Miscellaneous Stuff
It has seemed that for the past three weeks, my life has been consumed by the Kickstarter appeal. It has been a great, if not intense, experience. What I like most is that I am meeting such interesting people who are drawn to the project. Paul Mullins is a professor of anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, and he just posted a great piece on his wordpress site. Here is the link. I like how serious academics have taken to thinking and writing about the suitcases.
Last Wednesday I drove to Exeter, NH to photograph the poet Willie Perdomo for Poets & Writers Magazine. He is an amazing guy, and we had a tremendous dialogue about art, creativity, and life in general. The story will run in the May/June issue. I’ll post a link when it is online. He generously gave me a copy of his new book and I had fun reading it on the train back from New York on Saturday evening.
I was in the city for a memorial service for the husband of a good friend who I met through the suitcases project. I am reminded again and again how way beyond photography the cases are for me. The service was very moving, and as these events often do, it reinforced the idea that friendship, love and a simple appreciation of being alive and healthy are what it is all about. So thanks to all of you who are reaching out. The connections mean so much to me.
I-95
I was meant to be driving to DC as I am writing this, but due to the winter storm nailing the I-95 corridor, I ended up leaving last night. I stopped just North of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, got a room for a few hours and was on the road again by 6.30 this morning. It started snowing just after I parked in Peter’s apartment building in DC, and now at 2.15 it is really coming down. And cold to boot. I really wanted to make it here today as it is his 25th birthday. We’ll get to spend the whole day together and then go out to dinner somewhere in the neighborhood this evening.
Tomorrow I am off to Tilghman to shoot Chesapeake Bay related artifacts for the Watermen’s Museum. Originally Peter Carroll was going to be shooting video as well, but he basically had no safe way of getting here from Ithaca due to the weather. He and I have been working on the island on and off for over 5 years now and it is such an interesting place. / The second of his films about the watermen and their families will be shown on Maryland Public Television Tuesday, 23rd April at 8.30 PM. Here is a teaser. And here is a link to an earlier post of mine about one aspect of the project.
Hand Dryer / Sumpter County, SC
Cris and I are back in South Carolina for a quick visit. On the way we stopped at a rest area on the 95 and as I was drying my hands, the dryer did something I have never seen before. Must have something to do with germs and ultraviolet light. I still had to wipe my hands on my trousers though.
Union Station, New Haven
Peter took the train up from DC yesterday and I drove to New Haven to meet him. He arrived at about 3.30 and the light was beautiful. / England were playing Germany in a friendly and we found a great pub in the downtown called Christy’s and were able to watch the second half of the match (England 0- Germany 1). Great place.
Rowing
I used to shoot a lot of rowing. I started in Ithaca while shooting sports for Cornell and Ithaca College. And for many years I shot the annual Harvard/Yale Regatta on the Thames River in New London, CT. I have such a great respect for these athletes and their dedication to training and competing. This morning I was up way before first light to shoot some of the UMASS rowers as they were preparing for a competition this weekend.
Here is a shot of the coxswain in a 4+. It was barely light when I shot this and when we left the dock it was 39 degrees.
These women are on the water 6 days a week way before most people are out of bed. Title IX is the greatest!
Big thanks to Megan McHugh for piloting me around the Connecticut River. She was really nice and it was so great to have an opportunity to be on the water again.
Boston Park Street Station
Cris and I drove into Boston last night for the World Education annual dinner. She had the board meeting today so I got the chance to wander around Boston. It was a beautiful Autumn day and there was a nice relaxed vibe about town. The Red Line was shut down between Park and Kendall so the T was running buses between the two stations.
There was fresh air coming into the crowded bus through the emergency exit. / Sometimes I don’t know why I take certain photographs. And then I don’t know why I post them here. But I end up shooting a lot of public transport images like the one on top, and I like the graphic nature of the emergency exit shot.
DC in August
Cris and I took the train from New Haven to DC on Monday. She has a couple of days of consulting and I get to hang out with Peter.
This tiny restaurant is near to the Van Ness metro station and has been closed since Peter moved to the neighborhood. I really like the retro feel of the facade, and with the building permit in the window you know it will change soon.
I have always enjoyed shooting in underground stations. I like the movement of the trains during long exposures.
I will often stop after exiting the giant escalator at Dupont Circle to look down on cars that are passing below.
Peter was working the Nationals game last night so Cris and I showed up at around 6:00 to get tickets. The Nats are struggling this year and with playoff hopes low, they are selling seats for $5.00! $5.00; unbelievable. We got a couple of great seats in section 402 and saw a really good game with a win over the Marlins. My current favorite pitcher, Ross Ohlendorf, was on the mound and his old school wind-up is unique. You can get a look at it here. / Every time Wilson Ramos came up to bat, some guy behind me started chanting Hu go Cha vez, Hu go Cha vez. (There is a Venezuelan connection; only in DC can you hear something like this at a ball game.)
It was beautiful night, and between innings it was nice to look around at some of the architectural features of the park. Cris noticed these lights just above us and pointed them out to me.
We are off to the Lincoln Memorial in a bit to see if we can see the President speak in honor of the 50th anniversary of the MLK “I have a dream” speech. Could be interesting.
Thank You
Thanks to all of you who have sent condolences following the Pearl’s death. Hearing from you has meant a great deal to me. It is a week since the she died and we still haven’t come to terms with it. But we really are trying to move on, while keeping her lovely spirit in our hearts. / The recent weather here has been beautiful, and on Sunday Cris and I had a great long bike ride through Amherst and Hadley. This shot was taken less than a mile from the busy Route 9 corridor facing the Holyoke Range. Moodybridge has always been one of my favorite roads in the valley.
Pennsylvania License Plate
My parents were pretty straight-forward people for the most part, but they did something together in their later years that was very amusing to me . When the state of Pennsylvania changed the format of license plates sometime in the early 1990s, my folks were forced to give up a plate number that they had had for ages. They were really unhappy about this so instead of having a new random number assigned to them, they opted to pay for a vanity plate with their old number on it. I am sure it was a small victory as these things go, but it meant a lot to them. After my mom died and we sold their car, I took the plate off and kept it as a reminder of their spirit and sense of playfulness. It is on the door of my studio and brings a smile to my face whenever I look at it.
Block Island Again
We are back out on Block Island visiting our friends Scott and Lisa. They are so nice to include us in their vacation. The ferry crossing yesterday was quite rough and kind of fun on the rolling waves.
Cris and I went for a nice bike ride to the North end of the island this morning and then came back and played cribbage. I love this little travel board. It was my gramma Krieghoff’s and it is so sweet. I especially like the Michigan Abrasive Company playing cards that came with it. / Back home tomorrow. Before we left I tried to set up an “out of the office” auto-reply in my mail program and it totally buggered things up. Some of you received a ton of email from me with the announcement. Sorry; I disabled it as soon as I realized what was happening. / Happy Fourth of July to you Americans who follow this site.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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