I’m just bustin, I’m so proud. Larry left me up here in these mountains all alone to get ready for his first big SHOW. I’ll be hanging his photos at Frogs Leap Public House on Tuesday!! They are, in a word, spectacular. But y’all knew that. My big challenge was to write a bio for him. Well, hooray, it’s done! Just about impossible to read the fine print in my (clearly unprofessional) picture, but I’m gonna post the text below.
Larry Wright, Photographer
Toni, who owns this restaurant along with her husband, told me I needed to write a bio for Larry. Well. Where you start with something like that?! I suppose we can begin with where he’s from and how he got here. Geography. Jobs. So, “Born in Minnesota, moved to Florida as a young boy, came to Maggie Valley on vacation in 1998 and that was that.” Larry was the system administrator for the missiles division of Martin Marietta/Lockheed Martin. Now, he and his wife (that’s me!) have Timberwolf Creek B&B and a little outdoor wedding chapel. We moved on, from engineers to inngineers.
We like this spelling better.
I’m fairly certain that, even back in Minnesota, Larry had a camera slung over one shoulder. He still does. I joked that he has sixty thousand pictures on his computer and he gave me an arch look, and corrected me, “More than two hundred thousand, actually.” Going through old pictures, it’s hard to find one of Larry – he’s typically behind the lens – but when you do, there’s a touch of worry in his smile because you’re holding his camera.
Larry’s style has evolved over the years and it’s a pure pleasure to watch him winnow a landscape down to just exactly the right frame, while he waits with infinite patience for that perfect moment. Click.
And while you’ll enjoy walking through Frog’s Leap Public House to see all his work, why yes, since you asked, I do have a favorite. Not really because it’s my favorite image – no more than I could choose one of my children over another – but the story so wonderfully reflects Larry’s unflagging determination to capture an image… It’s called Mountain Daylilies.
It was one of those summer days so beautiful it hurts. And Larry knew it. He was packed up and gone, once the sun hit the windows. Packing up is a painstaking process when you’re dealing with oxygen tanks, back up tanks, regulators, carry bags, and then all that camera equipment. Off he went. He was coming back up our road when the afternoon sun picked out the daylilies planted in front of our place, and the blue, blue sky dotted with clouds was being cooperative. Larry pulled over, and decided he needed the mountain in the background, with that sky. He noted the sun shining through the flower petals, picking out the center in silhouette, and he laid down on the ground to get it framed precisely right… and then a car drove by – and pulled over! Oh, no! Guy with oxygen, lying on the ground! And ran to help him. Larry got up, thanked them and explained what he was doing and eventually they drove away. He got back on the ground, maneuvered back under the flowers, lined up his picture… and then a car drove by – and pulled over. People are kind. It was a long, long afternoon. Larry got his picture. It’s my favorite.
