The Big 40

November 10th I turned 40.

Leading up to the big four 0 I took stock of where I’m at in my life and my career. Gotta say, I like what I saw. I’m meeting my health and fitness goals , my family brings me such joy, my career is full of inspiring projects…Life is good. I’m so thankful.

The day came and I felt good, at peace, even excited about this next phase of my life.

This year I wanted to treat myself to an experience, a styled shoot full of texture and soft winter light.

I’m so thankful for the growth I’ve had this year as a photographer, a person, a mother, a wife. The art I create is therapy for me. It soothes the soul to make something beautiful, something thoughtful and spontaneous, careful and reckless, free and captured at the same time. So much planning goes into that one moment and that moment can’t be planned. It just happens. Like magic.

Thank you to my models who brought such enthusiasm to this project.

Thank you Botanist and Barrel in Cedar Grove for letting us use your blueberry field.

Thank you the viewer for enjoying the journey with us.

I wanted to be in the jungle

And then I was.

It was a humid day. The purple clouds were rolling in, threatening rain, but it was too hot, we wouldn’t get that lucky. The hike wasn’t a long one. I noticed the trail is lined with broken bricks. Twice baked by the North Carolina sun. Winding down a gravel path, then up a rain-washed clay ravine to a desert plateau. Slightly breathless, I looked up to find myself in the what looked like Africa. Tall grasses swayed in the coming storm, large tropical leaves towered over electric yellow flowers. The sweet perfume of nature wafted over heat waves, the cracked clay Pantones of orange and yellow.

I feel there’s a story of two humans weathering the storm of our times together.

I see such strength in both of them. The world has never been easy, and it’s often very unsafe. Our community, the ones we love and who love us back, help us weather the day to day. We can grow, love, inspire and empower one another. We can be allies to those in need and we can stand strong with every human in equality, love and kindness.

These images show me such a tenderness and an elegance of being. Such power and courage. To be held by nature and one with the storm that is our fight against all that is wrong. To be one with the love and kindness all around us. To be raw and open about it all.

Thank you to my models. Thank you the viewer.

Durham NC - The town that shaped me

I am proud to have grown up in Durham. When it was still terrifying to go downtown alone at night. When more people had darker skin than lighter. When things were “dirty” which I always took to mean more artistic and real. Durham has changed, like so many cities and just like the counterparts - there is no more time square in the 80s feel left. Not all change is bad however. Recently Durham went through a massive gentrification and though the modern homes built by so many affluent people are mostly eco-friendly and creative, I can’t overlook the giant monstrosities mimicking Atlanta in style and in inhabitants. New is not better. So this blog documents the old as well as the new and improved Durham. The positive changes I’m seeing around town today will be represented here. As well as old buildings I hope to capture before they are devoured by corporate greed. The good news - Durham is woke! People are banning together around art and culture in a way that hasn't been present for years. The Black Lives Matter movement has found a particularly strong voice thankfully, however it seems that there is an explosion of art and expression never before seen in the downtown area. Art that many would hang in their homes or pay gobs of money for at auction.

As has always been my mission, I will try to document Durham as it changes and unfolds before my eyes. I hope you find something new to seek out in person (please make sure to tag the artist in your social media posts - a lot of work went into that stuff. Follow them at the very least), or something old you miss and had forgotten. For me it will always be a bittersweet journalistic act to capture the now of the town that shaped me. I miss so much that has fallen prey to homogenous pre-fabricated boring. The steel mill that stood for over 100 years that I was lucky enough to tour before its end. The old abandoned warehouse on Foster Street. The countless homes that have been torn down to make room for the “improvements” that paved them over.

My old street - Charles Street - looks much the same. There are parts of Durham that have stayed the same and that is for the best. The changes I’m seeing now seem to be genuinely better for the people, but that is mostly in reference to art. We still need Durham to have a voice for the people who are systematically pushed out. If I’m very lucky, perhaps some people will let me capture their experience in Durham today and I’m not talking about the student body at Duke.

I’m excited to see where this journey takes me. With an open heart and a curious mind, hopefully Durham will continue to inspire me and educate me. This town has given me so much, the least I can do is capture a small part of what means so much to me.

Dollar General - night 2016

Dollar General - night 2016

A million words housed in this building and still not enough to describe my loss at this sacred space closing.Nice Price Books - 2016 just before final closing.

A million words housed in this building and still not enough to describe my loss at this sacred space closing.

Nice Price Books - 2016 just before final closing.

AntiPoliceGraffitiDurhamNC2020.jpg