Author: WmX

I stumbled off the track to success in 1968, started chasing shadows that summer. Since then, In addition to farm-laborer and newspaper photographer my occupational incarnations include dishwasher, janitor, retail photo clerk, plumber, HVAC repairman, auto mechanic, CAT scan technologist, computer worker and politico (whatever it takes to buy a camera.) I am on the road to understanding black and white photography.

new beginning

August 27 WillowTree kickoff
many articles out about a new use for the Woolen Mills campus but little said about the fellow whose persistence and vision has brought us to this point. In the same spirit, little said, here he is, on the right.

Water Street

Central Place CHO DT Mall
I passed through Charlottesville Downtown 8/12/18 on the anniversary of the 2017 calamity. The mall was quiet.
list of prohibited items
There were no swords or soda cans. People had migrated south of the Mall to 4th Street to mourn Heather Heyer.
barricade
Lots of folk on Fourth and Water Streets. Not immediately clear what was up. What were the rules? What was the dance? Who should lead off?
crowd @4th and water
It felt like a standoff. Citizens were questioning the garb of the authorities. The authorities weren’t saying much. There was a bit of tension, a question in the air.
bearcat
Some people were shouting obscenities. Some people were holding their breath. Some people were thinking.
.
There were a three members of City Council on hand.
Councilors Bellamy and Hill…
and Mayor Nikayuh Walker
The Councilors did some good talking, reached out to City management and to law enforcement. No blows fell.
The rain came down.
And everyone went home.

Grandfather and Granddaughter

I’ve been scanning old negatives. The window into the past is contact sheets, but if a negative is dreadfully under or overexposed, the image will not be visible. So I saw this composition once, in 1983 when I took the photo. Yesterday I saw it a second time. My father and his granddaughter. A good man. Letting the sleeping baby lie. Photo from Providence RI, the Hidden Street house.
This was the twins first foray north of the Mason Dixon line.