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photowalk

A Tribe Called TAOH

Located at 22 N. Brevard St in Charlotte, NC is TAOH (The Awakening Of Humanity) Outdoor Gallery. Founded by painter and muralist, Osiris Rain, in collaboration with Piece For Peace and Proffitt Dixon Partners, TAOH Outdoor Gallery is Charlotte’s first graffiti park. Put together by a few of Charlotte’s more well known muralists, this space is a 24/7 communal space designed to foster collaboration and create opportunities for less experienced artists to learn from and showcase their creativity.

This Saturday morning, before the Grand Opening, I took a moment to walk around and capture some images of the park before the big event. It’s a beautiful space, and something much needed in Charlotte. A new space that reflects the true nature of artists and creative work - a grassroots way of providing resources to make it easier for people to express themselves and grow their skills.

“TAOH Outdoor Gallery is more than just a space—it's a catalyst for transformation, enriching lives, and shaping the cultural identity of Charlotte for generations to come.” For more information on how to support TAOH Outdoor Gallery, please click here.

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Ribbonwalk Nature Reserve

I am trying to think of things that would be good, or extremely uncomfortable to enjoy alone.

This week, I leaned more heavily toward good. I decided to get out into nature. I do enjoy hiking, but I rarely go hiking, and never hiking alone. So I did something to change that. I looked at what areas there are in Charlotte to hike, and narrowed it down to Ribbonwalk Nature Reserve.. It was easy to get to, a decent length to hike, and when I looked at pics online, it looked a little creepy, but not overwhelmingly so.

It was an extremely hot day, and I’m not going to go into why I didn’t have water on me, but the canopy of trees kept me sufficiently cool that I wasn’t on the verge of dehydration or heat stroke.

I checked out the trail courses before I went in, which was somewhat helpful, but not quite as helpful as I pretended it was going to be. Apparently, the first trail I went down, wasn’t even a trail, as much as an unofficial path that enough souls had cut through, so as to keep greenery from growing on it.

As I walked, I took pictures, and asked myself, “Why am I out here?” The most satisfying answer I came up with was “To be here and enjoy the fresh air.” And I did. And I also noticed some familiar thoughts coming to me. An ex-girlfriend used to love to go to the beach in the off-season - usually, the first week of December, and I used to love that trip because it was too cold to get in the water. So it was a great time to do nothing but rest and reflect.
When I would actually go outside, and sit by the beach, I would enjoy just observing the waves crash, reflecting on what I was seeing. The consistent thought that hits me in natural environments is that nothing is trying to impress. Everything is just a tiny part of a big ecosystem. It doesn’t have any grandiose purpose. It just shows up, and does it’s work. A wave is not a wave, but a bunch of water droplets moving in the same direction carrying all kinds of things to and fro. A tree doesn’t go anywhere. It blooms where it is “planted”, and just grows. Its leaves purify the air. It feeds on things. Things feed on it. And then it dies. Bugs burrow in the decaying logs Fungi show up to break it down, and it fertilizes the next beautiful thing that will grow. It just does its job. And it’s impressive. I’m not sure what the best tree is. I wouldn’t event think to call one more important than another, or have a metric to decide that. In nature, things just are. Things just do. And they are beautiful. And they are impressive. A lesson.

So I enjoyed my hike. I look forward to doing it more. If I actually go hiking, then I can honestly tell people, I love hiking, and can make plans to go more and be social about it. I haven’t decided what my next artist date is, but I’ll figure it out soon. I do plan to go to Carowinds by myself, and possibly a brewery tour, but I don’t think these will be the next excursions. I’ll just keep you posted.

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Take A Brief Pause

A month (or two) ago, a friend invited me to go hiking at this trail at South Mountain State Park - about an hour outside of Charlotte, NC where I live. I don’t often do the hiking thing, but I do enjoy nature when I’m forced to be in it. I enjoy times where I can just pause and enjoy life without pressure.

It felt so good to be in nature. To walk. To smell fresh air. To watch natural things grow, and be consumed by natural processes. It was a treat to have inspired conversation with a friend, and talk about growth, and goals while exerting effort to walk up a mountain.

It feels so good to disconnect from all of the made up constructs that occupy our time in the world. Getting away from screens, and traffic, and housing developments, and jobs! Just being able to enjoy the things that exist! Things that work at their own pace. Things that aren’t on anyone else’s time. Things that just BE. Just ARE. That’s ultimately what I want to be. Someone who understands my inherent value, and learns to show up fully, and be valuable as I am. It’ll be a while, but I’m working on it.

Enjoy the pics!

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Smelling The Roses

When I first picked up a camera, I did what I could without the assistance of others - I walked around and took pictures of anything that seemed interesting.

Living in East Orange, NJ, I would start in my neighborhood, go toward Newark or New York City, and photograph whatever caught my interest along the way. I would take pictures of cracks in the sidewalk, dilapidated walls, neglected buildings , foliage growing out of unexpected places, rusty mailboxes, and sometimes random people on the street. I photographed things that inspired me, like graffiti, odd phrases, or things that seemed to have a different meaning when I could isolate them from their surroundings.

As I worked to develop my skills photographing people, my photographs of inanimate objects got neglected, when really the strength of my people photography, is that I “objectify” my subjects, I photograph them as if they were beautiful, interesting objects.
I came to realize that really, what feeds my soul is focusing my photographic eye on textures and forms, and the neighborhood photowalks are really something that I miss.

More recently, I realized that, for me, photography is a way to slow life down. As the years go buy, looking back through my photographs helps me remember “where the time has gone.” It reminds me of moments and places I’ve seen but forgotten. It reminds me of people I’ve met. It reminds me of venues and communities that no longer exist. It reminds me of relationships I’ve enjoyed with people, good times I’ve had.

In a way that is similar to how smells can trigger memories, photographs - even the ones of simple things, help me recall experiences and places that I had forgotten. Having more memories makes life feel full again. It feels less like my life is speeding past me.

It is very satisfying to use my camera to “stop and smell the roses".

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