Sober and Alive

Sobriety is a big thing in the lives of many. Others simply don’t understand the struggle.

Thomas Jefferson, yes… that is his real name, understands the reality of the struggle, but noted that it gets easier and easier over time. Thomas has been sober for eleven years. He once lived under a bridge during his drinking days, but those days are long behind him. Today he has his own place.

A tattoo of rosary beads and a cross wrapped around his right hand reminds him of his mother who was a devout Catholic. A bear claw necklace is around his neck along with a cougar tooth weaved into his hair. Both are from Indian mythology with the cougar being legendary to the Seminoles and the Shawnee tribes. The Pueblo tribes saw the cougar as a directional guardian. As for the bear claw, it represented a protector and symbolized courage, physical strength and leadership among Indians.

“I personally believe this: We have only today; yesterday's gone and tomorrow is uncertain. That's why they call it the present. And sobriety really is a gift... for those who are willing to receive it.” ― Ace Frehley, former lead guitarist and founding member of the rock band Kiss

She grows plants

She lives in a small North Carolina town with a population of 910 residents. She makes her living selling plants in front of her home that she once shared with her husband who passed away 14 years ago. “He put in that window,” she told me pointing at a window on the front of her home next to her small greenhouse made of plywood. Looking a bit annoyed she said, “Our town is mostly quiet if it weren’t for the fire station.”

She grows flowers, cabbage and tomatoes.

“The earth laughs in flowers.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Traveling to the tune of music

“Where are you guys headed,” I curiously asked because I am always way curious about everybody. She continued to pick the guitar and he enthusiastically responded, “New Orleans… We just got back from Nashville.”

“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” - Ludwig van Beethoven

The Teacher

She is a lifetime teacher…

“I used to teach in Santa Cruz and later the Venice Beach area of California,” she recalled. I would imagine that she was no ordinary teacher in her time, but instead a great teacher, “I’m originally from California and I would take the students to the beach and we would write in the sand.”

In Asheville, North Carolina where she lives today, she taught at several charter schools before retiring. "I've been blessed, very blessed," she said to me. 

While retired she helps people to realize their dreams and then chase them so that dreams can become reality.

Before I walked away her words to me, "Let me give you a hug, everyone needs a grandma hug!" 

“There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can't move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.” ― Robert Frost

He is Homeward Bound

James is currently homeless, but on the way to housing within the next few weeks thanks to a nonprofit in Asheville, North Carolina called Homeward Bound.

I asked him why he is homeless and he took a breath of cool March air while sitting in the sunshine on a street corner and said, “I have made lots of mistakes in my life – I have no one to blame but myself.” He then explained how he has tried just about every drug known to man, other than shooting up heroin.

“I am laying everything with God – he can figure it out,” he said while looking at the sky. “The way I see it, I came here with nothing and I’ll leave here with nothing. Some people don’t understand that,” he told me.

With a relaxed look he told me, “I’m gonna be getting a place here soon and I can’t wait – I can pay for it myself with my disability check.”

Originally from Polk County, North Carolina, James moved to Asheville because it was a larger city that offers more services and help to those who are homeless. Polk County has a population of about 20,000 residents while Asheville has a population of 87,000.

As I walked away he stopped me to give me an address. "Mail me those pictures," he told me with a slight chuckle.

He said he was a Jesus Freak

Asheville, North Carolina: While I usually photograph people in their natural state, I had to capture this man’s sense of humor and joy. The second he saw my camera he started making faces and laughing.

“I was ordained a minister the year after I graduated from high school by the Church of God Jesus Freaks,” he told me. “That was in 1971,” he said with a smile.

For those who remember the 1970’s, the Jesus Movement was something that started on the West Coast and made its way across America. Members of the movement were often called “Jesus People” or “Jesus Freaks.”

The so called freaks were an effective Christian force in times of major change between the mid 1960’s and into the 70’s. The young adults that were part of the movement had the ability and love of life to mix with a variety of crowds, some of whom were on LSD, following the likes of Charles Manson and more. In other words, the “Jesus Freaks” were able to grab a hold of misguided youth and help them turn their lives around before the drugs overtook them.

