• featured
  • Order Prints
Menu

Small Town Big World

  • featured
  • Order Prints
×

What is an open door?

Scott Walker March 16, 2017

An open door is not always an invitation to where you want to be.

“There are so many doors to open. I am impatient to begin." --Charlie Gordan” ― Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon (1959)

I shot this photo in a quiet area of North Carolina on the outskirts of the Pisgah National Forest. This photo is inside an old and deserted motel that sits on the edge of a creek. The motel is slowing caving in and mother nature is winning the battle.

In Places Tags Pisgah National Forest, Fuji, X100f, Fujix, Fujix100f, Scott Walker, North Carolina, urban decay, decay, deserted
Comment

Lonely Streets in Mexico City

Scott Walker March 4, 2017

A lonely street on a Saturday morning in Mexico City. Employees of businesses stand and wait for the company they work for to open their doors for the day. Very few employees are key holders.

In Places, people, People Tags Mexico, Mexico City, Fujix, Fujix100s, X100s, street photography
Comment

The Catholic Church in Mexico

Scott Walker February 23, 2017

I shot this photo in a Mexico City Catholic Church on a Sunday afternoon.

Roman Catholicism was first introduced in Mexico during the period of the Spanish conquest that started in 1519. The Catholic Church had a powerful say in the governence of Mexico up until the end of the Mexican Revolution.

It was not until the end of the Mexican Revolution that the Catholic Church's role in Mexico was restricted constitutionally.

Over 101 million people in Mexico are said to be Catholic today. Mexico has the second largest Catholic population in the world, just under Brazil which is number one.

In Places, people, People Tags Catholic, Mexico, Mexico City, street photography, Fuji, Fujix, x100s, Scott Walker
Comment
View fullsize Elvis Piano (1 of 1).jpg
View fullsize Studio B drums 1 (1 of 1).jpg
View fullsize Studio B drums Pearl Masters (1 of 1).jpg
View fullsize Studio B Stand (1 of 1).jpg

Elvis Played Here

Scott Walker February 21, 2017

Inside the Nashville RCA Studio B you will find this old piano that has many stories written within its strings. One of those stories being Elvis Presley sitting behind the keys playing his favorite gospel songs surrounded by friends singing before actually recording a song or two.

The studio was built in 1957 by Dan Maddox and used by many greats throughout the years up until 1977, the year that Elvis died. However, the closing had nothing to do with the King. The studio was already scheduled to close, ironically nearly a full year before Presley’s death.

Today, the studio still stands and looks almost identical to the way it looked when the greats like Chet Atkins, the Everly Brothers and of course Elvis used it in the 60’s. In fact, most if not all of the equipment still remains within its small acoustically perfect walls.

In Places Tags Studio B, Music City, Elvis, Nashville, Nashville Tennessee, Fuji, FujiX, X100s, TN, Tennessee, RCA Studio B
Comment

He was fast asleep

Scott Walker February 20, 2017

The song by Craig Morgan came to mind after the writer of the song woke the sleeping man:

“I was afraid that he was dead
I gave him a gentle shake
When he opened up his eyes
I said, "Old man are you ok?"

“He said, "I just climbed out of a cottonwood tree"
I was runin' from some honey bees
Drip dryin' in the summer breeze
After jumpin' into Calico creek
I was walkin' down an old dirt road
Past a field of hay that had just been mowed
Man I wish you'd just left me alone
Cause I was almost home”

-Craig Morgan, Almost Home

Photograph captured in the Tepito market on a side street in Mexico City. Tepito is an area known for crime and and area largely governed by gangs. It is an area filled with kidnappings, shootings and robberies. However, this man was sleeping peacefully. 

In Places, People, people Tags homeless, Mexico, Mexico City, Scott Walker, street photography, Fuji, Fujix100s, x100s, Tepito
Comment

Museo Memoria y Tolerancia

Scott Walker February 19, 2017

Mexico City has a massive museum called the “Tolerance Museum” or Museo Memoria y Tolerancia that displays the reality of genocide around the world. Multiple floors are dedicated to the Holocaust, Darfur and more.

Inside the museum is an Olive Tree that sits before the memorial for the children who were murdered in different genocides from around the world. Artist Jan Hendrix created this display using the Olive Tree as a visual motive behind her work called Lamento.

The sculpture is made up of 20,000 pieces of irregularly shaped glass (photographed).

When you exit the museum you have a new idea of what tolerance should be as opposed to racial or ethic divide.

“It's a universal law-- intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility.” ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Historian and Russian Novelist (1918-2008)

In Places Tags Museo Memoria y Tolerancia, Mexico, Mexico City, Fuji, FujiX100s, X100s
Comment

The Old City Dam in Shelbyville, TN

Scott Walker November 27, 2016

The Old City Dam in Shelbyville, TN along the Duck River has seen its share of floods over the years. The question now is, will the old power house remain or will it be torn down?

