Beauty Within The Cracks

Nov 16th, 2007

by newscoma.

Last night, I went to a photography exhibit at the local college to see a new friend’s photography work with SQ and Badger. I have to say, I was absolutely inspired.

My new friend, who we will call Robert as that is his name, has a day job running an after school program, which was the same one I read Dr. Suess to last week.

Now, why was it inspiring you might ask and I can say that the best way I can explain it is that I get bored and in routines that sometimes aren’t very exciting. You know how it is, you get up, you go to work, you stumble around in your day to day life and then you head home and order a pizza.

Yeah, I’m just as exciting as tofu.

But, with that said, Robert is one of those intense men who stirs things up within the people he meets. He recently returned to Hooterville after living a great portion of his life in Indianapolis teaching art. His parents are elderly and he decided to stay to be with them as there are a multitude of health problems and his dad suffered a stroke recently.

But, back to the exhibit, it was good. He took local shots of things I’ve seen my entire life (with a little Canon ultra-compact mind you) and I found myself looking at things in a new light. During the presentation, he had three kids and one matriarch of our community read small excerpts of poetry and writings. This took less than ten minutes, but all three of us just got misty-eyed. There was something buried in the small presentation, almost as if we were allowed to walk through a door and see things that were always there.

He had taken small little things that are in our world and made them special. The colors were vibrant, the pictures tight and focused. But there was more to it.It was a message of possibilities and hope, finding beauty within the cracks.

We dig our friend Robert.

Posted in: Tennessee.
Tagged: Beauty · Rural America