True Romance

(that's the name of the movie they're watching)

Happy Holidays

The Neon Juxtaposition of Undulating Wave Thrusts

(Title by Tyler Culligan and Photo by Jeremiah Wilson)

How To Kill A Skeleton

"I just shot like 20 Pulitzers."

Atlanta was overwhelming. So much talent. So many photogs. So much beer.

The Sleeping Giant

“I have to work on hopes,” Wallace said of his carving. Although there are not always orders for his work, Wallace still carves daily.

The Sleeping Giant

Omelia Marshall, 89, is the mother of basket weaving on the island. Despite her age, she still manages to weave and entertain visitors.

The Sleeping Giant

Old Red Bays, once a settlement of Seminole Indians, was wiped out by a hurricane in the 1920s and is now overgrown with scrub brush and pines. Wilton Russell said that very few venture out there anymore. “’Dem bones white,” Russell said about the settlement’s founders, “but I still livin’.”

The Sleeping Giant

Henry Wallace sits inside his living room as his youngest son Kirkiettoe, 2, looks on from a bedroom. Wallace built the house himself and plans on adding a loft when he can afford it.

The Sleeping Giant

Wilton Russell threatens Jaheem, his 4-year-old grandson, with discpline if he doesn't behave. Jaheem usually lives with his mother in Nassau, but because he is "so bad" she sent him to Red Bays to learn manners from his grandfather.

The Sleeping Giant

After hiking through dense brush into an area of Old Red Bays, Wilton Russell stops to rest beneath an old metal shed. As a morning shower tings the outside of his refuge, Russell lights a blunt and shares his childhood memories of the area. Russell said that part of life is knowing when to stop and meditate on it.

The Sleeping Giant

Kirshan Barr, 1 and 6 months, sits in the doorway of Peggy Colebrooke's house. Colebrooke weaves baskets and sells them on her front porch to passers by, and Kirshan sometimes helps her by bringing the baskets outside.

The Sleeping Giant

Red Bays Primary School students enjoy a game of baseball during afternoon recess. Although they don't have "proper" equipment, the children make do with scrap wood and a tennis ball.

The Sleeping Giant

Swinging through the air from the wooden skeleton of an unfinished structure, Jaheem Russel, 4, enjoys an afternoon of fun in Red Bays. When completed, the building will serve as a work space for Henry Wallace, who carves on a small bench exposed to the elements.

The Sleeping Giant

Henry Wallace, 50, has been carving wood for over 30 years. In that time he has lived in Nassau, befriended Bob Marley, had work displayed in the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., and lived a storied personal life. His passion is his faith, Rastafarianism, and his art work. Here he kisses a woman carrying fruit, a piece that will go to one of his friends in Nassau.

The Sleeping Giant

A girl boards the bus for high school at about 7 a.m. in Red Bays, Andros Island.

The Sleeping Giant

William "Scrapiron" Colebrooke, famous for making baskets large enough to fit people in them, sits in his home in Red Bays. Colebrooke quit weaving due to the lack tourists willing to spend money in Red Bays. People come to hear stories and take pictures, but no one buys anything, he said.

The Sleeping Giant

I just returned from one of the best times of my life...Flyins in Andros Island, Bahamas. I'm going to try and post a new photo a day as I go through them. Let me know what you think...


School girls pose during recess at Red Bay Primary School in Andros Island, Bahamas.

Field of Dreams

I went to a bluegrass show on Saturday in Waldo with my roommate, Tyler. We danced and jammed to Wagon Wheel in a field for a while. Rock me momma anyway you feel...

Ducks

I dedicate these images to Andrew Bird, who taught me it was cool to whistle. Quack, quack.

Pura Vida

From Aug. 11 to Aug. 23 I traveled with three friends through Costa Rica. Our trip was whirlwind. We hiked cloud forests and zip-lined through trees in Monteverde, surfed sweet waves and layed in hammocks in Mal Pais, drank Guaro and swam at the base of waterfalls in Montezuma. The people, both locals and backpackers, were amazing and we all learned a lot about ourselves and the world around us through the perspectives of those we met. It was carpe diem; it was pura vida.


