Frontside Air

2009-12-30

What could be more fun than Will Best blasting a frontside air during an unseasonably warm winter day on a backyard miniramp? I could not think of anything either.

Tim Humphreys: International Man of Mystery

2009-12-26

This is professional snowboarder Tim Humphreys throwing down a Backside Lipslide somewhere in Far Hills New Jersey. I have known Tim for, ohhh I don't know about 16 years now. We meet one magical day back in the first grade in Ms. Nai's class at Oak Street School...back when we both were nose-picking, trouble-making, hyperactive runts. Tim has done pretty well for himself these last few years. He pulled off a first place win in 2008 in BIG AIR at the US OPEN, as well as a second place win that same year in SLOPESTYLE. Its funny, I have been shooting photos of Tim skateboarding for years now, but this was the first time I ever shot him in his natural environment. For more info on one of snowboarding's best and brightest, check out these links: FLOW SNOWBOARDING .. SESSIONS OUTERWEAR .. NEFF HEADWEAR .. TRANSWORLD BIO.

Merry Christmas from TheLondonBroil to you

2009-12-25

Florida

2009-12-20

Tim Brown

2009-12-18 

This was shot with a wide angle lens...a split second after I hit the shutter, I was mowed down. Thankfully TB is probably the smallest player on the Rutgers squad, so only thing that was hurt was my ego.

A Look From Above

2009-12-15

I thought you might enjoy this.

Operation Robinhood

2009-12-15

As a photojournalist, it's nice to break a story (even if people use your images without permission and without proper credits). Learn more about this photo by clicking on these fine links: DAILY TARGUM audio slideshow... DAILY TARGUM article ... JOHNSONVILLE PRESS interview with Charlie Kratovil... JOHNSONVILLE PRESS a letter from Charlie Kratovil

Swimming

2009-12-09

I shot this at a Rutgers woman's swim match against Wagner.

Untitled

2009-12-08

Originally shot on Friday the 13th.

Waffle House

2009-12-01

Of all the photos I shoot in Louisville, this one of the Waffle House where I ate my Thanksgiving Dinner is one of my favorites. On our last day in Kentucky, I got up early to walk around the area outside of our hotel and shoot some photos. Never had I seen such a bright and vibrant blue sky before, anywhere in the USA. The colors in this photos, I find, compliment each other really nicely. Now if only they hadn't sneezed on our food...

The Big Hit

2009-11-30

This was shot during a Rutgers vs Louisville game I was covering for the Daily Targum in Louisville Kentucky.  I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to take this photograph, which was picked up and used on the front page of the Star ledger's sports section the following day. This particular play was quite controversial because the Rutgers player on the left making the tackle, Zaire Kitchen, was flagged after the play by refs for leading the tackle with his head. This style of tackle is extremely dangerous and illegal. After the play, the Louisville player, Doug Beaumont lay motionless on the ground and had to be carried off on a stretcher (he was ultimately OK). My angle of the hit, was one of the few that proved the refs call was in fact incorrect.

Men's Basketball vs Vermont

2009-11-26

Ballet Class part 2

2009-11-25

This is the second image I wanted to put up from the series of photos I shot at Dance Connection in Hillsborough for the Princeton Packet. I couldn't decide which of the two I liked better.

Ballet Class part 1

2009-11-24

Shot during a rehearsal of their Nutcracker Ballet at the Dance Connection in Hillsborough for the Princeton Packet. While I have never taken a dance class in my life, I feel like this image embodies the awkwardness of a being a child in a beginner dance class during a dress rehearsal. 

Flashes of Hope: Kareema

2009-11-18

This is Kareema. I saved this portrait for last because it is my favorite one I shoot during my time at Camp Happy Times this summer. Sometimes I ramble on and one, so for this final post, I will let the photograph speak for itself. Enjoy.

