07/17/2026
Franklin Foto is pleased to announce our second anniversary celebration on Saturday, August 1, 5-8 p.m.
Franklin Foto opened its doors with the mission of creating community through photography and the intention of being accessible to all, regardless of experience level or financial
means. Today, we are incredibly proud of the community that has come together around this endeavor.
We are deeply grateful for every member, student, and collaborator who has helped make this space what it is. The support, creativity, and trust of the community is what keeps the darkroom lights on and encourages us to keep going. We look forward to continuing as a hub for photography in
Portland.
As part of our celebration, our August gallery show will be Michele Thompson’s Road Songs, which will include work from her latest book of the same name.
Road Songs is a collection of images taken over the course of Ms. Thompson’s forty-year career in photography and a lifetime of road trips, filtered through the music that shaped those experiences. The book is punctuated by short reflections on songs key to road trips and their larger meaning: the longing for a disappearing America and a changing landscape, what it is to be a woman traveling in the world, finding the spiritual in the journey and the people you encounter, confronting death and politics, joy, age, how Bob Dylan might be the best test of a relationship, and whether The Beatles or Bob Marley are more
important to world peace.
The exhibition will feature images and music from the book. A very limited number of “exhibition-only” editions of the book will be available for purchase. Ms. Thompson’s work will be on display throughout the month of August.
The celebration will also be marked with special treats and remarks on the occasion from the Franklin Foto community and live music by Jake William Capistran will finish out the evening.
