Today we’d like to introduce you to Alissa Nicholson.
Hi Alissa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ll start off by saying “Forest City of the South” began as a journey of self-discovery and awakening and became a way to express my own perspective and vision of Savannah’s influence on my life across the span of 18 years. The purpose was to communicate the essence of Savannah that I knew and believed in through photography and storytelling, and “The Forest City” found me as if seeking a voice, and I felt a responsibility in honoring that. It has been an overwhelming, steady unfolding of discovery, and it has taken years to absorb the many complex layers. Currently, I stand at the beginning of that journey while more energy has gone into growing roots and going deeper rather than growing wider or bearing fruit, and I am happy to invite you on that journey. Savannah is a city of fate, and I am awestruck, often by the connections. I know there is real, divine guidance and purpose in those encounters and revelations, as it is too intricately woven together, too perfectly aligned, and too magnificent.
I came from the small college town of Charlottesville, VA, home of Thomas Jefferson. Charlottesville has always been my home base. It’s like a nest, literally and metaphorically, as it is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and it is also where my parents provided a solid foundation for myself and my siblings to fully know and be our true selves. We lived a somewhat sheltered life in the country in a family of six, although we were constantly pushed to be independent, active, creative, and resourceful. It wasn’t too unusual then, but we grew up without cell phones, computers, or cable television. Art and drawing were gifts of mine from an early on, and I have vivid memories teaching myself to draw at age 3 and 4 to this day. My elementary school art teacher saw something in me and became my “secret admirer,” leaving surprise gifts for me throughout the entire year of 2nd grade. However, art remained a talent rather than a focus. As we grew older, the sport of swimming became the all-consuming activity of the family, as we woke up for practice before 5 AM only to return to the pool in the evening, year-round. This lifestyle and discipline shaped who I am more than anything else. After winning the Albemarle County Public Schools Arts Festival, that set in motion a string of fateful events that led me to Savannah, and Savannah changed the course of my entire life.
I believe the universe directs our course and puts us in places and moments with people that reveal our true purpose, work, and gifts. And I think there’s something really special and uncommon about Savannah, spiritually, that fosters more of those connections. Call it a mysterious magnetism or mysticism, but it is undeniable, and that becomes more intriguing when you know we have the ghosts of Indian mounds here in Savannah, dating older than those in Mexico. The original spirit and soul of Savannah is so critical to knowing her intimately, as well as discovering why we are here and understanding what needs to be protected, and I believe, more than ever, we need to refocus our attention. My intention with “Forest City of The South” was to dig deeper into the heart of the city, beyond the tourism industry, beyond the immediate obvious traits and characteristics we love, and beyond my own understanding. I believe there is a powerful, cosmic consciousness we can connect with here, and the overarching motivation I’ve had from the beginning is to reveal a poetic, interconnectedness, divine design, and quiet stillness in the madness. Photography is one way I communicate easily, so that is a source of my own passion and love, and it is the primary way I give of myself.
When I say “The Forest City” found me, I mean it continually reappeared in different avenues and outlets in my life to the point where I knew I had no choice but to take this path, which is how I approach life in general. Without inhibition or hesitation, I started a website in 2019, and that planted a seed. Funny enough, what began with the website spiraled into countless parallels in my own life. In 2020, I was asked to build a 15,000-sf vegetable garden from scratch as we all watched the world go into a tailspin. The garden itself became a metaphor for my own growth while two of us were out there every day, planting seeds and tending to plants. If you’ve grown a garden, then you know it is a true labor of love and one giant experiment filled with unexpected wonder. To this day, I count that year as the most treasured in my life. I am still processing the magnitude of it all and what has transpired from there, but the entire undertaking was transformational. That year was a true reawakening for all of us, but I personally took a deep dive into my own spiritual path, and I believe I was sent back to Savannah — at that very distinct hour — to be with the person who shared the garden with me. After 2020, the work I had begun previously became increasingly more valuable and meaningful.
This entire process has moved at a slow, steady pace, as organic and serendipitous as my own life discoveries, and I am still working on the next steps, but it is bigger than “The Forest City.” The concept of the acorn was intentional and represents a humble beginning. A constant reminder we have to start somewhere, and the belief that an entire forest lives within a single seed. The related metaphors of the roots, the tree of life, and the forest are equally impactful in how I perceive the larger story. Forests sustain all of life, and there are direct correlations between that and our own stories. “Forest City of The South” is a new perspective and way of seeing Savannah through these abstract themes.
