Charleston: Walking With Ghosts presents an intimate exploration of Charleston in the 1990s through the lens of David Edwards, a young photographer who was discovering his artistic voice. This evocative collection of analog film photographs captures a city steeped in history and culture, yet untouched by the development boom and tourism surge of later decades. The images honor Charleston's unique architecture, its vibrant working-class community, and a diversity of faces that bring to life an era of inclusivity and an emerging bohemian arts scene.
Accompanying the photography is the poetry of Charleston's first and second poet laureates, Marcus Amaker and A$iahMae, whose words enhance each image's natural poetry and deepen the reader's connection to the city's layered stories. Inspired by the great twentieth-century photographers, this book is both a celebration and a quiet lament for a past Charleston, capturing the soul of a place as it was and inviting reflection on what it has become.
Whether you're a lover of photography, art, or Charleston itself, Charleston: Walking With Ghosts provides a rare, thoughtful portrait of a city in transition, beautifully balancing artistic vision with documentary honesty.
Amaker, Marcus: - Marcus Amaker takes daily naps. He's a dad, husband, Charleston's first Poet Laureate, an opera librettist, and an Academy of American Poets fellow. In 2024, he was inducted into the S.C. Literary Hall of Fame and included on a list of favorite poets in America by Literary Hub and WildSam. He's published ten books, released 44 albums of electronic music, and three albums with a two-time GRAMMY(R) Award winner. He's also the graphic designer of the national bluegrass music journal, No Depression. His work has been recognized by The Lexington Philharmonic, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Washington Post, The Gaillard Center, PBS Newshour, NPR, Button Poetry, Spoleto, American Poets Magazine, The Kennedy Center, and more. His re-written version of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" was used by the Washington National Opera for President Biden's inauguration in 2021. His work is on two GRAMMY(R)-nominated albums, and he is a member of BMI and the Recording Academy. His original opera, The Weight of Light, debuted in Chicago in 2024. In 2025, MacArthur Fellow "Genius Grant" winner, GRAMMY(R) winner, and Pulitzer Prize winner Rhiannon Giddens sang Marcus' words on the album Songs in Flight by his friend and collaborator, celebrated composer Shawn Okpebholo.
Edwards, David: - Originally from North Carolina, David Edwards' creative talents were cultivated while attending the University of South Carolina. Although he officially received a BA in psychology, Edwards' first photography classes transformed him into a self-proclaimed "darkroom rat." Edwards studied photography with Gunars Strazdins in the Art Department and Gene Crediford in the Journalism School at USC. College weekends often found him on the road to remote areas of the North Carolina mountains, photographing the people and landscapes of Appalachia. His art has been influenced by the work of Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, and Ralph Eugene Meatyard.Edwards moved to Charleston, SC, in 1990, and immediately connected to its uniquely Southern characters and bohemian milieu. He began working as a freelance photographer, taught photography at the Gibbes Museum Studio and has been obsessing over camera work artistically and professionally for nearly four decades. His photography subjects include architecture, people, figure studies, and landscapes. David's work expresses a poetic intimate relationship between the camera and subject.David's photography has been featured in the following venues: A Promise to the Future: Thirty Years of Preserving and Protecting Edisto Island, Charleston Magazine, Art Fields (Merit Award winner, 2020), Mepkin Abbey, Gibbes Museum of Art, McKissick Museum of Art, Piccolo Spoleto, Charleston City Gallery, Tiemaker's Gallery, and the Southern Visions traveling exhibit. Edwards is represented by Corrigan Gallery, 38 Queen Street in Charleston.
Mae, Asiah: - AsiahMae, stylized A$iahMae, (they/she) is a Black, non-binary Southern poet, and cultural worker with roots in Georgia, South and North Carolina. A trans-disciplinary artist, their background spans across film, curation, production, performance and language arts. Their work is grounded in a commitment to documenting and preserving the Black South and a devotion to love and care, which she believes comes from the same heart space. A$iahmae is a Watering Hole Fellow and has been featured in The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston Wine & Food Festival, The Charleston Literary Festival, and most recently in This is The Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, curated by Kwame Alexander. They are currently serving as the Second Poet Laureate of Charleston, SC.
