finding a better way...

just tryna be more creative and expressive aesthetically. i've been playing around with a series of collages. i love the ripping of paper and just cutting things out because i like them and them rearrange them to tell a personal story. i like these collages because they're not big and i tend not to overthink the process creating them.
this is another from my PUNCH CLOCK PROMISE series.

...more from daveed's imagination

i love this kid. his imagination knows know bounds.
unfortunately, my photos don't do his creativity justice,
but his blackberry with a sliding face made from a tic tac box
and some paper, is dopesauce!

daveed presents: CHD:WRLD!

the mini mcelvanes -nailah (age 13), daveed (age 11), and maia (age [4]6), are the coolest kids to ever grace the face of this earth!! you can't meet any one of these children and not have your mind blown. and really don't sleep on maia (the youngest) - she'll probably teach you some $#@! that'll change your life!!

and how fortunate am i?!?! they've adopted me as their big brother and target of their love and affection.
i felt i've been slackin' on my big brotherly duties and was missing my younger siblings, so tonight khalilah and i stopped over mama catherine's house and enjoyed a TACO NIGHT in our honor.

well, as i walked into the kids' room, i look around and am shocked to find that daveed has created CHD:WCK village - the innercity section of CHD:WRLD where you can find dinosaurs throwing helicopters into the CHD:WCK! houses (a dilipidated housing project), SUVS, cardboard homes, and billboards advertising CHDWCK.com. tears nearly came to my eyes!! how many of you have ever had a tiny village built in your honor? well i had to capture it. wanna see it? here it go!

document your creation

every artist needs to keep visual records of their work — to document
their creations and for insurance purposes. top quality images
help you gain access to juried shows, produce printed promotional pieces,
and to submit work to galleries.
anyone who has ever tried to photograph their own work will know that
it is a meticulous challenge in the best of circumstances,
and a downright waste of time and money if not done correctly.

you crafted the masterpiece! have professional images do your work justice!

lesson learned #52

unwrap the present.

jersey boy

it snowed last night and into this morning in charlotte, nc.

i may be from new jersey, but i've always believed that any temperature below 50 degrees is unreasonably cold. however, my girlfriend khalilah was really enthused about the snow

and convinced me to get out for a walk in it. we took a walk down the street to sedgefield park for the first time since we've moved to this neighborhood, so that was cool. but while i had my camera around my neck, i focused keenly on keeping my hands in my pockets. i took them out only long enough to capture this.

man stuff...

CHD:WCK! in Africa

two things i must do this year are see THE ROOTS live in concert, and spend a month in Africa. i have no idea how i am going to make my Africa trip happen, but i decided to create a collage to keep my goal in front of me.

lesson learned # 43:

the reason you don't adjust your prices for people is because the people you adjust your prices for, won't buy your stuff anyway.

still kewl azhel

still kewl azhel, photographer and muse, e.lisha covington keeps me wanting to hone my craft as a photographer. her eye is incredible, and since she's never without her camera, she's always ready to capture the most interesting images.
a few days ago charlotte had freakishly gorgeous weather, so we went out and caught some shots of the qc, then we captured each other on the wrong side of the lens. check out her blog. it's required viewing.

start the new year off... right?

new years day seemed like a good day to wander around the neighborhood and see if there was some new beauty to capture. the expedition found moderate success.

comforting (...at least to me)

as i get older, lengthy periods of time seem to get shorter and shorter - months blow by like days, and years like a few months. but no matter how fast time may fly by, a day always feels like a day. each new day gives me ample time to accomplish what i'm supposed to accomplish that day.

hey my man... what it look like

one of my biggest problems in life is i tend to think TOO much. i always want to know what something is going to look like before i get into it. instead of jumping into the project, the fear that it won't look or end up "right" is paralyzing. at the end of the day when nothing new is done, and i have nothing to look back on as progress, i feel defeated, my energy drained, and my momentum lost.

one thing i'm learning and trying to embrace, is that the vision is enough. just the fact that something MOVES me to create is sufficient reason to jump into it. the net will appear. there's no need to ask myself, "hey my man... what it look like?" when i jump into it, the resources will become abundant. people will cooperate. and when the door opens, everything will come out just the way it should. the final product will be amazing.

jelissa mone

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