I’ll give you an example. I recently encountered “Ghost Pipes” or “Indian Pipes” in Bonaventure Cemetery. Emily Dickinson called them the “preferred flower of life” (I love this correlation to the tree of life), as they seemed “supernatural.” It can flourish in dark, forested places but only lasts a few days. Their form even appears angelic, almost as if they have feathers. A woman named Mabel Loomis Todd gifted Emily a painting of ghost pipes, which became a book cover of Emily’s, as Mabel believed they represented Emily’s hidden poetry talent. You can now find ghost pipes carved on Mabel’s headstone in Massachusetts. What is fascinating about this wildflower is that it requires a host tree, which the fungi have a symbiotic relationship with, and the ghost pipes get nutrients from the tree roots through the fungi. This demonstrates the intricate web of interconnectedness in nature that is mirrored in our own lives and connections. Everything is connected. If you follow the trail, one thing always leads to the next, and Emily has a Savannah connection, too. Conrad Aiken, Savannah-born, Pulitzer Prize poet, who is buried near the ghost pipes I found in Bonaventure, introduced the world to Emily posthumously. This is a perfect representation of how Savannah speaks to me, and it is a perfect model of what I hope to achieve in sharing my own story and the underlying spiritual fabric of life that connects all of us. It’s all about the connections!
In my own life, I can trace significant moments of destiny, but one profound chapter was New York City. New York was a time I fell in love with my camera and walking 6 miles a day or taking the train out of the city on the weekends. I lived just 1 block from Central Park by Live with Kelly in the Upper West Side, and my go-to escape was Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. My camera became my obsession, and a key blog, Brain Pickings (Now called “The Marginalian”), was my daily love affair. She introduced me to a woman, Mary Haskell, who remains a guiding light in my life and is buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah (I didn’t know that until years later). Far too many coincidences exist between Mary’s life and mine for me to ignore her presence, but she’s connected to another encounter I had after I went to the airport on the wrong day, and a mysterious “angel” picked me up. That was the exact moment I knew what I had to do, and I immediately started pulling everything together.
When I finally moved back to Savannah in 2019, I dropped off 30 gift bags to local stores at Christmas time, introducing the new “Forest City” project I had started. I didn’t have any expectations for that other than I hoped to work with Savannah Bee because I had just met with an employee at their Broughton location, discussing the significance of Tupelo Trees, and I really wanted to meet the owner, Ted Dennard. After Christmas, Ted was the ONLY person who mailed a card back to me at East Jones, offering to collaborate. I was so taken by the interview I did with Ted in February of 2020 in regards to who he was, what he represented, and what he believed in, and that is very much entangled in what I am processing from the last four years, but I believe I was meant to meet Ted, and I was so inspired by him and all the research I did on the bees and the Tupelo Trees, it is worthy of mentioning. He showed up at the beginning, no questions asked, at an hour when I had little to show of myself, and I don’t think it’s an accident Savannah introduced us. That’s Savannah for you!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As you can see from the life story shared, many parts of this project were gifted to me and fell into place on their own. Of course, there has been real heartache, heartbreak, and tears in the last four years, particularly, which was entirely personal, and that slowed down the whole process. Or it allowed the process to move slowly, which I don’t discount. Time was needed for healing. Looking back, I use that as motivation and strength, and that can be tied to the “seed” concept as well. For a seed to transform, it must become entirely undone in order to crack open. It may look like destruction or death, but it is transformation and growth. Those hardships have allowed me to see and experience Savannah in new and different ways, and that directly affects my work, so it all connects. Every moment, no matter how earth-shattering or wonderful, plays a part, and for that, I am grateful. One of the most difficult moments I faced early on in this process led me to say a prayer by Mary Haskell’s grave, and that’s when I noticed the acorn carved into her headstone, and that is the moment I went home and sketched an acorn for my website!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I absolutely love photography and drawing. I think the way I see and experience the world is what sets me apart in photography, but of course, that’s not unique to me. I do know I’m a little unusual in how I spend my time because I like exploring alone. If I have my camera, I find enormous joy in discovering the world in solitude or with someone I love. This transpires in my photographs and the way I capture holistic experiences with emotion and heart rather than simply a photograph. I’m drawn to moody and spiritual atmospheres, such as storms, rain, snow, or fog, especially, and I love quiet places. Throughout my time in New York City, I desperately needed quiet spaces in the frenzy of city life, and I created that through photography, which became a habit and a lifestyle. You will see new ideas and creative work coming from both my photography and drawing in the future.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
The book that solidified this project, just as Mary’s grave played a part, is “Historic and Picturesque Savannah,” by Adelaide Wilson. My dear friend and soul companion who has been with me through everything in the past 7 years, Shannon Scott, gifted a vintage copy of this book to me on my birthday, not knowing it would mention “The Forest City.” What was neat was I had already settled on a modified phrase for the forest city, “Forest City of The South,” never having heard that exact description before, and the book quoted those very words. On a day-to-day basis, I’m obsessed with the online website findagrave. I use the cemeteries as a bouncing board in a lot of ways, and findagrave always leaves a trail of names and topics to research. Going back to Mary Haskell, you will find she is connected to both the Baldwin and Lawton plots in Bonaventure. Corinne was Mary’s cousin, and I believe it is quite possible 4-year-old Mary was at 30-year-old Corinne’s funeral. A truly fascinating connection between special souls and a great reflection of Savannah’s spirit. Going back to my introduction to Mary, I would highly recommend the blog “The Marginalian” by Maria Popova for her uncommonly beautiful and poetic insight.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://forestcityofthesouth.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forestcityofthesouth
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forestcityofthesouth/
Image Credits
Alissa Lee Nicholson