Rutgers Women's Basketball Season Opener

2009-11-17

Vintage Grapes

2009-11-16

This is Jared Dye, a local fashion designer and entrepreneur who owns and operates Vintage Grapes Clothier. I could tell from the first five minutes I spent with Jared, that he has some big goals and that he won't let anything stand in the way of establishing himself. With that said, here are some words from the man himself: "My full name is Jared T.E. Dye and I am the CEO of Vintage Grapes LLC, an umbrella company to Vintage Grapes Clothier, a luxury garment brand. My journey in short, I started off producing urban wear, but as my style evolved as did my vision, thus Vintage Grapes Clothier. Why I love fashion, I think fashion is important to us because it's a means of self-expression, it enables us to say something important to the world about who we are."

John Mullen, Pole-Jam!

2009-11-08

The skateboarding gods smiling on us when we came across this perfectly bent pole in Philly's Chinatown. Thanks to Mr. Mullen's fire in the belly we were able to make the most of our good fortune. Congratulate him with a box of chocolates next time you see him.

Living in a One-Horse-Town

2009-11-07

This is the one-horse-town of Callicoon New York, located on the Delaware River  I had the opportunity to wander around the town the night before my Flashes of Hope shoot, which literally consisted of two main streets, each about five blocks long, and a rundown train station, that may or may not still be operational. Walking through the town was like walking back in time to an old western town.

Fight Night part 5

2009-11-06

This is Rich Boyne from Team Tiger Schulmann's. You may remember him from one of my earlier Fight Night photos as the guy being punched in the face by Mark Lecroulant. Despite having some blood dripped on me, I think leaning into the ring for this shot was definitely worth it.

The New Jersey Sierra Club

2009-11-05

Richard Isaac is the head Political Chair of the New Jersey Sierra Club, and one of the main people responsible for endorsing Chris Daggett in the gubernatorial elections. The Sierra Club represented one of the largest endorsements Daggett received along with the Star Ledger.

Fight Night part 4

2009-11-03

Unknown fighter.

Reminiscent of the Summer

2009-11-01

Seasons change fast. Only two months ago I was walking down the boardwalk in Ocean City Maryland enjoying the warm ocean air. And while most of my summer was equally as stressful and hectic as my life is now, I feel like this photo embodies that feeling I always get when thinking back to the summertime, especially after the seasons have changed. As Paul Simon said, 'time hurries on, and the leaves that are green turn to brown.'

Joe Martinek

2009-10-30 13:50:43

Every time I go to West Point to shoot a football game, the weather is nasty. Surprisingly though, I feel like a lot of my best pictures are taken in the nastiest of weather. Two years ago Ray Rice ran the Army team in circles during an epic snow storm, and I got an awesome shot of him stiff-arming an Army player for a touchdown. This year Joe Martinek's performance, along with the weather, brought back cold wet memories of my last time in Michie Stadium. Joe also ran the Army team in circles, scoring multiple touchdowns.

Fight Night part 3

2009-10-29

The guy throwing the punch here is Chul Choe of James Smith's B-52 Gym. Shortly after this punch was thrown, Choe knocked out Steven Regman of Team Tiger Sculmann, clenching the Regional Muay Thai Championship belt.

Free Speech is a Two Way Street

2009-10-27

Members of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, more commonly known as the creators of Godhatesfags.com, held a rally across the street from the Rutgers Hillel (a campus center for Jewish students). And by a rally, I mean that six of them showed up early, stood around for no more than twenty minutes and then left. The group is known for doing things like picketing outside of funerals of fallen soldiers, protesting Jewish and Christian establishments, and of course, targeting homosexuals with their hate filled rhetoric. The glorious first amendment grants the group the right to protest in the vile ways that they do, as long as they do not hurt anybody. When the University discovered that this socially-backward group would be protesting outside of our very own Hillel, students jumped to action. In the end, more than 300 students gathered in front of Hillel, peacefully singing and chanting, while the Westboro idiots stood across the street drowned out by the student population. Interestingly enough when I arrived at 8:30am, I walked right by the Westboro "church-goers" who were picketing, and did not even notice them. Instead I was immediately drawn to the student rally in front of the Hillel. In the end, despite the rally starting at the crack of dawn, and some nasty weather, the mass amount of students who gathered proved two things. First, that this is an open community that does not tolerate the kind of hate preached by the Westboro "Church", and second, that anybody who wants to come spew hate at Rutgers should think twice, because if there is one thing Rutgers students are good at, it is being loud and rowdy; today this loud rowdiness successfully drowned out and sent home the six biggest scumbags who ever set foot on our campus.

