Concrete Rose

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?

Proving natures law is wrong.

It learned to walk without having feet.

Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams,

It learned to breathe fresh air.

Long live the rose that grew from concrete

When no one else cared.

Tupac Shakur

They don't call New York City the concrete jungle for nothing. The old saying goes if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere, and that' where my friend Alexis mentality is. Concrete Rose is a perfect way to describe Alexis, her being a rose; beautiful, sensual, vibrant, young and then you have New York as the concrete; rough, raw, grimy and a jungle. No matter how troublesome the city maybe this girl with a world of curls is not going to let her stop her from pursuing her dreams.

Alexis is an actor and dancer. She went to Marymount Manhattan College, a large art school for theater, dance, and communication. We first met in our Sophomore year of high school in creative writing class and also attended the same college briefly. Years later we reconnected to do a shoot in the city, on one of the hottest days of the summer.

Since the theme of the shoot is Concrete Rose, I thought shooting in the city would be a great touch. We shot around the Brooklyn area. It was nice to meet up Alexis and reconnect talk about our college experiences. Back in Creative Writing, there was a poem she did, and there was a quote that always stuck out to me.

I keep my hair in a bun cause its tied up with secrets

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