His discovery of old family photographs at his grandmothers house had an early influence on him to document the architecture of abandoned buildings and the ever changing landscapes he saw depicted in those images and the region.
[5] Sides attended the Harry M. Ayres Technical College (now part of Gadsden State as Ayers Campus) and graduated with a degree in optical mechanics.
[17][18] After graduating from the University of Alabama’s New College with a degree in Visual and Performing Arts in 1975,[19][20] Sides would later move to New York City in 1981 to attend Pratt Institute, where he obtained his MFA in photography.
[9][21][22][23] In 1976, Sides relocated to Oneonta, Alabama, in Blount County, a region considered the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains known for its history of coal and iron mining.
[6] In 1979 his first book of photographs titled ‘Sideshow’[30][31] was published and in 1981 he moved to New York City (NYC) for his graduate studies while continuing to work in community arts programs.
[32] While taking time off from personal projects,[3] he did other part time assignments as a public education “Artreach Lecturer”, for the Whitney Museum of American Art[33] and also worked with the New York City and Brooklyn Parks Commission by photographically documenting the nature imagery found in architectural details of Prospect Park and the surrounding community that was created by 19th and 20th century stone carvers, artisans and craftsmen.
[36] The same region that several decades prior had witnessed a miscarriage of justice with the retrials of the Scottsboro Boys in the 1930s, was experiencing new conflicts from the Klan that coincided with the Tommy Lee Hines case[43] and the many related counter protests that took place in Decatur, Alabama.
[41] Some time after moving to NYC for graduate school, he eventually reconnected with Ivan Karp of the OK Harris Gallery to follow up based on the previous discussion they had a few years prior.
In 1984, to coincide with the OK Harris show,[53] Sides had a book made containing a collection of 24 photographs that was designed by Marvin Hoshino,[54] with the historical context and introduction written by Guy Martin.