The 2016 presidential election has us all questioning what we see and hear. Through the sometimes bizarre race, Seattle photographer Nate Gowdy’s starkly contrasted images of the candidates have found a wide audience. What truths can we find in the lines of Donald Trump’s face that we can’t find in his words? How deep of a sympathetic response can we form from the turn in Hillary Clinton’s lips? Thursday night, a new exhibition of Gowdy’s works will go on display inside E Pike’s Retail Therapy as part of the storm-defying October Capitol Hill Art Walk. CHS talked with Gowdy about his start chasing drag queens and documenting gay events and culture in the neighborhood while trying to pay the bills as a working photographer. Stop though to see the images in person and buy a Gowdy photo mug or two to help keep the close-ups coming.

Any experiences shooting around Capitol Hill prepare you for your experiences with the campaigns? Yeah, definitely. I learned photography in this neighborhood. I got in with Seattle Gay News as staff photographer at the start of 2011. As a straight cisgender man from Indiana, Seattle’s LGBTQ scene was so new and different for me. I didn’t see anyone else documenting it passionately, and so it was under-represented at an important time, when marriage equality was just beginning to make the rounds across the country. I regret not having the means to cover the movement beyond Seattle, so I focused on developing my style and aesthetic here and, in doing so, was able to create a niche and community for myself.

It’s hard for Seattle liberals to understand Trump’s success in the Republican party. Watching him and attending his events, can you help us understand? People in this country are jaded and experiencing hard times – many with deep rooted beliefs that are perpetuating the current culture. And so when they see a candidate who espouses these beliefs, they feel this newfound sense of community. In rooting for Trump, they’re fans rooting for their team, and that’s how they treat politics – like it’s a game to be won. Every time a foul is called on their guy, they think the ref is out to get them. People see what they want to see, instead of seeing and hearing things as they are.

What do you see in your images of Trump’s face? I see what’s there – just a raw, flawed human being. I want people to see a real person and not an airbrushed vision.

And Clinton’s? I take the same approach at each candidate’s rallies – trying to capture them in the moment as they are as real life people, and in a way I haven’t seen before. People are people are people, and I like to help viewers understand and even sympathize with people who they may not have much in common with – to show their side of the story.

Nate Gowdy Photo Show “Campaign in Contrast” PART II debuts Thursday nigh at Retail Therapy, 905 E Pike, with a reception from 5 to 8 PM during the monthly Capitol Hill Art Walk.