New York through my eyes
On the 21st anniversary of 9/11, I wandered around Lower Manhattan capturing New York in the late afternoon and early evening. Brooklyn Bridge One World Trade Center | formerly Freedom Tower from Washington Square National 911 Memorial One World Trade Center from the 911 Memorial Santiago Calatrava’s World Trade Center Oculus Morning will come, it […]
The Art of Photography: Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide, the famous Mexican photography, was the subject of a profile on The Art of Photography, hosted by Ted Forbes. I was along for the ride.
Fun, Beautiful, Tasty, Historic Oaxaca
What Lyon is to French gastronomy, what Emilia-Romagna is to Italian cuisine many would argue Oaxaca is to Mexican food.
Faces of Hip, Sophisticated, Artistic, Down-to-Earth Coyoacán, México
PART 2 of 2, Part 1
La Gente de Coyoacán | People of Coyoacan
Coyoacán has been home to Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Diego Luna and other luminaries. Doug Hall focuses on a few other current inhabitants.
Havana Through My Eyes
A look at Havana today, including a panorama zoom of the Malecon from Morro Castle.
Cuba: Faces I Remember
Cuba is home to 11 million people. The mix of cultures has produced some beautiful people, inside and out. You’ll meet a number of them in a portrait gallery of the island’s residents.
What’s Cuba Really Like?
Doug Hall takes a look at Cuba. It’s a country of eye-popping contrasts, and is not likely to make dramatic changes anytime soon. Read this before you go.
Morelia en Boca: Food, Wine, and a VW Bus?
Part Two of Morelia en Boca, the Mexico Food & Wine Festival. More chefs, more traditional Mexican cooks, an introduction to a top-quality Mexican wine, and a food truck in a Volkswagen Bus. Plus, have you ever heard of salmon trout? I hadn’t either.
Live from Morelia: Mexico Food & Wine Festival
I’m at Morelia en Boca, the International Mexico Food & Wine Festival and I’ll be posting photos from the event over the next few days. Morelia is the capital of the state of Michoacan and is one of the major gastronomic centers of Mexico.
Queen of Mexican
Alicia Gironella De’Angeli is a doyenne of Mexican food and one of the “Queens of Mexican Cuisine.” I’ll introduce you to her and a great restaurant.
Mexico City Through My Eyes
If you think Mexico City is an overflowing, over polluted, maize of humanity, it is. It is also one of the most beautiful and cultured cities in the world. I pointed my camera at the city’s gorgeous sights and produced some pretty pixels: Mexico City Lindo.
Part II, Behind the Scenes at the Linares Studio and Home
In Part II of my visit with the famous Linares family of Mexico City, I take you inside the studio and home of the artists. You’ll enjoy an intimate look at a family that has been creating papier-mâché artwork for more than two centuries.
The Linares Family, Wizards of Papier-Mâché
I was given unlimited access to the home and studio of the famous Linares Family of Mexico City. Their artwork has been shown at the British Museum and the Pompidou Center, but you won’t believe what kind of things they blew up on a neighborhood street during an Easter week celebration called the Burning of […]
Remembering Herman Talmadge
The late Sen. Herman Talmadge and I shared a chilly relationship. I poked him and he poked back. I recount a few of our exchanges in a remembrance of the man who died this week in 2002.
A Humble Salute
The Southland is strewn with shacks, sheds and shanties of all shapes, sizes and purposes. The rib shack, the snack shack and of course the love shack. My camera and I traveled across Georgia and returned with some excellent examples.
Italy Through My Eyes
Doug Hall takes you on a nostalgic trip to Italy through photos from a quarter century ago.
Atlanta’s MLK Historic District is Suddenly ….
…HIPSTERVILLE. The neighborhood around the MLK Center is now a a hipster destination with the coming of the Atlanta Streetcar and new shops, bars and restaurants. It’s almost groovy.
The Road Leads Back: An Ode to Georgia
The sometimes complementary, sometimes contradictory, and always complicated nature of Georgia is portrayed in a photo essay and book, “The Road Leads Back: An Ode to Georgia.”
