The Missing Chapter

     Built in 1880 by James Parrish, the covered bridge at George L. Smith

State Park near Twin City was also a fully-functioning grist mill.

 

Millstones at the Parrish Mill

 

In the fall of 2020 I was asked by my editor at Countryman Press if I would like to do a second edition of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia. In addition, he asked me to do another chapter, or tour.

I did a little work on the book that fall, but was very busy getting our house and farm ready to sell, so I didn't begin serious work on it until the spring of 2021. The project involved driving each of the 15 tours, checking for anything that might have changed since I mapped out the first edition in 2016. I did most of the travel in June and July; driving nearly 8,000 miles, including extensive travel for the 16th tour. In fact, it was one of the longest and most expensive to produce.

Over the summer, my editor left and a new one took charge.

The very lovely 1854 Scarboro Baptist Church

 

 With the second edition almost ready to go to the publisher, I received an email from the editor a few days ago telling me that because of the cost of paper, they needed to keep the second edition about the same size as the first. Consequently, I should only turn in 15 chapters, my choice.

I decided to keep the original 15 chapters, so since the 16th will never see the light of day I decided to share some of the pictures with you.

The 1894 Bulloch County Courthouse, Statesboro

 

 Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone

Documenting Your World

Raffling off a rifle at the Cedar Grove

Community Club in McLemore Cove.

If you were to view Lookout Mountain in northwest Georgia from above, you would see that it looks like an alligator with open jaws lying on its side. With the tip of its nose in Tennessee, its body sprawls southwest for 80 miles across the northwest corner of Georgia and into Alabama, The lower jaw of the alligator is Pigeon Mountain, and between its jaws lies a deep valley called McLemore Cove.

The inhabitants of the Cove are a cross section of America's real people. The true salt of the earth. They are farmers. some retirees, factory workers, and people who just enjoy living in the Cove.

And me. The Cove was my world for 32 years.

I wish I had started a serious photo-documentation of the Cove and its people from the beginning. It would have made a great book. But at the time I didn't think of it. I just made photos hit or miss as the spirit moved me, and in 32 years I did manage to get some decent photos, but the coverage was nothing like it could have been. Nonetheless, here are a few photos that may give you a flavor of the people and the place.

Marvin cooking for the wild game dinner at the community club. 

Although the Cedar Grove Community Club met every month, the highlight of the year was the wild game dinner each February, with hundreds attending and club members pitching in to help..

Serving it up at the wild game dinner.

 

One of our neighbors was George D. Queener, the biggest cattleman in the Cove, with 850 acres and about 350 purebred cattle.

George D. was still riding his horse in his 80s.

 

Killed by pine borers, a tree falls across Sourwood Lane.

 

Our little herd. Chickamauga Creek in the background.

 

Even a small herd of cattle is a lot of work. Eventually, we realized we were no longer able to keep up with things as well as we wanted to. We enjoy our life and travels in our RV, but we will always remember our life in McLemore Cove.

 Winter in the Cove. Chickamauga Creek and Pigeon Mountain.

 

Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone

 

Documenting the Life of Your Family

My son Donny playing in spray, 1974

Don's son Devlin playing in spray, 2004

Not everyone loves photography, but 'most everyone loves pictures.

I have two daughters-in-law, both of them lovely women and each ideally suited to the son to whom she is married. Neither considers herself a photographer, yet each is constantly making photographs. Bonnie has an oldie-but-goodie Canon 20D I sent her way some years ago, and every year we receive a calendar filled with excellent family photos. From Kim, we receive a steady stream of cell phone photos of our grandkids, her household decor, plants in her garden and anything else she can think of. She doesn't think of herself as a photographer, but she is, and a prolific one at that. Both the girls are creating an ongoing documentation of their families, and provided they download their photos to their computers and back them up, and most especially, make prints, they will have photographic records of their families that will bring joy for generations to come.

                                       Lunch at the grandparents' pool, 1972

Since I began dabbling in photography in 1968 I've made it a habit to keep a camera close at hand at all times. When I notice something of interest I casually snap off a few frames. Someday soon I plan to put a bunch of those photos together in a book that tells the story of the life of my family, have it printed by one of the online printing companies, and give a copy to each of my kids and grandkids. A worthy project for any parent.

Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone 

 

Documentary Photography

A premature infant in the Neo-Natal ICU

at Floyd County Hospital, Rome, Georgia

 In addition to my primary work as a commercial photographer making photographs for businesses to use in their advertising and corporate communications, it has been my privilege to do documentary photography in many places around the United States. Documentary photography assignments have also taken me to nearly 30 foreign countries on five continents.

A church service in Abak, Ibom, Nigeria

 

Documentary photography has been defined as a style of photography that provides a straightforward and accurate representation of people, places, objects and events. The term usually refers to photography which captures real moments, conveying a message about life and the world. It is often confused with photojournalism, which is one form of documentary photography. This is the work which has been by far the most enjoyable and meaningful to me.

A Sunday School class at First Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga

 

Over the 50-plus years of my career I've done documentary projects for health care, missions, education, and non-profit organizations.

For more than 20 years it was  my special privilege to do an annual photo-documentation of the life of First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga. Each year's documentation had a theme, exploring some phase of the church's ministry, and was published in the form of a brochure or booklet.

Fishermen launch their boat from the beach. Madras, India

 

One of the best things about documentary photography is that you don't have to be a professional to do it. In fact, one of the most important photo-documentations anyone can do is to create a photo record of one's life. One's family. The organizations one is involved with. One's community. We'll talk more about this next time.

Photographs and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone