Cairo, Illinois, a nearly abandoned town.

Soul Making Rooms.

I've lived in apartments my entire life.   It's difficult to know exactly what these rooms mean to those who lived in them or what they should mean to us--but for me they take me to so many of my own memories which have a beginning and an ending.  

Howard Finster's Paradise Garden.

"To understand how Howard Finster, a Baptist preacher and bicycle repairman, became one of the most notable folk artists in the world, it is worth a visit to where it all started:  a tiny white wooden house in this hamlet, tucked into the state's northwestern corner.  It was in the Howard Finster Vision House, a name it has acquired since his death in 2001, that Mr. Finster said he was directed by God to stop repairing bicycles and paint “sermon art.” And it was here, years later, that he made a “garden of paradise,” a sprawling art environment he lovingly tended for 30 years that many consider to be his greatest work.

A Yellow Car in Memphis.

I photographed this yellow car on two different occasions. When I went back the third time, the car was gone.I did notice someone was always watching me from a window outside the house where this car sat.  I was rather disappointed because I never got the shot I wanted.

Hot Summer Day on the West Side of Chicago.

Paint Ball/Street Art Walls on the West Side of Chicago.

I never found out exactly what these images meant on this abandoned building next to a newly built school.  Are they images of youth killed on the West Side of Chicago?

Neglected Billboards in Memphis

 

Martin Luther King was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel around 6pm on Thursday, 

April 4, 1968.  Around the corner of the Lorraine Motel on B.B. King Blvd., sits a billboard, thrown and hanging from it is a worn sack reading "owner-operated."   

Lover's Nest, A North Memphis Biker's Club

Routinely, bikers are viewed negatively.   In Memphis bikers' clubs and Bikers 4 Social Change are not only changing that view but they're also changing their community.   This biker's club is in North Memphis.   I'm still working on learning more about this club as well as Bikers 4 Social Change.   Any ideas on how to get in touch with either club would be welcomed?

Girls. Klondike, Memphis.