This video is a tribute to my Dad who passed away of cancer on August 29th, 2010. He left behind many great memories and touched many peoples lives with his charm and sense of humor.

As we were collecting photos and going through the footage I shot of him in his last months my Mother and I found that it was therapeutic to go through these memories, not painful. As we started going through some of the older photos, I started to realizing different sides of my Dad that I did not know before. It was like I was seeing parts of him for the first time. Thats when I knew I needed to create a video that truly showed who he was. Even if a total stranger were to see this video I wanted them to have a feeling of who he was. 

Using photos, memorabilia and personal objects we set up shrines of the most important facets of his life. I shot the sets using a Canon 5D MII and many different camera techniques using a slider. 

Props to my friends Jessica Schuler for shrine assemblage and Greg Grzeszczak for editing.

Usually the summer is the busiest time of the year for me. Usually I do not enjoy myself or have time to do something I truly engages me. This summer I was presented with an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of homeless inner city children as a mentor and teacher of photography. Silent Images saw a need for a summer program that would inspire the children to see outside their situation and maybe spark interest in a future career.

Over the last two months I had the pleasure to work along side other professional photographers and volunteers every week teaching the children the technique and artistry of photography. We were only able to teach the basics but lessons on perspective and composition started to change the way the children looked at the world. The improvement from week to week really impressed us and my group of students impressed me every time they touched the camera.

Since this was such a special time for me I wanted a keep sake to remind me of this time. So during the last week I decided to grab my trusty white shoot through umbrella and a flash to take a few portraits of my own. I wanted lighting to be minimal and dramatic, something that just focused on the children to create an intimate portrait bringing out their quality and innocence.

Unfortunately two of my four students could not make it to the last class but “M” and Kevin graciously sat on the edge of the stage for a quick portrait. “M” warmed right up to the idea. She is quite and reserved until you start talking to her, then her personality shines through and her eyes light up with enthusiasm. Kevin was hesitant not really wanting that type of attention turned on him. He would much rather sit over to the side and tinker with the camera but with a little coaxing he decided to humor me like a child at Christmas and give into my demands. After the first few shots he finally warmed up and that sly grin of his finally shows through.

The memories of the time spent with these children will be with me always.

I really like photography. I mean anything to do with photography and when the chance came up for me to teach children what I love, I jumped in head first.  I recently volunteered with Silent Images to teach inner city and transitional children during a two month photography course.

Charlotte Through Our Eyes celebrates the photography skills of inner city and homeless youth in the Charlotte area. The exhibit, featured at The Levine Museum of the New South from September through December 2009, offers a fresh perspective on Charlotte as the children invite us to view the city through their camera lenses. Silent Images, a local non-profit organization, partnered with Nexus Church to teach photography to 20 inner city youth, many of whom are homeless. The children spent the summer capturing the beauty of the Charlotte and the struggles of poverty.

Here is some of the students work from their documentary assignment in North Davidson.

To see more of the childrens work visit the Silent Images blog.

Recently I had the pleasure of working with United Effort for the Poor (UnEP) founder Junot Cochilus. UnEP is in the starting phases of the organization but already has great support in the Charlotte community. UnEP asked me to photograph and design fund raising materials for their upcoming Haiti campaign giving me the chance to spend a few hours with a good friend. Here are the results of our session.

These were taken inside the studio with one flash shooting through a white umbrella. We were looking for a moody cover shot for a fund raising pamphlet that told the hardship of his years growing up in Haiti.

Juno has this infectious smile that lights up a room. When you talk with him and he shares his vision for UnEP in Haiti and other countries, there is no doubt UnEP has the foundation to inspire good.

Read more about Junot and his work in Haiti in My Victory.

This is a special image to me. Its the first time I went on a photo excursion with my Dad. Since my parents live in New York I do not have many chances to spend time with them so the time we share I appreciate now that I am older and smarter. We had a great time photographing this old train yard. A time that I will never forget.

This site use to be the heart of the railroad system in the south east. All trains passed through this at one time or another for repairs. Now it is reduced to a museum showing ghosts of transportation’s past and all the industry in the town has left.

When I think of New Orleans, I don’t think about the Saints or even Bourbon St. Thoughts of Olive Trees and Veronica Ave. Visions of bunk beds and hammers fill my head with joy. All I can see are the people I worked with and supported while I was there on two occasions during 2007 and 2008.

The restoration effort to return the people of New Orleans to their homes has been a slow and painful one. As usual we want some one to blame but in this case it seems to be a perfect storm of factors slowing down the progress. Bureaucracy, misappropriated funds, …you name it. A finger could be pointed in so many directions that you have to forget about blame and just start working. Problems with rebuilding stem from financial to heart ache. Many home owners are still waiting for insurance money while some just don’t have the will to return and face the anguish of rebuilding.

While progress has been made, awareness maybe NOLA’s greatest nemesis. When the local government failed, private organizations stepped in with support from around the US to start rebuilding. Presbyterian Disaster Relief (PDA) and the Peace Core have spearheaded a volunteer effort supporting 3 volunteer camps and working on more than 15 homes at a time. Olive Tree, the only volunteer camp in the city limits, houses up to 90 volunteers every week from across the country. While facilities for volunteers have increased, the demand for volunteer labor has not been met leaving many projects sitting in the que waiting for helping hands.

While progress has been made, awareness maybe NOLA’s greatest nemesis. Because of the financial support and media attention that New Orleans received in the first year after Katrina, outside perceptions are that the city has returned. Just because the Saints are playing and music fills Bourbon St. bars does not make everything alright.

From the main streets, most neighborhoods appear fine. Even driving down the side streets, although deserted, most homes appear normal. But walk up to the door or pear into a window, dig a little deeper and you find rebuilding that could take 10 years or more. Maybe even a lifetime.