James Smith, Fight Night part 2

2009-10-26

This is James Smith, a professional Low Kick fighter who is starting a new training facility in the New Brunswick area called B-52 Gym. He is also the guy who invited me to come out to Fight Night at the Capitale in the first place, so that I could shoot images of his fighters. This photo was taken moments before the start of his final fight as a professional. James ultimately won the fight, knocking out Jose Sulsona from Freestyle Gym. Later in the evening James announced that he would be retiring from fighting to concentrate on setting up, and training individuals at B-52. I was very grateful he gave me the opportunity to come out and shoot such an interesting event.

Will Best, Blunt to Fakie

2009-10-25

As I've said before, skateboarding is what lead me to love photography, and for that reason, to this day, there is nothing I would rather shoot than skateboarding. Stay true to yo roots.

West Point in the Rain

2009-10-24

Shoot before a Rutgers vs Army game at West Point for the Daily Targum.  I spent a bit of time in the crowd prior to kickoff taking photos of some of the cadets. Out of the frames shot, this was the only one where a cadet, for a brief moment, noticed my presence and looked at the camera. I thought it was pretty cool.

Going for the Block

2009-10-23 13:28:05

This was shot during a Rutgers vs Pitt game for the Daily Targum. This photo would have been really cool had Rutgers

blocked the field goal attempt, but they did not, and the field goal was ultimately good (and Rutgers ultimately lost the game).

Getting Down Chinatown

2009-10-21

Colin J. Mackey, No-comply Polejam, Chinatown, Philadelphia. My favorite part of shooting this day was watching everyone wait across the street for a red light, then frogger their way through the busy Chinatown foot traffic, up the sidewalk, avoiding cars all the way, so that they could hit this epic polejam. A glorious day indeed.

MMA Fight Night part 1

2009-10-20

I recently had the opportunity to photograph a mixed-martial-arts Fight Night in New York City for a friend of mine who just started a new fighting gym call B-52. The images of his fighters will be used for promotion of the new gym. This particular Muay Thai fight was one of the main events, and while neither of these guys were from the B-52 Gym, I was pleased I had the chance to be ringside for it. Of the fights that evening this was by far one of the most brutal and exciting. The fighters went all four rounds, and the winner in my opinion was a real toss up. In the end the guy throwing the punch, Mark Lecroulant from the Mendez Boxing Gym, defeated the guy on the left, Rich Boyne from Team Tiger Schulmann.

Colored Lanterns Celebrating the Moon

2009-10-19

This was shot during a celebration of the Chinese Lunar Festival. What you see here are several paper lanterns with lit candles inside. The Moon Festival generally falls in late September or early October and it is said that the moon is at it fullest and roundest on this particular evening. We happened to be very lucky that the sky was clear this evening so that we could bask in the moonlight and celebrate this glorious holiday in traditional fashion.

What struck me the most about this event was how members of the media massively outnumbered the individuals from the public who were in attendance. For the most part the event consisted of only a handful of "real" people who came out to meet the Governor and ask him questions. The other 30 or so people were members of the media and the Governor's entourage. From what I could see, the Governor's appearance seemed to act as more of a distraction to the employees of the office and those filling out paperwork, then anything else. I really felt that this photo embodies how the media skews such a menial and unimportant appearance by a political figure.

Art collective Albus Cavus' third annual Streets 2k9 Art Walk was a resounding success. The event has turned into a gathering of young and old individuals from all over the country, who get together for one purpose: to spend the day making some awesome artwork on the infamous wall located between Route 18 and the Raritan River in New Brunswick. Jacy, shown here, has attended the past two Art Walk events, but this was his first time participating. The 10-year-old from Scotch Plains NJ said his favorite part of the annual event is how cool and friendly everyone involved is. The particular piece Jacy was working on is a man who is also half camel. Jacy explained to me how he likes to start his paintings with just a scribble and see where they lead him. I told him that is my favorite way to paint as well. Please note that this photo was also printed in the Daily Targum.

