See video below: As I descended into the dark cave, partially climbing and sliding the rest of the way, I heard a loud roar of water in the distance. Once I found a firm footing and was able to fully stand, I asked my friend Jeff Paul if we were in any danger of the water rising as it was raining outside. He gave me a reassuring, “If the water was six inches higher in the cave, I would not have taken you in here.”
Read MoreA nice shave for a good cause
Bald in the Boro is an annual event in Murfreesboro, TN. The event raises money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation to fund childhood cancer research. I snapped this in 2014. The event will be in March of this year next (2016).
“Sometimes bad happens. Out of the blue and without warning. The whole “everything happens for a reason” phrase is ridiculous. There are times in life when you are never going to be able to make rational sense out of a life event, because there is none. Focus your anger, your sadness and your fear, and do some random act of kindness today. Put some good back into the world - it needs it.” ~ J.V. Manning
The Story of Daniel
Daniel is currently homeless. He was just released from jail and said that he wanted to share his story. He asked if I could arrange for him to share it on the radio and even before a church. Daniel has a low IQ which would classify him as having mild retardation, which means he was a target for sexual abuse while jailed.
Read MoreThe look for the job
Some people have the look for the job they oversee. Take for example the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Mark Gwyn – he has the look down.
I shot this at a recent press conference in Murfreesboro after the arrest of two women who are accused of trafficking heroin. The females evidently had 11-pounds of heroin which is the biggest heroin bust in Middle Tennessee.
Gwyn, who is an MTSU graduate and a native of the small town of McMinville, has quite a few certificates and awards under his belt. He also underwent extensive terrorism training conducted in Israel by the Israeli National Police.
11:30 on a Tuesday Night in NY
It was 11:30 PM in New York and the lights were everywhere lighting up the faces as they walked past me. To me, it is street photography heaven. You then realize that it is only a Tuesday and people are out all hours of the night 24/7.
“If London is a watercolor, New York is an oil painting.” ― Peter Shaffer
No one listening
No one was listening, but he was drumming away. "Prince the Mystic Drummer" was also singing and singing well. This was shot on a New York subway platform.
Some of the key songs he focuses on included: Three Little Birds by Bob Marley, Night Nurse by Gregory Isaascs, Pimpers Paradise by Bob Marley and Sex Machine by James Brown - just to name a few.
Legendary drummer Neil Peart of the group RUSH once stated, "To me, drum soloing is like doing a marathon and solving equations at the same time."
He valued being different
I met this man in New York. He valued being different in every way.
"Trusting your individual uniqueness challenges you to lay yourself open." -James Broughton (1913-1999). James Broughton was an American poet and filmmaker who was part of the San Francisco Renaissance, a precursor to the Beat poets.
Schizophrenia and Dispair
Schizophrenic and mad at the wind inside New York's Grand Central Station. I was able to speak with him through rants that meant nothing to me, but I am quite certain he thought he knew what or who he was mad at.
"Schizophrenia cannot be understood without understanding despair." - R. D. Laing
Despair: The complete loss or absence of hope.
Hello Hia
Hia was at the Buddhist Temple in Murfreesboro on a recent visit I had this past December. He was all smiles as he carefully worked on trim in one of the buildings on the property. He also worships at the temple.
"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." - Buddha
Learning Disability
“I sell the Faith Unity paper,” he told me with a smile while telling me he makes enough money to rent out a single room. The 45 year old said with a slight grin, “I’m from Michigan and I came to Nashville to get out of the cold.” I smiled, “Looks like the cold followed you here.”
We then started to talk about his life. “I dropped out of school in the 9th grade, my mind goes blank when I try to concentrate,” he said while looking down as if he were ashamed of it. “I have a learning disability,” he told me. I told him not to worry about it, lot’s of people have problems or issues that we don’t fully understand.
Tim Tebow once said of his learning disability, “It has nothing to do with how intelligent you are. You can be extremely bright and still have dyslexia. You just have to understand how you learn and how you process information. When you know that, you can overcome a lot of the obstacles that come with dyslexia. When you figure out how you learn, you can accomplish whatever you want.”
Responsibility
“I’ve lived in Nashville my entire life,” he told me with a smile. Pointing down the street he said, “I grew up right over there, now I live there [pointing at a nearby house].” He was standing next to a large industrial barrel filled with burning brush, “We all help to clean this lot, the city owns it, but they don’t keep it looking nice.”
“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” - Denis Waitley
The Elderly on the Street
When I first saw him he was standing in the middle of the road talking to the air. Cars and trucks were stopped behind him honking their horns. No one even rolled down a window to ask him if he was okay. By the time I made it to him, he was on the sidewalk talking to himself.
I placed a hand on his shoulder only to feel his hard bones under his coat hiding his frail and undernourished body. His eyes were ice blue and his hair silver. He started to tell me about different movies he had seen and then changed the subject to talk about the ground coming up towards him.
“How old are you,” I asked with curiosity. “I am 70-years old,” he said in a whisper. “Do you have somewhere to stay tonight,” I asked with curiosity. He smiled and responded, “Don’t worry, I have a credit card to pay for somewhere to stay.”
I left him with a pair of new gloves and a green scarf. As I watched him walk away, I noticed he could barely walk. He looked at me and said that he has a bad knee. He then said, “See my hat [pulling it out of his pocket], a judge gave it to me. The judge was wearing it when he saw me and took it off his head and put it on my head.”
“It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped.” - Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978)
The Violin
"When you play a violin piece, you are a storyteller, and you're telling a story." -Joshua Bell
Shot with a Fuji XT1 and a 35mm lens.
Empty Places: Deserted and trashed home
The walls were blank of family portraits, but it was clearly evident that this house was once a home to someone or some family. The house was on an empty street that was once crowded with homes. The City of Detroit bulldozed the other homes on the road to prevent arson, which costs the city money. This home, likely still owned by a family, was spared.
“Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more.” ― Robin Hobb, Fool's Fate
Staying Warm in Detroit
“Staying warm,” he said as he laid on the cold Detroit concrete next to a manhole cover with steam pouring out. He would take his knit cap and hold it in the steam and then place it on his head. He followed this routine over and over again. Sweat was rolling down his forehead as he firmly placed the cap in place.
"Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery's shadow or reflection: the fact that you don't merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief." - C. S. Lewis
Cold Outside
I shot this photo on a cold January day in Nashville. He was standing outside near the Nashville Rescue Mission. Homeless.
“Nothing burns like the cold.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
Empty Places: In the mountains of East Tennessee
An empty house in the mountains of East Tennessee sits alone and overgrown with dust. Papers are in place as if someone left their life out the front door. Canning jars were filled on shelves with newspapers dating back 50-years or more.
"Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it." - Theodore Roosevelt
I'm different
"If there's any message to my work, it is ultimately that it's OK to be different, that it's good to be different, that we should question ourselves before we pass judgment on someone who looks different, behaves different, talks different, is a different color." - Johnny Depp
Shot with a 35mm Fuji XT1.
Garrett Aaron Abdula Presley
“I was a child actor,” he told me. "My name is different, it is Garrett Aaron Abdula Presley."
“I am homeless, but making it,” he said in a cheerful manner.
“The world of the homeless is a tough and interesting world.” - Paul Dano
I didn't do it
His face was dirty and his clothing well worn. He told me, “I use to live in Chattanooga, but I had to move. They accused me of starting a fire.” “Did you commit arson,” I asked. “What,” he said. “Did you start a fire,” I asked him again. “No, I didn’t do it,” he told me.
"There are no facts, only interpretations." - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), a German philosopher