A Time magazine article in 1971 suggested, “Their love seems more sincere than a slogan, deeper than the fast-fading sentiments of the flower children.”

Despite the movement breaking apart in the late 1980’s, it did lead to some major changes in churches that can still be seen today. The movement led to new music in churches and what some call today the “Christian Right” and the “Christian Left.”

Rest

Taking a rest after a days work in Mexico City where minimum wage is about $4.25 per day (U.S.$). 

Start the day with fish

Preparing fish during the morning hours to be sold at lunch at a small restaurant in Mexico City. Notice, it is being prepared on the cafe table where customers will later be eating.

Lonely Streets in Mexico City

A lonely street on a Saturday morning in Mexico City. Employees of businesses stand and wait for the company they work for to open their doors for the day. Very few employees are key holders.

310 Sleeping Bags

A big thank you to those of you who have helped me with blankets and sleeping bags. I gave my last sleeping bag to John (pictured), who served in the National Guard. He then gave the bag to his friend, as opposed to keeping it for himself. So, I gave John blankets and he was so appreciative.

For the count, that is 310 sleeping bags in the past 3 months.

Hands of Heart

Nashville, TN: He continued to say that his mother died and then he would hold his hands in the shape of a heart.

"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness." - Honore de Balzac, French Playwright (1799-1850)

Mexico City Food Stands

Did you realize that over 75% of the population in Mexico City eats from food stands that are set up throughout the city at least once per week?

Everything from cow head, sheep, pork, steak to chicken and seafood are served on the street.

This is a photo of a man preparing a meal as he gets ready for the lunch crowd.

"I've seen zero evidence of any nation on Earth other than Mexico even remotely having the slightest clue what Mexican food is about or even come close to reproducing it. It is perhaps the most misunderstood country and cuisine on Earth." - Anthony Bourdain

Street Photography: Thinking

Street Photography in Birmingham, Alabama... Thinking

"Diversity: the art of thinking independently together." - Malcolm Forbes

Construction is hard work

He works hard daily doing construction in Birmingham, Alabama.

“If you don't sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice” 
― Anonymous

I asked his age

I could barely understand his words, most of which were inaudible. He spoke with a sad face and his eyes were hidden by the shadow of his hat. He could barely walk, even with his crutches. I asked his age, but it was just a breath.

He has been to the Holy Lands

Lorenzo Parks has been homeless in Birmingham, Alabama since age 11. Today, he is 54 years old.

He told me that he was not homeless due to breaking bridges or causing problems, but instead because of two questions he asked. One question was to his mother when he was a small child and the second was to God.

“She [mom] used to bring me downtown to go shopping, this day was cold – ice - ice cold, never will forget it,” he explained to me. “I looked over there by this building and there was a group of people laying down with covers on them. I stopped and said mom, can I ask you a question?” He went on to explain the question to his mother, “What are these people laying down with the covers on them?” His mom then said, “These are the folks we call homeless.”

It was not long after that question was asked that his mother passed away in his arms. He later went by the same building as a child and without a parent to watch over him and he noticed that people were still there, still homeless. “I then looked up at the sky and asked what these people go through everyday,” he said to me.

Those were the two questions. One to his mother about the homeless before she passed away and the second to God asking what the homeless go through. Mr. Parks believes those two questions led him to be homeless.

Despite his homelessness, he told me he never asks people for money, never holds a sign, he simply lives. “I have even been to the Holy lands, I went with a church,” he told me with a smile.

His life while homeless has not necessarily been bad and he has perhaps lived more than some of us have.

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” ― Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright (1854-1900)

To travel is to learn

Zach Zablosky went to the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston after graduating from high school. He plays guitar and he plays guitar well. However, he told me, “I just could never find a fit – you know? I just couldn’t make it work. I was unsatisfied.”

After quitting a heroin habit and dropping out of Berklee, he hit the road. He headed to California in hopes of starting a band. There, he made new friends and went to his first Rainbow Gathering.

