Carter Photography

Kingsport's "White City"

 

Spring is a beautiful time in Kingsport, but especially in the historic "White City" section of town.

Kingsport Tea Party

 

 

 

Spring Beauty On Pactolus Road

A Spring scene on Pactolus Road in Kingsport.

Neighbors

Can Your Newspaper Survive?

As one who spent most of his life working for newspapers, I am concerned at the recent news of major newspaper closings. Just this week the Denver Rocky Mountain News announced that it would be ceasing operations. It joins a growing list of noteable casualties: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Chicinnati Post, Albuquerque Tribune, Vermont Guardian, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, and Baltimore Examiner. Others that may soon join them are: San Francisco Chronicle, Tuscon Citizen, Miami Herald, and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Folks, these are major newspapers in big markets that have felt the mighty hand of change.  Other newspapers hope to delay the same fate by implementing cost cutting measures such as limited or no home delivery and publishing less days per week. The Detroit Free-Press now operates on a 3 day home delivery. The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) is only sold in racks and retail outlets.

What does all this mean to us in a small market like Kingsport, Tennessee.  Not much, unless you like reading the traditional printed newspaper. Just last week the Kingsport Times-News ran a survey on its online edition asking readers what effect not having their paper in a print edition would have on them. The results are sobering. It was roughly divided in three groups. One group said it would not have much affect on them. Another said they would find something to take its place. That leaves approximately one third of your respondents saying it would matter to them. Now admittedly, this survey was done online so it probably doesn't reflect all the print copy subscribers accurately, but it still must cause some concern.

Most newspapers hope to convert readers to their online editions and maintain some sort of presence in the market they serve, but that does not require the current amount of staff to produce. Already the Bristol Herald-Courier just up the road is requireing many employees to take 2 days per week off without pay. Can any measures hold back this trend

When I first began working at the newspaper, they all had individual personalities as unique as the town and editors that produced them. Each one was a reflection of the people and values of their readers. Then USA Today came along with lots of color and marketing itself at America's paper. It was a big success that didn't go unoticed by local papers hoping to beat back this interloper that was taking some of their readers. Thus, began the big homogination of America's newspapers. Everybody wanted colorful weather maps. In depth stories were no longer allowed. It had to be brief, short attention span type of writing. They all began to look like newsprint from the same litter. I wanted to be loyal to my newspaper, but which one was it.On the newstand they looked alike.

Then, I remember the staff meeting when we were told that we were no longer in the news business. We were in the information business! Okay, what does that mean?  We would attempt to publish a wealth of information on just about anything. We probably had that piece of info you needed, but it might be in four point type, so look very hard.

Other changes such as the rising cost of newsprint meant less space for editorial content ratio compared to news. Make the pictures smaller! Cut the copy!  Everybody wants their paper in the morning so no more kids on bicycles delivery boys. Distributon cost went up. All of these things were mere annoyances compared to the looming astroid about to hit planet newspaper. The Internet....the biggest change in information distribution since the invention of the printing press. The generation that has grown up with the computer as their primary source of communication does not relate to the printed newspaper.

Will newspaper evolve, grow new appendages and take a Darwinian leap into a hyperspace creature? Only time will tell, but the carcasses of the ones that didn't make it are appearing more frequently. If for nothing more than sentimental reasons, I hope they survive.

Friday Night Karaoke In Kingsport

I had an interesting evening tonight at the Junction 115 Karaoke Bar in downtown Kingsport. I had wanted to do some photographs there for quite a while and catch the Elvis act of Barry McCoy, a local fellow who loves the karaoke scene. There was a varied range of singers from awful to pretty decent performers. I personally think anybody brave enough to attempt a song in a room full of strangers is very brave. Barry eventually showed up complete with a dark blue Elvis jumpsuit explaining that he had just left a marriage counseling session because he is getting married in April. "Gonna wear an Elvis suit," I asked.  "Nah...don't wanna spill something on it," he replied. "They cost too much."  Barry has seven such Elvis jumpsuits in various colors. We watched a few singers and Barry did his version "Kentucky Rain" to round of applause. We sat and talked for a while as the music gradually changed from country to rock as the evening crowd became increasingly younger. It was a very entertaining evening.

