Pixelated Banter

No more cigarettes …

jnix43125 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:13:23 +0000

Cutline: Philip Morris employees Sharon Johnson, left, and Mary Kendall say goodbye after their shift ended on the final day of production at the Concord cigarette plant Wednesday July 29.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 marked the end of an era in Cabarrus County. Cigarette giant Philip Morris closed its Concord factory which had been a major employer in the county since 1982. It was not a shocker though, Philip Morris announced its plans to close almost two years ago. It had originally planned to stay open through next year, but decided a few months back to close this summer.

Ironically, Philip Morris’ final day of production was one day short of the six-year anniversary of the abrupt closure of textile giant Pillowtex in Kannapolis (July 30, 2003). Many of the laid-off Pillowtex employees found jobs with Philip Morris only to be out of a job again six years later.

On the plus side, Philip Morris has been very good to its employees, handing out generous severance packages to many. Some employees were able to move to the company’s only remaining factory in Richmond.

About the image above, the company’s PR representative brought several employees out to the front gate to speak with us at the end of their shift. We were about to speak with Mary Kendall when Sharon Johnson pulled up in her truck and jumped out to hug her.

An Apple A Day Helps You Catch Fly Balls

jnix43125 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:15:28 +0000

This frame is from the Kannapolis Intimidators game against the Delmarva Shorebirds at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis July 7th. The outfield wall of the stadium is covered with ads and while it normally makes for a messy backdrop on outfield plays, I thought it added a little humor to this frame.

Fourth of July in Harrisburg

jnix43125 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:25:54 +0000

Over the Fourth of July Weekend, between cookouts and games with my family, I spent some time at the Harrisburg Fourth of July celebration at Harrisburg Park.

I spotted this man in the American flag shirt standing by a row of red, white and blue balloons and fortunately he stayed put during an invocation and I was able to make this frame.

I went over to get his name, Craig Hagler, and it turns out he is the father of Harrisburg’s mayor, Tim Hagler, and was there for a cow milking competition. I could not stay for the cow milking, but I did like this frame.

Michael Eury is Batman …

jnix43125 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:17:50 +0000

I met Michael Eury about a year ago when the Independent Tribune first did a story on him becoming the new executive director of the Historic Cabarrus Association and running the Concord Museum. At the time I photographed him in the Concord Museum and while talking with him I learned he was a former editor at DC Comics and a huge Batman fan. Having a bit of working knowledge in super hero lore (I had my comic book phase as a child), talking with a true historian was pretty interesting. At the time I told myself I would love to photograph him with his personal batman collection.

Fast forward to this week. I find out from our non-profit reporter that Eury is planning on hosting an “Art of Batman” exhibit at the Concord Museum during the city’s art walk. I had my chance to photograph Eury and his collection. He had a ton of stuff from old toys to books to this 1970s (I think) plastic batman mask. I spent a good hour at least looking at every angle trying to make something interesting. Unfortunately he had so much stuff (not all batman) that any thing I did to show the extent of his collection would look very cluttered. Finally he offered to take his mask out of its case and I found the one wall in his home without a frame on it and made this image. I don’t want to make his home sound cluttered, it was actually all very tasteful, it just would not transfer to print very well.

And once again I had a fascinating discussion about Batman with someone who really knows his stuff.

Cornhole

jnix43125 — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:05:33 +0000

Here is one from a few weeks ago I came across while doing some archiving. During NASCAR’s Memorial Day weekend Coca-Cola 600, an upstart organization from Cornelius, NC, called the National Tailgaiting League held it’s inaguaral cornhole tournament across from Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

While taking a break from the long weekend of race covereage, I headed over to the tournament to make some images. Some of these guys are pretty serious about the game, which I have played from time to time at family picnics. I was unaware there isactually a group out there called the American Cornhole Organization that holds national and the guy who won the NTL tournament is the reigning national champion.

Football Camp

jnix43125 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:11:30 +0000

Summer is here and that means summer camps. For these Kannapolis teenagers, a couple of days at A.L. brown High School running through offensive line drills with strength coach Todd Hagler is in store.

I went out to Kannapolis Memorial Stadium Monday morning to make some pictures from the camp. When I got out there, most of the kids were running through simple passing and catching drills. The offensive line kids, however, where lining up and running into each other with pads.

I couldn’t help but to laugh a little when I heard the coach yell out that this is football and you get tot hit people without getting into trouble.

Civil War Style Initiation

jnix43125 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:01:38 +0000

At a Civil War reenactment in Midland, North Carolina, 16-year-old Chris Evans was welcomes to the ranks of his Union troop by rubbing spit and gun powder on his face before a battle at Bost Grist Mil.

I had never been to a civil war reenactment and didn’t know much about what went on at on, so I headed out to Midland to the Bost Grist Mill on June 13 for the Battle of Bost Grist Mill featuring the 30th North Carolina Troops Company K and 86th North Carolina Militia. The group featured folks from all different walks of life and it was pretty education to talk to them about why they come out for this kind of thing. Many are just history buffs and had ancestors who fought in the war.

Inaugural Class

jnix43125 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:00:42 +0000

I photographed a few seniors from the very first graduating class of Hickory Ridge High School in Harrisburg. The seniors will graduate this Saturday at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center.

For the project, I photographed Hickory Ridge’s star quarterback (the quintessential high school jock, who is actually a very nice kid), the student body president who told me his legacy was starting a ping-pong tournament, a girl who has stood out academically and will attend the University of North Carolina in the fall and the kid who is a perfect picture of student spirit, someone who was involved in practically everything the school had to offer.

It was a lot of fun spending some time with these students. I’m almost 10 years removed from my days as a student at Fuquay Varina High School and have forgotten and lost touch with most of the folks I knew back then. Thanks to facebook, I at least know what a few of them are up to. Jeremy (the school spirit kid) mentioned something a long these lines … he said he would probably not see many of the kids in his class after this weekend. I’m glad he is being honest with himself.

All in all, this project reminded me how special high school graduation is. It is the end of a chapter in all students’ lives, hopefully an early chapter in most, as well as the beginning of a whole new world. I love the excitement I saw and I am hopeful for the future of these kids

(I am having problems posting all four photos, so if you want to see them please go here … http://tinyurl.com/n2lhs7)

graduating seniors

jnix43125 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:58:36 +0000

I photographed a few seniors from the very first graduating class of Hickory Ridge High School in Harrisburg. The seniors will graduate this Saturday at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center.

School feature

jnix43125 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:26:12 +0000

Cutline: Third-grader Tara Lamb-Palo, 9, teacher Jenni Whittenberg, Lamb-Palo’s grandmother Andrea Palo and Whittenberg’s class compete in a game of tug-of-war at Winecoff Elementary School during the school’s field day Tuesday morning.

This was the last week of school here in Cabarrus County and I made my way over to Winecoff Elementary School for their field day earlier this week. This was one of the photos I liked from the day and it got the job done for a daily feature.