graffiti

Graffiti can be beautiful art. This is a building at a stop light in downtown Nashville. It's a store but unfortunately we were in the car and I couldn't get the whole picture without getting J's arm.

Nashville. Life.

Before I moved to Tennessee, almost three years ago, I had this stereotypical image in my mind of rednecks playing banjos on their front porch, and the "old money" families in their white plantation homes, sipping tall, ice-cold lemonade on the veranda. I had briefly visited twice before but never really explored the area. Now that I've had the pleasure of living here, I see that it's definitely a melting pot of cultures, predominately in the Nashville area. Sure there are the stereotypes you'll come across here and there just like with any other place. I know Hawai'i has a lot of stereotypes, like, "do you live in huts and dance the hula everyday with your grass skirts?" My response: "Would you like me to slap you now, or later?" No, I haven't actually said that but doesn't mean I haven't thought it! But I digress... Driving through the narrow back streets of downtown Nashville suddenly gave me the idea to create a series of pictures that really shows what makes Nashville, Nashville. And possibly other vicinities just outside. I won't try to find the words to define what I'm talking about, but instead, let the images of the people and the world around them, speak for themselves. And so I call my new project, Nashville. Life.