Since moving downtown, I’ve tried to get more involved in the city. Not only socially, but I was hoping to get involved in more freelance photography work. In the past few months, I have been able to incorporate the two by shooting a few freelance projects for a couple non-profits that have led me to meet some pretty amazing people.

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The first project I got to photograph, was for a team called We Are City. This group encourages the growth of Indianapolis by advancing unique and creative city-building. A project this team completed was We are City [IMPORT]. They “imported” urban thought-leaders to Indianapolis from another city for one month. While the guests were there, they would get a closer look at the city while also completing a creative project of their own involving Indianapolis.

James Reeves was their import in March. He currently resides in New Orleans, but has traveled all over the world. More specifically, he has traveled more than 40,000 miles by car across the country in search for answers about his country and its meaning, creating a photo memoir in the process. I followed him around for a couple of days to document some of his time while he was here. When I asked him what he thought of Indianapolis before he visited, he said not much of anything. Indianapolis did not have much of a reputation, good or bad, to him like most cities, it was just sort of, anonymous.

This is what We Are City would like to change. It wants to create a reputation for the city and make it a place people want to live and visit.

The first part of James’s visit that I documented was his donated apartment and furniture. Mozzo apartments allowed the imports to live there, while Osborn & Stillman donated the incredible furniture that filled the rooms.

I then followed James to IUPUI, where he prepared to give a presentation, mainly focusing on his book.

James attended a 1828 meeting at Duos Kitchen. The 1828 project is an initiative through IndyHub where young leaders in the community can engage and exchange ideas. This group wants to promote young leaders to take on projects (independent or communal) in the city because they believe this different generation has much to offer, and perhaps a different approach to leadership compared to a different age group.

To see the project James worked on while in Indy, click here.

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For We Are City’s next import in April, Oliver Blank visited Indianapolis, also coming from New Orleans. I spent much less time with Oliver, but I did attend one of the talks he gave through We Are City at The Speakeasy in Broad ripple. He spoke somewhat about his project that we was working on during his import, that you can learn more about here.

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The most recent project I got to photograph was the 5×5 project put on by IndyHub. Basically at this event (which took place on Georgia Street downtown) 5 presenters are allowed 5 minutes and 5 slides to explain why they should be funded 5 digits ($10,000) to complete their project. All the projects are local to Indy and range greatly in topic.

This most recent 5×5 event has been the third of four that will take place. The last winner used their $10,000 to fund the “Cool Bus,” where this portable library drives to different locations to offer donated books to anyone who wants to check them out and keep them, for free. They also offering tutoring, classes and some other awesome stuff on the bus.

I was just casually taking photos of this sign when I saw my name pop up on it as one of the sponsors! It was so awesome that IndyHub considered me a sponsor and later even announced my name at the event in front of hundreds. Thank you so much Molly Chavers for the shout out, and for the opportunity to shoot such a cool event.

This was the first project that presented, “IndyGo Inside and Out” by Katie Basbagill. To learn more about any of these projects, click here.

“Indy Writes Books,” Alyssa Newerth

“Indy Full Circle: Roger Gohl’s Waving Flag,” Mayowa Tomori

“ink, love,” Aaron Story

And finally, the winner of 5×5: Face Your City based on the attendees’ votes, was Malina Jeffers with “I am An Artist.”