Students at Messiah College do homework in Murray Library after their first official day of classes, August 30, 2011.
My dad walks across our yard with a stapler for our neighbor’s shed. We helped fix the rubber sheeting on his roof. Our house, soon to get its own new roof, can be seen in the background.
The link to my multimedia project from the RIT videostorytelling workshop, among others’ in the gallery, can be found here.
I spent the last week with several incredible people pulling together multimedia projects as part of the RIT Video Storytelling Workshop, hosted by Evan Vucci, Melanie Burford, and William Snyder. And, today I got to do another shadowing with Vinny Tennis (below)
The workshop was fast-paced, like shooting in the real world, only we weren’t turning around a story on deadline, we were learning final-cut, storytelling, and shooting basics in a week, and pulling it together in our own multimedia piece. These are photos from just prior to leaving through today, not quite one-a-day, but I have a multimedia piece now.
After getting an inch of rain in twenty minutes, our mostly naked roof began to leak through the holes in the temporary plastic sheeting. I was just up there, again, and this time so was Irene.
I drive a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder. I get passed a lot.
Self-portrait with my ‘pathy’ after spending a night out in the ROC.
Sanger peers into a vintage mini for sale in Chili, NY.
Jason Kowalski, a visiting hospice and palliative care nurse, talks with Mary Malone during a visit. I shot this still while taking audio and video for my multimedia project.
Today I shadowed Vinny Tennis from Lancaster Newspapers. I had the privilege of being the last shadow at LNP. He only had one assignment (aside from looking for Irene Features), which was to shoot a backpack giveaway organized by local church groups. They had free food, toys, books, bibles, backpacks, face-painting, a bounce cage, juggling, testimonies, rapping, and liturgical dances.
A young girl sits on the steps of King Elementary School, in Lancaster, PA, during the free backpack giveaway organized by local churches.
A boy looks over a table of free clothes at King Elementary School, in Lancaster, PA during the free backpack giveaway organized by local churches.
Yallizta Rosario, 4, sits patiently while Angel Luciano of In the Light Ministries paints a butterfly across her face at the King Elementary School free backpack giveaway.
Khadeisja Thomas, 7, poses with her brother, Melvin Thomas, 5, during the free backpack giveaway at King Elementary School, Lancaster, PA.
Marilyn Nixdorf, left, a worship leader with In the Light Ministries, prays with Kisha Quiñones. “I just got saved,” said Quiñones, who committed her life to following Jesus Christ after coming to the giveaway every year.
Jade Gonzalez-Crew, 4, waits with her aunt for her name to be found on the preregistered list of free backpack recipients during the free backpack giveaway at King Elementary School, Lancaster, PA.
Isabella Lewis, 5, holds a stack of backpacks to be passed out during the giveaway at King Elementary School. Isabella, who already has an Ariel (from the Little Mermaid) backpack, donated some of her own toys to be given away.
Elias Morales, 3, explores his new, free backpack at King Elementary School, Lancaster, PA.
Hear them? Listen, ho!
The bugs, the insects that
Click and chirp and grind
In the night, they call out,
I call out, what are they that
Might make such a song,
A primal noise, that I might
Call out,
Lo, what am I?
“I would prefer in my life to say fewer things that make less sense.”-from me to you
Mohamed Elakrady, 20, of Cairo, Egypt, holds a copy of a J-1 payment statement while chanting in solidarity with some 300 students in front of the Hershey museum, Wednesday, August 17, 2011.
I shadowed at the Patriot News yesterday, which was great. I spoke with the DOP, Mark Pynes, and with some of the photographers. I went to a protest to shadow John C. Whitehead, but I had to run by Dillsburg to pick up a charged battery. When I showed up, JCW was probably on his way to his next assignment, so I ended up staying and photographing the event.
Foreign students are brought to the U.S. on J-1 student visas as part of a “cultural exchange” where they work low-paying jobs to earn travel and living money. Most students paid between $3,000 and $6,000 USD to come here from countries like Turkey, Romania, Maldova, the Ukraine, Egypt, and China. Once here they are often employed in tourist destinations like Ocean City Maryland or outside large National Parks.
