Willard Cemetery / Thanks
Last February, Craig Williams and I were at Willard shooting the attic where the suitcases were “rediscovered. (Here’s a link to an earlier post) There aren’t many of these upright metal markers left.
After we were done, we walked across the road to the cemetery. It is always very moving to see the field where many of the Willard patients are buried in numbered graves. And interesting to note that starting in the late 1930s, and ending just before he died 1968, a patient named Lawrence M was the primary gravedigger. Amazing.
I have posted before about the cemetery and the people who are working diligently to honor the dead by attaching names to the numbers. Click here and here to read those previous posts.
Thanks for all the tremendous response to my “appeal” post the other night. We are at $14,000 on the Kickstarter appeal, and I am feeling very positive.
Appeal
The Kickstarter campaign ends next Wednesday. I want to thank all of you who have supported the project so far.
It is now time for me to put out a direct appeal to those of you who have thought about backing the project but have been waiting to decide if it was something you would care to do. I could really use your help.
The way Kickstarter works is that I set a goal, and if that goal is not reached, none of the funds will come through. I felt strongly that I did not want to undervalue the project, and that if I achieved my goal, I would be able to finish shooting all the cases. The money raised helps me cover my costs of travel, pays me for my time, and enables me to pay Peggy Ross for her invaluable help. The funds also allow me to make and distribute prints to show to potential venues for exhibits, and begin to reach out to organizations that might want me to talk about the suitcases to a wider audience. I can’t begin to tell you how weird it feels to me to directly ask for financial support, but I am convinced that this is the most important project I have worked on in my life as a photographer, and I think Kickstarter is a great venue for people to become involved in the creation of something so compelling. So, here’s the link. And thanks so much.
William H was admitted to Willard on 28 June, 1926.
Oysters / Tilghman Packing Company
I had fun today photographing models of boats at the Tilghman Waterman’s Museum, as well as a great collection of oyster cans that Mark Sadler brought in. I really liked the typeface on this can, and the utensil on top was designed to open the can and then spoon out the oysters.
It rained very hard in the afternoon (tornado warnings for a bit) and then it cleared. Around sunset, more clouds came in and the light was beautiful. This shot was taken just off Bar Neck Road. When the tide is high and the wind is coming from the south, the road is often underwater. It has been a very wet winter on the island. / Ham and oyster dinner at the church tomorrow night and then into DC to see Peter.
Artists / Marc Castelli
Whenever I photograph artists, I always like to get a few shots of the mixture of paints on their palettes.
Today as part of the Tilghman Waterman’s Museum work, Peter Carroll and I went to Chestertown, MD and videotaped and photographed the artist Marc Castelli. His main focus is working with, and learning about the lives of the watermen. He spends a few days a week out on the bay with them, then goes back to his studio and produces beautiful paintings of life on the water.
Tomorrow, I go back to shooting Tilghman artifacts, which is always fascinating.
My Kickstarter suitcases appeal had a good day today with 2 different $500 backers as well as some great other supporters . We are down to 12 days to go and I am really working hard to spread the word. Thanks to all of you followers of this blog who have helped out so far.
Tilghman Again
I drove to Tilghman today for several days of shooting for the Waterman’s Museum. The sun was setting just as I crossed the Knapps Narrows Bridge and I stopped to take a few shots. I love this little bridge tender’s building. It is purportedly the busiest drawbridge in the US. / Looking forward to hanging with the Tilgman folks and working with Peter Carroll; it is always fun and they are so welcoming to us. And I am REALLY looking forward to Saturday’s Oyster and Ham dinner at the church.
Snow
We have had quite a bit of snow in the past few weeks, and we are fortunate to be able to walk out our back door and head up into the woods to enjoy it. / About 10 years ago my brother and sister-in-law gave me these old school snowshoes for Christmas, and I really enjoy tromping around in them. They are surprisingly efficient and very easy to use.
Yesterday, Cris and I both were on snowshoes. Today she cross country skied while I stayed on the shoes. It was magical.
Paperwhite Update #5
This will be the last of paperwhite posts for a while as this batch of bulbs is nearing the end of their cycle. They are finally looking a bit tired, and the living room is no longer smelling quite so pleasant.
You can just begin to see the flowers starting to lose their shape. / This has been a great batch of bulbs though, and we never had any drooping or sagging. I have to run some errands later today, and I think I’ll pick up some new ones.
Willard Suitcases / Margaret S.
We had a very productive day shooting the cases yesterday. We made it through another box, and it continues to feel like we are making real progress. For the second week in a row, I was knocked out by a case when I opened it up. This one had the classic type of latch that makes such a familiar sound when you slide the buttons to release the locks. And I really liked the design and pleasant shade of grey.
Whoa, what a case!
Margaret S came to Willard on 6 June, 1967 and went to Ward 2 in the Hatch Building.
I have just cleared the $8,000 mark on the Kickstarter appeal, and I am very grateful for the support. We still have a long way to go before we reach our goal so I would really appreciate anything that could be done to spread the word. Thanks for following.
That Thing Again (with cheese)
I was cutting up some Gruyere cheese tonight for onion soup. Whenever I take off the rind, I can’t bear to throw away any of the good bits that are close to it, so I use the knife to cut as near to the edge as I can. One of the small pieces fell onto the cutting board and stayed like this. I have written before about things landing on the narrow end and remaining upright. This just seems so lame to post about, but I still find it interesting and cheering. Read about it here, here, and here. (Or not; sometimes I can’t imagine anyone else being interested in the stuff that I find amusing.) Anyway, hope you all have a great week. And thanks for all the Kickstarter support. I am really blown away by it.
Paperwhite? update #4 / Suitcases
I was looking at the paperwhites today and, well…..something seemed a bit odd. It took me a second to realize that, HEY, those aren’t paperwhites! These daffodils snuck in somehow (hangin’ with their paperwhite friends and makin’ mischief; sure we’ll come along. Sounds like fun). Totally unexpected and somewhat of a shock. I am so clueless about bulbs, but I now presume you can force just about anything indoors. Does anyone know if you can do this with tulips as well? Seeing these guys was a very pleasant surprise.
Welcome to all of you have been following the Kickstarter suitcase project. It might seem confusing to see “non suitcase” posts here, but I like to mix things up a bit on this site. Thanks to all of you backers. Cheers.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
7 comments