The night before we left, Adam and Charlie decided to finish a puzzle by lamplight.


Jimmy and I got up at 7 a.m. to catch the bus from San Jose to Monteverde. Unfortunately, it didn't leave until 2:30 p.m. Thus, we were forced to drink beers and wait at the bus stop.


Half way through our grueling 6 hour bus ride up to Monteverde, we stopped at a little restaurant so the bus driver could eat dinner. The rest of us used the bathroom, had a snack and enjoyed our precious minutes outside of the bus.


Pura Vida

After a long night at Amigos (a Tico bar in Monteverde), Jimmy and I joined the two girls staying in our room for a hike through Bajo del Tigre. Samantha and Lauren are of both graduates of UF. I guess the Gator Nation is everywhere.


Bajo del Tigre (Jaguar Canyon) has a rich diversity of flora and fauna. Thirty tree species in the area are among those in Monteverde that have been indentified as new to science.


The forest is at 3,400 to 4,500 feet in altitude and receives about 95 inches of rain per year. This is with a six-month dry season.


The Cecropia tree is one of the fastest growing out of the more than 600 species in Monteverde. It can grow up to 10 feet per year and is known as "the colonizer" because it is the first to grow in openings in the forest.


Pura Vida

The family that owned and ran the hostel we stayed at in Monteverde was amazing. Their two children would come and sit in your lap and talk to you in espanol and take you by the hand and show you around. I had a great time just sitting and talking with them (while Jimmy translated).


Daniel, 2, was constantly interacting with us. The family that owns the hostel lives in one of the rooms in the hostel, so Daniel and his sister are always around travelers. It was amazing to get such an intimate look at a Costa Rican family. 


In the afternoon the fog rolled in; then it rained. Daniel liked to play in the rain, that is until his father found him and made him get out of it.


Outside the window of the hostel, one can see the lights of Puntarenas City, which is on the coast. This is a long exposure showing the view at night.


Pura Vida

The zip-line tour took us through the trees and over valleys. On the last one, which was the longest, Jimmy and I paired up. It was quite a rush.


Self-portrait on the bus back to Monteverde from the Cloud Forest Reserve.


On our second night in Monteverde, Jimmy and I sat and watched the rain and downed a few liters of Imperial. When it stopped raining, we went to get some food. Jimmy found a spot on the road, sat down, and inhaled something - he still can't remember what was. It was a good night.


We left Monteverde at 6 a.m. the next day and headed for Puntarenas City. Charlie and Adam were supposed to meet us, but never showed. So, we wandered around the city, watched locals play futbol on the beach, and ended up waiting until 2 a.m. for the deliquent pair. It was pretty sketchy, but we stayed safe, gloria a Dios.


Pura Vida

Another early morning found Jimmy and I boarding a ferry in Puntarenas. The ferry took us across the Golfo de Nicoya and over to Paquera. There we waited for a bus to Mal Pais. In Paquera, a family launched their boat into the gulf.


We arrived in Mal Pais, ate some casados, went swimming, and went to buy some beverages. When we got back to our hostel, Charlie and Adam were checking in. We were stoked because we were afraid Hurricane Dean had prevented them from flying over. Surfing ensued. And then dinner. And then, at about 11 p.m., Charlie and Jimmy paddled out in the dark. Charlie led the walk to the water.


Heat lightning was everywhere in the sky as Adam and I waited on the shore. I set my camera on a rock for a 30 second exposure. It was a beautiful night. Charlie and Jimmy said that ther were luminescents in the water (little creatures that glowed when you touched them). Needless to say, it was a highlight.


Our hostel itself was the epitome of Pura Vida. Hammocks everywhere, pancakes and Costa Rican coffee in morning, and great people all day. I think we could have stayed there indefinitely.