"The Recession Nation Project" is released
Way back in April, I did this piece about local artists, photographers and musicians who were using the recession as inspiration.
One of the people I spoke with was Andres Zapata (pictured), who was working on a project called Recession Nation.
Zapata collected photos, short stories, visual art and poems from Baltimore and abroad, and recently published them in the book "The Recession Nation Project."
You can preview and buy a copy here.
I flipped through the book online and was pleasantly surprised at how well it came out ...
"The Recession Nation Project" covers a lot of ground in a few pages.
Zapata's own piece, a collection of chopped-up credit cards which form a spindly, sinister arm and hand, is one of the book's most striking images. Chris Thurston's photo of a down-on-his-luck man holding a folded sign and hat filled with coins could have easily been taken during the Great Depression. And then there's Mike Greenville's photo of the long line outside a Louis Vuitton store, aptly titled "What Recession?"
One of the book's biggest strengths is that it comes at the recession from all sides. There's plenty of gloom and doom. But there are glimmers of hope, too.
In "Stories for the Grandkids," Kit Pollard writes:
"When the status quo isn't worth preserving, exciting things start to happen. Story-for-the-grandkids-worthy things. What are those things? Well, I don't know yet. But in a year or two, they'll be apparent. And in five years, commonplace."
(Baltimore Sun archive photo)
I've been The Baltimore Sun's nightlife and local entertainment reporter for a couple years, and it's surprising how much the scene has grown in that time. Most of Baltimore's bars and clubs are unpretentious places with fairly cheap drinks and plenty of character. I like dancing and think this city needs more clubs, but nothing beats having a cold, locally brewed beer with friends in a comfortably full corner bar.
