IvyBrook's Night Drives Through Five Points South & Downtown Birmingham--Moody Photography Collection

I've intentionally not edited Ivy's photography. She called it "moody photography," and while I'm tempted to restore some of these images, I feel doing so might take away from her original artistic vision. I think she loved the darkness, the shadows, and the atmosphere they created.

(All photographs in this collection by Ivy Brook Walker)

Ivy Brook Walker during one of her night drives through Birmingham, Alabama and Five Points South (2016)

Driving at night helped her unwind. What inspired the night drives, she told me, was the many trips we had taken at night when she was little. From the time she was just two-years old until she was about six or seven years old, night drives were our tradition. Every Friday and Saturday night, usually around 7 p.m., we’d get in the car and go out to eat or to the movies.

At the time, I was attending Jeff State and UAB, so I spent a lot of time in the Five Points South area. I loved it there. During the day, when I didn’t have class, I'd take Ivy in her stroller, and we'd walk around Five Points South. We'd eat lunch, I'd study a little, and we'd often stop by Charlemagne's record store, rare used book stores, and I’d buy rose and gardenia essence oils at the Golden Temple.

Charlemagne's Record Exchange photo credit: IvyBrook Walker

At night, after eating out—often somewhere along Highway 280—we'd drive through Mountain Brook, Homewood, Red Mountain, and Five Points South. Sometimes we'd stop at Krispy Kreme for donuts. Other times we'd go to Pete's Hot Dogs or to Jazz in the Park on Highland—we'd even pick up Grandma Romay many times. Afterward, we'd roll the windows all the way down—Ivy in her car seat right next to me—as we headed home.

Ivy remembered those rides. Back then, children could still ride in the front seat if they were buckled in, and she loved sitting up front. We'd listen to Bon Jovi, Journey, Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, old-school R&B like The Isley Brothers...Michael Jackson, and Jazz music like Nina Simone and Diana Krall, Those are memories I cherish.

The tradition actually started with my father. Sometimes he would take me with him to mail letters at the post office or run errands around town. We'd ride through neighborhoods, including Mountain Brook and other parts of Birmingham, just admiring the houses. I loved it, and without realizing it, I carried that tradition over to Ivy.

When we moved to Shelby County, the tradition gradually stopped. Life changed, and we weren't in that area as much anymore.

What I didn't know was that years later, as an adult, Ivy had returned to many of those same places…like Charlemagne’s. She was driving through Five Points South, downtown Birmingham, and the surrounding neighborhoods at night, just as we had done years before. She was seeing them through her own eyes now, camera in hand.

The photographs in this collection were taken during those night drives. Whenever she left, I worried. If Ivy wasn't back, I didn't get any sleep. But I also knew she was grown and needed her freedom, her space, and those quiet moments to herself.

Our relationship wasn't perfect. I won't pretend it was. But she knew I loved her. And she told me the last day of her life that she knew I was her biggest fan, whether we were mad or not.

Some of these photographs I had never seen before. She left them stored on a drive, and others were tucked away in various accounts. I don't know whether she ever intended for them to be published. I don't know if she felt they were good enough. But I'm publishing them because I loved her work, and I would like to share these photographs.

If you would like to use any of these images, all I ask is that you keep Ivy Brook Walker's name attached to her work, credit her as the photographer, and let me know where you share them. I'd like to support it.

This is part of her legacy.

Please credit all images as: Photographer: Ivy Brook Walker