9.1.20No SubtletyThis house on Taylor Avenue has a very bright, very intense light-up American flag hanging from its porch. While walking from Steve’s house, I passed it and had to take a quick photo. I think the dude who lives there may be a MAGA chud, so I didn’t want to linger. Those people are insane as is.

9.2.20McFarland OmbreWas on McFarland to shoot an art gallery, and the building across the street stole my attention with its color palette, grit, and faded sign. Might go back and get this one on film.

9.3.20Breaching the Art World AgainToday I went inside the Cincinnati Art Museum for the first time since the outbreak. I got a pre-opening press opportunity to cover the Hank Willis Thomas exhibit for Refined. There was barely anyone in the museum, and everyone in the exhibit was an employee. This hiatus was the longest I’d gone without visiting the museum in a long time.

9.4.20Great Way to Start the DayI used to think a bathroom trashcan with a lid on it was the mark of “you’ve made it.” Now I believe having an east-facing window in the bathroom on a sunny morning is it. No better way to start the day than with a shower under natural light.

9.5.20As Good As It GetsI’ve been working on this basement for over two months now, and I’m finally to a place where it’s as finished as it’s going to be for a few weeks. We still need to do a painting project on the wall behind me, but the rest of the room is finished. Before, a horrible drop ceiling and buzzing fluorescent lights made up the ceiling, so I demolished all of that and exposed the natural beams. I then placed decorative trim around the top of the walls to give it a look of intentionality. I white washed all the walls so they’d stand in stark contrast to the dark 90-year old beams, and cleaned up all the wiring as best I could by notching the beams and recessing everything I could, as well as rewiring a few things. All the unnecessary wires that were no longer powering anything were removed to clean it up, and everything in the ceiling was painted dark brown to match the beams. I’m going to lay here and admire how far this room’s come for a little bit.

9.6.20Retreat x BerryWalked over to Steve’s house to check out his basement. We’re going to work on fixing it up for him in the coming months. While there, we hung out on his balcony for a bit and I got to make a long exposure of the intersection nearby.

9.7.20New Faces on the BlockWhile picking up Myrtle from daycare today, I got to see the newest mural on Court Street. It’s a mural of women in leadership roles who have returned to the community after being incarcerated. It’s called “Time Saved vs. Time Served.”

9.8.20Ludlow’s Viewing PlatformPhotographed the train-viewing platform in Ludlow, KY today for Hub+Weber (architecture firm). I went four times during the course of the day. The evening trip had my personal favorite light, barely beating out the after dark trip. The warm, soft glow of the evening just makes everything look its best.

9.9.20Medill AlleyPhotographed Medill Alley in Northside today for work. I will never get over how bad Hamilton Avenue is for speeding traffic. A lot of the reason I really don’t enjoy going to Northside is because Hamilton Avenue feels so hostile.

9.10.20The Trash Can Wait…Yeah, that’s gonna be a ‘no’ from me, dawg.

9.11.20Seahorse HouseJust an odd house on Berry.

9.12.20Different LivingI thought this side by side of these two places was an interesting juxtaposition. Just off Eden Park.

9.13.20Bird BookJust an antique bird book with some of my antique cameras.

9.14.20Eric & LiddySaw them from across the street while at Darkness.

9.15.20Lil CujoAs I walked up Retreat Street, this adorable little dog watched me approach his yard. I had my camera strapped with an 85mm lens, so I stayed a little bit back and took his photo. As soon as I took one step forward after hitting the shutter, he started barking at me like I was an intruder. While he didn’t seem friendly at all, he was still the cutest dog I’d seen all day.

9.16.20Not San FranciscoIt’s a cute pink house on Berry Avenue.

9.17.20Bonus PupThis pup is named Enzo. He belongs to a man I know named Micah. While walking south-bound on Main Street, just past the Bay Horse, I saw Micah sitting in his PR firm’s office through the front door. A little baby gate was put up, and as soon as I stuck my head in to say hello, I realized why. Enzo came right up to me and wanted pets, so I obliged.

9.18.20Golden Autumn LightI was playing with Myrtle in the back yard, and the light was coming through the tree next door, spackling the side of 322B with a mixture of moving shadows. I thought it was a really pretty scene, so I held the ball over my shoulder so she’d look at me. She blinked right as I took the photo.

