Finding Home: Eric Brown’s New Photography Book Captures the Soul of Eastern North Carolina

Eric Brown, a local photographer, is used to open areas. After years of documenting the untamed splendor of the American Southwest, Brown has shifted his focus to Eastern North Carolina, which is closer to home. The outcome is a profoundly introspective photography book that pays tribute to the familiar from a new angle.

“All of this is work that I’ve created since moving back to this area in the fall of 2020,” Brown said. “I wanted to approach Eastern NC with the same prestige and honor that I approach those desert landscapes out west.” Many of us have seen these vistas before, but after visiting 49 states, he kept hearing how unique this place is. Brown desired to observe things from their point of view.

There is a strong emotional thread in Brown's collection, which will make its premiere at a book launch event at Larema Coffee House in Rocky Mount on Saturday, July 19. “It’s a story of looking for home, and of granting the title of ‘home’ to people and places that can’t bear the weight of such a title,” he said. “Most everything goes away. People die and move away. Communities dissolve. Tornadoes and floods destroy homes and land. The essay in the book is not about making peace with this fact, but about learning to live properly within that context.”

The book has been nearly five years in the making, though Brown didn’t originally set out to create one. “It started as an exercise in discovery,” he said. “After we moved here in 2020, in the depths of pandemic isolation and boredom, we started going for drives—sometimes planned, sometimes just to see what we’d stumble on. The book grew out of that process.”

For Brown, this work marks a departure from his previous career in commercial photography and portraiture. “I’ve spent most of my professional life doing entertainment and high-end event work, and there’s not a single discernable face in this book,” he said with a laugh. Instead, the images evoke a sense of stillness and reflection. Brown shared that his audience has a common view of sadness and loneliness in his current work, but he hopes that people will find camaraderie and comfort in it. “It’s such a noisy world, and I hope this book draws others into moments of calm,” he said.

One place that holds particular significance for Brown is Pineview Cemetery in Rocky Mount. Brown shared that he had spent a lot of time photographing in the cemetery when the weather was nice.  “So many seemingly forgotten people who, just a couple of generations ago, had the same dreams and loves as the rest of us do now,” he said. “It’s a place of loss and of hope to me.”

 The launch event at Larema Coffee House will offer attendees more than just a chance to see the book. “Everyone who purchases a book on Saturday, or who picks up a preordered book, will get a free ITELDÜ coffee mug designed around the book,” Brown said. “We’re also raffling off a framed print worth $450 and offering unframed test prints at discounted prices.” This being a good opportunity to get some local art for your home or office. But more than trying to make a profit out of it, Brown is hoping meaningful and lingering conversations.

Brown’s connection to Larema runs deep. “Our move here would have been so much different if not for Kevin and the entire team there,” he said. “It’s a world-class spot, and we’re blessed to have them here.” Brown shared that because of his profession he spends a lot of time alone, being Larema the place of his choice to take a break from “social monotony or loneliness.”

In the future, Brown intends to keep examining place and memory-related topics. His next project, which could be his second book, is on the American Southwest, and he is getting ready for another journey out west this fall to finish shooting.

For young artists and photographers, Brown offers this advice: “Lower your social media intake, it’s such a noisy world out there! Go back a generation or so to see whose shoulders we’re standing on. Read a lot and practice writing; it’ll help you find your voice. And keep your expectations in check,” he said. “Art is an amazing way to build a life, and a horrible way to make a dollar. Quiet work, for no other reason than creating, is a good and worthy endeavor.”

Brown’s book and Saturday’s event promise to be a celebration of both art and the unique landscapes that surround us every day. “Work created in relative obscurity doesn’t equate to work that is meaningless,” he said. “Don’t buy the lie. It’s very important that we all do what we do and try to wring these things dry for as much life as we can.”