However, the focus of this project is somewhat different. I believe that we come to know a city through the people who live there, so my goal is to depict the city of Charlottesville through its inhabitants. I intend to make portraits of as many Charlottesvillians as possible and share them, along with a little bit about each person, on this photoblog.
Feel free to contact me at cville.people@gmail.com if you would like to be part of the project or know someone who would.
You can see more of my photos on my other blog The Things I've Seen and on my Flickr stream. You can also follow me on Instagram (K_A_Sprouse) or Twitter (@K_A_Sprouse).
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Tim, the future physician
One of my regular haunts in Charlottesville is the Cville Smoke Shop just off the Downtown Mall. They have a good selection of cigars and a nice little smoking lounge, so if you stop by, you sit and enjoy your cigar and chat with a pretty varied group of regulars. I recently met Tim there, and after we talked for a while, I asked him if he’d be willing to participate in my project, and he kindly agreed.
Tim is from the Philadelphia area originally and first came to Charlottesville to study marketing at UVa. Over time, he became interested in focusing on marketing and fund-raising for non-profit organizations, and after finishing his undergraduate degree, he spent a summer working full-time in a community health clinic in North Carolina, where he did everything from grant-writing to billing to arranging appointments. He said that he really enjoyed working with the low-income patients who sought services at the clinic and decided that he’d like to go to medical school to become a doctor working with under-served populations.
Since his training had been in the commerce school, Tim has had to go back to school to take the courses in biology and chemistry that are prerequisites for med school admission, and he has now finished all the academic work necessary to apply. He’s currently working at a local winery and taking some additional courses in public health and related subjects via Coursera, the internet-based education company that partners with top universities to provide free educational opportunities to students around the world.
Tim told me that he’s leaning toward DO school instead of MD school; that is, he would prefer to be a doctor of osteopathic medicine, as he believes that the more holistic approach to health suits him better. I imagine that he’ll be a very fine physician, and his patients will benefit from his warm and easy nature, as well as his strong commitment to treating the disadvantaged.
Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA
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Dylan, the renaissance man
One of my few vices is that I like to smoke the occasional cigar, and my favorite places to do so in Charlottesville are outside at Miller’s (www.millersdowntown.com/Millers_Downtown.html) or the Cville Smoke Shop (www.cvillesmokeshop.com). I met Dylan at the cigar shop, and he’s one of those people who seems to be able to do a little bit of everything. He’s from New York, originally, and he studied visual arts in college, but now he works in a highly technical field that combines intellectual property law and finance. He has a website where he shares his creative works (www.studiodk.org), but as for his day job, I’ll let you ask him about it, since I have no doubt that I wouldn’t explain it clearly.
Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA
