If you read my previous post, then you know that I visited a community called Blackmon Road with a friend a few weeks ago to document the conditions there and create an awareness video. I can’t take credit for any of the project except the still shots. My friend, Brian, did the film clips and composed the video and did an awesome job! I finally got to see the finished product last night and I was really impressed. Now I want to share it with all of you. Like I mentioned before, if you would like to find out how you can help, please visit A Place For Hope.
When people think of extreme poverty, with communities lacking running water, sturdy homes, and basic necessities, most would immediately picture somewhere like Haiti, not a community that basically sits at their backdoor step. Sitting hardly 15 minutes down the road from my house, the “Blackmon Road” community lives in third-world conditions. After growing up in this area my entire life, I was shocked at how ignorant I was that this place even existed.
I first heard about Blackmon Road a little over a year ago when a youth event was planned through my church to throw a Christmas party for the children there. I, along with many others, tagged along to help out and we all had a great time. Since then, our church has organized various other events for the community, sparking relationships with some of the people there. Last week I tagged along with a friend of mine who is working on an “informal” documentary about the community and wanted me to take some still shots. For the documentary, we focused on one 9 year old girl, following her along her daily routine from the time the bus drops her off at the community center in the afternoon, until she heads down the dirt road that leads to her home…a house she shares with 15 other people. I really wanted to post some pictures of our little friend but am having to refrain because of model release issues, so I’ve just decided to post some shots of the community itself.
If you would like to learn more about Blackmon Road or find out how you can help, please visit A Place for Hope.
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Below is the house of the girl we featured for the documentary. Like I previously mentioned, she lives here with about 15 other people. The porta-jon out front is their bathroom.
The front door…
Also this past weekend, I participated in my first bridal show. It was a great experience! Thanks to everyone who attended. It was nice to meet you all and I wish you lots of luck with all of your planning. Here are a few shots I took of my booth…
Business cards and wedding package information cards…
Jennifer, my faithful assistant!
Me at the booth. Not the best quality picture, but you get the idea…
Some college friends of mine from Nashville are in a band called Red Shepherd. They just finished a 3-week long tour and their last show was this past Saturday in Charlotte at The Evening Muse! I had not gotten to hear them play in about three years so it was great to see them again. They put on an awesome show! To check out their music, go visit their site or their myspace page.
We were way up at the front and I didn’t bring my wide angle lens so I never could get a shot of the whole band together. :-/
Matt…
Payton…
Aaron…
I couldn’t get a good shot of Taylor, but he’s back there on the drums!
You may remember Kensey and Jared from their engagement session we did in Gatlinburg last September (that blog post is back on my old blog!). Well, they got married on New Year’s day in Memphis and it was a beautiful but COLD day. Because of the temperature, we had to do most of the photos inside. But, Kensey was clever and had already set up a little divider in the girls’ dressing room and covered it with fabric and strung some pearls along it so we could have a better backdrop. Way to think ahead Kensey! Congratulations you two, and thank you so much for letting me photograph your special day.
Kensey’s bridal luncheon was catered by a crepe maker! YUM!
There were so many kids in the wedding party, and they were all PRECIOUS!
They were playing “photographer” with their little pink cameras! 🙂
Kensey wore her mom’s wedding dress and it was absolutely gorgeous.
“pappa…papparazi” Haha!
Kensey’s gift to her mother was a poem she wrote and had printed on a handkerchief. So sweet.
Kensey’s family is apparently VERY crafty. She and her mom made the bouquets and the boutonnieres, her mom painted a huge version of one of the engagement pictures I took and they had in hanging on the wall behind them during the ceremony, and her aunt made her wedding cake. Whoa! Oh yeah, and Kensey made the wedding cake topper! It’s an “H” for Hall.
I fell in love with the quote on the picture frame.
Jared had a lot of college friends that he wanted to include in the wedding so they were all ushers.
And his family made up his groomsmen
The reception decorations were awesome!! I forgot I was standing in a church gymnasium.
Kensey and Jared didn’t see each other before the ceremony so we took a minute before the reception to get a few quick shots.
Angie Johnson - I would love to show this documentary to my class. I am planning on doing a service learning project involving this community. Is it possible for us to see it? Thanks.