disclaimer some names and details in this story have been changed to protect privacy.
Sitting on the thin mattress, baby in her lap, it occurs to Lenore that she knows somebody that can change her age to 18 years old. She pays him and palmed her new fake ID. A lingerie shop had just opened up on Lombard street. The next day she showed up there to work.
"It seemed legit" There is a woman behind the counter. She makes enough on her first night to pay the rent.
Things start to come together. A new job at USA Pawn, a new relationship. It all seems promising.
Each disappointment builds Lenore's resolve. She gets a job at Subway. She stays there, gets on track. She moves into a townhouse and takes in her mother, put out by her stepfather. When money gets tight she leaves Subway and reenters the sex industry
31 families heave open the glass door to the lobby dozens of times a day to ask Lenore's staff for toilet paper, a bus pass or the key to the laundry room. Lenore's favorite is when a parent hands her a wriggling baby over the counter so they can pace child-free for a few precious minutes and smoke.
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