ephemera

DITLOA Citizen Camera - Vernacular Photography in Real Time

During the most recent Day in the Life of Asheville (DITLOA) on April 19, the project coordinators placed disposable cameras around town and let anyone who wanted take a picture.

As part of the project, I captured these girls using the free cameras at the corner of Patton Ave. and Biltmore (at Pack Square). The results from the citizen cameras were nothing short of stunning. The entire citizen camera photostream can be found on Flickr.

DITLOA is an open-ended art project created by a group of local photographers. Their goal is to produce compelling images while documenting a day in Asheville. I recently joined the group and participated in my first DITLOA during the April 19th shoot. You can see some of the images I shot that day, including the picture used in this post, on my photoblog, A Year in Asheville.

To me, the DITLOA project captures the essence of ephemera and complements perfectly the subject matter found here and on my photoblog.

Bumpersticker Van

 

Independent Book Stores - The Comfort Food of Retail

Right before Atlantic Books shut its doors in downtown Asheville, I bought a used copy of Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son from them. The owner wrote a receipt for the book very much like the one pictured here (except I paid $8).

There's just something about independent books stores, especially used bookstores, that I truly enjoy; they're the comfort food of retail.

We're lucky here in Ashevegas. Even with the demise of Atlantic, there are still several independent bookstores left downtown, including one of the finest in North America, Malaprops. You might not get a hand-written receipt at Malaprops, but you're liable to see a literary gaint signing books on any given weeknight...and the coffee.

[Photo attribution: Leary's image by Laineys Repertoire.]

Ephemeral Sky Over Asheville

The sky over Asheville on the evening of March 4, 2008, was beautiful. It had just rained. It was the first deep drink the Western North Carolina Mountains have had since the start of the drought that's plagued the region for months. As I walked alone through the streets of downtown, I was amazed to see so many people looking skyward. The ephemeral sky was more beautiful than any painting I'd ever seen or would ever see. And it kept changing, never remaining constant, but always more beautiful than the moment before. I took this photograph just as the light was about to give out. And it struck me that there had never been a sky exactly like this one and there would never be one like it again.

Asheville - Dog and Beer Town

I realize this vintage brewery ephemera originates from Norwich, but it incorporates the two elements that most closely represent present day Asheville--beer and dogs.

Asheville's 7th brewery is nearing completion. When it opens in March, it’ll be the 6th brewing company in the Asheville area. Asheville is quickly emerging as one of America’s great beer towns. For a city of its size (pop. 75,000), it boasts an incredible beer culture that not only includes numerous microbreweries and taprooms, but also one of the beer world’s great retail locations, Bruisin’ Ales, which was just named the #2 Best Beer Retailer in the World by RateBeer Best 2008. But that’s not all. It is also home to Asheville Brews Cruise, a micro brewery tour company.

The newest brewery, Wedge Brewing, is located in the lower back level of the historic Wedge Gallery building on the French Broad River, an area recently profiled in the national media for its emergence as a highly stylized arts district with a unique flavor. It’s also home to Good Morning America’s Best Bites winner, 12 Bones. Asheville was recently named the “Happiest Place in America” in the recently published The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World. I think you’d agree that there must be some correlation between that giddy designation and the growth of the booming beer industry in this remarkable mountain oasis which The New York Times recently called “the Appalachian Shangri-La.”

As for dogs, it seems everyone in Asheville has at least one.

Pinetop Perkins - Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen

Through dumb luck and quirky circumstances, I found myself virtually alone with the 94-year-old Pinetop Perkins, the last of the great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen, at the soundcheck of his recent Asheville appearance. Besides myself (and my wife), only the band members, sound guy, and the club owners were inside the venue at the time. It was one of those rare moments that send chills down your spine—an eerie sense that this really can’t be happening but it is. [Click over to my Asheville blog to see an image from the show.]

For most of the soundcheck Pinetop sat quietly in the seats near us, dressed up and clutching a cane, as he watched the band tune up. After a few minutes, Pinetop slowly walked the few feet to the stage, frail at 94, and was helped to his piano, where he graciously played his classic Down in Mississippi.

