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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > April > 14 > Entry
Prized tornado pic raffled off to help victims
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta photographer Shane Durrance’s eerie image of downtown’s only documented tornado strike served as both a reminder of how much remains to be rebuilt and as a fund-raiser Monday night.
A 22-inch-by-12-inch image of the tornado looming over the downtown skyline on canvas was transformed into a raffle item Monday night on the one-month anniversary of the storm as Cabbagetown-area eateries banded together to raise money for tornado victims. The canvas was on display at Stella Neighborhood Trattoria. Local restaurants donated 15 percent of each check Monday night to the disaster relief fund.
Durrance, 34, snapped the photo from the sixth floor of his Howell Mill Road home just as the storm hit downtown March 14. Since then, Durrance has appeared on “Good Morning America,” the syndicated “Neal Boortz Show” (heard locally on its flagship station WSB-AM) and on WXIA-TV and its sister NBC affiliate in Los Angeles.
“I’ve been taking photographs for eight years, and I’ll probably never take another photo as important,” Durrance told Buzz on Monday. “What are the chances of a tornado hitting a city and being able to capture the image during a lightning strike in the first place? Probably a million to one.”
Durrance didn’t even realize he had captured the twister until he e-mailed the photo to WXIA-TV chief meteorologist Paul Ossmann.
Explained Durrance: “He was the one who told me that the tornado was in the shot, to the left. It was pitch black. I had no idea.”
Still, the photograph that has now spawned its own Web site, www.atlantatornado.org, and a separate phone line in Durrance’s studio, has created a few storm clouds of its own over the past four weeks.
“I have a small folder of hate mail that I’ve saved,” Durrance told us. “Some people feel I shouldn’t be making money from it. Others are convinced I Photoshopped it. But I sent it in to the TV news as soon as I took it. It’s the real deal, bro. I’m a commercial photographer. This is what I do. There’s historical value in the photo. But I also have friends in Cabbagetown who were affected by this thing. I can understand how some people might be upset.”
Durrance says the money he’s made from the fluke photo has helped the cash-strapped shutterbug stay in his home.
“I was darn close to being evicted,” Durrance disclosed. “It’s not like I took a vacation. With the money I’ve made, I paid my bills.”
In addition to the donated image featured at Monday night’s fund-raiser, Durrance is also planning an exhibition of his storm photos as a Red Cross benefit.
CELEBS ADDED FOR ANGELOU TRIBUTE
Legendary music producer Quincy Jones, singer-songwriter India Arie and director Kenny Leon are the latest celebrity additions to the upcoming 80th birthday celebration for poet and author Maya Angelou, set for May 4 at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown. The evening is a benefit for the newly created Dr. Maya Angelou Teen Center at the Andrew and Walter Young YMCA complex in southwest Atlanta. Other famous folk already confirmed: director-writer-actor Tyler Perry, actress Lynn Whitfield, Chris Tucker, R&B and gospel singer Candi Station, Elder Bernice King, along with all three namesakes of the local YMCA center.
Tickets ranging from $100 to $500 remain available and can and be purchased through the Woodruff Arts Center box office by calling 404-733-5000 or by visiting www.woodruffcenter
tickets.org.
Alas, talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, who cites Angelou as a mentor, still hasn’t publicly RSVP-ed for the event.
BLACK CROWES SET TO HIT 90 CITIES
A local stop has been booked on the upcoming ambitious 90-city tour of the Black Crowes as the Atlanta-birthed band hits the road to support its latest disc, “Warpaint.” The 24-year-old act (some of us are even ancient enough to remember them in their Mr. Crowes Garden salad days) featuring brothers Chris and Rich Robinson kicks off the tour June 27 in Hershey, Pa., and ends it with a five-night finale at the Fillmore in San Francisco in December. The Black Crowes are scheduled to appear Oct. 5 at the new Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on June 21.
OVERSCENE
Las Vegas Palms Casino hotel owner George Maloof and 15 companions, including Detroit Lions wide receiver and former Georgia Tech star Calvin Johnson, dining at Veni Vidi Vici in Midtown after attending the Hawks-Celtics basketball game downtown.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If she were so pro-gun, she would have shot her husband already.”
“The View’s” Joy Behar on-air Monday discussing presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s (right) Second Amendment-affirming stump speeches over the weekend
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Country singer Roy Clark is 75. Actress Emma Thompson is 49. Singer Samantha Fox is 42. Guitarist Ed O’Brien of Radiohead is 40. Actor Seth Rogen (“Knocked Up”) is 26. Actress Emma Watson (“Harry Potter” movies) is 18.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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