Dale

Dale was hesitant at first. "You want to take a picture of me?" He looked directly into the camera, unsmiling and a bit unsure. And then a customer arrived. And with a fluidity and ease that he hadn't had in front of the camera, he whipped a cape around the man. He went swiftly to work, edging up the customer's hair, seeming more comfortable to be behind a work of art than the subject of one.

Miles

Miles kept banter with his customers and those around him. And when he chimed in, he grounded the shop with his knowledge and opinions.

Etta Ruth

Etta Ruth was the first female barber in Tallahassee. She spoke of the failing sense of community in Frenchtown that she felt had a hand in the neighborhood's downfall because it shifted from a black-owned neighborhood to the hands of others: "Children will say of their passed parents 'we don't want this—we're just gonna go 'head and sell it.' ... [But] these people out here made you possible. Without them you wouldn't be here."

Doc's Two Stop Barbershop

Katie & James

Katie and James co-own Jet Set and both said, "Frenchtown is about as close to big city life as you're gonna get." Because everything's in walking distance and everyone knows everyone. Katie said that Frenchtown was a community in every sense of the word, because people looked out for one another—they supported each other.

Inside Doc's Two Stop

William

"Kraft want to hire me for a commercial I cheese so much!" William had a smile on his face and got the rest of the men around him laughing. "I'm proof that you can be positive out here."

Etta Ruth

Inside Jet Set

Artistic Barbershop

The Taylor House

"Built in 1894 by Lewis Washington Taylor and Lucretia McPherson Taylor, the Taylor House is located in Frenchtown, one of Tallahassee's most historic neighborhoods. Settled by freed slaves after the Civil War, it quickly became a vibrant African American area."

John

"I've had five brain surgeries and four strokes. I just had one last month."

Sincere

"Here take a picture!" He poses like a muscle man. "Boom. Boom. Boom." He punctuates each pose with charisma and a smile.

Tommy

When he was young, Tommy's parents moved to Tallahassee from Atlanta, "because they had property here." He saw, through them, the value of hard work and was able to eventually purchase his own land. But he somehow lost his way.

Mussa

Mussa is a Kenyan man who once found his way to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in entomology from FAMU. His earnestness and paternal instincts shone in his concern. He parted with encouragement: "Don't stop doing what you're doing."

Historic Frenchtown

MLK & Carolina

Joe

He approached, arms open. "Did you get what it says?" "No greater love."

Alexis Roberts McMillan

"Are you going to bring any new business to Economy Drugstore?"

Patty (left) & Cynthia (right)

Though the two are sisters, Cynthia was the only one born and raised here—and was eager to point out what things used to be. She said her home was in a place that is now Cascades Park. Furrin Auto—at Macomb and Tennessee—was a black movie theater. The charred cinderblock building next to the shelter was once Ma Mary's Kitchen where rooms were rented out on the top. And she urged a visit to FAMU's Foote Hillyer building, the old FAMU hospital—"Where I was born and where my father died."

Lewis

Lewis spoke with so much fervor. He'd taken up so many trades in so many places. He even once spent time as a cajun cook in Ohio. "How does cajun end up north?" He'd worked his way up to cook. The man who trained him had bought him a car once and asked him to go back to Louisiana with him. But Lewis liked where he was at the time and decided to stay.

Theresa

"I'm really thirsty and I don't want to wait for the shelter to open up. Do you think one of these restaurants will give me water?"

Chisholm

Michael