Another Piece of the Vision

https://alukastorytellingphotography.com

Chris Aluka Berry (@alukastories)

Architect James Hanis gave yet another assignment in late 2019. "Mary Jo, I want you to find a high caliber, professional photographer who is willing to come to the school campus and shoot with the goal of finding the cover story photograph that will eventually be the one student picture that represents our Blu Sky initiative, a shot worthy the cover of the Times."

Many months later after no success with this photography assignment, I mentioned the need to longtime friend and supporter, Pamela Carmen. Without hesitation, Pam answered,. "I know just the person. Chris Aluka Berry. I had learned years back to never underestimate Pam's connections.

Backed by Pam's reference, the PROJECT BLU SKY initiative combined with the story of The Learning Center Charter School captured the attention of Atlanta based documentary photographer Chris Aluka-Berry. He visited the school on March 29, 2020, with the intent of capturing the life of our school, and, of course, the picture that will represent the project.

Aluka-Berry is a storytelling photographer who grew up in a biracial family in a small rural South Carolina town. For the past five years he has documented life in southern Appalachia in an effort to bring awareness to “Affrilachia” – a term that refers to people of African American heritage who are native to, or live in, the Appalachian Mountains.

A regular contributor to European Press Photo Agency and Thomson Reuters News Agency, Berry teaches photography at Pace Academy in Atlanta and works with non-profits and corporations to tell their story.

Berry's work has been featured in NPR, Newsweek, The Atlantic, Garden and Gun, Wired, LA Times, the New York Times, London Free Press, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, MSM, and many more. He has worked for Tyler Perry Studios, Amazon, Microsoft, the Coca-Cola Company, Modern Healthcare, Samsung, AT&T, Harvard BioScience, YouTube, Delta Airlines, Allstate, the Home Depot Foundation, Chick-Fil-A, and more. However, it’s storytelling that is Aluka-Berry’s passion.

“Being a small charter school in rural Appalachia, we were honored to be able to work with such a talented photographer as Chris, who offered his services pro bono. “We serve a diverse set of Appalachian students in our small mountain town. To see this talented artist work his photography skill and talent throughout the day was an impressive experience. He assured me. "I will shoot until the last student has left the campus for the day." Sometimes from a distance, other times, up close as captured in the picture above, we are certain the story captured through the Chris Aluka Berry lens will add value to larger and larger audiences throughout the unfolding of PROJECT BLU SKY.”

The Image Emerges

As promised in the October 7, 2021 blog: The Facility Vision Timeline, here is the first imagery of the Blu Sky Observatory shared back in October 2019 by architect James Hanis.

James scheduled a trip to North Carolina with the promise of a delivery that that would begin moving Blu Sky Observatory into a more tangible realm. The jumbotron, a roof top observatory, and stairwells designed to force the eyes of our students ever upward as education unfolds with possibility, all held the promise of The Learning Center's visionary approach education.

The reveal of the 24" x 36" imagery defined a strong starting point for the next years of detailed work being dedicated to Blu Sky Observatory Facility Replacement Project.

Back to Preschool

As our architect James Hanis first shared imagery of Blu Sky Observatory with me starting in October 2019, he simultaneously began to teach me the basics behind the work in spearheading a major capital campaign. I moved forward in blind faith. I had no experience with the world of major fundraising. Most days I felt as if I went back to preschool when it came to the basic knowledge that I needed to navigate the work.

The picture that I used above captures a greater truth that James Hanis instilled in me as I stepped into the unknown with capital campaigns: "Your vision for education and the facility to house such is created, already in existence in the future. It is your job to move the clouds out of the way and bring the vision into full view."

A favorite part of flying had always been the moment of breaking through the clouds, many times dark and foreboding, into the still blue of the sky above. I understand the experience will be similar as I continue the work to bring PROJECT BLU SKY into full view.