In 1925, a U.S. Navy vessel wrecked in eastern Ohio. Sixty years later, a wrecker driver memorialized the event that shaped his hometown.
works & works in progress
Projects
ground truth
Sometimes, the answers are right in front of you.
‘Nothing Sexier than Two-Stroke Smoke…’
The intersection of education funding, small-town culture, vintage motor scooters and mineral rights is messy and muddy.
representing the void
With the removal of Robert E. Lee’s statue from the Chapel portal and the recently announced decision to leave the space vacant for the foreseeable future, the unoccupied alcove is symbolically important and affords an opportunity for an onging artistic intervention projecting pivotal, yet under-represented historic figures who had an impact on Duke, Durham and/or…
A Mess of Feesh
Since February 2015, Dan Smith has documented the story of Eddie Willis, his wife Alison, their three year old daughter, Maggie and the dozens of family, friends and employees who work with them. Eddie, a fourth generation Harkers Island fisherman and Alison, currently appointed to the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission, are leading the effort…
no sight but thine and mine
An experimental short form documentary bridging the divide between cosmetic ocular prosthetics and cutting edge retinal prosthetics which have restored sight to Larry Hester, who was blind for more than 30 years.
2556
What is it that you love the most? Fusion. Fusion is the very heart of all existence. Of all matter. Of all love.
The Blind Pig
A dozen contemporary chefs from across the United States have a single day to produce a locally-sourced pop-up community dinner on the historical estate of Ebenezer Harker.
masterstroke
What is it like to make art using the human body as a canvas?
Follow artist Jon Son as he creates an original and temporary work of art.
All the Harvests of Tomorrow
The Land Loss Prevention Project, dedicated to saving struggling farmers and seeding the next generation, is, itself, in a fight to survive as the political, economic and agricultural landscape of North Carolina faces dramatic changes.
Camille
An ongoing collaboration with artist Camille I., to create paintings based on our photographic sessions.
sin eater
The sin-eater’s burden was simple: cleanse the soul of the damned by consuming their past.
Discards
An abandoned schoolhouse is left to time.
market|share
There’s no better place to the way food brings people together and catch some local color than Durham Central Park on a Saturday morning, even in the dead of winter.
the first corner
The high-speed world of low-cost endurance racing.
small-caliber wounds
An exploration of memory, mourning and the secrets we all keep, in the wake of the murder of rookie police officer Alexander Thalmann, in New Bern, North Carolina.
The Risk of Fun
Who knew having a good time would be so dangerous?
storytellers
An ongoing series exploring the catharsis of modern storytelling.
Bare: Conversations on Human Art
Oral history interviews with 52 contemporary American artists whose practice includes making art with the nude human form. Format: color, digital Runtime: 60+ hrs
the deep end
Candler Swim Club, an abandoned Olympic diving facility in Raleigh, NC is transformed into a home for grade-school swimmers, over the course of two years.
revelations
An ongoing series exploring form, light and humanity with the first artistic subject: the human body.
in memory
An abandoned farmhouse filled with memory is left empty by a family dispute after the death of a Durham County matriarch.
Remnants of Empire and Innocence
What we leave behind, what we bring away; what follows us forever.