 

 

 

Night Photos Of Kingsport

My latest forays into photographs for my own pleasure have taken me into the night around Kingsport and it's been a welcome change.  The challenges are much greater with the absence of much light on some of my subjects. Some of the photos much be imagined before they are seen since they require lengthy time exposures. The one above, for instance, was a 20 second exposure. The bright light on the trees was the only illuminated part of this picture.  The unusual color of the sky comes from the mass effect of industrial and street lighting around the city. While this site shows photos fairly well, to really see this photo you should view it at www.southernvisions.net to get the full effect. That is my new photo blog web site used for mostly showcasing photography. If you like the site, I would really appreciate a vote for the 2009 Photoblog Awards. There is a link on my site that directs you to it. It requires a registration so that only one vote per email is allowed. Again, your consideration on my behalf would be appreciated.

Stanley's General Store

 

I was driving through Darwin, Virginia yesterday when I came across Stanley's General Store. I can't resist places like this so I had to stop. It was about what one would expect with a couple of surprises. As for the expected, it looked like a general store with the usual stock. One thing they had that you don't get in the city stores though, sodas in glass bottles. An old slide top RC Cola cooler was stocked with just about any type of drink...all in glass bottles. Everybody knows that sodas just taste better from glass bottles, don't they?  I settled on a favorite from my past, an Orange Crush Grape soda. Ahhh, just the way I remembered it.  There wasn't any elder person running the store though. A young man, college educated, was minding the store. He said it had been in business for 101 years. Now, they mostly sell clothing and equipment for construction and mining customers and a few guns. "Can't hardly get any guns anymore," the fellow said.  He had a laptop computer to check on orders for guns and everything else. They have kept the old Texaco sign outside even though no gas is sold here anymore. I finished my grape soda and bid the fellow farewell. He warned me to look out for the coal trucks and to be sure to stop by again. I knew I would. Can't beat a soda in a glass bottle.

  My friend Randy Dieter did one better on my moon photo from yesterday. Randy specializes in digital photo manipulation and his work is awesome.  Randy is a former photojournalist who has found a new passion and artistic medium.  You can view more of his work his facebook site:    http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=598194863&v=photos&viewas=637164135

 

It's been a beautiful day and a great moonrise to top it off.

Color Or Black & White

When I first started out in photography the choice of film for work was strictly black & white since most newspapers did not print color at that time. We've gone through full color papers and now digital photos, but sometimes I miss the simplicity of black & white photography. I have been reminded of this lately because of the old photos I have been posting on my photo blog  www.southernvisions.net 

Today I made some photos in Appalachia, Virginia at the Appalachia Food Bank which distributes commodities to the area's needy.  I met a volunteer, William Tex Parsons, and shot several photos of him as he stood outside their building with baked items in a couple of grocery store shopping carts. Their building ( and old church building) had been damaged by fire the day before and they were making do with putting items outside.  Mr. Parsons told me he was named after Hank Williams and Tex Ritter. But, I digress...back to the subject of this post.  When I decided on the photo I liked best I looked at it as both a color and black & white photo.  I decided I liked the black & white version better because it made me look at the content of the photo rather than be distracted by the bold colors.  While I love color photos, I remember the most powerful documentary photos of Life and Look magazines as always being black & white images. Indeed, my favorite photos are the old black & white photos of my early days in photojournalism. I know I am prejudiced against color for some types of photography so I am posting the color version on this site and the black & white version at the www.southernvisions.net   site so they can be evaluated in their own space.  I would be curious to know your opinion.

 

Testing The Sensabaugh Tunnel Legend

 Sensabaugh Tunnel in Hawkins County near Kingsport is one of those places that folks around here have at the top of their list of haunted places. The legend has many versions, but they all maintain that a small child, possibly a baby, ended up getting killed in the waters that run through the tunnel. It's a creepy place even in the daylight, but at night it looks like a haunted place. The tunnel is about 150 feet in length and serves to enable traffic to pass under the CSX railroad. Accompanied by my sons Matthew and Andrew, we spent some time at the tunnel this weekend. We made some photos using on the headlights from my car and a few passing vehicles.  In the above photo, the inside of the tunnel is lit by the headlights of a car inside the tunnel. Matthew said the word around his school is that if you stop your car inside the tunnel and turn off the ignition, it would not restart.  After getting all the photos I needed, we decided to test the theory. We drove into the tunnel and shut off the car. We sat there a few minutes just listening for any unusual sounds. The rushing of the water beneath the car was the only sounds we heard. The car started up without any problem and we drove back out of the tunnel. There was one unusual thing however. Just off the road, a horse began a strange whinny noise of the type they make when something is very wrong.  We hadn't heard the horse the whole time we were making photos. There had been silence except for the sounds of the water. "Something is wrong," I said to the boys. "Something has that horse really upset."  We could not see the animal in the dark field beside the road. I don't know if the horse's cry in the dark had anything to do with the legend of the tunnel, but it didn't make a sound until we stopped the car inside the tunnel to test out the legend.

