Baseball, Brothers and the Great Midwest

My oldest brother, Steve, has lived his entire life with  developmental disabilities.  He shares  a house on a street with two roommates who are similar to him.  He has a good life and he's a great guy.  My middle brother and I have been co-guardians for Steve for about 11 years.  Jerry - my middle brother - and I go visit Steve twice a year in our collective hometown of Des Moines, Iowa.
Steve also comes to Portland, where I live, and Atlanta for his birthday and other holidays.

Jerry and I usually try to make the trip in May and October - two months where we are likely to avoid the harsh winters of the mid-west and the hot, humid summers we recall from our childhood.
I love going and walking through the memories of my childhood.  Seeing how a smaller city struggles to change and stay relevant have been good perspective lessons for me as the years have ticked away.  

There's usually a visit to the cemetery where our grandmother is buried.  As we walk to her headstone, the names of the parents of friends from my youth surround us. Their voices and laughter randomly fill my mind as I think about a time that will never be again.

There's the trip by the old, small, humble house where we all grew and learned many of the lessons that inform us to this day.  And there is baseball.

Our father was an avid fan of the one-time American Pastime.  We breathed the game.
So it's only natural that when we are all together in our old home town, we go to the local game.
The team is the Iowa Cubs and they are the AAA farm team for the Chicago Cubs.  The baseball is always fun and the seats are always great as there aren't usually too many people at the park.

Here's a picture from the most recent trip to see Steve near the end of May.  Fun, family and baseball.   What's better than that?!

The Long And Winding Summer

Okay, it's been a while since I checked in. I'm guilty. Between Facebook, Twitter, travel and, oh yes, some work, I've managed to neglect my blog. Well I'm back. I don't have a lot of time to get into the stories from the past couple of months right now, but I will catch up on all that's gone on in the next several blogs. To start with, I shot a lovely wedding the weekend before Memorial Day here in Portland. The bride and groom were in their 60's and had a small ceremony that was short and sweet. They were surrounded by their close, life-long friends that gave the wedding the feel of a warm, loving and intimate event. Here is one of my favorite photos from their day.

All In The Family

When you are married to a photographer, there is good news and bad news.  The good news is you are likely going to have a pictoral record of a lot of moments in your life.  What better way to get great pictures from that amazing vacation than to bring along your own personal photographer.  But the bad news is your life becomes an open book and there is always a camera lens popping up in the least expected places.  My wife knows this so very well!


She is a great subject.  And that's a good thing because I enjoy taking her picture.  There are just too many visual opportunities to pass up around the house.  Here are three recent moments.

Selma To Montgomery

On a sunny, surreal March day in 1995, I was in Montgomery, Alabama to record an event that was 30 years in the making.  In 1965, the most famous march in the history of the American Civil Rights movement shook the soul of the country.  Members of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Council) and SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) had set out on a peaceful protest going from Selma to Montgomery - the Alabama capital - to bring attention to the discrimination and inequality that was an everyday reality of life for blacks in America in 1965.  As they approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Alabama State Troopers and local police blocked their way. When the marchers refused to turn around, the troopers and police waded into the crowd, firing tear gas and swinging billy clubs.   Over 50 people were hospitalized and the images of Americans violently turning on their fellow Americans were broadcast  around the world.  This is one of a few events that is often credited with turning the tide against institutionalized racism in the US. 

The tone of violence that played out that day had been set from the Alabama governor's office in Montgomery. George Wallace had been spewing racial hatred for years.  On that day - March 7,  1965 -  Wallace's view of the world had created what became known as "Bloody Sunday".  But, two weeks later, the same marchers, joined by many others, were protected by Federal troops and escorted the 54 miles to the state capital.  Wallace refused to meet the marchers and the civil rights struggles continued.  

