Happy to be heading out to Cullowhee for a public lecture this week. Join us.
Back to the Old Jail
Dormitory Cell, the Old Jail, Marshall, NC 2016
The Shower Curtain, the Old Jail, Marshall, NC 2016
Ponders Chapel
I was thinking after my last post of the profane from the Old Jail, it would be good for balance to show a bit of the sacred.
Ponders Chapel, Marshall, Madison County, NC 2016
In the Old Jail
I spent some time these last two weeks with Josh Copus as he began demolition of the old county jail. The structure was built in 1906 and finally went out of commission in 2012 when Madison opened its new jail out on the Bypass. Josh, along with other partners, have renovation plans, perhaps a B&B, maybe a restaurant and bar. My interest was making photographs before any of the major destruction took place. Here is some of what I saw. More to come soon.
Panorama: North Carolina
Carter Cosby, Highway 24 South, Clinton, NC 1987
So very pleased and honored to be included in this exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh with some of my absolute favorite North Carolina photographers - Elizabeth Matheson, John Rosenthal, Jeff Whetstone, David Simonton, Titus Heagins, and Caroline Vaughan, among others.
Moments of Clarity
Fireworks, Matt and Taylor's wedding, Old Ground Farm, Big Pine, Madison County, NC 2016
There was a moment in time recently when it hit me. I was at the Marshall Fashion show, photographing a swirling group of young people, modeling clothing made by other community members. So beautiful, and assured, and clearly in control. It was sweaty hot, the audience was packed, cheering wildly, moving too to Erich and Danni's driving beat. I thought, "I am really old and this is no longer my world."
I've had more than a few such moments of clarity lately; brief flashes of understanding in a world gripped by transition and disruption. As if to say, "So this is what the world will look like."
There was the bittersweet moment of Jamie's leaving. But, today, gone a week, he called and we chatted long, our normal weekly update for so long now.
The melancholy of my own children - the eldest clearly, and happily, on his own path in his own place. Child #2 taking the necessary steps we all know toward her own world. But me, thinking of times not long ago when it was the four of us here, always. And missing that.
Fay, the kindest of mothers-in-law, on her own journey, sometimes here, with us, but more often in her own world of increasing darkness.
The loss of relationships, once close, that have fallen victim to our disjointed times and a sense, an acceptance really, of who I am as a person. "How," I wonder, "did we ever stay friends so long?"
At Matt and Taylor's wedding party, it's light passing through a dress that first catches my eye. Like a moth, I'm drawn to such things. It blends with the flowing arc overhead, framing the music, highlighting the party. And then the gift arrives, the moment of clarity. It comes from stage left. Comfort for an old person that life will not only continue, but a particular community and way of life will also move forward.
At Matt and Taylor's wedding reception, Old Ground Farm, Big Pine, Madison County, NC 2016