A Rainbow Gathering is a community of people who meet in different forest annually celebrating peace, love and harmony. The gatherings last anywhere from one week to multiple weeks. In describing it he said, “We built our own stoves with rocks, everything is free.”

After his Rainbow Gathering in the Golden State he saw the Grateful Dead in concert and then ventured to New Orleans followed by Florida. From Florida he met a new friend who taught him about the rail lines.

From Jacksonville to Pensacola he traveled by train, which was over 350 miles. Zablosky didn’t travel in a stylish passenger car or even a boxcar, but instead a gondola. A gondola is an open air train car that hauls scrap metal.

From Florida he traveled to Austin, Texas by way of train hopping. He then caught a ride with a friend in a real vehicle, eventually finding his way to Louisville. After a short time in Kentucky, he went back to the East where he made his way to his home state of Pennsylvania. He visited with his parents for a spell before heading to Vermont to spend a summer. But, one summer did not slow the 32 year old down.

I asked if he ever had bad experiences while traveling on the trains and he said, “No, but I have met some people that were some less savory characters.”

After a brief hiatus he hitched back to the west where he rode in a train car along the famous Route 66. “I rode that on Thanksgiving,” he told me. After sleeping through the night on a train he ended up in a small town where he met a man who invited him to a Thanksgiving meal at a small church. In describing the church he said, “One of the Hippie churches around, you know, a biker church or whatnot.”

He had a homemade warm meal and then jumped back on a train and traveled to Los Angeles. After spending time there, he again decided to head south, which is where I met him and his dog. He was drinking coffee on a sunny, but cool February morning in Birmingham, Alabama.

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” ― Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)

Alabama is surrounded by oceans

Mental illness is far bigger than most of us could ever imagine. Thoughts or ideas get locked inside of the brain of the person suffering and they become concrete as to what that person believes to be fact.

“They tried to expand Alabama, but it fell apart,” he told me in a convincing voice. I asked, “Is there anything outside of this area [Birmingham, Alabama].” He then replied, “I don’t think so.” He then suggested that all of the other states are gone and we, where we were sitting, are surrounded by ocean. “If you walk that way [pointing] you’re hitting the ocean and if you walk that way [pointing] you’re hitting the ocean,” he explained.

He fully believed that Alabama was an island surrounded by the ocean and all of the other United States were gone, crumbled away. It went as far as him telling me that if I got on top of a nearby building I would only see ocean for miles.

“People assume you aren’t sick
unless they see the sickness on your skin
like scars forming a map of all the ways you’re hurting.”

― Emm Roy, The First Step

He has dreams to travel

I think in life we often forget how fragile the world around us really is… How one negative word can change the trajectory of a life in a single breath. How one bad act against another can turn someone already suffering to the edge of their existence. I think we forget that everyone around us has some deep down dream they have yet to live, but want so badly to do so.

This man is 25 years old and lives on the streets of Birmingham, Alabama and he told me, “I have only been to Kentucky, Ohio and once Tennessee, but I didn’t get to see Tennessee we only passed through.”

I asked, “If you could do anything, what would you do?” He paused and thought for a second and then responded, “Really? Anything? If there was a job or a chance – I’d love to travel, I want to see the world - - I want to travel!”

He has never seen the ocean, but hopes to someday soon.

“You do not travel if you are afraid of the unknown, you travel for the unknown, that reveals you with yourself.” - Ella Maillart, photographer and writer (1903-1997)

The Catholic Church in Mexico

I shot this photo in a Mexico City Catholic Church on a Sunday afternoon.

Roman Catholicism was first introduced in Mexico during the period of the Spanish conquest that started in 1519. The Catholic Church had a powerful say in the governence of Mexico up until the end of the Mexican Revolution.

It was not until the end of the Mexican Revolution that the Catholic Church's role in Mexico was restricted constitutionally.

Over 101 million people in Mexico are said to be Catholic today. Mexico has the second largest Catholic population in the world, just under Brazil which is number one.