“I put love right in the ground.” That’s what Sister DeBorah Williams told me as I was photographing her for the 45 X 45 community photography project here in Atlanta. 45 photographers were asked to take a portrait of a single resident of the neighborhood they were assigned to cover. Each portrait represents one of the 45 neighborhoods connected by the Atlanta Beltline. These have now been displayed as a large-scale mural installation on the trail that connects them all – the Beltline.

I chose Sister DeBorah to represent her neighborhood, and I don’t think I could have found a better person to do so. She is a patriarch-like soul in that neighborhood, and Atlanta in general. The following text is what I wrote about her to accompany her portrait for the project:

At 59 years old, Sister Deborah Williams has been a resident of Atlanta’s West End neighborhood for 23 years now. She founded and does the work of an evangelist at REDEEM Community Outreach, an award winning, grassroots, faith-based nonprofit that is committed to improving the appearance and safety of the neighborhood. Her heart for helping and educating those in her community is infectious. I asked her to give one line of wisdom to those that viewed her portrait and she said, “We live by faith, not by sight. Faith without works is dead.”

This is what the full instillation looks like on North Avenue. The Beltline passes right over it.

It was my understanding that I was supposed to keep what I wrote about her to a brief paragraph, which I did, but there is so much more I could have added about her and my experience photographing her. She truly has a heart for service, and wants to have her hands in all things relating to the improvement of Atlanta. From organizing and running neighborhood watch programs, to teaching others how to organize and run them; she appeared to me to be a force against evil anywhere she goes.

In addition to all this, she runs a community garden right there in West End, which is where I took these photos of her. Her love for working in it is apparent, but that love for it is not just for her own personal fulfillment. She truly loves getting others involved; teaching them what kind of great things can happen in life trough solid and consistent effort over time. In this case, the reward is as simple as eating something delicious that you grew yourself. However, that lesson applies to so many other things in life, doesn’t it? “I put love right in the ground,” she told me in reference to her work with the community garden. She definitely does – in more ways than one.

The project required me to submit a tight in vertical B&W portrait. I really like the shot I submitted, but this series of shots I liked more. They just don’t fit for the specific artistic direction given for the shot. They don’t work as B&W, but in color, I love them. I didn’t tell her to start eating the tomato’s, she just did, and I started shooting as I was cutting up with her. I see these three images displayed as a series like this, but am going to include these three and a couple more below where they can be seen at a larger size. I love them.

This one is my favorite out of all I got of her.

When Max Blau of Creative Loafing interviewed me about the experience of shooting in an unknown neighborhood, my answer was pretty long winded, and he understandably couldn’t cover in its entirety. Here’s an abbreviated account to more accurately convey my feelings about it:

It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had yet as a photographer. At first, I was very hesitant about the idea of shooting in a neighborhood I knew nothing about with expensive camera gear. Doing so is a formula for getting mugged in some parts of Atlanta. This hadn’t stopped me in the past when it came to photography, though – and I wasn’t going to let it in regards to this project either.

Once I drove down there, I knew I was in a place I didn’t belong. Sister DeBorah, made me feel completely at ease – but – after we finished shooting I offered to take her out to eat. We went to a local restaurant and while waiting in line, I noticed a guy that was just glaring at me with hate in his eyes. I didn’t know him; I had said nothing to him, so I assumed it was due to my skin being lighter colored than his. As we were leaving I joked with her – telling her that I didn’t think my skin was dark enough to be hanging out around there. She laughed and told me I was crazy. I hadn’t mentioned anything about the guy glaring at me the whole time we were in there, though. There was no point in it, but I feel that if I had, she likely wouldn’t have thought I was so crazy.

I share all this because, the way I see it, it is relevant to the whole purpose of the 45 x 45 project. This goal, this effort to connect people together from various areas of the city that they may otherwise never connect with – through the commonality of the Beltline. Being open to experiencing, understanding, and helping others that are outside of the bubble that so many of us live in.

I’ve shared the scary part of the project. Now, I will tell you about the amazing part. I stepped out of my comfort zone to do it, and in a way, stepped into another comfort zone by doing so. I drove to West End that afternoon feeling completely stressed about so many other things I needed to get done for clients, but as soon as I got there, I realized I was exactly where I needed to be. It wasn’t just the amazing experience of capturing Sister DeBorah and feeling totally confident that I had gotten everything I needed – and then some – but, also the experience I had with the kids that showed up at the garden while I was there. It was all of those feelings and more.

I took this just the other day with my iPhone of her standing in front of the installation.

As a commercial photographer I have been paid to shoot all sorts of people, things, and places. It can be a stressful profession to be in, but the lifestyle and the check that can go along with it, combined with my love for photography keeps me at it. But, for this project, there was no check. I tell you though, the feeling I got from doing it – a dollar value can’t be placed on that. I got back to my place that night and felt so – alive. That’s the only word I can think of to describe a feeling that can’t adequately be described with words. There is an amazing sense of fulfillment and purpose you get when you are doing something you love, to help others understand and accept other people that may live in a different physical location than you, but live in the same emotional location in so many ways. Realizing that they’re not that different than you in regards to their core feelings: their fears, their passions, their faith, their insecurities, and their love for those they are close to. These are all feelings we experience in our own way. Understanding and respecting that is key to bringing people together with love for each other.

I absolutely love photographing complete strangers and telling their story, and this project was a perfect opportunity for me to do that. Brandon, Tim, Monica, and Aaron at WeLoveAtl.com – thank you so much for asking me to take part in it. It has been an honor.