A collection of imagery made around North Carolina, where I grew up, and a few from Tennessee where my parents were raised. The title is meant literally, to hold your own kin/people/family, and metaphorically, can you hold your own in a fight/life.

The Occoneechee Speedway was was one of the first two NASCAR tracks to open, and is the only remaining dirt track. It was named for the Native American Indians that occupied the land in the 17th and late 18th century. Louise Smith raced here as one of NASCAR’s first female drivers. In operation for only 19 years, it was shutdown by grassroots organizations citing the “noise and ugly, immoral environment.” It is one of the inspirations for the Thomasville Speedway in the Pixar movie cars. Though the property laid untouched (except by the forrest) for decades, the grandstand and edges of the track remained. It is now a historic landmark, open to the public as popular hiking trail and nature preserve.

Dad and I, Blue Ridge Parkway