I had the pleasure of spending my morning taking photographs of two classes of kids as they started their very first day of preschool. The shoot took place at the Montessori school in Monmouth Junction, for the Princeton Packet. Despite some temper tantrums, the shoot ended up being pretty fun. When looking through the pictures I just could not get over how funny this one in particular was. Every single kid has such a natural expression on his or her face. On a side note, the entire time I was there, I had one little girl follow me around and point to the back of the camera and giggle everywhere I went. In the end, my hour or so of shooting got me thinking about how awesome it was to be a preschooler.

Shot during the first Rutgers football game of the 2009 season against Cincinnati for the Daily Targum. Of the images shot, this one stood out in my mind as the best representation of our 47-15 crushing. Despite a half time quarterback switch from Domenic Natale to the ever popular Tom Savage (pictured here), it seemed to be too little too late.  Savage was sacked a total of three times, including this one that resulted in a safety, which basically acted as the icing on the total-destruction-cake.

I had the pleasure of photographing Loxi and Paul at Alfonso's Pizza in Hillsborough, New Jersey for the Princeton Packet. The Demark's have been managing the restaurant in the location for 25 years now and currently own the place. If there is one thing I took away from the shoot, it was how in love the two are. Loxi explained to me how they have been through a lot over the years. Several years back, Paul was diagnosed with cancer, which he recovered from. The two also recalled all the different employees who have come and gone over the course of their ownership. They have seen people go on to become Hollywood actors, to become lawyers, and have even had one X-employee kill another over a girl. They also explained to me the history of the restaurant. All of the decor and furnishings in the restaurant were designed and built by the two. Loxi also added how the interior and the restaurant in general are both a constant work in progress. It is not often you come across an eating establishment where the owners put so much love and care into every single detail. If you are ever in the Hillsborough area, be sure to stop by Alfonso's located on Route 206 for an excellent eating experience. And yes, the pizza is definitely some of the best around!

After a crazy last minute debacle that I will get into in my next post, my family's vacation plans changed and instead up heading north to Canada for the week, we headed south to Ocean City Maryland. I shoot this photograph from our balcony that nearly overlooks the beach. This is another photograph that was inspired by the work of Andreas Gursky. I was able to get such a wide shot because I was recently given an f/4.0, 8mm sigma fisheye lens by some very cool cats.

I was reading through the July/August 2001 issue of American Photographer when I stumbled upon on an article about Andreas Gursky. Gursky is a very well known German photographer whose fame can be attributed to the gigantic photographs he prints of somewhat ordinary scenes. The larger than life prints are generally taken from a far as an overview of sorts and more than often contain some type of repeating pattern. In addition, the subjects of his photographs almost always fill the entire frame. Inspired by his work, I headed down French st. to St Peters Cemetery, which is quite possibly one of the largest cemeteries I have ever been to in my life. I walked around for about thirty minutes with my camera set up on a tripod, trying out different angles in an attempt to capture the enormity of the graveyard. I only had the chance to really try one or two angles when I was intercepted by the head of the Cemetery who was driving through monitoring the area (apparently he had been having a lot of issues with crack-heads sneaking in and vandals stealing statues). Ultimately, I ended up leaving with far fewer photographs than I wanted, but was quite pleased with what I did get.

Shot while on assignment for the Daily Targum. In case you missed it, President Obama stopped by New Jersey to endorse Governor John Corzine for reelection. The event, which was originally set to take place at Rutgers University on Vorhees Mall, was moved to the PNC Bank Arts Center at the last minute. This was my second time photographing Mr. Obama, although the first time I took pictures of him he was not yet president, but instead on the campaign trail to win his party's nomination. All in all the event was pretty much what I expected, a sweaty mob scene with high security and predictable speeches.

