Augusta Lee Collins is in the West Coast Blues Hall of Fame. I have known him for about 7 years and first met him while working in Oakland in the Fruitvalle District. He awas playing regularly at a small cafe across from our center.
Turns out Augusta used to play all around the world and played drums with such luminaries as Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Lightning Hopkins, Herbie Hancock and others.
In between being famous and today he spent 5 years homeless on the streets of Oakland. About 12 years ago he decided to get off the streets and is now making a comeback as an artist playing guitar and recording songs he has written.
I had not seen Augusta for about 5-6 years until recently when we stopped at Pizza Pazza on Piedmont Ave. in Oakland. I told him about my venture into photography and we decided to collaborate on a shoot for his next album cover.
We had a great time talking and sharing about the ups and downs in both our lives and I think we captured the personality and essense of Augusta. Looking forward to more in the future.
Here are some of the selected images from the shoot.
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