Rivers Edge

Rivers Edge is a documentary project about a local senior breakfast spot in Ozaukee County. This locally-owned restaurant is a place of solace and comfort food for the local working-class community. Many of the regulars are retired and have been coming here for decades. I arrived when they opened at 4:30 in the morning and spent the day photographing the locals and daily operations of a small business. This project was part of an assignment for the recent Eddie Adams XXXIV Workshop. EAW has been a photojournalism-based tuition-free educational experience on a farm in New York for over 30 years. However, the workshops were held virtually in the past two years because of the pandemic. Students were chosen from all over the world and photographed a day in the life of our local communities. One of the challenges with this project was the slight emotional disconnect I felt walking into a strange place with a camera. I think, what if everyone is annoyed that I am here. There is a sense that I belong there, but I don't really belong there. It is hard to quiet the chatter in my mind, but it is an ever-present effort to push through the mixed emotions. As an artist, I have to look through self-doubt, have confidence in Finding the moment, and trust my instincts to find what I am trying to say through the still image.