The Homeplace: Photographs From Historic African-American Hamlets in Kentucky's Inner Bluegrass Region My project is a tribute to the residents of these hamlets, a salute the elders who learned of slavery at their grandparents knees, endured the Jim Crow south, who lived 'separate but equal' and saw the decade of milestones and their impacts, including desegregation, social segregation, and ultimately the election of Barack Obama. The residents did much more than endure and survive negative circumstances; they rose above them and thrived.
Eleven years ago I stood in the middle of Frogtown Lane with a map in hand. I didn’t know a soul. Now eleven years later I know everyone on that lane and those who have passed away. Even when I am not there in the communities they are always right here with me.
Last spring before my lecture at The University of Kentucky, as the auditorium was filling up a woman I did not know approached me. She came clutching the newspaper article about my project and myself. A photo I had taken of her father Mac had appeared in the paper. We had never had the opportunity to meet. She thanked me we hugged, we cried and laughed about the “Blue Houseâ€, the bookie joint her father had run for years known to all. Especially to the men over the age of 80 who frequented it. Me lucky enough to have been there and photographed it, it now gone like Mac.
I think my work has grown as much as I have doing this project, so has my daughter who began traveling with me when she was just four years old. She now 15 and thinks it is normal to drive seven hours, photograph for ten, sleep for seven, photograph for another nine and sometimes have to turn right around and drive back home. But I like to think she has learned along the way as I have, the reward is in the doing.