1.Chloe Kottwitz, owner of Uptown Neon, Richmond’s last neon shop. Kottwitz took over the business in May 2023 from her mentor, Douglas Solyan. (Feb. 5)
Photographer’s note: Uptown Neon is a time capsule and a breath of fresh air. The shop is like a museum of neon. Chloe is the breath of fresh air. She was kind enough (and patient) with my request to frame her with neon. She rigged up power to a frame that she had extracted from a tangle of neon hanging from the ceiling. My goal was to have her strong in the foreground with the shop illuminated in the background.
2. Singer Cassidy Snider has quickly made a mark on the Richmond live music scene with her roots-oriented “soulbilly” style. Style contributing writer Don Harrison wrote about her: “First there’s her raspy voice. Expressive and enunciating – as not to lose the words – Snider’s tonality and phrasing are something strikingly alien, an unclassifiable melting pot of blues, soul and country. Then there’s her physical beauty, a striking African-American with tattoos, close-cut dyed blond hair and piercings, you’d never miss her in a crowd. On stage, when issuing laments about thwarted lovers, hometown gossip and lonesome bars, you can’t keep your eyes and ears off her.” (March 14)
Photographer’s note: I met Cassidy at the Hippodrome in Jackson Ward for the portrait. I liked the old time posters they have outside the venue and hoped to incorporate one into the photo. I set up a single light and the photo was easy to make. Cassidy is a striking presence who needs no direction when posing for a portrait.
3. Mickey Healy, a fifth-generation waterman, has been catching soft-shell crabs commercially for a half-century. The crab population is dwindling and that’s part of the reason behind the dearth of crab, he says. Also the crabbing season is shorter in some areas due to changing regulations, meaning Healy could miss a lot of the crab all together. Now in his 70s, Healy still crabs with his father, who is in his 90s. The two men used to set 25 traps, or fixed fishing devices also known as ‘pounds,’ on the Ware River, one of the five that feeds into Mobjack Bay. These days, however, they only set around a dozen traps and each must be registered with the state by location. (March 25)
Photographer’s note: I photographed Healy in a crab processing shack on his property in Gloucester. He was explaining how the crab processing operation works but then stopped and looked at me and said, “That was when we had enough crabs to fill these tanks.” That’s when I made this portrait.
4. Local punk rocker Tom Applegate standing outside the Canal Club during a benefit put on by the Friends of Wes Freed to raise money for a scholarship fund at VCUarts in Freed’s name to benefit the next generation of artists from rural communities such as the Shenandoah Valley, where Freed, a beloved local musician and artist for the band Drive-By Truckers, grew up. (April 26)
Photographer’s note: Applegate is a true punk legend in Richmond who has lost no steam. His performances are wild and high energy. I caught him outside the Canal Club taking a break. The stark white backdrop provides a nice contrast between his black suit and weathered face.
5. Soren flies high during the Ultimate Air Dog competition at Dominion Energy Riverrock on Brown’s Island. (May 17)
Photographer’s note: After years of photographing the air dog competition, I decided to stand at the end of the pool instead of on the side. This image shows that was a decent idea. The intensity and complete concentration of the dog with its teeth bared and the same concentration of the owner in the background make the image work.
6-8. Pop star Chappell Roan performed a sold-out concert at Brown’s Island in Richmond, Virginia, just as her career was beginning to explode nationally. (May 23).
Photographer’s note: The Roan concert was certainly one of the biggest events of the year. These three images provide a glimpse into the pop phenomenon’s cultural effect. Her performance was flawless and the crowd went crazy. She filled Brown’s Island and everyone was singing along with her. The members of her fan club, the Pink Pony Club, came dressed for the occasion and turned the island into a sea of pink. The closeup is my favorite image of the year. Her eyes are intense, framed by the face paint, hands, hat and earrings. Everything in this image works together to draw the person viewing the image directly into her gaze.
9. “Fourth-generation peanut farmer Elisha Barnes is known as ‘the peanut man.’ Not only is he keeping alive the age-old tradition of shocking peanuts, but he’s also doing his part to help lessen food insecurity for those in need. Elisha Barnes is shown with his two granddaughters, Layla Barnes (left) and Andrea Barnes (right). The young women are 6th generation peanut farmers helping their grandfather for the summer. The shocking method stacks the peanut harvests on poles to cure in the sun. Since the 1960s, most farmers use a more modern method in order to dry the peanuts quickly, versus how Barnes’ chooses to dry them, which takes six weeks. “Shocking produces a quality of peanut that you can’t find anywhere else,” he says. “This was the way that everything was done on every farm at the turn of the century. There were no mechanized ways to do it. It is history.” (May 31)
Photographer’s note: When I arrived to meet Mr. Barnes near Suffolk, VA I was delighted to also meet his granddaughters. Their enthusiasm for the tradition for peanut farming was evident. There was an adjacent field nearby and I knew this was where I wanted to do the portrait. I used a single Godux light on a stand to light their faces and then balanced the light so the blue sky would pop.
10. Ricky Mitch and the Coal Miners perform at Friday Cheers (June 13)
Photographer’s note: This moment happened at the finale of the show when Mitch sat down at the keyboard. The bright beam of yellow light creates a dramatic effect when also reflecting light back onto his face illuminating the intensity of the moment.
