Skip to content

Meet the Local Instagram Star Showcasing Seattle With Collage

A local photographer showcases the city with a creative craft

By Daria Kroupoderova April 8, 2019

1-lead_DJ-Trolly-Troll

This article originally appeared in the April 2019 issue of Seattle magazine.

This article appears in print in the April 2019 issue. Click here to subscribe.

After a pitch to an advertising client fell flat, digital marketer and photographer Rudy Willingham took to Instagram, where he found success. With more than 18,000 followers, the West Seattle resident has skyrocketed to Instagram fame with photographs composed of cutouts that he carefully positions at some of Seattle’s iconic spots. Originally known on Instagram for his drone photography, Willingham switched to collage in October 2018 and has been cutting up ever since.

See more of his images, below.

Follow Us

Nord-West Connection

Nord-West Connection

Food for thought.

There has always been a strong connection between Seattle and the Nordic countries, and the National Nordic Museum’s current exhibition, New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place, is a visual reinforcement straight from Norway. A cross-disciplinary show exploring how New Nordic Cuisine—a culinary movement that developed in Scandinavia in the early 2000s that focuses on using…

Black History Month in Seattle

Black History Month in Seattle

Events, landmarks, and businesses to support year-round.

Black pioneers first arrived in Seattle in the mid-19th century. The city’s earliest known African American resident was Manuel Lopes, who arrived in 1852 from Cabo Verde. A couple of decades later, African Americans began migrating to the Pacific Northwest from Southern states to work in coal mines. During this period, two Black enclaves began…

A New Year of Influence

A New Year of Influence

Seattle magazine’s Most Influential list kicks off 2026 with leaders across the city.

New year, new issue! As we kick off 2026, Seattle magazine is proud to present this year’s cohort of the Most Influential list, which showcases local leaders in politics, philanthropy, arts, hospitality, and business. Determined, creative, empathetic, humble, and bold are just a few of the words you’ll see describing them—each one has achieved great…

The Queen of the Seattle World’s Fair

The Queen of the Seattle World’s Fair

With a fur coat and gold Cadillac, Gracie Hansen struck a figure. Her business savvy and whip-smart humor made her a star.

In 1960, a group of well-attired men from the Seattle World’s Fair planning committee gathered in a downtown office. With the fair only two years away, people were starting to pitch their business ideas and on this day, some lady wanted to meet with them to do the same. At the scheduled time, the door…