Getting The Fields Ready For Spring

 

Coming down highway 23 in Virginia today I noticed a farmer out working in the field just off the road. Since he is the first person I have spotted doing such a thing this year, he caught my interest. I turned around and drove back to see more. He spotted me stopped along the road and looked up.  I waved and he waved back. "Can I come over," I shouted. He waved me over with a wave of his hand. The man stopped working as I walked up the dirt path that lead to his field. "You're that photographer fellow from over at Kingsport," he said in a matter of fact manner. "How'd you know that," I asked. Seems I had taken some photos of him and his giant pumpkins many years back.  He got his picture in the newspaper and he had never forgotten about it. As we talked, I got reacquainted with Cline Qualls of Speers Ferry, Virginia. Apparently the newspaper photo had made him a celebrity for a time. He was spreading mulch and generally getting his garden fields ready for spring planting. He still grows the big pumpkins, along with corn, strawberries, onions, potatoes, etc....you get the picture. But, the vegetable he was proudest of today was sweet potatoes. "I've got this kind of potato that nobody's seen before," he said. "I sent it off to a fellow who examined it and said he'd never seen one just like it either.  He put it in his catalog and named it after me."  Mr. Qualls has spent most of his 76 years growing something or other and enjoying it.  "Except," he explains, "nowadays I have to watch that people don't steal my things."  He told me a story about one incident in particular. A woman had tried to purchase a large pumpkin from Mr.Qualls, but he needed to keep it for the seeds to plant the next year. The woman asked how he would even move the pumpkin anyway. He told her about rolling it onto a blanket and having someone help pick it up by holding the corners of the blanket. The woman left and next morning his pumpkin was gone. "Doggone if I didn't even tell her how to steal it," he laughed.

Caught Taking Train Photographs

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As someone who has been hasseled and threatened with arrest during my time as a newspaper photojournalist, I can relate to this situation.

An Invitation To A New Project

I would like to invite anyone who has been following this blog to a new project of mine. I have long wanted a photoblog just for the purpose of displaying some of my old work along with new photos. I have been impressed with the work of some others who use mostly photos and they have inspired me to give this a try. I The new site is called  www.southernvisions.net  and I hope you will take the time to give it a look.  It is still in its infancy, but the general look is pretty much established. Readers of this blog will recognize some of the older photos as I post them on the new site. Please bear with me as I transfer some of my favorites. Comments and suggestions are appreciated and encouraged as I am still working on this idea. With all the places and things to see on the Internet, I thank those of you who have taken the time to visit my blog.

Snowy Day In Kingsport

It was a snowy day in Kingsport, but the amount on the ground didn't last very long. I made this photo in Borden Park while out enjoying the snowfall.  

What The Hell Were They Thinking?

I run a YouTube search for Kingsport related videos on a regular basis just to see what's going on around the area. Tonight I found a video just uploaded today that was just too funny ( watch it and you'll get the subtle humor ) and incredible because of the content of the video.  It shows a couple of guys (Fred and Daniel )smoking a joint and their comments. A companion video shows one of them rolling a joint. I say why waste your time with YouTube, just invite the cops overs for a personal demonstration.  Makes you shake your head and wonder....