There are nearly 400 student workers employed at the Exel chocolate warehouse in Palmyra, PA. These students began raising complaints of unfair working conditions and unfair pay. They work less than forty hours a week for around $7.85 an hour. From their weekly pay, Hershey makes deductions for busing, badges, and “DRG BAK”. Workers complain of being hassled continuously to “Work harder, work faster or go home.” “When we Joined this program, this is our American Dream, now it’s our nightmare,” says Cosmin Isvorainu, 24, of Romania, “We have no money for travel and we work hard.” “It’s like work and sleep not work and travel,” added Andre Acalugaridii, 21, of Maldova. For these students, Hershey, PA is far from “The Sweetest Place on Earth.”
The SEIU, AFL-CIO, NGA (National Guestworkers’ Alliance), and the Local Chocolate Workers Union 464 showed support during the protest. Three demonstrators were arrested by police for trespassing as the student workers and laborers rallied outside the plant. The protest was then moved by school bus to downtown Hershey where some 200 students occupied the sidewalk in front of the Hershey Story Museum, voicing their grievances to the public and watching museum employees. The police response was peaked, with a state police helicopter circling overhead, a K-9 unit, several cavalry officers, uniformed officers from multiple jurisdictions, and even two officers that appeared to be sharpshooters with trapezoid rifle cases. Thankfully the event was carried out peacefully, but publicly, on Hersheypark Drive and down Chocolate Avenue.
Nick Malawskey and John C. Whitehead’s work for the Patriot News can be found here.
More photos:
Photos of an enlarged employee paystub:
The shadowing was great. I had some excitement, but I still learned a lot, especially from Mark Pynes and John C. Whitehead. I went to the newsroom to after the event where he went over my photographs with me. His words that caught, that are something I need to control, “You have that many soft frames and you might not get a second chance at some places.” I got a bit caught up again yesterday, and although I shot some okay stuff, I shot too much, and a lot if it isn’t worth seeing—over-exposures, soft frames, too-slow shutter speeds… It needs work, and so does my toning. This one’s done, but given the growing trend for student-led protests, I might get another shot at it in the near future.
Matt DeLuca wears a medal from the “100 on 100” race in Vermont, a relay race in which he ran 19 miles as the second runner in various stages. His team completed the relay in a certain time, for which they received the medals. Matt is entering his second year of college in Syracuse, NY.
Matt and I ran together in high school. He followed me by a year. Now that we’re in college, I’ve all but stopped running and Matt logs 10+ miles a day, sometimes over 20. We both came out to run with the NHS cross country team, but I knew one person there besides the coaches.
David Foster peels shingles off his roof in Dillsburg, in preparation for a new roof. 8/16/2011.
This is what I do, usually. Today I ran with the team, came home to work, then went running with the team again, and now I’m going to a diner with Matt. I bought a “Large SUV” with 4wd (hi/lo), and I realized that I have to use it to make it practical, so I pulled bushes out of the front flower bed and drove off the curb to go to practice tonight. The rest of the day I was peeling shingles and roofing hardware off of our 30 year old roof.
My dad, chain-sawing on a colleague’s property in Wertzville, PA, August 13, 2011.
I saw my ex-girlfriend today, at least I’m pretty sure I can call her that. We spent some time together at Wal-Mart and PennDOT, and I ate lunch with her and some of her family. While she was inside, I heard myself tell her mother not to worry about her 13 year old son’s attitude, that it’s not the boy scouts or youth group. I said something like, “It’s an age thing. It’s about freedom. Freedom’s a beautiful thing until you realize how utterly lonely it can be.” I could only think about how foolish I had been in the past forty-eight hours.
And then, I went to church, where the messages were about baptism, commitment, and living in submission to the Spirit of God. It pushed a little bit, hitting on some difficulties I’ve had, being at RIT. The college class leader said, “There’s no such thing as true freedom; any living apart from God, with your mind not controlled by the Spirit is death.” I agree with the second part, but no true freedom? I believe we are also free to fully choose life or death, that only by choosing to live as a part of God’s plan is there life, peace, and joy. For the past year, even in the most mundane, static situations, I have felt little peace. I have felt completely out of touch with the things around me, resenting everything from my laptop screen and air conditioners to mouth noises and going to sleep. I have maybe twice felt stillness, otherwise I feel like a hunter, a warrior, fighting for his life, and when there was nothing to fight, I would create something.