The Tennessee Preservation Trust continues to call the old red brick building on the edge of the waterway an endangered historic site, yet little has been done to preserve it.

The building was constructed in 1915 to generate electricity for the community of about 2,800 residents. Today, closer to 21,000 residents from a variety of backgrounds call Shelbyville home.

The power generating facility was sold to the Tennessee Electric Power Company in 1929 and later to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1939. The TVA stopped using the site in 1948 and sold it to the City of Shelbyville in 1950. It has now been unused for 68 years.

As for the Duck River, it is the longest river in Tennessee. The 284 mile stretch of water is also home to more than 50 freshwater mussels and 151 different species of fish. While it may be hard to believe, the Duck River is the most biologically diverse river in all of North America. 

In News, Places Tags Shelbyville, Tennessee, Tn, Duck River
Comment

Morning Sun at Percy Priest Lake

Scott Walker November 6, 2016

“Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay
.”

―Robert Frost, Nothing Gold Can Stay

In Places Tags Percy Priest, Nashville, Smyrna, Murfreesboro, LaVergne, lake, nature, Fuji, X100s, FujiX100s
Comment

Hill Folk Music on Hippie Hill

Scott Walker October 13, 2016

The Hill Folk playing some tunes at Hippie Hill in Tennessee.

Arlo Guthrie once stated, “Folk music is music that everyday people can play, and it inspired a lot of people to make their own music. That trailed into making your own pop music, and that's why garage bands started springing up everywhere.”

Guthrie was an original hippy, a song writer and was known for singing songs against social injustice. However, his only hit was the cover of Steve Goodman’s City of New Orleans.

His best known work was an 18-minute blues / satirical song called Alice’s Restaurant Massacree.

 

In people, People, Places Tags hippie hill, Hippie Hill, Sony, Sony Alpha, Nashville, Music City, Scott Walker, Tennessee, Nashville music, folk music
Comment
View fullsize Prison 2015 interior 2.jpg
View fullsize Prison 2015 interior 3.jpg
View fullsize Prison 2015 interior 11.jpg
View fullsize Prison 2015 interior 18.jpg
View fullsize Prison 2015 interior 20.jpg
View fullsize Prison 2015 interior 21.jpg

Looking Back: The shut down of the Tennessee State Prison

Scott Walker October 13, 2016

The old and now deserted Tennessee Prison opened in Nashville during the year of 1898. It later closed down in 1992. But, do you know why it shut down?

The prison shut down due to a class action lawsuit filed in 1983. The Federal Courts issued a permanent injunction that prohibited the state from ever putting another inmate into the old Tennessee State Prison.

The Grubbs V. Bradley case led to the determination that the conditions of living behind the walls was unfit for human habitation. Some prisoners had as little as 19-square feet in their prison cells.

Scotty Grubb and four additional inmates filed a suit on behalf of themselves and others being held in the prison in 1983. The suit alleged rampant violence, improper medical care, poor sanitation and overcrowding. Violence, according to court documents, included rape, robbery, stabbings, inmate vs. guard violence, guard vs. inmate violence and murder.

In the medical hospital on site, prisoners who were trustees were said to be involved in the direct delivery of health care. The inmates, who were completely exempt of certifications, licensure or training in the health care industry, assisted in examinations, surgeries, cleaning medical equipment, reviewing inmate medical records and more.

As a result of the court findings, the old Tennessee Prison eventually shut down.

Tennessee Department of Correction opened a the new Riverbend Maximum Security Institution at Nashville in 1989.

Source:

Grubbs v. Bradley, 552 F. Supp. 1052 (M.D. Tenn. 1982)

 

In Places Tags Tennessee prison, Tennessee Prison, Nashville Prison, prison, abandoned prison, abandoned Nashville prison, Scott Walker, Nashville, Tennessee, empty places, Empty Places, Ghost town, urban decay
Comment

Artistic or Weird?

Scott Walker October 8, 2016

As you walked through his gate an air raid siren sounded. Some of the signs on the fence along the road read, “No Trespassing, No Loud Music, No Loitering.” Other signs were simply pictures or stickers of an assault rifle. With that being said, I wanted to meet the man behind the collection of oddities.

As I made my way to the front porch crawling over old refrigerators, tires, washing machines and more, I could hear a television was on inside the house. However, my knocks on the door were unanswered.

I then made my way back to the road, this time noticing some of the scrap metal had been turned into art. Sculptors of old motors were to the left and a sculpture of an airplane to the right. Plastic skulls adorned the fence post along with the heads of mannequins.

