documentary photography
Local artist Michael Brown's moonlight mural coats the the east side of the former Yates Motor building on West Franklin Street, which at one time also served as a stage for public art. These days, the building houses the Carolina Ale House, which serves up burgers, barbecue and baby backs -- during warmer months, al fresco.
(photographs taken on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill)
(photographs of the Chapel Hill - Carrboro Holiday Parade taken on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill)
(photograph taken on the corner of Franklin and Columbia streets in Chapel Hill, NC)
Seeking UNC vs. Duke University football tickets hours before the game. UNC prevailed 66 to 31. Most points ever scored against Duke.
(photographs taken on the corner of Franklin and Columbia streets in Chapel Hill, NC)
(photograph taken on Franklin Street between Columbia and Henderson streets in Chapel Hill)
(photograph taken on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill)
(photograph taken on Franklin Street between Columbia and Henderson streets in Chapel Hill)
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way - things I had no words for.”
Bold cups stacked in rows of colors emblazon the railings on Franklin Street. Look closely to uncover hand-written mantras in corresponding hues. The premise is to evoke emotion via bursts of color — inspired by Tibetan Prayer Wheels. The Color it Positive art installation by Helen and Mike Seebold is part of Windows on Chapel Hill’s pop-up art exhibits springing up through June throughout downtown Chapel Hill to showcase local artists and bolster the city’s vigorous arts community. The initiative is a collaboration between the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, Town of Chapel Hill Public and Cultural Arts Office, and smArts Creative Programs & Events. Check out more of Helen’s work at littleflowerart.com.
(photographs taken on Franklin Street between Basnight Lane and Kenan Street in Chapel Hill)
"This is about the Foo in you. If everyone let the child in them come out, the world would be a better place," declares Foo, (short for Matthew). His New York accent slips through the gnawed cinnamon stick in his mouth and he concedes his roots are in the part of Manhattan "where the hippies are from." Foo had been at the PTA Thrift Shop in Carrboro earlier that afternoon where he purchased the oversized teddy bear -- flopped over his handlebars -- for "a friend with a hole in her heart."
(photographs taken on Franklin Street between Basnight Lane and Kenan Street in Chapel Hill)
(photograph taken on the corner of Franklin and Columbia Streets in Chapel Hill)
Hats off to the Varsity Theatre and those who contributed to its digital campaign. Looks like the beacon will be burning bright on Franklin Street after all. The historic Chapel Hill landmark launched a $50,000 community campaign to raise money to purchase equipment to transform one of its theaters into a digital screen from the classic -- to some, soothing sounds of -- clicking film reels. Now on overdrive, the additional contributions will be applied towards converting its second screen.The above image is of a film short shown prior to a feature film at the Varsity.
(photographs taken on Franklin Street between Columbia and Henderson streets.)
"I've heard everything: 'nice weiner! -- I love your weiner! -- can I see your weiner?' Anything like that," Anthony says. "It doesn't bother me. I just laugh. I probably hear it a few times a day." The UNC student dons the dog duds a couple of times a week and with earbuds firmly in place, he gyrates, hustles and sidesteps for two-to-three hours at a time at the entrance of Sup Dogs restaurant on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill.
"I love making people laugh and now I get paid to do it." he says. "It's really cool. People come up to me all the time and dance with me."
What tunes keep him shuffling his feet? KC and The Sunshine Band on Pandora.
Right on.
(photographs taken on Franklin Street between Columbia and Henderson streets)
(photograph taken at the Blue Horn Lounge on Franklin Street between Columbia and Henderson streets in Chapel Hill)
“Susie’s Galoshes
Make splishes and sploshes
And slooshes and sloshes,
As Susie steps slowly
Along in the slush.
They stamp and they tramp
On the ice and the concrete.
They get stuck in the muck and the mud;
But Susie likes much best to hear
The slippery slush
As it slooshes and sloshes
And splishes and sploshes,
All round her galoshes!”
(photographs taken on the corner of Franklin and Columbia Streets in Chapel Hill)
The Varsity could have an alternate ending. The landmark Chapel Hill movie theater with the vintage vibe and glowing marquee is receiving pressure from technology to go digital or go dark. Over the past few years, motion picture studios have started distributing movies strictly as digital prints stored on hard drives, rather than film on reels. Economics has fueled the shift. The cost of releasing one film reel is equivalent to about 15 digital copies. While cost effective for studios, independent theaters are forced to shut down given the major hurdle to purchase a digital machine -- upwards of $100,000.
Built in 1927, the Franklin Street theater is one of the oldest in North Carolina. Though ownership and names have shifted -- starting with the original Carolina Theater, followed by the Village Theater before becoming the Varsity -- the Sorrell building has always housed a movie theater. In 2009, Paul and Susan Shareshian renovated the Varsity to offer affordable entertainment (movie tickets are $4) and a space for community events (local film premieres, fundraisers).
The duo is determined to raise enough money to convert one of the two screens to digital and stay alight. They have launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to raise $50,000. So far, they are half way there. The campaign ends in February 2015. To donate and sign up for updates: VarsityGoesDigital.com. To catch what's playing: VarsityonFranklin.com.
Keep the beacon aglow on Franklin Street.
(photographs taken on Franklin Street between Columbia & Henderson streets in Chapel Hill)
“Underneath the poet tree,
Come and rest awhile with me,
And watch the way the word-web weaves
Between the shady story leaves.
The branches of the poet tree
Reach from the mountains to the sea.
So come and dream, or come and climb –
Just don’t get hit by falling rhymes.”
(photographs taken on the corner of Franklin & Columbia streets in Chapel Hill)
(photographs taken on the corner of Franklin & Columbia streets in Chapel Hill)
Reproduced in repetition on this umbrella is Van Gogh's The Starry Night (1889). It is perhaps the artist's best-known piece. The painting depicts the night sky outside Van Gogh's window during his stay at a mental institution in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. Van Gogh committed himself to the hospital in 1889 after he severed his ear with a razor. He later delivered the ear wrapped in paper to a brothel he frequented. It was at the hospital that he arguably created his best work including the blue self portrait.
(photograph taken on the corner of Franklin and Columbia Streets in Chapel Hill)