Advertising signs that con you into thinking your the one, that can do what's never been done, that can win what's never been won, meantime life goes on all around you.

Ted Cocuzza, a lofty kickfip.

I was laying in bed on the phone, mid-conversation, maybe even mid-sentence when it finally hit me, the view out my front window of the street below is absolutely incredible, especially when framed by the brand new blinds and curtains I just installed.

All three of these photographs were shot at different points over the last eight months. Going clockwise, the first one of the flag wall was shot outside of a bagel place in Staten Island before a Japanese Vogue photo-shoot I was helping out on. The next photo was taken in Manhattan by Wall Street, and the final image was taken in New Brunswick.

It is funny how sometimes a simple mistake can turn into something cool. In my case it was this mistake that allowed me to finally stop taking myself too seriously, so that I could have fun with photography again, closing the door on a very long shooting dry-spell.

Rutgersfest this year was somewhat of a soggy wet disaster, but random torrential downpours and a belligerent shoe tossing crowd couldn't hold Pharrell and N*E*R*D back from rocking out. Although I spent most of my time standing in 5 inches of water, wearing drenched cloths, this photo made the whole day worthwhile. Sometimes persistence pays off with luck. (This image was the winner of a 2009 Society of Professional Journalists first place award for collegiate news photography)

The Montgomery Gardens

2009-04-28

I recently took a trip to the Montgomery Gardens, located on route 206 in Montgomery for the Princeton Packet. The owner of the gardens, Danny Hsieh, was kind enough to give me an in depth tour of the entire facility including all of their growing greenhouses, storage facilities, and the main showroom (pictured here). During peak season, April through June, the Gardens employs over 40 employees, most of them to help with the meticulous growing process. At any given time, the Gardens grow 70-75 different species of plant. While many of the Gardens' sales come from local residents, they also supply plants at wholesale prices to many of the garden centers in New York City. A large amount of those plants are destined for office buildings. Danny explained to me how he purchased the garden center four years ago and since has built newer, state-of-the-art greenhouses in addition to those that were already there. While the greenhouses are now three years old, they are the newest in smart growing technology, using far less water and energy than the older greenhouses.  Danny attributes the success of the Montgomery Gardens to the sentiment many of his customers have. "People want locally grown, that's what we do".

The Rocky Mountain News, the Baltimore Examiner, the Halifax Daily News, the Albuquerque Tribune, the San Juan Star....The list of dead newspapers goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on. Also, with such giants as the Star Ledger, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Baltimore Sun, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times and even the New York Times facing unthinkably huge losses in this quarter alone, the end of the newspaper as we know it seems to be in site. While we all understand the reasons for this decline in newspaper circulation and ad revenue, what we don't understand is the major conundrum that could ultimately destroy the journalism industry: How to make online reporting profitable.... If I have learned one thing while studying the media and its culture these past three years it is this: Journalism is the most important asset we have in keeping our society democratic and free. I am pleased to think that it will be my generation, and my peers who will ultimately solve the conundrum mentioned above and decide the future of newspapers and the journalism industry as a whole.

I would like to wish a happy Easter to everyone and if you do not celebrate, a happy Springtime instead! For me, Easter has always been my favorite holiday and even as I have gotten older, my enjoyment for this time of year has not dwindled. Unlike other holidays, Easter is not too hyped up and commercialized. For me, it is more about enjoying time with family and silly traditions than anything else. Like the tradition pictured here. No matter how old I get, I know I will always look forward to writing silly things on Easter eggs in Crayon and experimenting with the different color dyes. Also nothing beats hunting for eggs on Easter morning, especially when you realize that you are still missing a few and the "Easter Bunny" has forgotten where he hid them. I don't know what Jesus dieing has to do with egg dyeing, bunnies and chocolate, but hey, the dude must have been on to something.

