Oh Mother's Day... Portraits! da da daaaaaa

My best friend Nicki called me on the phone the other day and said, I need Mother's Day photos and you're going to take them (in not so nice of a manor). I said, heck no (in not so nice of a manor)! She said, yes. I said, okay ( I was going to do them anyway, but I wanted to see how far I could get). What are best friends for! I love having an excuse to drive in and spend time with them. 

While trying to get my little 7 year old terror, I mean sweet and calm and not hyperactive niece, to stand still and smile nice for just a few seconds, I made a couple of pictures of her. Gosh I love her. She drives her mother nuts and it makes me so happy. 
I cannot believe how big she is getting and how fast time goes by. As many know, I'm not particularly fond of children nor are they fond of me. However, Alex is mine. She has my heart and that's all I need. 

The North Area Athletic Center

Here is a rough of one of my economy stories. In my mind, there are some key images missing still, and I really need to fix my audio. During my critique it was mentioned that I need to fix my transitions, focus more on boxing, and let the photos stay longer than 3 seconds. I think I need to reword my text slides too. Obviously, it needs more work. My goal is to make an effective piece about the center's after school programs so it's more of an overall approach. The center is a non profit organization and I hope this will be something that they can show to let people know that the center cannot close.
Let me know what you think!

Eddie Adams: Vietnam

There is a new book out, Eddie Adams: Vietnam which is the first Eddie Adams book  to be published. It looks incredible. Also, there is a gallery of his work in the Umbrage Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. 

In addition, NPR's This American life had a great report on it with interviews with AP photographer Hal Buell and other photographers who worked beside Adams during the war. Check out the article and listen to the segment HERE. 

Adams covered 13 different wars. 

Needless to say, I want the book, and I want to go to the gallery. :-) Road trip anyone?

Final Days in Uganda

It's been a week since I departed from Uganda and the Momenta workshop ended, and I still can't seem to find the right words to talk about it... I miss it. It was an amazing experience and I'm honored to have been able to share it with such wonderful people that are now like family to me. Below are a few snapshots of the final days there. I know I need to post some of my actual work, but I'm just not ready for that yet. :-)

I've been traveling for almost one month straight and now that I have a small break, I don't know what to do first! Right after I landed in JFK last Monday, I drove to Staten Island for my car, drove to Mayfield to see my parents, and drove to Syracuse for school on Wednesday morning. I didn't even get to unpack before I left Thursday night and drove to DC for 2 days with my friends Jess and Allison, slept only about 6 hours total while there, and then I drove back Saturday night and got in around 1:30 AM. Today, I spent most of my day barely catching up on emails, homework, laundry, and so on. Phew. I'm out of breath just thinking about it!

So what's next? Well... I have to finish up my time here at SU, move back to PA at the end of April before school even ends, fly to St. Petersburg for the Poynter summer fellowship on May 17 ( and make sure I have all of my grades handed in for my students at OCC), return on May 29, and then drive to Moline, Illinois to start my internship which begins June 1. Whoa.... what do I have to say about all of that..... This is so awesome!!! 

Last minute edits before the final show.

Carl and Molly hanging out at TASO headquarters.

Once again, no I did not see any elephants, giraffes, lions, tigers, guerillas, and so on. I was not on a safari! hehehe ( I love you all) However, yes, I saw a baboon. Other than cows, goats, chickens, ducks, lizards, terrifying gigantic prehistoric looking birds, a large cockroach in my bed, a frog in Carl's toilet, lots of mosquitoes, a couple of cats, and a rigor-mortis giant rat (that the people there insisted was not a rat, uh huh...),  this is the only "exotic", if you will, animal that I saw. They were pretty cool, and whole lot larger than I thought they would be. They came right up to the van we were driving in on our way back to Kampala. I was a bit worried that one was going jump up and smack someone in the face or, worse yet, grab a camera. 

I don't even know what to say about this. 

The drive to Entebbe airport.

Still in the car.

We looked a little rough around the edges after our two weeks in Uganda... We were the smelly ones on the plane. This is Sam Stewart (Sham) and Eva Russo (legs) while we were waiting for our flight to Amsterdam. 

I did get to see Jamie Rose (my mama Jimie)  and Eva at the NPPA Northern Short Course this weekend, and it was like a sigh of relief just seeing their smiling faces. It felt so good to give them big hugs and laugh about all of our strange you had to be there encounters! 

Internship!

Today I received some amazing news! I'm going to spending 4 months in Moline, Illinois for a summer internship at The Dispatch&Rock Island Argus. I'm super excited. Thank you to Todd Mizener for having the confidence in me and for taking me under his and the paper's wings. I am truly honored and cannot wait to start work!

Thank you!

Please Leave Your Comments!!!

Hello Everyone!

SO, I've been voted in the top 16 for the vewd Student Contest!! It's a great honor to even get this far.  And, I need all of you to leave comments on the site before April, 1! So please, visit the site and start commenting! Leave your opinion and thoughts and strike up a convo! Thanks so much

click HERE

More photos from Uganda to be posted soon! 

Hello Muzungo, How are you!?

Alright so I've been traveling through Uganda for about a week now. The internet is rare and very very slow. I miss blogging so darn much! I cannot believe a week has gone by and there is only one week left. I don't want to leave, it's too soon.

Everything is excellent. We started out in Kampala, drove to Lira, and just arrived in Gulu today. While in Lira, I documented a rehabilitation clinic for physically and mental disabled children. Most of them have suffered severely from Malaria. It was an excellent and enlightening experience. I completely fell in love with all of my kids. Funds are low, so currently the center, owned by Freidis and Christopher, only has 8 children living there and a walk in clinic. They can house and want to help many more. There is so much more I want to write about and show, my experiences, what I've learned, funny moments... But the internet is so slow and I only have 15 min left of it!! ( i had to pay for one hour!)

Funny note, the power was out for 2 and a half days and it will probably go out again very soon. The lights are flickering as i type. It's an interesting place. i absolutely love africa. Eva, Carl, Jamie, Sam, and me are all working so hard and enjoying every minute of it. 

I have so many more photographs, we've been so busy, i haven't really even had a chance to really edit through them!