Fred Weaver practices oriental medicine in Kansas City, Kansas and Columbia, Missouri. Weaver has devoted his life to healing people the best way he knows how — food, acupuncture, movement.
“Americans change their clothes with every season but they eat the same foods,” Weaver said. “Now does that make sense?”
A major part of Weaver’s treatment plans involve changing people’s diets. Certain foods are detrimental to a patient’s health during certain parts of the year. A food that may be good for you in the summer is bad for you in the winter. A lot of it has to do with energies of the internal organs.
And what western medicine can’t solve Weaver likes to say he can. He often tells the story of his wife who western doctors said had an irreparable heart valve. After about a year of personalized treatments with hand rolled herbal pills “she grew a new valve,” he said.
But soon Weaver will retire. He’s no longer accepting new patients and has bought a house in Columbia after years of being based in Kansas City, Kansas. Soon, Weaver’s apprentice will take over completely.
Fred WeaverÕs office is decorated in Native American and Western motifs. He practices oriental medicine in and teaches martial arts in Kansas City, Kansas. Weaver got his start when he was a kid helping his grandmother with ÒScotch-IrishÓ traditional medicine. ÒI studied with her directly from age of 8 to 15,Ó Weaver said. Ethan Weston 
ÒDrive My CarÓ plays on a loop in Fred WeaverÕs house on September 14, 2019 in Columbia. Weaver is a mixture of Eastern and Western. ÒI couldnÕt find what I was looking for in Western thought,Ó Weaver said. ÒI love Taylor SwiftÕs music,Ó Weaver later said. Ethan Weston 
Kenny Green hands Fred Weaver a photo from their time as Ju Jitsu students on September 14, 2019 at WeaverÕs home in Columbia. Weaver and Green have known each other since the 70s and got their blackbelts in the martial art together. ÒGoing to those classes was like being in a film,Ó Weaver said. Ethan Weston 
Among his friends and colleagues Fred Weaver is, in part, known for his colorful clothing Ñ his bright shoes, his rings, his cowboy hat all define WeaverÕs personal style Ñ but his personal philosophy skew East. ÒAmericans change their clothes with every season but they eat the same food,Ó Weaver said. ÒNow does that make sense?Ó 
Fred Weaver walks down the stairs in his oriental medicine clinic in Kansas City, Kansas. Each of the rooms where Weaver practices is a different color and each color represents a different organ which governs a different part of the body. ÒThe kidney rules the anus,Ó Weaver said. Ethan Weston
Critique
This was a rough assignment for me. I asked around 6 people before finally finding someone that would let me photograph them. Two told me they’d let me photograph them in a couple weeks, and another told me they’d call me but never actually called. Finally, Fred Weaver agreed to let me photograph him on Saturday before the project was due. But both shoots were kind of a disaster.
My first shoot was mostly just him sitting and talking to his friend and reminiscing about their time in ju jitsu class together. It was interesting to listen to but that shoot turned in to mostly details shots.
Then Fred invited me to Kansas City to photograph him at his clinic where he was going to treat patients and do some other work. However, when I arrived he said “oh, I forgot to tell you, we aren’t doing anything today because we’re getting new windows put in at our house.”
So there’s no story, and very little variation in points of view in this submission.
I’m supposed to go to his home on Thursday when he does acupuncture on a patient.
On a personal level I’m feeling kind of discouraged after this first attempt. I have struggled so much with finding a story and I just feel like I’m having trouble connecting with people again — like its kind of me as a person who repels people. In addition, I don’t feel confident in my shooting for this assignment at all, or really anything else I’ve shot this semester. As Zhihan would say “I don’t have the spirit of photography” right now.
capstone blog 