Tilghman Island / New Orleans
I am going to break a few of my self-imposed rules in this post. I have always assumed that the reason people come to this site was to see interesting aspects of the world that they might not otherwise notice. I have never wanted it to be about me. But this post is mostly personal.
Peter Carroll and I have been working on a project on Tilghman Island for the past several years. In conjunction with the Tilghman Island Waterman’s Museum, we have been documenting the life of the watermen for two films that Peter has been shooting. The second of those films had its premier on Saturday evening at the elementary school. The auditorium was full and everyone loved it.
Then on Sunday Cristine and I flew to New Orleans where she was to receive an award from the Commission on Adult Basic Education. We walked around the city most of the day yesterday and it was as amazing to me as everyone said it would be.
Cris got the Kenneth J. Mattran Award for “Promoting Literacy Nationally and Internationally”. I was so proud and it was great to see people come up to her and thank her for being so inspirational.
After the luncheon we bugged out and walked back to the French Quarter. I would love to have seen this neon sign lit up, but The Pearl was closed today. Next stop was Cafe´du Monde for beignets and coffee. Later as we were walking down an almost totally deserted RiverWalk, we saw a video crew doing a stand up shot of a guy with the river in the background. It turned out to be Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel.
So here’s where I really break my self-imposed rule (don’t ever have a picture of me in this blog). My great friend Tania Werbizky has at various times in her life been totally obsessed with the Weather Channel. After Jim was done with his work, I approached him and asked if I could take a photograph. He was so nice and immediately suggested that he and I be in the shot. So Tania, I mentioned you to Jim effing Cantore. How’s about that?
Our hotel is just next to the Superdome and this is the view from the 17th floor hallway. / It is impossible to walk around this city and not think of hurricane Katrina and the devastation it caused. And looking at this building that housed so many people in such great need is more than a bit unsettling. This is an amazing part of America and I feel fortunate to have finally made it down here.
Slate Magazine
Slate Magazine ran a really nice piece on the Willard Suitcase project. Here’s the link. Big thanks to David Rosenberg for his interest and doing a great job choosing and laying out the photos. / When I was recently in San Francisco I stayed at this place. It is a great old building and the staff are loads of fun.
The Amazing Beverly Courtwright
I have always given primary credit to Craig Williams for saving the Willard suitcases, and his contribution to the preservation of these objects was enormous. But if it wasn’t for Beverly Courtwright’s connection to Willard and her tremendous respect for the patients and their lives, the cases would have been lost forever. On Saturday I got the chance to meet her for the first time, and thanks to the corrections folks who now control the site, we were allowed to go into the attic for a few minutes. It is behind this door that in May of 1995 Bev “rediscovered” the cases. She had become one of the Willard employees heavily involved with the transition team responsible for shutting down the psych center. As a storehouse clerk, part of her task was to go through all the buildings to determine what should be saved and what could be thrown out. She described the first time she opened this door and saw the cases stacked up as a surreal experience, and told me that she felt a “whoosh of energy” sweep over her.
She grew up in the area, and as a child remembers Willard patients coming to her home through the Family Care program that allowed for patients not in need of direct care to live temporarily in private homes.
This is what the attic now looks like when you walk through the door. The racks are on either side of the attic with men’s cases on one side and women’s on the other. When Bev was talking about being up here for the first time it literally gave me chills.
You can see the letters on the racks representing the first initial of the surname of each patient. Whomever set up the system did an amazing job. I find it so interesting that as in the residential parts of the buildings, men and women were segregated up here as well.
There were a very few items left behind that could not be linked to a specific patient. This coat was one of them. / As my work on this project continues, I am constantly overwhelmed by the people I meet and the stories that they have to tell. Late last night I got an email letting me know of a new comment on this post. Scroll down toward the bottom of the comments section and read what Stephanie had to say. / Getting into the attic and meeting Bev really tied together everything that I have been trying to say with my work on this project. She is a truly remarkable person with a huge heart and the ability to convey a great sense of connection to the people who were at Willard, and I just want to thank her for all she has done.
Stadium Thing
I am not really sure what to call this post. Just now when I uploaded the photograph, I saw that my shorthand for it was “stadium thing”. I guess I’ll go with that. I believe that it was built to sell snacks during UMASS football games, but I have never seen it in use. If you look to the right of the photo you will note that there is a second one just to the south. I have spent a lot of time around sports venues and never seen anything like it. Oddly beautiful though.
Emancipation Proclamation
On the first of January bells were rung around Massachusetts at 2 pm to commemorate the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. I had heard that Pelham was going to join in and we went up to the historical society to have a look. This building used to be a church. It was built in 1839 when the government made the town move the worship area out of the town hall due to separation of church and state. The town hall (built 1743) is right next door and is interesting in that it is the oldest town hall in continuous use in the United States. The October town meeting is convened in it and then moved down to the school to be able to hold everyone. Pelham is also interesting in that it is the home of Daniel Shays. It is worth reading about him if you are interested in American history. His story is amazing.
Anyway, we arrived at the historical society and a few folks had shown up to participate. The single bell in the belfry was cast in England in the 1830s and has been out of service for a long time. Somehow enough money was found to conduct an engineering assessment of the structure to make sure that if it were rung the whole thing wouldn’t just collapse. It checked out OK (as they say); a new pull rope was attached and it was ready to go. We all took our turns and it was a surprisingly moving experience.
