Two Years Ago in Murphy, NC
I’ve been trying to catch up on some old rolls of black and white. I have a tendency to leave rolls behind, stuff them in camera bags, or leave them in the refrigerator for a few years. Two from this past week happened to come from Murphy, my other paradise.
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 100
We’re deep in the Nantahala National Forest. These mountains are old. The trees are old. The people have been here and will be here. We’re surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges so ancient that they now look more like massive hills, grown over completely by thick forest. The animals outnumber the people significantly. In the evenings, the Whip-Poor-Wills sing. The Chuck-Will’s-Widows sing back.
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 100
Elke’s house is tucked deeply into the hills of Marble. Town is about five miles up the four-lane, and even getting to the road is a winding way down. Trips to town are few and far between. All that’s between us and them is farmland, Walmart, Tractor Supply.
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 100
This is the four-lane, a road built for necessity in an otherwise wild land settled roughly. People live in these mountains and always have. The road is a tool. This road is enough, and will not grow like they do in the city.
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 100
Ilford Delta 100
The region is famously religious, and you’d be hard pressed to make it a quarter mile without spotting a billboard for Jesus, a hotline for confession, or a hand-painted sign pledging faith. Belief aside, it is beautiful to see gratitude in a struggling region. There isn’t much here, but there is love and hope.
Kodak TMax 100
Kodak TMax 100
Kodak TMax 100
They’re all Bears fans. They wave a flag on the side of their house that reads “Bears Country”, and they don’t mean the animals. Those are here, too, of course. Elke will kick you at just about any game that involves cards, and she never goes easy. The coffee comes all day, the pot is always full.
Kodak TMax 100
Kodak TMax 100
Kodak TMax 100
Alive with continuous birdsongs, the wind through the hills, and the creak of the rocking chairs, this place is loud and peacefully silent. The people are kind, and even more so if you root for Georgia. The wind is soft and diffused through the filter of the trees. The leaves change slowly and paint the landscape yearly an array of yellows and reds. The crunch of them after they fall is crisp like the air in the mornings. This is the place.