From the Archives: People of Faith

I've been going through much of my editorial work in order to spruce up that site, which I hope to re-launch soon. In the process, I found my "People of Faith" images, as well as the interview with Frank Stasio on NPR. For those who aren't familiar with this project, I set out a few years ago to take portraits of members of different faith traditions, and the journey took me all around the South. I met the most fascinating people, and heard their sometimes heart-wrenching stories of soul-searching and faith. I recorded their stories to accompany the images. The clip below is from "The State of Things," a radio talk show on our local NPR affiliate in Chapel Hill. There are some wonderful voices of the people I interviewed -- you can hear them via the link below. Oddly enough, I received a card in the mail this morning from Mahara Dasi, the Hare Krishna woman whose voice and photo appears here. It was so wonderful to hear from her -- she just wrote to say hello.

Man, I love what I do. I get to meet the most incredible people.

Audio Clip from NPR's "The State of Things" about "People of Faith":
boomp3.com

Matthew Published in Fretboard Journal

Matthew continues to gain notoriety in the music industry, and he was recently sent on assignment to photograph Roger McGuinn of The Byrds (yes, THE Byrds). Here is a cool clip of Roger back in the day with Bob Dylan And here are the spreads from Matthew's article:

LanChi + Duc

Wendy and I had the privilege of photographing LanChi's and Duc's wedding in December. Duc is a dentist in Chapel Hill and LanChi is in her medical residency at UNC-CH. They held the wedding in Winston-Salem, where LanChi's parents live, because the traditional Vietnamese ceremony always takes place at the home of the bride and her family. They then followed with a traditional Christian service at a church that evening. You can read a little more about the Vietnamese ceremony and its traditions here.

This sign on the porch indicates that this the bride's family home, where the ceremony will be taking place.




The groom's beautiful and regal grandmother....



....and the daughter of a friend, who served as a flower girl in the church service that evening.

The bride's family waits on the porch in a specific order as the groom's family arrives, bringing gifts in red lacquer boxes...

I particularly like this shot of Wendy's showing the color and detail of the gift table...


Soon everyone was gathered to wait for LanChi to come downstairs in her traditional red dress...

She joined Duc at the front of the room to face their families, his on the left of the table, hers on the right...

Part of the ceremony involves the bestowing of gifts on the bride and groom, and LanChi's mother is putting a pair of earrings on her daughter...

After the ceremony, it's time to open the lacquer boxes, which are filled with sweet things of all kinds.

Alongside the traditional, there is also evidence of the modern and fresh...

The couple exits the house to a waiting Rolls Royce which will take them to the church for the Christian service in a few hours.

There's something very Mondrian-ish about this shot of Wendy's as LanChi gets into the car -- I love the composition, the striking red hat, and the smudge of fingerprints on the window.

LanChi later changes into a stunning Vera Wang gown and takes a few minutes by herself before walking down the aisle with her father.

The evening ended with a wonderful party and reception at a hotel ballroom in downtown Winston. It was a great day!

Grey Morris

I love these shots of Grey and his mom and dad, Ashley & Noah, taken outside the Carolina Inn in November. I had the privilege of photographing his parents' wedding a few years ago -- they were married in Mordecai Park in Raleigh in a beautiful Christmas-themed ceremony and reception. The historic church was a perfect setting for the pair, both of whom are architects. Nothing pleases me more than being able to photograph the children of couples whose weddings we documented -- it really feels like being part of the family!

Lindsay + Andy

Katie shot this wonderful wedding on New Year's Eve, which took place on stage at the Carolina Theater in Greensboro. Wow!

McAuley + Porter

Sweet McAuley, who appeared here on the blog a few months ago, welcomed a new baby brother Porter in November. Here are the boys just before Christmas with their beautiful mom, Meghan.

Featured in Real Simple Weddings Book

We've just found out the publication date for Real Simple Weddings, where two of our weddings will be featured nationwide. The book will first be available on January 10 exclusively at Crate + Barrel stores, and will then have its wide release January 28.



Matthew's Featured Wedding:


Abigail's Featured Wedding: