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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2013 MACON MAGAZINE I 27 Uniquely Curious Stratford academy 6010 Peake Road, Macon, Georgia 31220 • (478) 477-8073 • www.stratford.org Uniquely Stratford. D iscovery is one of education's greatest experiences, and in science class many of our students experience the joy of discovery. In 2011, Stratford opened its new science center which is equipped with state- of-the-art labs, prep rooms, Smartboard technology, an 80-seat, fully-wired lecture hall and meeting and classroom space. The science center is middle Georgia's newest and most advanced facility. With technology and science careers being the foundation for our society's economic future, Stratford is preparing its students for later success. Exploring a curiosity for learning and discovery in the most state-of-the-art facilities, is another way we are ... breaking out all over," West said with a smile. "San Francisco was too far, but Chicago was an eight-hour drive from where I grew up, so I settled there and dug in with both feet." Almost immediately, West was getting work as a photographer and developing a shooting style that put musicians at ease. "It's a matter of being ... appropriate," he said, explaining a professional style that granted him unprecedented access to legendary musicians at the moment they let their guard down. "I learned a lot about that by dealing with the blues cats," West said. "Access was easier. You'd find yourself in the basement of a blues joint and Muddy Waters is sitting right there. "Basically, it's just knowing when to pull the camera out. Always have it with you, and know when to put it to your face." It is this social ease -- as much as his skills as a photographer and film processor -- that sets West's work apart. Whether it was capturing road-weary singers Johnny Paycheck and Merle Haggard sharing a drink and smoke after a set, or leaning in as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins share a joke before taking the stage, West's photos are intimate, casual, and honest. Amazingly, West's gift for teasing out the intensely personal in his subjects often carries over to his shots of musicians on stage, as seen in an ethereal close up of Tom Waits' head wreathed in smoke as he delivers in a gravelly vocal or in an equally arresting photo of falsetto crooner Slim Whitman sharing a moment of serene harmony onstage with his son. e Who. Dec. 8, 1979. International Amphitheater, Chicago. "Boys will be boys." June Carter Cash. April, 1, 1984. George Jones' house, east Texas. "A most gracious woman, gentle, kind and very easy to photograph. A pleasure." Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Feb. 18, 1982. Madison, Wisc. "ree-fourths of the 'Million-Dollar Quartet,' on tour as 'e Survivors' (Elvis, the fourth member of the quartet, was already dead). Jerry Lee just laid one on 'em."