I have long admired local artist and photographer Jamie Harmon, whose work by way of his mobile photobooth and studio space Amurica captures the most ordinary of things in the most striking ways. Just as a portrait by Annie Leibovitz is instantly recognized as such, Jamie’s photographic art is uniquely his. Last April when I spotted the new issue of Memphis magazine from afar I celebrated for him and his wife, fellow artist Leah Keys. Yes, even from a distance Jamie’s work is irrefutably recognized.  
 
A couple of weeks ago I ran into Jamie and Leah and for the first time learned about the life behind the lens that sees so much beyond the surface. Part of me wanted to share much of which we spoke but a larger part of me decided to simply cherish those private moments. With the exception of one revelation from Jamie that I never knew or considered until now: 
 
“It took me 20 years to get it: letting go of the struggle to please others with my work but instead taking chances in all directions. Which inadvertently led to pleasing the masses.” 
 
Twenty years. 
 
That’s about how long the Sears Crosstown Building sat empty and abandoned before its revitalization began. Now referred to as the Crosstown Concourse, it sits as the backdrop for Amurica’s studio. It is a place wherein Jamie saw movement in the stillness of a hollow shell and conveyed that to the rest of Memphis, solidifying our belief in the vision of what is to come.  
 
What city and its residents could look at a crumbling structure left behind and long forgotten as a relic of the past, seeing instead the true magnitude of its compelling potential? The answer lies, ironically, in the slogan Sears last used nearly twenty years ago, “Where else?” - MEMPHIS.