Portraits | Africans in DC

I made these portraits at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC. They were listening to the Azeri master musicians.

Azeri musicians | Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Virtuoso musicians from Azerbiajan, Imamyar Hasanov on the kamancha (the Azeri national instrument) and Pezham Akhavass, drumming on the tombak, performed recently at a series of concerts at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC. They were sponsored by the Azeri Embassy and the Karabakh Foundation, who commissioned me to document the concerts.

Many thanks to Diana Altman and Kelsey King of the Foundation for this opportunity, and to the musicians for their deeply moving artistry.

SkillsUSA 2012

Photos from this year's SkillsUSA conference in Kansas City, Missouri. I have covered it annually for decades; this year's event had over 16,000 people competing and attending.

Victory Pentecostal Apostolic Church

I recently documented a celebration in honor of the Reverend Tyrone Tyson at the Victory Pentecostal Apostolic Church in Landover, Maryland. Reverend T. is the founder and president of Psalms Exchange Productions, an enterprise fostering a number of talented locally-based gospel ensembles.

Performing were:
Luke Saunders and the Sensational Stars
Juanita Helliums and the Gospel of Faith
God's House
Life's Atonement
Gospel Reflections
The Way
The Thrope Singers
Eternity

It was quite an evening, of many styles. The music and spirit roared, joyous and free.

Thanks to my friend, the good Pastor Robert Truesdale, "The Pastor from the Hood," for inviting me to observe and experience the sanctified music.

This is the largest number of photographs I have ever displayed in a single blog post. I believe the power and depth of the music can be sensed in these images...

I am planning to create an artist's book based on the work.

Additional images are viewable online at this section of the PEP website.