About Me
Raised in Nashville, took my first roll of film and made my first prints in the darkroom of my 5th grade school in the ghetto. OK...I didn't LIVE in the ghetto, I just went to school there. Then I had the best high school art teacher in the world, John Ashworth, and that led me to art school. I almost went to school to be an art therapist, but I decided I didn't want to live in Detroit so I went to Atlanta instead. There, I majored in photography and minored in Hamms beer, The Stein Club, and being followed home by strange naked men in cars. I eventually dropped out because art school is expensive as hell, and when you're already living with 8 people in a 2 bedroom apt.(including a strange tall guy who sleeps curled up on the landing of the stairs)and you still can't pay the bills, something has to be done. I thought it would be a good idea to quit my job at the photo lab and wait tables. For some reason I decided to take a job a) at a wing place b) on Ponce de Leon.A few months of that and I left Atlanta and moved home to save money and travel. Instead, I got married and had babies.And dogs. I LOVE my babies and dogs- Violet,Lucy,Charley Frank,Frances, Maisy. Poor Lewis and his house full of girls.(Update-we've added a player to Lew's team as of Oct. 6) He has figured out a way to put up with us, because we've been married for 13 years now. Lewis is a guitar player, so I started to bring my camera to shows around town. One thing led to another and I started getting some work.I've done work for Amnesty Intl., No Depression, NY Times, and even worked for the Teamsters once and got a check signed by Hoffa. I should've framed it ,but we were poor so I cashed it. Music is really my thing. I love shooting live music. I've been going to shows in Nashville since I was a kid because my brother was playing in bands back then. I used to sit on the basement stairs in my house wearing my footie pajamas and watch my brother's band practice. I'm sure he loved that. I used to interrupt the band to sell Girl Scout cookies to Bill Lloyd. Maybe that's why I like "Welcome to the Dollhouse" so much. I am Dawn Weiner. I have a poster somewhere that someone made with a stencil on 11x14 poster board that says something like "U2 with REM at the Vanderbilt auditorium. Admssion $5, or free with a Vanderbilt student ID". Too bad I was 10. Practical Stylists, Raging Fire, Shadow 15 ( I LOVED them), Government Cheese, of course the Scorchers. Then there was my era of music with FUCT, Tommyrot, Clockhammer,RIP,Jet Black factory and all those guys. Anyway, I'm leaving out a lot, but that's the idea. I don't get out as much at the moment as I would like, but I'm working on it. In the meantime, I am trying to master the zen of dishwasher loading, and putting up some stuff at www.focalhoney.com. It's not there yet, but it's going to get there or I'll die trying. It's possible I'll die trying...
