Looking through my archives, I see that I have absolutely no street shots of the people in Charlotte. I had plenty of people in Charleston, but none here. Well, I've set out to remedy that situation. I know have the prime opportunity to shoot most every day. In order to get a less expensive lot, I park 5 blocks from work and walk in. Each day, I take with me my Olympus 35 LC, though I will be switching to the Leica because, quite frankly, it is a much better machine. I'll qualify that just a bit. The Oly is a great camera, but the controls are so very easy to accidentally move, especially the aperture ring. I have to make sure to hold it a certain way so as not to bump the controls. I find this distracting and it ends up in missed shots. With the M6, I have no such constraints. I set it and forget it. I see something, I respond. That's it. The center of Charlotte, both literally and figuratively, is the corner of Trade & Tryon. Should you ever find yourself in Charlotte and want pictures of people, this is the place to be. No, it's not NYC, nor even close, but you will find an diverse range of folks, all interesting. On Friday afternoon, for example, on the Northeastern corner was a man with a bible preaching to all who would listen, opposite him on the Southwestern corner, stood young man atop a small stool with a microphone talking about who knows what. On the Southeastern corner another man, seemingly homeless, babbling on about something, coherent to him, perhaps, but ignored by most. On this particular day, the Northwestern corner was unoccupied, at least at this time. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me, I was heading to lunch with some of my coworkers. No excuse. I happened to photograph the guy above one morning on the way to work. Although my building would be directly to his back, I like to walk past the building, shoot a bit, and relax before going into work. I usually arrive downtown about 8:30, arrive at Bank of American Center at 8:40, but I don’t go inside until 9:00 AM. The interesting thing about this shot, for me, is that the guy and the statue are looking in the same basic direction. FYI: The name of this particular statue is Industry; It is one of four statues on that corner. All really cool works of art. Well, it’s a start. Time to get the M6 out and have at it. Oh yeah, this is the first roll of film that I’ve ever developed in Charlotte. 
Olympus 35 LC – Ilford HP5 – Rodinal 1:50
Past and Present
If I were to make a comparison between downtown Charlotte and downtown Charleston, the only thing that I could say would be that Charleston is all about history and Charlotte is about glitz. After having spent 19 months ‘abroad’, it was pretty cool walking through the streets of Charlotte this morning. Many things have changed.
When I left, I would say that one company, Preferred Parking, owned about 50 – 60% of the parking lots. Now, I’d have to say that they own about 80 – 90%, which means that parking has increased a fair amount. Lots that used to cost $4.00/day are now $6.00/day. Sure, that’s not NYC rate of $14/hour, but it’s high for Charlotte. It represents a 50% increase. Also, the parking lot that I used to park in is no more, or should I saw is growing ‘up’. They’re building yet another parking deck! I guess that I won’t be parking there. Parking decks cost between $125 – $200/month. Surface lots, $75 – $100/month.
Also, Charlotte’s first and only 5-star hotel, The Ritz Carlton was under construction. On the way back to my car this evening, I took a different route and walked down a parallel street. I walked past this building that I didn’t remember, looked up, and what do you know, The Ritz Carlton, open for business. Here you can get an executive suite for $399/night. It’s 1,064 square feet, has 3 phones, (WIFI for an additional fee!). Again, not NYC prices, but it is Charlotte and that is pretty chic! Also, right across the street something called The Epicenter – Bowling, movies, shopping, restaurants, entertainment.
They’ve almost completed the NASCAR museum, which was still in the final stages of paper signing when I left. It wasn’t even a hole in the ground. It was nice looking around, though. I took all of the photos with my camera phone. I’m starting to really like that thing. The 3 MP photos come out quite nice.
As I was walking up 4th Street, I think, I saw the reflections of the buildings welcoming me. I say welcoming because they represent both past and present work places. The reflection on the right is Bank of America Corporate Center, which is where I work now. The one in the middle, Bank of America Hearst Tower, which is where I worked prior to going to Charleston.
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