After coming back to Baltimore, I was inspired to visit my old neighborhood and the spaces that I frequented growing up. I was able to take these pictures with my mother, and it was an important experience for both of us to understand the impact of my childhood community on who I am today. It became increasingly clear to me that my initial idea was too easy for me and didn't have the impact I wanted it to have, and that this was much more in line with my goals for this project: to show what made me who I am today. I chose to make the entire collection greyscale except for the last image, because my love for Baltimore shines brightly.
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| My old home - which used to sit linearly between so-called "painted ladies" on Guilford avenue in Baltimore, Maryland - has been stripped of its vibrant colors and aged by years of parties, gatherings, and life enjoyed by those inside. |
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| The alley next to our home, which is typically covered in chalk by the kids in the neighborhood, was one of the places where I felt safest growing up. It was a space where kids could come and just be kids. My parents would always tell me to listen to the church bells instead of the gunshots when they'd put me to bed. |
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| Our iron door is still there after all these years; it acted as protection against robberies but made our home feel like a prison. |
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| My mom would always take me to the sculpture garden near the Baltimore Museum of Art when I was growing up. She wanted me to see the beauty of nature and art from an early age to cultivate my creativity. I distinctly remember this sculpture because of the slant of the lines and the way the woman's body looked real: not like what I saw in magazines when I was in middle school. |
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| As a family, we were always looking up. We knew where we were socio-economically, but we always knew that money didn't determine how happy we were. |
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| I would spend hours in the Baltimore Museum of Art as a child. It was my escape: I could travel to all parts of Baltimore by simply roaming the floors. My parents - both musicians - wanted to make sure that I appreciated the world around me and the beauty that inspired so many art pieces within the museum. |
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| Every single day coming back from school I would say "hi" to this alligator. |
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| This is my mom. She is at Robert E. Lee park, where we used to walk my dog Georgina growing up. |
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| This tree - while not made of bark or leaves - is made of memories. Outside the American Museum of Visionary Art, it shines brightly despite its proximity to an equally ornate building. This tree was where I had my first real day with my dad. |
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| 25th street is my home. Even though I don't live there anymore, it showed me the value of coming together as a community and uplifting those around you in any way that you can. |
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| This was my family's favorite dinner spot. The waiters and staff became part of our family, and we still go back to eat there when we have time. |
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| The Village Learning Place was my happy place growing up. I could sit there for hours - immersed in books and playing with other kids - without a care in the world. |
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| I have a mixed relationship with this playground. While I did break my arm twice, I also met some of my best friends - Sophia Agnes, Charlotte Baird, and the twin Elizabeths (Elizabeth Garamond and Elizabeth "Liz" Singh) - here. |
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| I remember creeping onto this staircase while playing hide-and-go seek with my childhood friends growing up. It was the perfect hideaway - until they found me. |
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| My mom used to play at Power Plant Live every Christmas when I was a kid. She would always take my friends and I to our favorite type-2-diabetes-inducing place - "It's Sugar" - after the concert. |
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| When I was in middle school, I was obsessed with Justin Bieber. My mother was given the honor of judging a Justin Bieber karaoke competition at the Hard Rock Cafe one night, but she wouldn't let me sing my favorite song "U Smile". That was one of our first fights. |
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| The lights from the buildings that dot the harbor's perimeter alight the water on a Thursday night in Baltimore. My volunteerism with Clean Water Action Baltimore was largely inspired by seeing how polluted our city's treasure was. |
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| Baltimore often appears in the news as the subject of gang violence, gun violence, and murder rates. This is a part of Baltimore that can't be ignored, but the people in Baltimore are some of the most loving, empathetic, and hard-working people I've ever known. |
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