9.19.20Sunset on the FarmThe air got noticeably colder as the sun set on the farm in Ripley, Ohio. We are staying overnight in a tent on the property. It’s the same farm we visited back in April. Camping in the cold is so much better than trying to camp in the heat of summer.

9.20.20Sunrise on the FarmA scene from this morning, just after I left the tent.

9.21.20Little Aliem FootHave you ever looked at a dog’s paw? Like, really looked at it? It’s adorable and weird at the same time. Much different from your own foot.

9.22.20Dayton Flood Wall WalkWalked down to the Dayton Flood Wall to take photos for a story I’m doing on it for Refined. I liked this one a lot because it has movement, a dog, the city, gaudy single-family homes, and the elements of the trail itself.

9.23.20Night SessionPhotographed Nostalgia OTR for the architect this evening. I walked from my home, so when I got there, I was a little tired and hot. But I needed that walk to help ease my anxiety; today, it was announced that the cops who murdered Breonna Taylor would not be charged with her murder. Protests are happening around the US tonight as a result with Cincinnati among them. I’m not anxious about the protests, but rather the large swaths of humanity in this country who feel that being shot dead by police while you’re sleeping in your own bed at your own home is fine.

9.24.20A Better Night Than LastTonight was one of those great nights you couldn’t plan. We randomly hung out with our neighbors to the right of us on our porch, drank beer, swapped stories, and got to know each other. They brought their little dog over and it was really great. They seem like good people. Then, the neighbors to the left came home, Myrtle ran into the street to greet them, and we all followed. It ended up being the six of us and two dogs just hanging out on the sidewalk, talking and drinking beer on a cool autumn night. Everything wrapped up about 10 PM and we all went back inside our homes. I just feel so good knowing there are friendly people on either side of us. It was fun to hang on our little dead end street and have a drink with them. I really hope that happens again soon; that sense of community with others is healing right now. The photo of the ghost just makes me happy. His expression matches my own at the moment, and instead of going upstairs to get a proper camera, I just spontaneously whipped out my phone to get the image. Felt right.

9.25.20Charred HistoryI photographed some artifacts relating to the 1884 courthouse riot this morning at the Cincinnati History and Library Archive in the bottom of Union Terminal. This is one of the books saved from the burning building. I believe the librarian mentioned it was a recorder’s book. It was obviously badly damaged in the fire, but you can still make out the script on the pages. While I do not think it’s likely the courthouse will ever burn like that again, I do feel like government upheaval is coming in some form. Though it’s foolish to think it won’t happen, I hope no one loses their life in the process.

9.26.20PeeperI won’t go into details about why this photo exists, but all I can say is this little dog will stop at nothing to see what you’re doing, even when you’re sitting down on a porcelain chair.

9.27.20That’s the One For SureSometimes you see a scene and you just know it’s going to be the one to end up in this collection. When I stepped out of the parked car and laid eyes on this, I couldn’t avoid thinking about Daily Photos and how it was likely to be today’s entry. I loved all the colors, the old van, the LEGO-like building in the middle ground, and The Ascent peeking between the trees in the background. The overgrown, empty sidewalks just added even more to it. I wish I’d gotten this on film.

9.28.20Property SecuredWhen we bought our house, the backyard was accessible through a broken, rusting, old steel gate that connected to the wooden fence. Myrtle’s ball would often slip through the bars and into the alley, and it wasn’t latchable, which meant anyone could simply walk into our yard at any time if they felt like it. While Bellevue is a safe place, we didn’t especially like that our yard had an obvious access point. So, together with my father, we replaced the old gate with a wooden one that matches (at least in profile) to the existing fence. It’s lockable and no longer allows Myrtle’s ball to slip between the cracks.

9.29.20DIY WainscotingAshley wanted modern wainscoting on the entire wall behind the bed, so I bought a bunch of strips of wood, cut them to the proper sizes, affixed them to the wavy wall with finishing nails and screws, spackled and sanded the joints and imperfections, and painted everything a medium grey. Instead of having a big, blank, white wall, it’s now textured to give it a little more character. I like how the exposed beams in the ceiling spiritually flow downward along the wall’s thin strips and end at the parquet floor. I’ve never built anything like this before, so it’s satisfying to see it all come together.

9.30.20Stairs For MannyMy neighbor’s dog, Manny, cannot get up on the bed, so she asked me to make him some stairs. Here they are staged next to our guest bed. When I do a project like this, I often don’t touch my camera all day.