Going Back in Time in Rural Georgia
A photo essay imagines what a young boy might have seen in Georgia 50 years ago. All images were captured around Newborn and Broughton, Georgia.
Georgia’s Most Colorful Mall
A profusion of color The Hispanic shopping center on Buford Highway is the town square for Atlanta’s burgeoning Latin American population. It’s nickname, El Rinconcito de Nuestro Pueblo, means the Little Corner of Our Little Town. With 280 stores, CBS Sunday Morning said “there’s everything you would find in a Mexican village.” The mall welcomes […]
Vintage Mexico, Circa 2014
Having published many colorful pictures of Mexico, I thought it would be fun to imagine the country before Kodachrome and pixels.
Retro Appliances in the Hills of North Georgia
Stainless steel appliances are so last year. The coolest appliances you can find were built before 1960. A small company in Clayton, Ga., leads the nation in restoring retro appliances.
Cusin, Liing & Etc. | Minutes of Concord Primitive Baptist Church
Cussing, lying and drinking could get you excommunicated, but getting pregnant was excused by the Concord Primitive Baptist Church.
All Hail to Dear Old UGA
The first UGA football game of 2014 is right around the corner. Doug Hall pays homage to UGA red with a gallery of portraits, all containing some red elements. And he managed to work in Fresh Air Barbecue.
The Love Family Reunion
The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau has 65 family reunions on its books this year with each reunion bringing about 100 visitors to Atlanta. A look at the Love Family Reunion.
Funny Names and Those SOBs in Coffee County
Lulu Bobo, Seventeen Burdeen, a Dot, a Spec, and a Freak. I share some of the funny names for which the South is famous. Plus, what’s up with those SOBs in Coffee County?
At Home with Pastry Chef Pamela Moxley of Miller Union
Pastry chef Pamela Moxley of Miller Union in Atlanta bucks a few restaurant trends. First, she says she wants her food to look like real food. And then there is the matter of flavor. This renown cook and her color-splashed home are profiled.
Faces I Remember: Northwest Georgia
On a recent road trip through northwest Georgia I stopped and made portraits of a few of the people who I met. I hope you will enjoy them. I try to capture the humanity in the people I photograph. I hope it shows.
The Venerable Dillard House and Other Cool North Georgia Eateries
After a huge meal at the Dillard House you will want to take a walk around the peaceful and beautiful grounds of the restaurant The Dillard House is still the epitome of good eating in North Georgia. Sorry, Smith House. Now in its 97th year of operation the Dillard House is one of the few […]
Spec Hall Sr., Pioneer of Farm to Table Agriculture
On this Father’s Day, I salute my father, Spec Hall Sr., a pioneer of the farm to table movement. Alice Waters was one-year-old when my dad was growing vegetables and driving them to market in his truck.
A Harley-Davidson, F150 Kind of Wedding, Down Mexico way
I traveled to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, to crash the wedding of Ana and Paco. The bride arrived on a Harley-Davison and left in a vintage Ford F150 pickup truck.
A Case of Contagious Preservation in Dublin Ga.
Preservation of downtown buildings has been an economic boom for Dublin Ga. More than 150 jobs have been created. Now there’s hope for Dublin’s skyscraper.
150th Anniversary of Andersonville Prison
On this Memorial Day, we take a look at Andersonville Prison in Sumter County, Ga. Over a course of 14 months some 13,000 Civil War soldiers died in captivity there.
Georgia Tourism: Get Off the Interstate, Part 2
Georgia tourism is more than Six Flags and a fish tank. If you’re willing to explore, interesting attractions can be found in every county.
My Photos Help Promote an Important Effort at UCLA
I was happy and honored to help support the work of The UCLA Blum Center by giving a license to use photos for a conference on poverty and health in Latin America.