The Changing Face Of Appalachia

Most of the changes in the Appalachian region have been as gradual as the slow trickle of a mountain stream, hardly noticeable to those who live in that part of America. Everything comes in seasons except the steady flow of coal that after a long down period is now much in demand. Virginia City, an anonymous community a few miles from St.Paul, Virginia had not seen much activity since the early 1900's when it was a bustling coal town. The only remaining evidence of that era is the small, one room Virginia City Presbyterian Church which sits just off Highway 58.  Records say the church was constructed in 1895 which makes it 113 years old. For the better part of the last century it stood on the hillside still serving its original purpose. When Old Dominion Power Company announced plans for their clean coal plant nearby I wondered if the little church would survive. I drive by that location occasionally and kept watching as the construction began on the massive project. Protests, regulatory obstacles and even the weather could not slow the change that was coming.  As the surrounding land gave way to the graders and earth movers the quiet community became a hive of activity and change was coming like a flash flood down a mountain holler. Then, one day the earth around the church had been cut back. I thought this was the beginning of the end for the little church. Probably the next time I came by it would be gone. But, wait...there was new gravel in the church parking lot. There were lights so it could be seen at night. Little did I know that the church is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and thus safe from the onslaught of construction that is coming so close to its door. Indeed, it is the very embodiment of change, Old Dominion Power Company that is helping to preserve this symbol of faith from the early coal camps of Appalachia.  They cleared land around the church to give it more visibility and helped improve the parking lot.  In fact, it is only fitting that Virginia City Presbyterian Church be around to witness the change since it originally began with the donation of land by a coal company for a church that was also used as a school house. Like that flash flood that washes away most everything in its path, but leaves a single flower rising skyward as a symbol of resistance to change, this little church remains a constant symbol in a world of change.

   

 This smokestack will eventually rise 500 feet into the sky when the plant is completed.

Searching For That Elusive Vision

My Odyssey through a life in photography all began with a book in my high school library. Bored as I usually was sitting in study hall, I would search out something from the adjoining library to pass the time before my next class. Having run out of the usual assortment of magazines and newspapers, I turned to the nearest shelf of books. It just happened to be the section containing a book about photography. As I browsed through the pages I came upon one particular photo that changed my life. It wasn't the kind of image I would have expected to cause such an impact. A beautiful winter scene of a country field in the snow caught my eye.  The more I studied the photo, the more I liked what I was seeing. I thought it was one of the most amazing pictures I had ever seen.  The bell rang for class change and I put the book away and ran to grab my books and hurry off to my next class. I returned the next day to study the picture again. Something about it just wouldn't let go of me. "I want to make pictures like that," I told myself. The seed was planted. It took time to germinate, but there was no stopping my desire to learn more about photography. I would come back to that book in the library many times for inspiration.  It may sound awful, but I wish now that I had simply stolen that book. I don't even remember the title.  But, I have a clear vision of that picture in my mind and on snowy winter days like today I look for that image when I am out driving around the area. I really don't expect to find the same scene, but it reminds me of how my desire to capture photos of the world around me first began. Every photographer probably has a similar story of the thing that inspired them to take up a camera.  I spent this afternoon wandering the back roads just looking for my vision. I didn't find it, but I made a few photos along the way anyhow. I probably will never find that vision, or that old book, but I will have the satisfaction of looking.

   

iPhone User Captures Hudson River Plane Crash Photo

It goes without saying that we are becoming the most documented generation in history.  With the proliferation of digital cameras, camcorders, and cell phone cameras no spot is private anymore. It was just such an iPhone user that captured and posted one of the first photos on the Internet. After posting, it was purchased by Associated Press and distributed around the world. At the right, you can see the original photo complete with the smear on the photo from a dirty lens on the iPhone. Below is the photo as it was used in a couple of newspapers and a story about the event from the New York Daily News.

 

Meet jkrums, Twitter hero.

Known as Janis Krums in the real world, jkrums (as he's known on the popular micro-blogging site) set off an Internet firestorm Thursday when he posted an image of passengers huddled on the wing of a US Airways plane – only moments after the aircraft plunged into the Hudson River.

“There's a plane in the Hudson. I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy,” wrote Krums in a 3:50 p.m. “tweet” heard ‘round the world

Krums, who according to his Twitter profile lives in Sarasota, Fla., was on a nearby passenger ferry.  He managed to snap the shot and post it on the photo-sharing Web site TwitPic.com before hopping off the boat to help shepherd passengers to safety.

After posting his photo, Krums disappeared from the Web to help the survivors. Meanwhile, nearly 40,000 Web users viewed the photo in the first four hours. Thousands of fans filled more than 100 screens with replies to Krums’ Twitter account, congratulating him on his foray into citizen journalism. Thousands more - including mainstream news sites - created links to the image, crashing TwitPic for much of the afternoon.

Krums wasn’t the only amateur reporter that got Twitter buzz. Hundreds of Flickr users posted photos within moments of the crash. One of them, Queens resident Gregory Lam, earned props for posting another early image from the crash - his shot shows the plane bobbing on the river’s surface, its wake still visible, before rescue arrived.