On the eve of October 1, 2014 The Atlanta Streetcar passed
the test.The Streetcar performed under
its own power.The night was filled with
excitement as onlookers and those who have worked on the project rejoiced.It was exhilarating to be on the street that
night as the Streetcar pulled out of the station and started down Fort Street,
made a left turn and made its way down Auburn Avenue.
I didn’t know how I would feel about this night.When I began this project I was a bit
ambivalent about the revitalization of Auburn Avenue. I struggled with how the
history would be remembered and preserved.While I still wonder about how Sweet Auburn will remember I am yet
hopeful of the life the new streetcar will bring.What I know is that life must be brought to
this street if the history is to remembered and celebrated.The bringing of people and activity opens up
the opportunity for a conversation.
Sharon Gavin, Communications Director for Atlanta Streetcar
is awesome.She is such a gracious
person who is working with the community.You can tell that she cares about the legacy of Auburn Avenue and she is
passionate about the connection of the past with the present.To talk to her gives me hope. I have been
literally moved by the coming of the Streetcar.I think the potential for memory is here.This isn’t an either or proposition but
rather a both and proposition. How do we have urban renewal and redevelopment
while simultaneously preserving the rich history of our city?We can do both?What are those things you are trying to build
and trying to preserve?Can you walk in
the tension of yesterday while moving into the promise of tomorrow?
I returned to Sweet Auburn today after a ten-week break. The
return was one of joyful surprise. The street is changing already! You can literally see the change in
progress.
What made my return joyful
was running into Nedra Deadwyler, at 344 Auburn Avenue and her new shop, Tour
Atlanta with Civil Bikes. As Sweet
Auburn transitions to its new identity I have been open about my concern for
how or if the history of this area will be maintained and woven into the fabric
of this transformation. While I continue to have my concerns I am so encouraged
by businesses like Nedra’s that is concerned about the history. I firmly believe that Nedra will continue to
tell the stories and keep the history alive.
Her biking tours are links to the history of our dear city and this
historic district.
Nedra has created that neat balance of respecting and
continuing the history with her Civil Bikes while not neglecting the
establishment of an entrepreneurial niche.
I love it! She is obviously
brilliant and passionate. Her love for
Atlanta and the rich history of our city exudes out of her. I am so excited to see Civil Bikes as one of
the first new businesses to emerge as a part of the face of the “New Sweet Auburn.” I encourage you to stop by and visit. They have some big things planned for June
2014 and I will keep you posted. Go to
their website and check them out!
An Encounter with Officer B. White of the Atlanta Police
Department
Officer B. White
And in other news I was met today by Officer B. White ….no I
am not being funny and I am not making this up.As I was doing my normal walking and taking pictures I get to the corner
of Auburn and Courtland where and I see an officer on a motorcycle approaching the scene. This looked interesting so I prepare to capture the moment.Being
a street photographer I am focused on capturing the shoot, so I compose the
shoot and create the picture.Well, Officer
B. White gets off is his motorcycle and tells me I can’t take pictures of him
and I better erase any image I took of him!I respond, “With all due respect Mr. Officer I can take your picture. This is a public space; there is no
expectation of privacy and I have a right to take pictures.” He continues to rebuke me and I mean rebuke
me. I “stand my ground” as a street photographer and ask him to cite the law that
says I can’t take his picture or street photographs.He responds with a story about how people
have been taking pictures of officers and posting them on social media sites
after they have been altered and officers have been getting in trouble with their
superiors.He then tells me I better not
put his picture on Facebook!I respond
by giving him my press pass and informing him of my rights.Street photographers stand your ground, take
your pictures and record history.
Why do you do what you do?
What do you do for most of your day?
The answer is probably work. We
spend most our day at our job, doing what we do to make a living. Our motivation for what we do might be mixed
as to why we do what we do. I have
always strived to do what I love and pray that I could make a living doing it. So far it’s working out for me.
I have never done what I’ve done looking for fortune or fame
but rather for fulfillment.As I
approach my 52nd birthday this month I am once again retooling and
retraining myself to do what I love. I love to tell stories via the written
word, photography and videography.My time
at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a time of molding.I am slowly becoming a photographer and as I
am on this quest I want to remind myself that I am doing this because I love
it.
One thing I have done at SCAD is search out the artist whose
life and work I connect with.For me it
is more than your work it is your life that I also have to connect with.I have major connection with Vivian
Maier.Vivian Maier shot non-stop her
entire adult life.She shoot not to show
her work or sell her work but because she loved her work.She died in 2009 and there is no record that
she showed her work to anyone. Her work was discovered by John Maloofin 2007 and he brought her work to thepublic and began to promote her work (see
story below).
When I first saw her street photographs I was hooked.I was moved by her work.Every artist has that person, that artist who
they connect with and that person becomes their mentor (directly or
indirectly).For me Vivian Maier has
become one of my mentors. While I love her work I am even more attracted to
what appears to be the motivation behind her work.I believe she did it because she loved
it.She couldn’t help but shoot
pictures, create images, and she did all of her life.She walked with that Rolleiflex camera around
her neck and she created images.
Vivian Maier
She didn’t shoot to show or to sell but now her prints are
selling like hot cakes for hot prices.Her
motivations were pure and the reward still came. Some debate whether she would
want her work being shown and sold.Ms.
Maier died in 2009 and by the time John Maloof realized whose work he had
discovered all he could find of her was an obituary.We don’t know how she would feel about her
posthumous fame.What we do know is that
her work is being received by the world with rave reviews.She is inspiring a new breed of street
photographers like myself.Her work has
made a difference because I believe she loved what she did, she was good at it,
and she worked hard at her craft.
In the end I believe we must do what we love.We must work hard at it, get the training /
education we need and never look back.We must love what we do so much that if we never made a penny from it we
would still do it.I don’t want to do
what I do for the show or the doe but rather for the love.In the end I do hope that my work will make
the world we live in a more loving and just place.For my work to make the world a more loving
and just place I must love the world and the work I do that I commit back to
the world in love.What do you
love?What are you becoming?How are you preparing yourself to do what
you were created to do?Do you believe
that you were created on purpose to make a difference?
