Vera

At the time, she was still mayor of the city of Portland. Her successor had all ready been voted in as she decided to step down. I was hired by a regional business magazine to photograph her both during an interview, then a more formal portrait for an upcoming issue. As the last few month at her post was arriving, she was asked by the magazine questions of what she has done for the city of Portland and what she thought her legacy to the city was.

Small and frail, she has the spirit of a Queen. Her passion for what she did and believed in spoke beyond the words merely coming out vocally.

I remember her telling me sternly, "I'll give you 2 minutes." I had about 10 minutes to set up a make shift studio in a crowded and small room in City Hall. I remember also noting that I had to take the time to make sure I wasn't sweating when she arrived. Not that I was going to stand toe to toe with this woman, but you don't want to be sweating when photographing the mayor. I managed to get things together as she approached the sitting. She smiled at me and said she was kidding about the time.

Vera Katz...