Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2018

55 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestOfMP.com feature thrive is for the next generation to step up. Hopefully, the historic weavers before me feel that I have.” Recently, Alston has taken this tradition to the tech world. Wanting to spread the craft beyond the peninsula and surrounding sea islands, he came up with an innovative way to make custom basket weaving just a click away, with an app unlike any available on the market today. “This Android/Apple app was created to allow a person anywhere in the world to design their own one-of-a-kind sweetgrass basket,” said Alston. “Once satisfied with what they have made, they hit send. I get the design desired, make it and ship it out.” In addition to the Build Your Sweetgrass Basket App, Alston has taken the art form to yet another level by incorporating it into photography. In 2013, he launched Gullah Woven Photos in an attempt to capture his work through prints that could easily be displayed wherever the buyer sees fit. Detailed close- ups of his palm roses and baskets now hang on the walls of personal residences and office buildings, offering a framed memento of culture, craft and community. While the weaving takes center stage in each capture, the Southern backgrounds of moss-draped live oaks, notable downtown Charleston iron railings and even the ever- iconic Pineapple Fountain provide layers and much substance to each image. “This collaboration allows me to tell a story in every shot,” said Alston. “I hand-weave the subject of every named piece, then photograph it and sell the images as prints. This sweetgrass photography blend has been one of my greatest successes.” Growing up in the Snowden Community of Mount Pleasant, Alston is grateful for the skills and guidance he received from residents who were kind enough to bestow