11. Jake Kohn performs at Friday Cheers (June 28).
Photographer’s note: Kohn was one of strongest opening acts I’ve ever seen at Friday Cheers. The 17 year old is a dynamic performer whose stage presence suggested he’s been touring for years. He gave me plenty of opportunities to make a strong image, I liked this one the most where he’s framed by the spotlights and letting out a scream.
12. Richard Waller stands outside his family’s jewelry store, Waller & Jewelry, on Broad Street in front of an Ed Trask mural. The mural, which depicts the family’s history in business, will soon be covered up by the new VPM building on East Broad Street in historic Monroe Ward. (Aug. 13)
Photographer’s note: Waller was proudly posing for photos in front of the mural and excited to have new neighbors. He said he never thought he’d live to see the day when the decades-old parking lot (beside his business) would occupy a new business. The mural isn’t lost to history, VPM plans to have a replica displayed inside its new headquarters.
13. EMoney dressed to the nines at Pridefest. (Sept. 13)
Photographer’s note: Some people are impossible to miss. So many elements of EMoney’s outfit caught my eye: The glasses, tie, the hair, the all pink suit and pink handbag. Everything works in this image.
14. Artist Tyler Thomas. Last year, right before the holidays, disaster struck when Thomas’s house flooded due to a backed-up plumbing line. Wastewater spewed, covering 90% of the floorspace. It was a major setback for him, both as a first-time homeowner, and as an artist who long worked in makeshift studios from the comfort of home. Additionally, he’d amassed a living body of work consisting of finished pieces in addition to materials be they found objects, sketches or other snippets he would constantly source or produce to ultimately repurpose. “It ruined hundreds of pieces of my work, stuff from my early 20s,” Thomas says. “I salvaged as much as I could, but a good handful of stuff I had to throw out.” (Sept. 13)
Photographer’s note: I’d never met Tyler before the day I stopped by to see him. He invited me into his workshop and I knew all the elements for a good portrait were in place. The light, the paintings and Tyler in his work clothes all made my job easy. The best part of the photo shoot was getting to know Thomas, who is highly regarded in the Richmond arts community, but is humble and easy going.
15. Sabrina Mileo Cunningham of the band Say She She performs at the popular Iron Blossom Festival. (Sept. 22)
Photographer’s note: This image works mostly because of Cunningham’s unusual and graceful pose as she performs. The elements of the strong spotlights behind her dressed in all black with black sunglasses lends an air of mystery to the image.
16. Nathaniel Rateliff performs a set at the Iron Blossom Festival (Sept. 22)
Photographer’s note: Rateliff brought high energy to his set and had the crowd with him the entire time. I like this image because it reveals a lot about him, the tattoos, the turquoise ring and earring and the suspenders. The strong lighting makes the details pop.
17. The original members of Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes, siblings Rev. Almeta Ingram-Miller, Christine Ingram-Murphy, Thomas Ingram, Luke Ingram and John Ingram, performed a few tunes together for the first time in decades as the final performance on the Center for Cultural Vibrancy stage at the Richmond Folk Festival (Sep. 29)
Photographer’s note: All the Folk Fest regulars know that one of the best performances of any year is the Ingramettes closing out the festival. This year Almeta Ingram-Miller brought her siblings onstage and it was a heartwarming and unexpected moment.
18. Sheryl Cormier performs at the Richmond Folk Festival. The festival website describes Sheryl Cormier this way: “Known as the ‘Queen of the Cajun Accordion’ and “La Reine de Musique Cadjine,” Sheryl Cormier is still packing the dance floors of Southwest Louisiana at 79 years old. ‘The reason I’m still doing that is, I love people,’ she declares. ‘If I can entertain, I’m in my element.’ With her band Cajun Sounds, Cormier plays the traditional way, with Francophone singing rising over the accordion-and-fiddle-driven two steps and waltzes that connect listeners—and dancers—to the heart of Cajun culture.” (Sept. 27)
Photographer’s note: I rarely like when performers look directly into the camera but this image is different. What I see in this photograph is a timeless moment of a professional musician, maybe a little weary, but still proud and still delivering after decades on the road. The hint of a smile makes the photo.
19. Bill Martin, director of The Valentine, was named Style Weekly’s Richmonder of the Year for 2024 on his 25th anniversary with the museum. (Nov. 5)
Photographer’s note: Bill’s a busy guy and moves through The Valentine at a brisk pace, so you have to keep up. We were cutting through a restricted area when he walked in front of a large window. I stopped Bill and he looked directly into the camera and then we kept moving. I like this image because of his genuine expression, the railings of the spiral staircase framing him and the way the light falls off around him.
20. Liza Mickens, the great-great-granddaughter of Richmond trailblazer Maggie L. Walker, is the 27-year-old co-founder and spokesperson of Vote Equality US and was featured as a Top 40 under 40 winner on the cover of our winter publication, The People Issue. (Dec. 6)
Photographer’s note: I asked Mickens to meet me at the Maggie L. Walker Memorial Plaza on Broad Street, the statue of her grandmother, the first Black woman to establish and become president of a bank in the United States. I had previously scouted the location and knew what the light would look like at 4 p.m. When Mickens showed up and stepped into the frame, I knew I had something compelling. I used one small Godux light to illuminate her face and body and balanced the background light so the blue sky would pop. I purposely included the mural of John Mitchell, Jr. civil rights activist, newspaper editor, politician and banker in the background and the statue of her grandmother to place Mickens solidly in Jackson Ward, an identifiable Richmond neighborhood.