“I never set out to be weird. It was always other people who called me weird.”  - Frank Zappa, American musician, composer, guitarist, filmmaker and more (1940-1993)

Photo taken in the Mississippi Delta region.

 

In Places, Transportation Tags Delta, Delta Mississippi, Mississippi, Sony, Sony Alpha, A7SII, Scott Walker, street photography
Comment

The Store of Death?

Scott Walker October 6, 2016

I heard about the so called store of death, but I had to see it for myself to believe it.

It was not exactly my cup of tea, but some seem to really like it. 

It is a small store located in the depths of Nashville with a hearse parked out front and a small camper to the right of it. The store is called "Hail Dark Aesthetics."

Inside I found a variety of animals, all deceased of course. They even had a giraffe head / neck inside the store.

In addition to animals, I also saw an assortment of antique medical supplies which were actually for sale.

In Places Tags Nashville, Tennessee, Hail
Comment

Almost Home

Scott Walker October 4, 2016

I met a man who calls a school bus home. The gentleman, who was previously homeless, came up with this creative idea to save his money and buy an old school bus. He is in the process of making it into a real home.

I thought it was pretty cool for sure.

I did a short interview with him (audio on below link). It is worth a listen.

To hear an audio interview with the man, CLICK HERE for link. 

In Places Tags school bus, school bus home, Murfreesboro, street photography, Scott Walker, Sony, Sony Alpha
Comment

A swamp in the Delta of Mississippi

Scott Walker October 2, 2016

It looked like a painting both in life and in picture. The swamps of the Mississippi Delta. 

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." -George Washington Carver

In Places Tags Mississippi, Mississippi Delta, Delta, nature, life, Scott Walker, Small Town Big World, Sony, Alpha, Sony Alpha, 24/70
Comment

Crop Dusting Planes in the Delta

Scott Walker September 27, 2016

On Monday, I found myself in the middle of nowhere in the Delta of Mississippi surrounded by cotton fields to my left and right. Out of nowhere, a crop dusting plane flew over my car. I followed the plane to where it landed and quickly made my way to the small country airport to speak to the pilot as he was refueling.

The first commercial crop-dusting plane was not a plane at all, it was instead a hot air balloon used to spread seed over a field of swampland in New Zealand. The balloon was tethered to the ground and moved from one side of the field to the other in 1906.

The idea of utilizing a plane in agriculture was born in 1921 by the U.S. Agriculture Department and the Army Signal Corps. A man by the name of John A. Macready piloted the first crop duster in 1921. I guess you could say the rest is history.

In Places, Transportation Tags cropduster, Mississippi, Delta Mississippi, crop dusting, plane, airplane
Comment

A Ghostly Nashville Sounds Stadium

Scott Walker September 18, 2016

Nashville Sounds, Greer Stadium: The Herschel Greer Stadium was built in 1978 for the Nashville Sounds. Many who grew up in and around Middle Tennessee have fond memories of games at the Nashville stadium. Hot dogs, cold beer and mustard covered pretzels are likely included in some of your memories.

The Nashville Sounds became a part of Nashville when Larry Schmittou decided he wanted to bring baseball back to Davidson County. In the 1970’s, Schmittou inked a deal with the City of Nashville for the plot of land below Fort Negley. The fort was a forgotten part of the American Civil War and had not been developed into a tourist stop until 2004, years after the construction of the baseball stadium.

Schmittou was born into baseball and even named after “Larry” Gilbert, manager of the Nashville Vols Minor League Baseball Team (1938-1948).

The Nashville native began his coaching career as a junior at Cohn High School, coaching for a youth baseball team of children who were 12 and under. After graduating from Peabody College (later merged with Vanderbilt), he became a teacher for the Nashville Public Schools and eventually moved on to become the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team from 1968 to 1978.

Schmittou was also an entrepreneur. In the late 1970’s, he owned several minor league baseball teams, but the Music City was always in his heart as the Nashville Sounds was his very first minor league team.

View fullsize Ghostly Game 2 (1 of 1).jpg
View fullsize Ghostly Game 4 (1 of 1).jpg
View fullsize Ghostly Game 3 (1 of 1).jpg
View fullsize Ghostly Game 5 (1 of 1).jpg

As for the name of the Greer Stadium, it also has to do with Tennessee baseball history. The stadium was named after Herschel Lynn Greer, a Nashville businessman and the very first president of the Nashville Vols baseball team. Greer died in 1976, so the naming of the stadium came after his death.

View fullsize Ghostly Game 6 (1 of 1).jpg
View fullsize Ghostly Game 7 (1 of 1).jpg
View fullsize Ghostly Game 8 (1 of 1).jpg
View fullsize Ghostly Game 9 (1 of 1).jpg

In 2014 the stadium closed down as the Sounds moved to their newly built First Tennessee Park. The new park is built on the Sulphur Dell site, which was the original location of the Nashville Vols baseball team.

