MARYNA AJAJA Photos: "Represent 98118: a Self Portrait of a Culturally Rich Community”

*Wat (Temple) Lao Dhammacetiyaram*, 2018, Photo, Maryna Ajaja

Maryna Ajaja: on June 25, 2022, Maryna died at home in Seattle after a prolonged fight with cancer. She was a writer and a long-time film programmer for the Seattle International Film Festival, specializing in Eastern, Central European, and Russian films. Ajaja lived in the Northwest since 1969, except for seven years in Russia from 1991 to 1997; and she lived in Seattle’s Zip Code 98118, “the most diverse Zip code in America,” since 2004.

In 2011, Maryna was introduced to the “Represent 98118: a Self Portrait of a Culturally Rich Community” project by American Book Award-winning author Nancy Rawles, also a resident of 98118. The idea behind the project was to record what that diversity looks like in this "busy crossroads of languages, races, religions and cultures"; to bring together neighbors who shared their experiences via photography, working, playing, studying, and worshiping in the 98118 Zip Code. They discovered that collecting photos of faces and scenes from their neighborhood changed the way they look at people. "Whether the journey to 98118 was arduous, accidental, intentional or circumstantial, the result made our zip code a rich one." The project coincided with the Laotian celebration of Boun That Laung, so Ajaja accompanied her neighbor, Bounpone Keolouangkhoth, a Laotian American, to her local wat (temple), Wat Lao Dhammacetiyaram, located on Kenyon Street in South Seattle. Boun That Laung is a holiday when people of the community help each other plan and raise needed funds and items for their local temples. Ajaja was warmly welcomed, generously allowed access to photograph, and fed a traditional meal.

"Ajaja has an instinctive approach to her photography. As much as possible, she likes the fly-on-the-wall approach to documenting what she sees with her finicky Fine Pix Fuji S-5000."

Raven included Ajaja's photos from the 98118 Project in our 2012 issue of Raven Chronicles Magazine: Vol. 17, No. 1-2, A Sense of Place. In honor of Maryna Ajaja, we share them here.

art, literature, poetryPhoebe BoscheJuly 19, 2022The Raven Chroniclesraven chronicles, maryna ajaja, 98118 project, Wat Temple, memorialComment