It began with one shot. An Instagram post.
Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative tagged Tideland in a photo of Lee Electrical construction crews boarding ferries from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke. The sight of so many men and their equipment mobilizing to bring transmission relief to beleaguered O’cockers after Hurricane Dorian would stir anyone. But the photos were more than that. They were breathtaking. Works of art that revealed an enduring beauty amongst the wind and water swept chaos.
Lonnie and Andrea Coleman
An exchange of emails identified the social media source as The Gaff Gang and we knew the photographer had to be a member of the Lee construction team. But who? A few phone calls later we were speaking with photographer-lineman Lonnie Coleman and then his wife Andrea who maintains their social media accounts.
The Colemans reside in Columbus County and Lonnie has been a lineman nine years. He joined Lee as a foreman just two weeks before Dorian’s arrival. Andrea has been a passionate photographer since her teens and given her husband’s line of work she naturally trained her lens toward the sky, marveling at the juxtaposition of the setting sun and the magical wires that can turn darkness into light. She takes pride in her husband and his chosen profession and celebrates it through photography.
Lonnie captured these Ocracoke images on his cell phone, then sent them to Andrea who did the editing and online posting from home. She’ll be behind the camera this fall when Lonnie returns for another Outer Banks job. We sure hope Tideland territory is on their itinerary. For pleasure though. Not storm duty.
