Skyline

Court Square Lights

Veterans Day Parade

The Downtown Veterans Day Parade is always a fun and moving event to see. I used to march in it every year when I was in high school (band nerd), but the poignance of the event has only dawned on me as an adult. Vets of all ages watch and march in this parade, and the celebration is a nice token of appreciation for their sacrifices.

For more from the parade, check out the slideshow here.

September South Main Trolley Tour

Art, music, and revelry again for the September Trolley Tour.  This time, several of the contributors to this blog and other area photogs met up for some fun.  Oddly, I was the only photographer there who actually brought a camera along, so you folks are stuck with a few of my photos of the evening.

Let the Cat Out of the Bag!

[University of Memphis]  This weekend, all 100 tiger sculptures were unveiled as part of the University of Memphis's Centennial Anniversary celebration.  All of the participating artists started with the same shape, but from there the creativity was unleashed. These will remain on campus throughout 2011, and then will be displayed at various locations around the city.

Whole Flickr slideshow from the event here.

New and Old

[University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law]  When I went to law school at U of M, the old on-campus building was cramped, poorly designed, and constantly flooded.  This building, originally built in three stages between the 1880s and 1929, served as the U.S. Customs House, Federal court house, and Post Office over the years.  Creative and adaptive reuse by the U of M made it the majestic new School of Law, which opened in January 2010.

Important Words Outside the Madison

Welcome Home

I was a part of a crowd of about 1200 people at Wilson Air Center last night, assembled to welcome the Memphis Grizzlies home from their historic 2011 Playoff run. These guys grinded out more wins than anyone ever expected them to, and in the process created an amazing atmosphere of unity and pride in the city.  Can't wait for next season.

See whole slideshow of photos from the homecoming rally here.

Biblical

THE GREAT FLOOD OF 2011, this might be called.  Old Man River is now above 46 feet, and still rising.  Riverside Drive is now flooded at Beale, and will probably be flooded in other places by the time the river crests next Wednesday. Mud Island is noticeably smaller these days, and is still shrinking. The historic level of the Mississippi is causing tributaries in the area to flood. Nearly 1,100 people have been evacuated from their homes in Memphis.  Hopefully the worst of this will over soon, but Memphians may be dealing with the effects of this flood for quite a while.

Snowden CommUnity Festival

SNOWDEN SCHOOL put on a fun CommUnity Fesitval Saturday.  Lots of music, food, face painting, inflatables, and, of course, community spirit.

GRIT, GRIND, GRIZZ

These are shots from the the downtown experience of the Grizzlies' first home playoff game in five years.  The downtown spirit was amazing-- strangers hugging and high fiving all over the place.  Nothing like a scrappy, strong-willed sports team to bring a city together.  Grizzlies are up 2-1 now, with game 4 at the FedExForum on Monday.  Go Grizz!

MEET CHIP

Today, we introduce you to the humbly talented Chip Chockley. After mentioning the pressure he felt being among such talented photographers, he then joked that he needed someone to explain what the “P” mode on his camera meant.

THE SCOOP You probably know him best as the Memphis Rock-n-Romp official photographer but may not have known about the photography that he’s done for multiple publications such as Memphis Health+Fitness, Edible Memphis, Memphis Parent, Commercial Appeal, and Memphis Magazine which he credits to writer Stacey Greenberg. Chip got his college degree in philosophy with a minor in music from University of Memphis. After a couple of years waiting tables and playing in bands such as Garrison Starr and Native Son, he attended law school and has been practicing law for 10 years now, primarily civil litigation. Practicing law and having two kids, Connor and Chloe, sort of wreaked havoc on his music career ~ “I just had a hard time finding the time for band practices and late night gigs in smoky bars. Photography sort of filled that artistic void for me, and it was much more compatible with my life.”

PHOTOS Those shown above are various example shots he's taken around the country, again a little taste of what his street photography style has to offer, clean and context driven.

SPECIFIC TO SEEN MEMPHIS Chip works downtown during the week so his street photography will mostly document downtown life during a vibrant workday. His passion for food photography mixed in with the street context will produce many mouthwatering shots of people eating at various sidewalk patios, on the go, and soon from regularly stationed food trucks.

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