Retirement: A Judge, a Nosy Neighbor, and a Pickle Princess
You drive through the College Park Cemetery to reach the Princeton Court Senior Residences. All joking aside, retirement is one of the good things to do in Georgia. In my twenties I knew a man who never considered the idea of retirement. He was a 71-year-old US District Court judge. He called me Bob. I […]
2014 Madison in May Spring Tour of Homes & Gardens
Madison GA – For whatever reason General Sherman didn’t burn Madison and for that we are eternally grateful. Here are some scenes from the 2014 spring tour. The main house at Willow Oak Farm, constructed in 1866. A second home, known as the “gathering house” was erected in 2000 adjacent to this structure. The gathering […]
Cinco de Mayo: Save Mother Earth, Drink Tequila
Cinco de Mayo is synonymous with tequila, but do you know how tequila is made? Jdoughall.com takes you on a visit to a tequila distillery.
SOUL FOOD: The Beautiful Restaurant & The Perfect Church
The Beautiful soul food restaurant in southwest Atlanta is owned by The Perfect Church, giving real meaning to the term soul food.
Tequila Art
What do you do if you own a tequila distillery, a glass bottle factory and a centuries-old hacienda? You decorate with tequila bottles.
Gone With the Wind and Other Offbeat Museums
Gone With the Wind Museum in Marietta tops a list of offbeat museums in Georgia. Others include an Elvis museum, a fireman’s museum and a wax museum.
Six fabulous Georgia venues that are not the Fox Theater
The Fox Theater in Atlanta is easily the most famous and some would say fabulous theater in Georgia. Other cities boast magnificent venues like the Springer Opera House in Columbus, the Grand Opera House in Macon, and the Lucas Theatre in Savannah. Many of Georgia’s smaller towns and cities point with pride to their own […]
Street photography: Georgia coast, southwest Atlanta
Street photography: Meet a few of the people I’ve run across during my travels along US Highway 17 in coastal Georgia and Metropolitan Parkway in Atlanta.
Georgia history: Midway Church
Midway Congregational Church and Cemetery is located on Highway 17 in Liberty County, Georgia © Doug Hall A landmark in Georgia history, Midway Congregational Church in Liberty County was established in 1752. The original building was burned by the British during the American Revolution. This building was erected in 1792. It is much the same […]
Lewis Grizzard is dead and I don’t feel so good myself
How Lewis Grizzard, Loran Smith and I wound up in a dive bar on a side street in downtown Dublin, Georgia.
Fair trade coffee is the mission of this Georgia business
South Georgia may be an unlikely place to find pickup truck drivers in flannel shirts sipping socially-conscious, environmentally-friendly, organic, fair trade coffee, but that’s the morning routine at Café Campesino.
Spring arrives in East Point GA
Georgia is an explosion of profuse colors in spring. So could I capture the feeling of spring in black and white? I set out with my camera in East Point GA.
Faces I remember: Mexico (4)
Four portraits I made in Mexico – un hombre, una mujer, una muchacha, y un muchacho (a man, a woman, a girl, and a boy).
Martha Stewart approves of West Midtown
Martha Stewart was interviewed by WXIA outside Taqueria del Sol. She discusses the restaurant scene in West Midtown, Atlanta. Taqueria is owned by my friends Mike Klank and Eddie Hernandez.
Sunday, December 29, 2013, South Georgia, United States of America
If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are 4,000 words about a typical Sunday in South Georgia, USA. A Christian youth theater group performs, women in prison take a break, a 3-year-old drives a John Deere in camouflage, and grandma “makes” fried chicken.
See the Mardi Gras in New Orleans like you live there
Mardi Gras is far more than a one-day bacchanal on Bourbon and Canal streets. For locals Mardi Gras involves some 60 parades that run this year from February 15 until Ash Wednesday. Many of the best parades and parties happen outside the French Quarter and away from downtown’s Canal Street.
The day I found Whitney Houston in New Orleans
Tomorrow is Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Look for my post on Tuesday about how to celebrate Mardi Gras without dealing with Boubon Street and Canal Street. In the meantime a little story. The last time I was at Mardi Gras I was walking along Rampart Street and I saw this woman sitting on […]
Paula Deen not your cup of pot likker?
