SNAPSHOTS.

Focus doesn’t look the same for everyone. Some people define it by how close they get to a bullseye. Others measure it in the quiet discipline of showing up, day after day, with steady hands and a clear sense of purpose. No matter the approach, staying “on target” has less to do with perfection and more to do with alignment. When I’m behind the camera, I’m reminded of that constantly. A great shot isn’t an accident — it’s the result of slowing down, blocking out the noise, an

Long before bluegrass echoed through the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee, its earliest notes were already traveling across oceans. The fiddles, reels, jigs, and laments of Irish and Scottish immigrants didn’t stay confined to the old world — they came ashore with the people who carried them, settling deep into the Appalachian mountains where new lives were being built. Those melodies didn’t stay untouched. They mixed with African rhythms, gospel harmonies, work songs, and the

Some events don’t need big productions or flashy stages to feel memorable — they just need good music, good people, and a place to bring them together. This weekend at the Aquatseli Bluegrass Festival, all of that came together under a wide Tennessee sky. The soundscape alone was worth the trip: banjos ringing, fiddles weaving melodies through the park, harmonies rising and falling like they were stitched into the humidity. And while the music carried everything forward, the

There’s something honest about a set of old wooden steps. No polish, no pretense — just a path that’s been used enough times to show it. When I stopped to photograph this staircase, it wasn’t the structure that stood out. It was the story written into it. The boards are worn smooth in places, splintered in others. You can see where weather has taken its toll and where thousands of feet have done the same. People have come up these steps for every reason imaginable — rushing t

Movement and music have a way of speaking the same language, even before you understand their history. That connection is unmistakable when Highland dancers take the floor to the sound of the pipes — a pairing that carries centuries of culture in each beat, each note, each step. Highland dance isn’t just choreography. It’s history in motion. Long before it became a competitive or performance art, these dances were expressions of life in the Scottish Highlands. They marked vic

Some structures dominate the landscape not because they’re beautiful, but because they’ve become part of the story. The stacks at the Kingston Fossil Plant are exactly that — unmistakable silhouettes rising above the Tennessee River, solid and immovable against the hills behind them. Built in the 1950s, this site has powered homes, fueled industries, and lived through moments that are etched into Tennessee’s history, both proud and painful. Standing across the water, you feel

Some landscapes don’t need drama to make an impression. The Smoky Mountains are one of those places — steady, familiar, and still capable of catching you off guard when the light shifts just right. This frame happened in the late afternoon, when the sun drops low enough to weave between the branches. The trees opened just enough to reveal the ridgelines stretching across the horizon, each layer fading softly into the next. No noise. No rush. Just the quiet kind of beauty Tenn

Anniversaries have a way of slowing you down, even just for a moment. Today marks another year for the National Civil Rights Museum here in Memphis — a place built not just to remember history, but to confront it, learn from it, and let it reshape us. Walking up to the museum, you can feel the weight before you ever step inside. Not a heaviness meant to push you away, but the kind that makes you stand a little quieter, breathe a little deeper. These halls aren’t filled with d

There are moments behind the camera where the scene stops being just a scene. The light shifts, something familiar looks different, and suddenly you’re aware that what you’re photographing carries more history than you can fit into a single frame. That’s what happened here. The sun dropped low and cut through the stripes at just the right angle, and it hit me how much weight a simple piece of cloth can carry. Not because the flag is perfect, not because it’s beyond criticism,

Dandridge, Tennessee isn’t your average small town. It’s one of those places where the history isn’t tucked away in a museum — it’s woven into the streets, the buildings, even the way people talk about their community. Named after Martha Dandridge Washington, our nation’s first First Lady, it stands as Tennessee’s second-oldest town. And when the Scots-Irish Festival comes around, that history doesn’t just sit quietly in the background — it steps out into the open. Walking th

Rust Hall has always had a presence in Overton Park. Even if you didn’t attend the Memphis College of Art, you knew the building — those Mid-Century modern lines, the way it sat tucked among the trees, the creative energy that seemed to spill out of every studio window. For decades, it was a home for painters, sculptors, designers, dreamers… a place where the city’s next wave of artists learned to see the world differently. Now it’s entering its next chapter. Construction cre

Every now and then, Memphis gives you a moment that feels untouched by the rush of the day. No traffic noise, no distractions — just a still frame waiting to be noticed. That’s how this photograph happened. On a quiet Memphis morning, I caught a glimpse of the three crosses at Bellevue rising above the treeline. They’re hard to miss, even from a distance. Unmistakable. Unmoving. Whether you’re heading down I-40 or cutting through the back roads, those crosses are always there

There are landmarks in Memphis that are more than brick, neon, and music—they’re part of the city’s pulse. B.B. King’s Blues Club is one of them. If you’ve ever stood beneath the glowing crown sign on Beale, you know it’s not just there to light up the street. That crown is a reminder of the King himself—a symbol that anchors one of the most influential musical legacies to ever come out of this city. Even before you step inside, the place feels less like a venue and more like

This corner in Soulsville isn’t just a building with neon and brick — it’s where sound became soul, and soul became history. The Stax...

This weekend, I’m packing up the camera and heading east to Dandridge, Tennessee — a town that feels like it was built for stories. Each...

Walking through Rhodes College, I wasn’t expecting to stop. I had my camera with me, but I wasn’t chasing a shot that day — just moving...

Sunsets always tend to make me stop what I’m doing and just take them in. The sky becomes a canvas, shifting and changing faster than I...

Spent the weekend roaming the streets of the Cooper Young Festival, where creativity seemed to spill from every corner. The crowds were...

Each year, the skies above Memphis carry a quiet migration few people stop to notice. As the seasons shift, Great Egrets pass through...

There’s something powerful about the way music reaches us—how a single tune can stir emotions we didn’t expect or transport us to moments...