The Visulite

Last night I ran lights for Public Radio and John Mark McMillan at the Visulite Theater in Charlotte, NC. Naturally, I brought my Nikon and snapped a few photos before and after the show, but during the show my fingers were preoccupied with making the stage look like a rock show. After the bands got off the stage, and the crowds split up into their cliques, I went out back and looked at the Queen City skyline. There is a great view of the towers from behind the Visulite, but I've never really been impressed with our skyline. I turned around and snapped this photo of the corner of two building jutting up against one another. I enjoy this kind of texture and mood for Charlotte more than the shiny skyscrapers and the clean sidewalks. These two buildings, clearly not put up together, but slowly built upon, tells me more about a city than anything else.

Laying Hands

The only Sunday morning I spent in Kenya, I visited a church plant that had nothing but a lean-to made from sticks and grass, and bamboo stalks for pews. It was a life-changing experience. It's hard to take yourself and your local church seriously after seeing these people with nothing worship like they have everything, and nothing to lose.

This photo was taken at that church as the congregants left the covering of their grass-thatched roofing to lay hands on and pray for the sick among them. Every single person in that community of believers left their seats to get prayed for, and every single one of them was praying for someone else. Unbelievable how selfless they were.

Flowers For Your Turquoise Door

Another door of remarkable color contrasted with the brown mud and wood of the house walls. This time, the door is graced with simple flowers, and not with exotic people.

Despite the focal point of this photo, I still feel like the door is the primary subject. He even has his turquoise window chillin' next to him for company. This just looks like a sweet place to come home to.

A Hole in the Ground

One of the the main reasons for traveling to Africa was to work with ZAO Water in their constant effort to give clean drinking water to the people of Kenya through sustainable wells and springs. This photo was taken at the site of a new well that ZAO is digging in a remote village just north of the Kenya-Tanzania border.

This little boy was standing near the well with an incredible sense of pride and accomplishment at the hole being dug in his backyard. He listened closely as the workers discussed their next move and watched intently as they continued to dig out the well by hand.

Like a construction supervisor inspecting his workers' task, he stands, with hands on hips, surveying the dig, waiting to see water.

Kids and Tobacco

I really like the framing of this photo, but the choice to frame this kid was made mostly due to the fact that he didn't have any pants. Or underwear.

Kids were standing around everywhere. This little boy couldn't have been more than 2 years old, just hanging out on a hillside next to a tobacco curing shed.

That's another thing that was everywhere. Tobacco is a major source of income for most farmers in Kenya. Oddly enough, I didn't see any people smoking. Especially this little boy.

Roadside Hotel

There is this small part of me that wanted to stop at one of the many roadside hotels we saw along the roadsides in Kenya. Of course, I wouldn't have wanted to stay overnight there, but I certainly would have liked to see and photograph the inside.

I'm sure they have great rates, but probably no cable.

Turquoise Door

The colors in Africa are outstanding. Maybe it's not so much the colors, but the contrast between any color and brown. The grass seemed greener, the sky seems to be a deeper blue, and the paint used to decorate their homes cried out loud. I guess there isn't much you can paint on a mud hut; it's not like you have shutters or siding.

I have a series of pictures that feature mud next to vibrant color. It's everywhere. Like a third-world Clorox commercial.

From a Blog to a Phlog

Ok, so I made up the term Phlog. I guess the technical "Web 2.0" term would be PhotoBlog, but I think I'm going to stick with Phlog.

I'm transitioning this site into more of a gallery with stories blog, where I'll feature a photo I've taken and a story to go with it.

This photo was taken in Africa a couple weeks ago as the ZAO Water team was about to board a charter flight from Nairobi, Kenya, to a remote gravel airstrip in Migori, Kenya, just north of the Tanzania border. From there, we took a truck to the village we would be working out of.

To Africa and Back

I've been intimidated to write a blog the past few days back in the states because there is so much to talk about. I feel like I wouldn't do all the stories justice in one entry. However, if I split it up into multiple entries, what do I write about first? Such is life.

I'm back from Africa, and tanner than ever. I didn't get sick like you would expect a world traveler to get sick, but I did get some mild sun poisoning. A bunch of small blisters popped up on the back of my hand and my forearm, and at night I scratched them because they itched, so they bled, and now I'm going to have scars that look like my hand got in the way of a shotgun blast.

As part of the ZAO Water Team, I documented the trip and ZAO's work there via photos and video. Right now, I've got about 4800 photos to sort through, and close to 13 hours of video to import. I'll be taking all that material and editing a series of promotional and informational videos for ZAO.

Knowing now what ZAO does on the ground, and seeing the impact that they have on the community really makes me excited about this project. ZAO isn't the only Non-Government Organization in Africa that digs wells and protects springs, but as far as I know, they are the only ones who have a local staff made up entirely of native Africans to maintain and repair the wells that break down. And they all break down. Now, I don't want to slam the good work that other people are doing, but something that most people don't realize is that when an NGO goes and digs wells, most of them just walk away afterward. They gave people clean water, and that's that. All things tend toward entropy, so when the pump handle breaks, or the seal dries out, the people in the community then have to go back to the water source that got them all sick in the first place. If no one maintains the wells and springs, then it's like giving someone a cellphone without a charger. It's good until the battery dies, then it's useless.

ZAO is unique in that they actually care about the community and the people using the well because the majority of the ZAO staff actually rely on their own wells for their own health. Suffice it to say, I believe in what ZAO is doing, so I'm excited about this project. Now, I just need a few more hard drives to hold it all.