Armed with a homemade DIY pinhole panorama camera and a few rolls of black and white 120mm film, Mark Furches and Jerry Roscom drive up to Atlanta, Georgia for a couple days to capture the sights of the street life of the bustling metropolis. Their amazement of the city, with its lavish skyscrapers, larger than life monuments, other worldly infrastructure, and technological prowess, is soon replaced by stupefaction, as the underworld of the city veers its ugly head. Beneath the appearance of prosperity, the dilapidation and adulteration of one of America's largest cities can clearly be seen in the photos of these two naivete young men. Furches and Roscom travel the city by MARTA. They talk to people as they journey the city, and they find out that many Atlanta natives give a crude acronym for MARTA: Moving Africans Rapidly Throughout Atlanta. From their brief tour through the city, it seems as social inequality is prevalent in the city. Many of the homeless, drug addicts, and project and slum dwellers are African American.
Like a game of chess, there are winners and losers in this life, and at times, it seems that the winners can care less about the losers. The social decay of the city is self-evident, but the lower-middle class holds onto a shard of hope. In their heart, they believe equality is inevitable. God shines his light on all men regardless of race, color, nationality, social status, or any other demographic. Long ago, God wiped out the world by flood. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone. Now, in modern times, we see that the peoples of the earth know how to speak the same language, English, but all they do is babble to each other. Atlanta is another Babel. The people have already been scattered. So, what will God do to this two-faced, burgeoning yet fallen city and all the other cities of the earth? Is this blossoming city already facing decrepitude? Will God send down his destruction on us all? When will we ever turn back to the Lord, and finally help those in need? Before heading back home to Pensacola, Mark and Jerry visit Stone Mountain. They get a mesmerizing view of the city from afar, they are overcome by how small, feeble, and dependent upon God that we really are. On their drive home, they are accompanied by their memories, undeveloped film showcasing an undeveloped sad city, and uneasy feelings that shout like the clap of close thunder, "Lookout; beware;
something is bound to happen, for better or for worse." It's just a matter of time, and until then, Atlanta will remain 'Adult E-Rated.'
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| Pulling maintenance on Mark's car before pulling out to Atlanta. |
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| Mark Furches pointing ahead in curiosity to the unknown down the road. |
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| Mark Furches |
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| Jerry Roscom |
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| Downtown ATL |
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| Jerry Roscom, armed with emulsion, as he boards the MARTA. |
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| Atlanta Capital |
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| Inhumane surplus poverty. |
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| Overlook at Stone Mountain in Georgia. Atlanta looms in the distance. |
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| Flashing lights and frightful sights of the ATL street life fog the memory of the drive back home. |
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| Everything is upended. Nothing is as it seems Adult E-Rated reigns supreme. |
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