After church, I photographed the baptisms in the Yellow Breeches, where over sixty people publicly declared their lives were God’s, that they were dead to their old ways, people from all backgrounds and ages-some had been sexually abused, physically abused, some faced severe mental and physical challenges, others had families and children doing the same thing that day, some had lived as non-believers or criminals and addicts. Each had a testimony, and each had made a choice, that God was the supreme ruler of the universe and their lives were His.
David Foster of Dillsburg, PA, parent of RIT student photojournalist, Jonathan Foster, mows his lawn Friday night, August 12, 2011.
So I shot this portrait for the yearbook with two SB-900s, a huge DIY-jerry-rigged softbox, a silver reflector, and a small seamless. It worked, but the backgound wasn’t cooperating. This is straight out of the camera.
This is supposed to be a photo-a-day blog, not 5 photos every three days, but it is what it is. I accidentally missed the end of the campmeeting on Sunday. I wanted to try and shoot that, but it slipped my mind.
Here’s what I’ve shot the past couple days:
Two boys from downtown York, PA climb on the “Honor Roll” statue outside the York Firemen’s Museum, August 9, 2011.
Two boys climb on the outside of the York Firemen’s Museum, August 9, 2011.
Norm and Shirley Kennedy talk to my dad after giving him zucchinis and other vegetables, August 8th, 2011.
Norm Kennedy bags zucchinis for David Foster, Monday, August 8th, 2011.
This is an outtake from senior photos that I shot for Andrea Fogelsanger, a member of Northern High School’s Class of 2012, Monday, August 8th, 2011.
I took this at 2:50am, alone in the woods. I listened as screech owls hunted around me, watched meteors birth then disappear, and slept until 6:15.
I went out for a date with a friend of some friends. I’m still decrypting what I want from life, love, and humanity, but for once I was relaxed, happy with where I was for the time being.
The family dog, Jake, with cataracts, hardness-of-hearing, and no tongue, will be turning 14 this year.
I’ve now talked to police or security guards twelve times since late February. I’ve pushed a lot of boundaries, but I’m stuck trying to figure out why? Where has it gotten me? I try to avoid thinking that I’m invincible, even though I managed to drive a car with a fuel leak and a dragging muffler. Sometimes common sense lags behind my decisions, but I’m also not plagued by fear the way some people are.
Neil Neigenfind, the HVSR nature area director, examines a Praying Mantis found outside the admin building, Thursday, August 4th, 2011.
I’ll shoot more this weekend. Tomorrow’s the last day of staff week. I’m working on some bushcraft/survival type stuff. I helped winterize the pool today, which would have made for interesting photos, but I didn’t have my camera (because I was working) and it was raining.
Nate Rosenberry, scoutcraft director, looks for a partially-full 2 Liter bottle of gasoline that had not burst into flame on the post-camp burn pile, Monday night, August 1st, 2011.
I’m sitting here posting another photo from last night, not today. I really cut back on shooting since campers have left. I’ve been pushing back, trying to switch into some form of self-preservation, that I can’t do what’s expected or normal.
I’m not sure what I’m getting at, but I’m ready to get on to something new and different. I’m being torn by high adventure, boy scouts, and going and doing, and by photojournalism, internships, and professional development. I’m trying to figure out, what in the real world is actually real, what matters to me, who am I, and why the heck do I ‘my stuff’ and what’s important. Do I care if I swear? Church, which one and is that really what I believe?
I have a bad stroke of going and not looking back. Hopefully once camp is over on Friday, I can relax and take time to sleep, make some music, string some words, shoot, shoot some guns, and get ready for RIT.
I tried hand-holding lightning exposures during a storm yesterday, one of the few times I’ve used my camera since the roadtrip.
Members of the U.S. Public Health Service Choir pass the time before their 7:00 performance at the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C., July 31st, 2011.
An Amish boy from the Stoltzfus family of Lancaster, PA, gazes across the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., July 31st, 2011.
The Stoltzfus family poses for a portrait at the WWII Memorial, July 31st, 2011.
I shot this completely wrong, both technically and personally. Hopefully I get more opportunities like this.
Beach-goers wait in line at the Ocean City, Maryland Boardwalk, July 31st, 2011.
Hunter Steelthorn of Sweetpatch plays Greenday covers on the boardwalk at Ocean City, MD, July 31st, 2011. Steelthorn was working to pay the ticket for an open-container violation.