Even though frail, his voice was excellent, and his impossibly long fingers still smoothly moved across the keys. I’d forgotten what a truly great Chicago blues band could sound like. There is a huge difference between this level and lesser talents.

The highlights of the show were hearing him sing his theme song, They Call Me Pinetop Perkins, and a show-stopping version of Got My Mojo Workin'.

At 94, Pinetop's voice and piano work are still amazingly strong. Even so, it was like watching history, and knowing, certainly, that there would never be another opportunity to see a pre-war Delta Blues Master perform live again, which made the evening a little bittersweet for this life-long fan of the Blues.

Asheville Happiest Place - Geography of Bliss

I live a few hundred yards from Pack Square in downtown Asheville, the spot shown in this 1910 postcard. Pack Square is the epicenter of the blissed out world of downtown Asheville, which is one of the happiest places on the planet according to a new book called The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World.

I have to concur with the author--Asheville is a wildly happy place.

Recently, ABC's 20/20 program aired a segment with the author discussing what makes Asheville so darn exuberant. One of those things, in my mind at least, is Pack Square and all that surrounds it. The buildings around Pack Square, almost all of which still stand today, date from the 1890s and early 20th c. The park at Pack Square is currently in the process of a huge face lift lead by landscape architect Fred Bonci. The construction project begins this year. Bonci is bringing performances stages, sparkling water features, gardens, and original art designed by local artists to the park.

I've never been happier.

Faces of Asheville Portrait Documentary Project

Jenny G. Bowen, an Asheville-based professional photographer, is the creative force behind Faces of Asheville, a portrait documentary project that is "intended to visually document the eclectic and outstanding friends and neighbors who make up the core...as well as the zeitgeist of Asheville."

I recently had the pleasure of sitting for my portrait, which I hope will be included in the exhibit and associated book project. During my half-hour photo session, Jen said she hopes to exhibit the photograph in early 2009. She still needs a few hundred more participants, so I encourage anyone in Asheville or the surrounding area to schedule a photo shoot with Jen as soon as possible. For more details on becoming part of this worthwhile and exciting project, visit Faces of Asheville.

When I left the session, Jen handed me a note that included the words, "community and individuality are sacred." I think that perfectly sums up the genius of Jen's remarkable project.

House Hunting in Asheville

I've been reading a lot of real estate ads lately in search of a house or condo here in Asheville. There are a lot of homes for sale in today's topsy-turvy real estate market. So many, in fact, they still haven't sold this listing from 1914. Okay, maybe it's under contract; but seriously, it's been tough to find a suitable and affordable place even in this supposedly buyer-friendly market. Certainly, there are a lot of houses on the market, but none as sweet as Whiting's house "located on the most desirable street in Asheville."

And this 1914 real estate advertisement may provide a a clue as to why I'm having so much trouble: In the century since Whiting's listing, owners of desirable properties--on huge lots like this one--sold off the vacant land around their houses as building spots. So today, you have may have three or four houses on a property that once held only one.

This isn't ideal, folks.

I'll bet Whiting's house still stands, yet its doubtful that WM. S. Whiting would recognize it amidst the houses that now press up against it like the paparazzi around Paris Hilton. As proud as he must have been to own this four-bedroom home in 1914, I wonder what he'd think of it today. And can you imagine his reaction upon learning what the current owners paid for it?

Bono Wedding in Asheville - And the Beat Goes On

According to AP, U.S. Rep. Mary Bono, former wife of the late singer-turned-politician Sonny Bono, married U.S. Rep. Connie Mack here in Asheville on Saturday.

There was a definite buzz on Saturday in Asheville, but I had no idea the two famous congresspeople were getting hitched.

I'd always been a fan of Sonny's. (Cher not so much.) I felt badly when I heard about his untimely demise. But it's nice to hear his widow has found happiness. I'm pleased the famous duo chose Asheville as the place to for the wedding. I'm sure it was a lovely affair.