June 7, 2017 Photography as Alchemy. Intentionality. It's the one word I set out to prove in my work every day, the one reason for everything that I capture within a frame. Within this frame are the little bits of magic that encapsulates the story. The frame is both alchemy and philosophy, it is both ephemeral and reality. Jackson, Mississippi at first glance appeared to be one cauldron of nothingness. Tall brawny strapping green trees that seem to have lost their purpose. Their branches no longer swing low with strange fruit. Empty street roads that meander along the busy train tracks muttering audibly to themselves about silent feet and abandoned buildings. I spoke to faces that followed the empty streets that went nowhere. I walked with them down Mill and Farish. I balanced their stories between the tip of my index finger and the palm of my left hand, carefully snapping their tales like dried twigs for the fire, burning the mettle of their souls into pure human beings. #whenlivingisaprotest #mississippiportrait #fujifilmx100f #fujifilmxpro2 #fujifilm_us @fujifilmx_us #ruddy_bw (at Jackson, Mississippi)