Vietnam Memorial and SAAM
Cris and I are in DC visiting Peter. He is amazing and is doing really well. We took the time for a quick visit to the Smithsonian American Art Museum. I can never get enough of it and I always come back to this part of the building which is near the Lunder Conservation Center. If any of you reading this are in the area and have never been here you really should make the effort. There is a great wood fired pizza place a couple of blocks away called The Matchbox. Get a small pizza and see some art!
Two of my friends from Meadville were killed in Viet Nam. Jim Rudd was a neighbor whom I knew quite well. We spent a lot of time together at the YMCA and I can remember his talking about his interest in Native American culture. He was a very sweet guy. He was a private in the Marines and died on 6 August, 1968.
I knew David Dragosavac less well, but Meadville was small and I am pretty sure we were on the Y swim team together at one point. David was a Sergeant in the Army and was killed on 1 April, 1970.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is really worth a visit. Very moving.
Brockport, NY
I’m in Brockport shooting a job for MJ Herson and the college. Peter Carroll is here too and he and I had a nice meal at a local pub. It is an interesting little town on the Erie Canal and the people here are very nice.
We didn’t go into Barber’s but they had great neon.
Suitcases
On Monday I shot the last of the Willard suitcases for a while. I hope to use the rest of this month to begin editing the images for the Exploratorium exhibit, and knowing how my brain works I knew I couldn’t attempt to edit while I was still shooting. I was surprisingly emotional about the whole thing; an important part of the project ended and I am not sure when it might resume. It is also significant to me that it marks the end of the Kickstarter phase of this work. So some thank you’s are in order. I could NEVER have gotten this far without Kickstarter and the incredible support of the almost 700 people who backed me. Thanks to Alex Ross for the long term “loan” of his lights and soft boxes. He is a true friend. Craig Williams and the New York State Museum gave me access to the cases and Craig’s support was instrumental in keeping it all moving along. And Peggy Ross kept me organized. Without her help in unwrapping, setting up the shots, helping me see things I would have missed, and putting the objects back where they belong I would never have made it through as many of the cases as I did.
I will work on a post later today showing the last case in the queue, as it were. It was a great one to end on.
Something New
This post is a way to jump-start my brain. I have been so preoccupied with Peter that it has been difficult to concentrate on anything else. It feels great to be focusing on photographs again. None of these pictures seem so interesting on their own, but together reflect what’s been going on for the past month.
Above is Tom Schack’s birthday cake from the now infamous “Schackstock” at Snowzies in Sunderland. Bands started playing at 1 pm and things shut down at closing time. His Mom, Dad, and Sister were there as well as lots of his friends.
He is just about the nicest guy in the world, and was really enjoying himself.
This flower starts showing up partway down the drive in early August.
When I was shooting the Tilghman project in August I made sure to visit Miss Pigsley. She lives down the street from Jennifer, has an air conditioner in her shed and will never be bacon. I took this for Peter because we are both huge P.G. Wodehouse fans and any stories with Lord Emsworth feature his obsession with “The Empress”. This pig is magnificent and is very happy to have visitors. She used to drink massive amounts of Kool-Aid until the vet put her on a diet.
On the Sunday morning before Peter Carroll and I left the island, we went to the church to document a service. This gentleman was in the pew in front of me.
I have always liked cattails.
When Cris, Pete, and I went to see the Sox in August, the Olympics were going on and this guy was checking out the US Women’s Soccer action. Technology!
I had a hard time getting the white balance right in this shot. I walk past this box on my way to shoot the suitcases. It always reminds me of this Little Feat song.
Going back to Meadville means more than hot dogs and ice cream but two stops are essential; Eddie’s and Hank’s Frozen Custard.
I have been going to Hank’s since it opened in 1952.
Peter loves it too.
There is only one reason to post this photo. It might be the only time you can see Red Sox pitcher Clayton Mortensen at bat in an American League Park. At this point the Sox were up something like 12-1 and I still can’t figure out why Bobby Valentine had him at the plate. Kind of cool though.
When we were at Pymatuning watching the ducks walk on the fishes backs we met the woman I posted about earlier. She was wearing this shirt which got us talking. I’d like to visit sometime.
It is very rare to be in on an historical moment, but I can say I was there when one of my neighborhood friends coined the term “Rat Lake” for the body of water that appeared after the flood control dam was built.
I usually help Thom Kendall out with the photos on media day for the UMASS football team. The new coach is a really great guy. This picture pretty much tells you most of what you need to know about Charley Molnar.
The Pearl out on the deck.
Cris and I went to Amherst Coffee today. I often take a shot of my cappuccino for some reason.
Never one to hide my emotions, I have been mentioning to just about anyone I talk to about my feelings of having Peter off in DC. So many of you have told me that he will be fine, and I want to thank you all for your support. One of the best bits of encouragement came from Leamuse in France as a comment on my earlier post. “Bon courage et bon chance.” Thank you so much; it really helps.
Giulio Cesare
I had some work at Princeton yesterday and as I was shooting some panoramas in the fine arts building I saw this guy sitting alone on a table in a hallway. He is about only 3 inches tall and still looked like he had total control of his realm. I wonder if this is what Caesar really looked like. He has a very commanding presence.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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