What Happens When a Funeral is More Happy Than Sad? - Mississippi Part 1

On September 22, 2010, my wonderful grandmother Momo said good night to her physical presence and became a strong spirit in our hearts and minds. I featured her in a previous blog and thought I have to share her lasting legacy with you.

As the offspring of Wilson's and Duckworth's made their way to Columbia Mississippi, we all had very heavy hearts knowing this would be the first time we would arrive and not get the warm greeting hug from our mom, grandmother, great grandmother, great great grandmother, Momo, Mamo or whatever else Mrs. Willie Mae Wilson was known as. She was 88 years young and had the sharpest mind around. While the mind was still sharp as ever, the ole' ticker (heart) just couldn't keep up with her.

Good night.

The quiet family hour had a wide variety of sounds. At times you could hear sobbing, sniffing and sighing. At other times, you heard family expressing their fondest memories of Momo. But the most overwhelming sound was that of laughter and joy from family members that despite being brought together for a funeral, where just so happy to be around each other. You had siblings, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, 1st cousins, 2nd cousins and distant cousins meeting for the first time in either years or ever, coming together and treating each other like they have grown up together. During the quiet hour, it was everything but quiet....it was a mini-reunion right there in the funeral home. Other than having Momo's shell laying there in the room, we could have been placed anywhere in the world and no one would have been able to tell we had just lost our matriarch.

The women of the family in Momo's hats

Momo's children

After the service at the funeral home, we headed back to the hotel to change and then went to Momo's house. Most of the food was gone but that didn't seem to matter. The age limits seemed to have vanished while we were on the porch and in the carport. My cousins and I unknowingly have slipped into the roles of our parents. Momo's children were now grandparents and great grandparents themselves. Her children's children were now parents and the circle of life couldn't be more on display and evident.

Four Generations

It is now November 21, 2010 and the wonderful thing called life has delayed this post. Needless to say I wanted to share this regardless of how delayed it was.

Senior Portraits with Heather

Over the past few months I have had the pleasure of getting to know the owners of one of my favorite hang out spots....Yogurt Pizazz. Well I had the pleasure and honor to be chosen to shoot a senior session with Heather (@iLoveHeatherR). Heather is one of four daughters of the owners of YP as we fondly call it around my house.

Heather is one of a kind. Not too many students have the ability to graduate early, directly assist with running the family business and get ready to attend college in the fall. We wish you the best Heather and thank you Faith and Lou.

Senior Portrait with Manuel

The term "time flies" is something every parent can easily understand after the birth of a child. Seeing children change over time is something that can go unnoticeable for years. When I had the pleasure of showing my coworker and her husband, their youngest of three, Manuel's senior portraits, she said "time flies".

Manuel's session was special for many reasons. This was the first Photos By Kwame Senior Rep Model. This is the son of my coworker. Finally, this was another sign of me getting older because I have known Manuel for almost 6 years. Time has flown by and I have seen it through the changes in my own children and in my friends children. Thank you Manuel for making me feel old and for signing up for the program. I hope you had as much fun as I did.

*Note: Manuel is posing with his woman... and his other drawings.

The Author of "These Shoes Don't Fit" - Alfreda Avognon

A number of weeks ago, I wrote about the Tougaloo Nine and the Tougaloo Alumni event in my blog. I did the shoot as a favor to my mom. Well last week I had the honor and pleasure of shooting a portrait session with the author of "These Shoes Don't Fit". As luck would have it, I met Alfreda at the Tougaloo event and she contacted me to take her picture for her book. We had a great time during the session and she even had a chance to sample my wife's Lia Sophia Jewelry. The book is undergoing some minor changes, new cover, new author photo and some edits and should be back in circulation in the upcoming weeks.

A Special Moment in Time - The Tougaloo Nine

Over the past weekend I attended a small gathering to take a few pictures as a favor. This is one of those times I was really glad my schedule allowed me to be free and thanks to my wife and my brother for freeing up my time. The event was a gathering of the California alumni from a small college from Mississippi called Tougaloo. I attended this event at the request of one of my biggest supporters, my mom.


As a child, hearing the name, Tougaloo College, in Tougaloo, Mississippi created giggles. For years the only real understanding I had of Tougaloo College was it being the undergraduate institution where my mother double majored and double minored in four years, thus meaning it had to be a pretty boring campus. The Tougaloo Alumni chose the Delancey Street Restaurant in San Francisco as the meeting place. This restaurant has very unique and interesting background. After setting up some remote flashes to keep the lighting consistent, more familiar faces from my childhood started showing up. Some I knew as good friends of my mom's others I knew as aunts and uncles, not by blood, but by respect.


My mother the outgoing Chapter President performed duties as the moderator. She introduced a woman that I had seen many times at functions at her house but never knew who she really was. I never knew how important she was to me, to you or anyone else that benefited from all the hard work that brought about Civil Rights in Mississippi and the Country. I know her as Gerry or Geraldine Hollis, a fellow alumnus of my mom. She told the story a small group of Tougaloo College students that decided it was time for a change and on March 27th, 1961, they did something about it.


Nine students from Tougaloo College, went to the Carver Library to request some books. Knowing the books would not be available, they peacefully went to the Jackson Public Library, to find the books they requested. They retrieved the books and began reading them. In 1961, this was a very bold move for nine black students to leave the "black only" Carver Library and step foot inside the "white only" Jackson Public Library. This was in fact illegal and the nine students were arrested and held for over 30 hours in jail. This act, this peaceful act of sitting in the library (a "sit-in"), help start the major change that was needed in Mississippi and all over the South. Her name is Geraldine Hollis, formerly, Geraldine Edwards, and she is one of the Tougaloo Nine.

For more information, please follow these links:

Tougaloo Nine and Jackson State Protest

10 Most Endangered Historic Places List Unveiled - Jackson Municipal Library

For the record, I still giggle in my head when I say Tougaloo, but now its so much more than just my mom's alma mater.

Siblings - Madisen & Logan

This was a special shoot that took place in an attempt to surprise their mother with a portrait. This is Madisen and Logan, the children of one of my coworkers. Madisen had been wanting to plan this for months but between her college schedule and Logan's water polo, the shoot just was not happening. So one night the two came to my studio and we took a series of shots. These were my favorites and we had a lot of fun despite our rushed time table. In the end, their mom was surprised - Mission Accomplished!!!

Momo

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to sit down with a very remarkable woman. She has seen so many things change and can also tell you what has stayed the same. The one thing you can always count on with her is her love for her family. This is my Grandmother (Momo). I love talking with her and she is always full of stories, sayings and truthful criticism.

Its really was a pleasure being able to sit down with her a take these pictures in my studio.

Kelly & Dave's Wedding

Thank you Kelly and Dave for asking me to shoot your special day. Your families were a lot of fun to be around. I wish you guys the best and I will see you around work Dave.

These latest photos are from the third "backyard special" wedding. I really enjoy these type of weddings because they are so much more personal than the large venue wedding. They are just as challenging as the large venue wedding but because the wedding is in a backyard, the family and friends are so much more relaxed and closer to the action.

Big THANX to my assistant on her first wedding shoot with me.

Dancing Lights

One evening, we were driving home for somewhere and I had the rare opportunity of riding at night. Well this gave me the chance to snap a few shots of the moon and to try something new and deliberate. The objective was to create images with strands of lights but I did not expect the dancing effect. In some of the images, the moon dances along the top of the frame. In a few others you can see the BART train passing us on the left. This was nice clean simple fun and the best part was, I didn't have to drive at night this trip.