But by 1995 the thirty years that had passed since that ugly day had given birth to a changed George Wallace.  He had run for President in 1968 and, during that campaign,  an attempted assassination that had left him paralyzed from the waist down.  Time and events had altered Wallace's view of the world and when he heard there was going to be a re-enactment of the Selma to Montgomery march to mark the 30th anniversary, he decided he had a chance to right a wrong.  He met the marchers in Montgomery and, though he wasn't able to speak, his mere presence was a stirring spectacle and battered symbol of how far he and the country had come on the issue of civil rights.  

I was sent to cover the story in March 1995 by The New York Times.  It was a particular thrill for me to be there as the civil rights movement had captured my attention as a young child and was one of the main factors in me choosing to becoming a photojournalist.  Although I was too young to meet or cover Dr. Martin Luther King, being in Montgomery on this day, at this event, was a moment that gave me a small sense of what those times must have been like. The story and photograph ran on page one of the NY Times.  You can read the story by clicking here.

Food For Thought

The International Association of Culinary Professionals held it's annual conference in Portland this past week.  I was hired to document some of the events.  While most of the photography was similar to shooting a wedding reception, there were a few people who made it unique. One was Judith Jones.  Although Judith is not a household name, the women she "discovered" are very well know.  Judith was responsible for the publication of  'The Diary of Anne Frank' as well as  Julia Child's masterpiece: "Mastering The Art of French Cooking".


To know those two things about Judith is to know a lot.  Being able to recognize the importance of just those two books when seeing them in manuscript form is amazing and likely unprecedented.  In today's start struck world of glamor and glitz, Judith goes against the grain.  She is humble and unassuming. She has a quiet presence and grace that informs the way she has lived her life.  It was a pleasure to meet her and an honor to aim my camera in her direction.  She is a little known hero who has made all our lives richer, tastier and more peaceful.  

Turn On, Tune In, Take A Picture

On friday, I spent a few hours photographing Dr. Clark Martin at his home in Vancouver, Washington.  Actually, I spent about an hour talking with him and then about an hour shooting pictures.  He's a fascinating man.  Unassuming, soft-spoken and thoughtful.

The New York Times had sent me to Dr. Martin's house to take a picture of him for a story that reporter John Tierney had written about his battle with cancer related depression.  Whenever I meet someone who is fighting some dreaded disease, I'm always humbled by their ability to see beyond themselves.  They seem to understand what's important in life.  It's as if their disease has narrowed their focus and yet given them the ability to see life's bigger picture.  Dr. Martin possesses that trait.  Although the depression he suffered made life more difficult, the journey from there to the experimental psychedelic treatment he volunteered for, has given him a richer, more appreciative view of his time on the planet.  Here's the link to the story and a couple of my favorite photos from the day:  (Click here to read the story)

   

Snapping A Snapper

Cooking has always been a lot like the old days of working in a darkroom for me.  You start with a vision of what you are trying to create, mix up a few ingredients in a measuring cup, "cook" them together and, presto, out comes a creative result - most of the time.  Although I don't spend any time in a dark room these days, I do find myself in my kitchen about 5 times a week.  My wife is in the food business and is an amazing chef. As a result, one of our combined hobbies is cooking.  A fun Saturday night for us is coming up with an idea for a meal, going to the grocery, buying the right ingredients and spending the evening creating our dinner.


Last night was another masterpiece.  We've had risotto on our minds for weeks so we went to the market and look around for what might work well together.  We settled on asparagus with morel mushrooms and some nutty tasting Italian made sheep cheese.  While we were at the market, we walked by the fish counter and a beautiful line caught red snapper grabbed our attention.  We debated a while but decided that stuffing the snapper with lemons, garlic, onions and fennel sounded too good to pass up.  The only thing missing was a salad.  We ended up with a few simple greens, toasted almond slivers and a blood orange.  Although the risotto is always a labor intensive dish, it was all mighty yummy.


And, although I wouldn't want to combine anything from a darkroom with anything I would make in a kitchen, I do often combine my love of cooking with my love of photography. Here are a couple of pictures from last night's meal.  Bon Appetite!