Tennessee Rick Photography
Projects for 2025-2026

This book began with a single object: a weathered, leather-bound journal. It is a simple thing, worn smooth from handling, its pages yellowed and softened by time. Yet in its presence, it seemed to carry weight . . . , an invitation to secrecy, to confession, to story. I asked each person who sat before my camera to hold it, to consider it, and, if they were willing, to leave behind a single line of their own. A thought. A memory. A truth. Then, just their first name.

The portraits that follow are drawn in the style that has long fascinated me: stark, monochrome images in the tradition of film noir. In this world of shadow and light, mystery is heightened, the ordinary is transformed, and every expression seems to conceal as much as it reveals. Faces emerge from darkness, hands linger over the journal, and the stillness of a page suggests a story just begun or perhaps already ended. See what narrative you craft from this wee glimmer of light.