Lamont Lane

Tim Duffy, Music Maker co-founder, first met Lamont Lane in 2012 in Fountain, NC, through what Tim called “the steady work of being neighbors.” A retired resident of Fountain and backyard mechanic, Lamont emerged as an artist through his collaboration with Duffy on a series of tintype portraits that became the self-titled photo book Lamont Lane.

Lamont grew up in nearby Greene County with 23 siblings. From the age of 4 ’til he was 15, he worked the farm fields behind a team of mules, and did whatever his father asked. At age 15, he pieced together a junk car and hit the highway. The vehicle broke down in Philadelphia, where he stayed and worked for 25 years. He returned home 13 years ago to care for his mother who was in poor health, and he remains in the family home just a few blocks from Music Maker Studios in Fountain.

Early in 2025, Lamont asked Tim if they could work on a series of photographs. This was when, after nearly 10 years of being a friend and acquaintance, Tim realized what a tremendous artist and poet Lamont was. All this is simply revealed in the 17 portraits Lamont and Tim created for the first volume of Music Maker Editions.

When modeling for these photos, Lamont used his body as a testament to his upbringing and a tribute to his ancestors; “They represent back in the 40s or 50s… they represent slavery time when I was back in the fields. Had me like slavery.”

“Man, we came up doing everything; picking cotton on our knees, dragging a sack. Chopping tobacco, topping tobacco, walking up and down the field in the rain. We had to pick cucumbers, plow the gardens and all with mules… I come up when they had nothing, they didn’t have nothing. We had to make it ourselves, the way we did.”

“In the studio, Lamont moved in his own way, standing in the light with the strength and history carried in his body.” Tim writes in the opening statement to their collaborative photobook: “These tintypes reflect his presence and the friendship that made this work possible.”

After years of manual labor and riding his bicycle everywhere, Lamont found himself in need of a car at age 70. Music Maker’s Sustenance Program purchased him a very serviceable truck, much to the delight of many in the neighborhood who keep him busy helping hauling unwanted debris. We are proud to call Lamont our partner, neighbor, and friend.

Lamont Lane was born in North Carolina on July 16, 1957.