Emerald Jewels in Little Rock (Patreon)

Ahhh, I remember this shoot well. It was my first, and only, photoshoot of my spring tour in 2020. I'm sure I explained this forever ago on some other long lost post here, so I'll just do a short recap: Arkansas was my first stop on biggest scheduled tour yet at the time, going coast to coast, fresh out of college as a graduate. Of course, you know what happened that spring. It was March. Right as I set to head out on my big adventure, alone but eager and day dreaming of California, the world begins to shut down. The pandemic had begun to make its appearance in North America and the fear was beginning to set in. At the time, I was worried, but still dead set on completing my tour and did not cancel. However, upon arriving in Dallas, which was my next stop, everything changed. The news of the world kept getting worse and worse. Terror was rising everywhere. I was petrified of germs on the gas pumps. No one knew anything other than that people were dropping dead and it was airborne. The next thing I knew, I was at my luxurious AirBnb I scored, and my host for the next area messages me....

"My wife got COVID. I'm afraid we won't be able to host you tomorrow. I'm so sorry."

I think that is when it really came to for me. They said it was my call and I could come anyway, but I am so very glad I said no. I ended up taking a nap after my long drive to Texas, I woke up at midnight, and I set out on the road back to Georgia. It took me 12 hours, but I made it with minimal stops and no rest. I trudged back into my apartment, defeated, where I remained until we had to move in May.

Hahahaha... I said I'd do a quick recap and here we are. 

Anyway, something else memorable about this photoshoot is that the photographer is actually the one that booked this AirBnb; he offered it to me for the night, however, I guess he did not inform the owner because I ended up accidentally sleeping in past check-out and the dude seemed very confused by my presence (he was also super weirded out that I slept on the couch but I was freaked out by the world and just wanted the television on, hahaha). 

Touring art life is weird. I wonder if he ended up getting a bad review for that.

Photography by Icon Imaging
Little Rock, Arkansas 2020