- William Hunton
F8 and Be There
Artist and Flower Mural
Always have your camera ready. I was returning home from an appointment and opportunity presented itself, twice.
You may have seen the flower mural painted on the wall that runs along the west side of West Paces Ferry Road, between Atlanta Road and I-285. I spotted the artist this morning. I made a quick loop around and I did a drive-by photograph. That’s not exactly how I like doing photographs, but given the circumstances, I still made the shot.
Then as I continued through Smyrna I noticed the young Osborne HS graduates in the park by the Community Center. So I quickly parked, grabbed my camera and called out to them.
So the creepy old guy with a camera asked if they wanted him to photograph them. They were happy about it. The virus from hell has caused most graduation ceremonies to be cancelled. These kids had been cheated by COVID-19.
I emailed one of the girls the photo to share, large enough to print at least 8×10.
Young Graduates
The best photographs are the ones you actually take.
I remember we were driving through Gainesville, Georgia to the mountains. This was years ago. There was a record store on a corner. (“Record Store.” An ancient commercial establishment engaged in selling large disks of recorded music in analog format. Another discussion.)
The building was painted white. On the side of the building on the white paint, someone had painted musical notation of the treble clef staff, lines, and notes in black. It was artistically done, not graffiti. A young woman was sitting on the hood of a car parked there, and leaning back against the windshield, enjoying the sunshine.
The image has been unforgettable. There she was, leaning back on the hood of the car with those notes painted on the wall appearing like they were pouring out of her dream.
I was driving the car. It was full of our kids being loud as usual, and us talking, and traffic was moving. I missed that photograph, and I have seen it in my mind for 40 years.
But I got these two today.
Selah