The remains of homes are nothing more than skeletons waiting to be rebuilt. Stripped to the core to destroy any mold, there are nothing but the faint visions of memories as you walk around the empty rooms. Memories are all that make this foreign place a home.

The disasters severely damaged an area larger than Great Britain, turned 1.2 million people into evacuees, and destroyed 600,000 homes. Post-hurricane damage in Mississippi and Louisiana was (and still is) massive and unprecedented. At least 1,836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina and its subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since 1928. Moreover, is was the most costly disaster in our nation’s history and totaled over $81.2 Billion.At Katrina’s two-year anniversary, New Orleans was still only at about 66 percent of its pre-hurricane population.

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive hurricanes in history. Two levee breaches sent water from Lake Pontchartrain, coursing through the eastern part of New Orleans, and 53 additional breaches were eventually noted. The result was that eighty percent of the city was flooded, with some areas under twenty feet of standing water. All this devastation was only exacerbated by the high population density in this world-famous city.

At Katrina’s two-year anniversary, New Orleans was still only at about 66 percent of its pre-hurricane population. Now four years after the disaster, many people still live elsewhere paying rent and mortgages while trying to repair their gutted homes. Most don’t have the money, the help, or the even the will to re-build. Even more homes sit gutted, unoccupied, and unclaimed – their owners never returned.

It has been almost four years, but the Road Home has just begun…

See more of stories of New Orleans in A New Orleans Tale

To get involved in helping New Orleans rebuild download the project PDF and lead your own group.

I had the privilege to meet and photograph many people during my time in New Orleans. Here are the brief stories and portraits of my now extended family. Then a friend of mine asked me to join him and his wife on a small mission trip to New Orleans. Tears started to well up in my eyes. There was no doubt, I knew this was it! THE OPPORTUNITY! A photo essay from a volunteers perspective in New Orleans. I immediately said yes and penned out my last three days of vacation time at work.

“Did you ever survive complete and utter destruction of every single thing around you that provided any measure of security – your home, your life partner, your job, all your family photos of the faces you loved, pictures showing that your being here mattered and that you were loved – then have the child you brought into this world hold your hand and ask, “Where will we sleep tonight, Mama? Will we be safe there?” and realize you have no answer to that question.”” Lisa Voiles – What There is Left…

To me this scene symbolizes the struggle and determination of the people of New Orleans. Tattered and torn, no matter what, this is their home! Almost defiant saying you won’t stop me. I will rebuild. Against all odds I will return home! The 9th Ward was one of the most heavily impacted areas. As of 2008 most homes have not been rebuilt. Acres of homes were washed away leaving behind concrete slabs as a the only marker of their existence. This trailer was one of four “homes” on this street. The eraser board tombstone and wreaths present a makeshift graveyard. But far from that, there is life here. A shrine dedicated not only to what was but what will be.

During my time in New Orleans I had the pleasure to meet John “Jack” Dee. As a retired Marine he had a never give in attitude toward the storm. I met him on his first day back into his house after being reconstructed. He was the first to return to his neighborhood out of 300 homes. Jack shelters abandoned animals. One of his cats survived Katrina by staying in trees and roof tops, living on whatever floated by. She was waiting for him when he returned. He sat on the back of his car, where he lived for three months with his dog Rocky, sharing stories and photos of his family. All his valuables still packed and ready to go, not at ease yet or trusting his new familiar surroundings.

While driving around near the musicians village this man invited us into his home to give us a verbal tour and history of the Musician’s Village. He was not a musician but his love and knowledge of music was unmistakable. He was more like the curator and his home the Musician’s Museum. Large paintings of Jazz greats and a portrait of B.B. King decorate his living room. The greatest exhibit was a large glass wall case filled with photos, statues and trinkets of musical instruments. Music is the heart of New Orleans. When the musicians started returning, with a place to stay thanks to the musicians village, you could hear the echos of some faint melody approaching in the distance. The life blood of New Orleans has returned.

We were traveling to a work site in the 9th Ward on our last Saturday. We decided to work on this house as a bonus, we did not want to stop working. Something had driven us all week, the comradery, the great need, we felt it all. And although fatigued, it all seemed effortless. We had a crude map of where we were going. Our caravan ended up getting turned around several times and taking some wonderful off map excursions. This housing complex was one of the wonders. Several acres of skeletons. Like a graveyard for buildings. It was a new complex before Katrina with several areas still under construction. The buildings died before they had ever seen life. No children would ever play in its streets. No warm glow from house lights during the evening. The absents of civilization. Now pigeons inhabit bedrooms. Undergrowth seizes the streets. Nature reclaims what it lost to man.

Portrait of Anna Mae Ferbos as she told of hard times and good times in the 9th Ward home she has lived in since she was a child. Four generations of her family live in this house. Her son died of cancer in a room 10 feet from where she was standing. Why rebuild, people ask. This is what she does! This home is her life.

See more of the essay America’s Unresolved Disaster

To get involved in helping New Orleans rebuild download the project PDF and lead your own group.

American Religion. Why are so many alienated from the Church today?

I live in the heart of the Bible belt where “religion” is very strong, but all I see is division amongst the people and denominations. Divisions over ideals, racism and tribalism(in a broad sense) when supposedly they believe in the same God, the God of the Bible.

As Christians they are suppose to overcome these worldly separations but they can barley look each other in the eye anymore. These are common problems in our society today as we feel more and more disconnected with each other but we are commanded to rise above this and not be as the world is.

I want to explore the Decline of the Church in America, Denominations, Why most races have their own church even in the same denomination. Mostly why the Church has not risen above these worldly problems in the US but the Church in other countries is united.

Street scene in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Errie sculpture with a sense of humor cracking a smile.