When writing these blog posts about film photos from my travels it’s easy to select images because I’ve been in each place for a finite amount of time. Therefore, I only have a relatively small batch of pictures to choose from. But, when sharing images from my home city, I obviously don’t have the same constraints. While I’ve now lived in Asheville for over 7 years, I only found my way back to film photography a year and a half ago and even then it took me a few months to get comfortable again with street photography (I AM a rather shy person, after all.) However, I’ve more than made up for lost time. After much paring down, here is the collection of my favorite Asheville 35mm photos, all for sale here: Asheville Prints For Sale.

The main difference when looking at my travel collections versus these Asheville photos is that I’ve been by far more experimental here (which should come as no surprise, I’ve had much more time and no “I might not be back, better get the safe shot” to hold me back.) There’s a mix of everything I’m interested in: street photos, portraits, self portraits, architecture, classic black and white imagery, experimental color effects films, double exposures, and even a bit of social commentary sprinkled in. I’ve spent countless hours traversing the streets of downtown in particular (with occasional forays into the RAD and Biltmore Villages) I’ve attended festivals, gotten up early and stayed out late. Always watching for stories to unfold. Stories of light hitting my favorite buildings, of tourists enjoying the city and locals trying to do the same, of artists living out their passions. Sometimes, I’ve photographed simply for the sake of the experience rather than the product, enjoying the company and the artistic process, creating imagery to later remind me of these happy memories.

By no means is this a comprehensive illustration of Asheville. In a city that claims to be widely diverse, it would be foolish to say that a year’s body of street work tells the complete story of the humans of Asheville. However, it does wholly illustrate my own experience expanding my artistic pursuits in the city which has best fostered them.

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This collection begins with with the first roll of film I shot 3 years almost to the day after graduation (though technically the last time I actually photographed with film was for my senior show in December 2014.) This simple roll of one of my favorite black and white films - a thoughtful birthday gift from a dear friend - seems to be the turning point of my photography, when I fully dove back into the artistic side after merely embracing the commercial aspects of this medium for the last few years.

After these opening images - aside from being sorted by type of film - photos are in no particular order: preference, chronology or otherwise. My reasoning for this is simple: my journey has not been linear, therefore I don’t think it necessary to organize the photos as such. I simply displayed them in an order that felt right. Perhaps there’s an undertone of revolt against the traditional fine art need to have a reason for every action within a series of work. As a lifelong art student I’ve finally recognized that sometimes you have to just have fun!

I’m coming ever closer to owning a fully-functioning darkroom and once I do, some of these will likely be the christening prints of my space. Until then, they’re all available for digital reprint through my website. Enjoy!

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