Let me make one thing very clear, I am not a cat person and I am certainly not the type of person to have a pet cat, take photographs of it, and put it on a blog. Now that I have cleared that up let me tell you about this particular cat. I am told his name is Garfield. He lives on top of a small roof in Chinatown in Philadelphia and apparently spends all day sunbathing. He is quite fat, which is confusing because as far as I could tell he is a stray.

Peter Krsko, Albus Cavus, part 1/3

2009-04-01

This particular artist is Peter Krsko. Besides having been one of the founding members of Albus Cavus, Peter is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Peter explained to me how a lot more goes into his job, like planning for events, writing grants, seeking out local organizations to donate and support the cause, and dealing with various city governments to get permission to paint. Despite this, Krsko says the pressures of running the legal aspects of the nonprofit haven’t kept him from what he loves. “It’s one of those things we’re if you’re doing what you like, you know, it doesn’t matter,” Krsko said. Although Krsko said the general reaction to his public artwork is either generally positive, although sometimes people simply do even not notice it. However, while he and the rest of the Albus Cavus crew worked on their murals, a local couple bought 5 pizzas for everyone involved as a way of thanking them for beautifying the area.

This is Leon Rainbow. Like Peter, he has been involved in Albus Cavus for quite some time and helps to organize events and get the word out about the group. Leon was the other main person I interviewed in addition to Peter, who he collaborated with on this mural. Leon helped to answer all of my questions about everything from types of spray paints, to the differences between East and West Coast styles. He also was able to give me many first hand examples of the positive impact and reaction he has gotten from working with Albus Cavus. "[In places like] Trenton Camden, Philli, people love [our artwork] over there, they love it like crazy especially in the rougher areas. When we were in Trenton, we were painting this wall on Martin Luther King Blvd and it was getting dark and some local women came out of her house and was holding a flashlight for us to finish...just like the women buying us pizza, people are really appreciative and we appreciate that." In this particular mural, Mr. Rainbow described to me how he wanted to depict an Atlas type character carrying all of the struggles and stresses he was dealing with on his shoulders.

This is Will Kasso, he is another one of the artists involved in the graffiti collective, Albus Cavus. While I did not get the chance to speak with him a great length, his style was one that I recognized immediately from other work he had done at the Raritan River Art Walk. 

In case you missed it, the Rutgers Woman's basketball team crushed the Auburn Tigers last week in the second round of the NCAA tournament, sending the team and myself off packing for the Sweet Sixteen in Oklahoma, to shoot for the Daily Targum.  In my opinion, Epiphanny Prince (seen here)  is the next best thing to happen to Rutgers University since we invented Cheese Wiz.

This is Frank Vesci and Christine Thompson, they are not married, but it wasn't until they gave me their names at the end of the photo shoot that I realized this. They both are limousine drivers and have been for many years. I met them while photographing an assignment for the Princeton Packet. I found it really funny that they had each picked their very favorite limousine to be photographed along with them, Frank's favorite being the Lincoln and Christine's favorite being the Cadillac. Frank takes great pride in his automobiles. While he did not say, I am very certain that Frank only drives American made cars, and he is very proud of that. In fact, when I arrived, the first thing he said to me was how beautiful my 1993 Ford Taurus was. This led to a lengthy conversation about how "they just don't make them like they use to". After giving him a brief background about my car, Frank made a comment that really changed my perspective on a lot of things, he said something along the lines of "That is a very nice vehicle for a young fellow like yourself to be driving, you are very lucky." See, while other people, including myself, may see an old Ford as a grandma car, or outdated, others see it as a beautiful testament to American ingenuity. I could tell simply by how Frank’s face lit up the minute we started discussing the Taurus, how much pride he had in America and its auto industry.

The very first beautiful sunny day of the year.

Don't Get Caught up in the CROSSFIRE!

