As I travel through This Inverted World, my journey brings me back home to Atlanta to photograph a few events and continue on a little city-scaping. On This journey I romped through the midtown area that encompasses Georgia Tech. On this particular day Georgia Tech played Miami. As I ventured through the city blocks on foot and snapping as I trekked, I was struck with a strong sense of nostalgia. I forgot the amount of time I spent in this area during my undergrad years. Although I played football for Morris Brown College, our head trainer was also a Georgia Tech trainer. Therefore when I tore my rotator cuff my rehab was held at GT. Their facilities reminded me of Rocky IV and the facility that Ivan Draggo was trained in. The most advanced human torture physical rehab devices known to man.
LOL. I got to know the staff and a lot of the other athletes from GT and forged some really cool friendships…especially the Volley Ball Team. I remember starving after rehab sessions and CRAVING The Varsity, which to me was high-class college food back then. I couldn’t wait for the shuttle to come pick me up from Herndon Stadium and drop me of at Bobby Dodd so I could push up that hill, arm in sling, and get 2 chili cheese dogs, some greasy ass fries and that Varsity Orange Drink! This was also the during time of the gentrification of Techwood Homes. There is a lot I could tell you about Techwood Homes, I’ll just save that for another blog post. Lol. But what I remember is that after the projects were torn down and while the foundation was being laid to redevelop and expand that area, I said to myself “I cant wait to see what this will look like in 10 years.” I anticipated vibrancy in this edge of the city where before, the projects anchored that Northwest corridor. And walking through the area, I got everything expected to see.
During that time I also got my first job “real” job. Real meaning I couldn’t wear jeans or tennis shoes. It was a small shabby telemarketing firm that specialized in fund raising for local municipalities across the country (I’ll save the details of that for another post as well…. crazy lol). I saw this area from the early to late 90’s develop commercial real estate up and down the corridors of 75/85 adding unbelievable scenery for speedsters as they streaked 80mph plus through a winding downtown interstate during high traffic. To me the most prominent fixture sits on the 75/85N side in between North Ave & 5th St. adjacent to the graffiti alley of Apache Café; The Olympic Torch. In my eyes this is like the Super Bowl for major cities. I also recall that once the Olympics came, my city was changed forever…
During that time I also got my first job “real” job. Real meaning I couldn’t wear jeans or tennis shoes. It was a small shabby telemarketing firm that specialized in fund raising for local municipalities across the country (I’ll save the details of that for another post as well…. crazy lol). I saw this area from the early to late 90’s develop commercial real estate up and down the corridors of 75/85 adding unbelievable scenery for speedsters as they streaked 80mph plus through a winding downtown interstate during high traffic. To me the most prominent fixture sits on the 75/85N side in between North Ave & 5th St. adjacent to the graffiti alley of Apache Café; The Olympic Torch. In my eyes this is like the Super Bowl for major cities. I also recall that once the Olympics came, my city was changed forever…
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