Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site

On Sunday, I was given an assignment to travel to Newton Grove, NC to make images of Civil War life during a demonstration at Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site. The Battle of Bentonville, fought March 19-21, 1865, was the last full-scale action of the Civil War. This major battle was the largest ever fought in North Carolina, and was the only significant attempt to defeat the Union army of Gen. Sherman during its march through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865. 

I had the luxury of staying as long as I wanted so I hung out for a good four hours that day, wandering from one end of the battlefield to the other, taking photos, asking questions and doing a whole lot of listening. The images below are three that ran in the paper. I liked that they were all tied together by smoke, but in completely different ways. You can view all the the images from that day right here. As always, thanks for looking.

The Music of Their Lives

In January, I had the privilege of working with Fayetteville Observer staffer, Raul Rubiera, on a project for Black History Month. Raul has worked on this project for a few years in the past and it is his baby. Still having video skills from school, but no opportunity to apply them yet, I was eager to work on a project to dive back into the medium. Together, we photographed and took video footage of four Fayetteville residents, all over the age of 70, for which music played a profound role in their lives. It was challenging, time consuming, frustrating at times, but overall, completely and utterly worthwhile. It ran as a Sunday Life feature with interviews on each subject, as well as videos each day leading up to the Sunday story. Getting to spend time with each of the people involved in the project--Bill Curtis, William McLeod, Ernestine Smith, and Walter Drake---was an honor and increased the quality of the time spent with them, immeasurably.  These are some stills I took that ran with the story, as well as a link (here) for the videos. Raul was an editing powerhouse and edited three of the four videos that ran. My little contribution was editing Mr. Dake's video (the fourth and final one in the series). Please take a moment to read about these incredible people and listen to their stories.

 

 

 

Anything could happen

This does not even begin to touch what I have been doing for the past five months, but it's a start. These are a small handful of images I have made since I began interning at The Fayetteville Observer at the end of August. While I initially thought I would be leaving at the beginning of March, the internship has been extended for a few months, so I will be sticking around a little longer! I am excited for the opportunity to continue discovering and documenting this part of the state and the people who live here.

Point-in-Time Count

Point-in-Time Count | Fayetteville, NC | 1.31.13

(read article here)

Summer, too, shall end

   

  

Montana: Part 2

And then there was the wedding. The ceremony was filled with the most heart-felt and genuine vows, every word spoken with intention and meaning. Not to say that other weddings I have attended have not had those elements---because they did---just that this ceremony has set the new standard for "weddings that make you love love" (even for a cynic like me). 

Montana: Part 1

Near the end of August I was fortunate enough to travel with Davis' family to Bozeman, Montana for the wedding of his younger brother, John to his fearless, adventurous partner of five years, Taylor. I arrived four days before the wedding, which left room for some wandering. On a flawless-looking Wednesday, Davis, his sister Anna, and her boyfriend Jeff, and I packed into a rental and drove to Yellowstone National Park. There's not much I can say about this expansive piece of land that hasn't been said more than a million times. It was a lot to take in (especially for a photographer) so for most of the trip I sat with my nose pressed to the window--absorbing it into my memory--camera down. In all honesty I didn't make many photos that day, or that week. I enjoyed being around people I don't get to see very often for a long stretch of uninterrupted time, which is something I haven't been able to do since internships began in mid-March. Being surrounded by such strange, new and breathtaking terrain was such a gift, but even more so was being able to live in those moments with people whom I love dearly.