Unapologetically Beautiful

Shahzia is back in town to help oversee the start of a mural she designed that will be painted on the back of a church on 9th Street. ArtWorks is undertaking the task of getting it done, so she met with the project manager and the rest of the apprentices early this morning.

Due to the heatwave, they start at 8 AM and work until noon. The church hasn’t seen an active congregation in years, so they’ve staged their paints and equipment on the second floor while they climb scaffolding on the exterior to do their work.

The light in this place is staggering. When it streams through the stained glass, it looks incredible. The hazy effect you see in this image is practical. Since the humidity is so intense, the change from air conditioned truck to hot outdoor air fogged up my lens such that I couldn’t use it immediately. I had to wait for the majority of it to dissipate before snapping a clear shot. I liked this frame because it’s almost completely gone save for the haziness on the left side of the lens.

The Hottest Job I’ve Ever Had

Xtek, located in Sharonville, makes huge metal parts for huge machines. The factory, originally built in the 50s, is a photographer’s dream. When they said they wanted me to come in and shoot their space and processes for artwork to hang on the wall, I could barely contain my excitement.

Unfortunately, we chose to do this during the hottest heat wave we’ve had in ages. When the high is 95ºF and the feels-like temp is over 100ºF, being outdoors is a challenge. When you’re in a factory under those conditions and it doesn’t have air conditioning, the outdoors suddenly feels like the better option.

And when you’re standing feet away from a 1700ºF furnace with its lid off and a glowing hot mass of metal is being extracted from it, you become acutely aware that the air around you is probably hotter than anything you’ve ever experienced.

I got my shots, but not before losing every ounce of water I had left in my body. When I got home, I immediately showered and threw my clothes in the washer. It was a privilege to get to photograph this place, and I had a blast doing it, but if ever I need to go another round with it, I hope we do it in January.

Curiosity

While standing on the stoop talking to Vince at his house, this beautiful white stray cat emerged from the greenery and sat staring at Myrtle. I crouched down and tried to coax him out, but he didn’t budge. He was keeping eyes on the dog and not paying much attention to the rest of us.

After about three minutes, he retreated back into the greenery and we lost sight of him.

21 Years

21 years to date of the anniversary of a bad day. Four of my friends in high school took a road trip to Maine and two of them never made it. A third ended up in critical condition but survived. The fourth walked away because he was the only one wearing his seat belt when the crash occurred. I am sure I’ve spoken about it in the past on here, but it’s a tough date and a hard memory to revisit every year.

I used to exchange texts with a few people every year on the anniversary just to let them know I’m thinking about them. I don’t remember when we stopped doing that. I don’t plan to talk about it at all today with anyone, honestly, and I’m fine with processing it alone. The core group grew up and apart, and I don’t know where their families are any longer. At this point, I’m not sure revisiting our relationships makes sense due to how much time has passed without contact.

I’m not the type to post about it to social media, so I’ll commemorate it here in this personal space. Craig and Tyler, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the accident. I have no idea if we would still be friends 21 years after high school, but I wish your lives weren’t taken from you so soon. I missed you then, and I still miss you now.

It’s a travesty that we couldn’t see your lives play out alongside the rest of us. Eighteen is too young to die.

A Scruffy Stray

Just a scruffy stray cat I found hiding under a car. He/she didn’t want to be pet, but didn’t move when I got down to grab a photo—so long as I kept my distance.

Inauguration

Ashley’s aunt and uncle were going to pay a hundred dollars to have their old mattress and box springs taken away to the dump. Seeing an opportunity to put the truck to the test, I suggested I come over and take care of it for them so they didn’t have to spend the money.

Aside from getting mulch earlier in the summer, this is the first time I’ve used the truck for a distinctly ‘truck’ task. And I have to say it feels amazing.

The dump was disgusting, but knowing we saved three figures to do it ourselves was worth it. I hope I get to use the truck again for something else like this soon.

Where the Tracks End

While up in West Chester, I drove down a nondescript street lined with office parks. At one point, I rolled over some train tracks and instinctively looked either way. That’s when I noticed they ended in brush on one side.

I know nothing about the history of these tracks, and I haven’t had time to dig into it yet, but it’s wild to see them suddenly disappear into foliage without warning. They’ve obviously been abandoned, but I wonder for how long.

Surprise Dog Wash

Myrtle was having a grand old time playing in the back yard with her toys and the hose when all of a sudden Ashley and her mom decided to give her a bath. As Myrtle is definitively anti-bath, I’m sure she didn’t appreciate the rollercoaster of emotions going from one activity to the next.

Familiar Work

Went back to CAM to slowly photograph the Farm to Table exhibit for their marketing team. I’m sure I’ve said it before on here, but I love working in this museum. Everyone is so nice, the spaces are always perfect, and I get to admire the work of artists while I create something new myself.

Can of Worms

When we had the alley door replaced earlier this year, they removed a chunk of the door frame where the old lock used to be. I finally repaired it with a filler piece, but it had to be painted to match everything.

Long story short, when I started scraping the flaking away paint around the area so it would be smooth for the new coat, the rest of the paint started effortlessly peeling away. Removing one piece ended up lifting its neighbor, so on and so forth. Now I’m in a situation where I am stripping the entire door frame down to its raw wood finish.

While this is obviously a nice way to extract more character from the originality of the house, it’s also a task I didn’t foresee doing, and I cannot help but think I’ve opened a can of worms for myself rather than fixed a problem.

Shaun’s House

Shaun lives in the house parallel to our backyard. I went out on the balcony to get a photo of the sky, and decided to make a quick portrait of the house itself. I’m loving how lush and green everything is right now.

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