By the way, the original name of the Sulphur Dell ballpark was the Sulphur Springs Ball Park, named after a Sulphur spring near the site. The word “Spring” was eventually dropped and changed to “Dell” by a Nashville sportswriter, suggesting that “Dell” rhymed with more stuff in his unique sports stories.

In Places Tags Nashville Sounds, Greer Stadium, Nashville Vols, Nashville baseball, Larry Schmittou, Fort Negley, Sony, Sony Alpha, SonyA7SII, Nashville, Music City, baseball, empty places, urban decay, Empty Places
1 Comment

Legends of Lake Nicaragua

Scott Walker September 18, 2016

On Lake Nicaragua, you will find small islands of huts adjacent to a small island with a mansion. It is quite interesting to venture into the polluted waters by boat. You will also find the remains of old buildings that were once high enough from the water’s edge when built, but were later flooded in storms. Fences still line the property that was once a habitat in some areas. On other islands, you will see monkeys jumping from tree to tree.

There have been many drownings in Lake Nicaragua and some believe that the lake is filled with spirits that pull swimmers to the bottom. Others talk about bull sharks that feast on swimmers. Of course, the bull sharks are real in the lake and not a fictitious legend.

Over the years, bull sharks from the ocean have made their way into the freshwater by swimming 120 miles up the Rio San Juan river from the Caribbean Sea. The sharks were first noticed in the mid 1500 chronicles of Spanish historian Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés.

In the past few years, Nicaragua has tightened security at their borders. The reason being, many are trying to make their way through the country in hopes of reaching the United States by way of Mexico. In doing so, there have been multiple attempts of persons making their way into the country by way of water travel from the ocean and into Lake Nicaragua. However, many of those immigrants from places like Africa and Haiti later drowned when their vessels capsized in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. In other words, they survived the warm Caribbean Sea, but died in the fresh water of Nicaragua. Some of the recent drownings that occurred in July of 2016 included eight men from Africa.

 

In Places Tags Lake Nicaragua, Nicaragua, third world, Third World, Fuji, X100s, Fuji X100s, Scott Walker
Comment

World is Beautiful, Crazy and Tragic

Scott Walker July 9, 2016

America is going from one tragedy to another, second after second. I don't think people know how to process everything.

This photo is from Orlando in the downtown area about one mile from the Pulse night club where the shooting took place around three weeks ago.

"The world is a crazy, beautiful, ugly complicated place, and it keeps moving on from crisis to strangeness to beauty to weirdness to tragedy." - David Remnick, American journalist

In people, People, Places Tags Pulse, Orlando, street photography, Scott Walker, Sony, A7SII
Comment

A gas station from the past

Scott Walker July 5, 2016

There is something romantic in a whimsical sense about an old 1960's gas station sitting empty on an old country road in the middle of nowhere Georgia.

This was once a full service shop with a single bay, unlike what you see today. Pay at the pump did not exist, you had to make human contact for a gas transaction. Needed to use the phone, it cost you 10-cents to utilize what hung on the side of a pole about 50 feet away from the pumps. Buying a single candy bar and a glass bottle of Coca-Cola while using a credit card... unheard of.

"Nostalgia is a file that removes the rough edges from the good old days." - Doug Larson

In Places Tags gas station, old gas station, street photography, Georgia, urban decay, empty spaces, empty places, Empty Places, Fuji, Fujix, x100s, Scott Walker
Comment

Alex at Disney

Scott Walker July 4, 2016

Alex, who is from New York, has only worked for Walt Disney World for two years. However, he remembers taking his kids to Disney in the 1990’s. 

"You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality." - Walt Disney (1901-1966)

In people, People, Places Tags Disney, Orlando, Florida, people, Fuji, X100s, Fujix, Scott Walker
Comment
← NewerOlder →

street

empty places

cuba

israel

mexico

third worlds

seattle

grand canyon

las vegas

alaska

hands

bonnaroo

hippie hill

nashville

tennessee

mississippi

detroit

washington dc

chicago

new york

kentucky

atlanta

transportation

fuji x

canon

news

home

for hire

© Scott Walker

street • BLACK & WHITE • empty places • protest• poverty • transportation • domestic violence •  life in living • just people • third worlds • mexico • Israel • JERUSALEM • Cuba • Nicaragua haiti  • dominican republic • canada • hands • bonnaroo • hippie hill • seattle  • grand canyon  • las vegas  • alaska •  nashville • chattanooga • Memphis • tennessee • FLORIDA • INDIANA • mississippi  • detroit •  washington dC •  chicago • new york •  kentucky •  atlanta • CALIFORNIA


ABOUT
/ CONTACT / TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY / BUSINESS PHOTOGRAPHY