Driving my favorite part of Ga. Highway 83, it’s easy to lose track of time. With only an occasional house or rusted fence to break up the miles of pine trees, irrigated cornfields and rolling pastures dotted with anthills, driving easily takes a back seat to my thoughts. [Read more…] about Love Letter to Highway 83
Chattanooga Shootings for The New York Times
I couldn’t believe it. Not again. Not another rampage shooting where more innocent people lost their lives. The weight of it was slowly starting to sink in as I was making the drive a couple hours north to Chattanooga to cover this terrible story for The New York Times. The nation was still grieving those lost 28 days earlier, in another senseless killing, at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. But this was the reality — a 24-year-old Chattanooga man drove to two different military facilities on July 16, killing four Marines and a Sailor. The suspect, Mohammod Abdulazeez, was killed by police in the gun battle. It still doesn’t make sense — it never will. [Read more…] about Chattanooga Shootings for The New York Times
Omar Shekhey for NPR
Several weeks ago, I had the opportunity to document a day in the life of a man making a huge difference in his community. The assignment, for NPR, was on Omar Shekhey, an immigrant from Somali, who moved to Atlanta in the early 1980s to pursue an engineering degree at Georgia Tech. But Shekhey abandoned that dream and now devotes his entire life to helping Somali refugees in Clarkston, a suburb of Atlanta. Most of his day is spent at the Somali American Community Center, which he founded to help refugees with a variety of tasks, such as navigating governmental bureaucracies or how to find jobs. In the afternoon, he runs an after school program at a nearby church that helps Somali children with schoolwork and gives them a sense of community. He finishes the day driving a taxi, the same taxi he often uses to pick up children for the after school program. He hasn’t had a day off in years. [Read more…] about Omar Shekhey for NPR
Enter the World of Drag Racing Fans and the Nitro Experience
If you’ve never been to an NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) drag race, I definitely encourage you put on the list. Even if racing isn’t your fancy, the experience is unforgettable. First, the cars are the LOUDEST THING ON EARTH. Okay, maybe not, but pretty damn close. These 10,000 horsepower cars, shaking and rattling like they may fly apart at any minute (and sometimes do), shake your innards when they go by. I can’t even really explain the bone jarring power of these machines. Well, they go over 300 mph in a 1/4 mile, so that might help illustrate it. [Read more…] about Enter the World of Drag Racing Fans and the Nitro Experience
Hartsfield-Jackson Airport for The New York Times
Every time I pass through an airport, I find myself wanting to stop and take photos. The people, emotion, light, colors, it all comes together at airports like nowhere else. But it’s always so difficult to find time to take photos in an airport … there’s always the next plane or taxi to catch, or I’m just too focused on making it to my hotel and crashing that taking photographs is the last thing on my mind. But last week, I got a call from The New York Times to do what I’ve always wanted to — wonder around Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with a couple cameras and take photos of pretty things. So here’s what I saw there last Friday. (Caption for above photo: a plane is seen taking off from atop the hourly parking lot at Terminal South) [Read more…] about Hartsfield-Jackson Airport for The New York Times