Everyone has an opinion about Paula Deen. My opinion is, Paula Deen is to Southern cooking what the polka is to ballet. If you want good recipes, consult Nathalie Dupree or Virginia Willis. And that’s all I have to say about that.
Was San Miguel, Georgia, the first European settlement in the US?
¿Se habla español? Spanish explorer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón may have established the first named European settlement in the US on the coast of Georgia in 1526. San Miguel de Guadalupe was thought to be near Sapelo Island. The settlement failed after a few months. Georgia’s San Miguel predates the arrival of English General James […]
Southern humor: Holidays
The lady at the hardware store told me that they are open Monday to Saturday from 7:30 to 6 except for ‘food eatin’ holidays.’- Tal Stanfield, East Point, Ga.
A Mexican barbacoa: My most memorable meal
I’ve enjoyed memorable meals in stunning places like Tokyo, Rio and Milan. But my most memorable meal was barbacoa in the home of poor farm workers near Actopan, Mexico. Actopan is known as the land of barbecue (barbacoa). Actopan-style barbecue means slowly-roasted meat that rests on coals overnight wrapped in cactus leaves in an earthen […]
Hidden Barcelona: Get away from the tourists
Today we’ll take a tour of hidden Barcelona, the city Christopher Columbus returned to after “discovering” the Americas. I’m going to skip the Barri Gotic, La Rambla, Barceloneta, Sagrada Família, Casa Battló and such. If your time in BCN is short take a half-day tour on a double-decker to see these tourist attractions. Wave as […]
Get off the interstate and see Georgia
You miss a lot zipping across Georgia on a four-lane highway. Most of these scenes were snapped within 30 minutes of Interstate Highways 95, 85, 75, 20 and 16. So next time get off the interstate for a few miles and get to know your state. These images are from Georgia but you’ll find beauty […]
First the Ghetto Burger and now the Ultimate Burger
There’s competition for Georgia best hamburger. You may have heard of Ann’s Snack Bar in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta. After all, The Wall Street Journal named Ann’s humongous Ghetto Burger the best hamburger in the United States. That was in 2007 and I’m happy to report Ann’s is still open even though the owner […]
Los colores de San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Rated #1 in the Top 25 Cities in the World*, there’s never a dull day in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The parish church La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel looms over the city as seen from El Chorro street in the Zona Centro. *The rating is from the Readers’ Choice Awards, Condé Nast Traveler.
A secret room, in a secret garden in a ghost town
Mineral de Pozos is one of the pueblos mágicos (magical villages) of Mexico. And within this magical village there is a breathtaking secret garden with a secret room. About 180 miles northwest of Mexico City in the state of Guanajuato, Pozos was once a thriving, opulent mining city, but was abandoned and became a ghost […]
Flaky sweet glory of the buñuelo
Readers of Garden & Gun magazine named the beignet, that deep-fried, doughnut-like New Orleans concoction, as the Ultimate Southern Food. The beignet laid waste to culinary deities like cornbread, black eyed peas and fried chicken. I think the vote was rigged. It’s no exaggeration to say that deep fried dough is a dessert staple throughout […]
Canning: Lauri Jo’s pickled green tomatoes
Canning changed Lauri Jo Bennett’s life. Lauri Jo, of Norman Park, Ga., left her teaching job in 2009 and started her own business, specializing in Southern style canning. A few days after her first jar labels arrived she won Best of the National Gourmet Food Show at the Atlanta Mart for her Green Tomato Pickles […]
The best fried chicken in Atlanta, cornbread muffins too
Sail on Silver Grill: The loss of the best fried chicken in Atlanta. The legendary Silver Grill on Monroe Drive in Atlanta has been demolished to make way for a chain Mexican restaurant. As much as I love Mexican food, this is a travesty. For some 60 years, the Silver Grill may have produced […]