2009-03-12

It is always nice to return home to my quiet New Brunswick house on a secluded street, only to find my front yard is the scene of a crime. At about 6pm this evening, residents living on Delafield Street were lucky enough to catch the very end of a bank robbery/ highspeed chase/ gunfight. According to various witness testimony and police reports, a bank robbery occurred in the nearby town of Franklin. The robbers took off in a green minivan and lead a chase throughout multiple towns that eventually ended in New Brunswick in front of my home. The robbers apparently made a wrong turn, as my street is a dead end, and upon realizing their error, tried to cut through the hospital parking lot. Unfortunately for them, the police officers following knew of the dead end and drew their guns as the getaway van tried to squeeze through the parking lot gate. What happened next I am not completely sure of. I know that multiple shots were fired by both the police and the suspects, multiple cars were hit with stray bullets, and the suspects were ultimately taken down.  In the end, I think the funniest part of the entire ordeal is the fact that the police officers asked the college students living on the street for solo cups to mark were the bullets and casings were....Only in New Brunswick...

I was recently given the assignment to photograph the Pennsylvania Dutch Farmers Market in Princeton for the Princeton Packet. The only problem? Everyone working at the market was Amish, and as a result, was opposed to being photographed. Abe King, who runs the stand shown in this image, said that his family use to make all of the products on site, but because of the popularity of the market, they now make some of them at home and import a little less than half of the items directly from Lancaster county in Pennsylvania. The women pictured seemed very intent on picking the right jar of of pickled eggs from Abe's stand and took her time inspecting a few before finally settling on the one shown.

This is Mike Rosario. He is quite impressive at basketball, unfortunately the rest of the team is far less impressive. We are currently 1 and 13 in conference, and under 500 overall. Last Thursday I had the opportunity to photograph this game against Villanova for the Daily Targum. At the end of the game, after another crushing loss, I overheard one very well known sports writer for a very well known NJ paper say to Rutgers Coach Fred Hill Jr, "So aren't you getting a little nervous about your job security with all of these losses." To which Fred Hill replied, "Your a journalist, aren't you getting a little nervous about your job security."

The 65 degree weather today reminded me of the temperature in San Fransisco last February. I was walking home form class when I noticed that one New Brunswick resident decided to utilize the warm weather by drying his tighty-whities and undershirts on a makeshift close-line he had in his backyard. I decided the humorous site was worth photographing despite the weird looks I knew I would receive from the groups of people walking by; this was especially true when at one point I was laying on the wet sidewalk taking picture of someone else's underpants swaying in the breeze. Just in general this photo reminds me of some place other than New Brunswick, like an unfamiliar city.

I walked around a day after our most recent snowfall to take some photographs of New Brunswick. The snow is a crazy concept because even a place as ugly as New Brunswick looks absolutely incredible blanketed in snow, especially before anyone has had a chance to shovel or plow the streets. This was not the case with these photos. Instead, as I walked to class in the morning, the snow had already begun melting, exposing the true colors of New Brunswick, contrasted by the few patches that had not yet been touched by the sun. If you take a few pieces of ugliness and put them together, you can get something truly beautiful.

I am not normally one to shoot nature photographs, but this reflection in the brook just really struck me for some reason. To me it represents the essence of winter. The black trees and the stark white water seem to represent the silence, simplicity and solitude that I often feel during the winter, especially after a snowfall. Although there are clearly ripples in the water, the entire photograph seems to stand still to me, as if the water is iced over.

I am in Knoxville for the next few days for a journalism conference at The University of Tennessee. During our downtime here we decided to take a look around the surprisingly nice metropolitan area. Apparently Knoxville was the site of the 1982 World's Fair and the actual park is no more than a stone's throw from our hotel. This photo was taken at the top of the Sunsphere which was the center point of the fair and overlooks the entire city. The sphere was constructed to represented the theme of "energy makes the world turn" and is comprised of a 266 foot tall steel tower with a five story gold globe at the top, which can be seen from miles away. After exploring the fairgrounds and reading a little about the history of the Tennessee fair, I began to wonder what ever happened to the World's Fair? Surprisingly enough, the fair still goes on every couple of years, but Tennessee was the second to last one ever to be held in the United States. New Orleans hosted it in 1984 and from that point on they have been quite scaled back and held mostly in Europe and Asia.

As I was pulling into my driveway at my New Brunswick apartment last night, something caught my eye. Along the side of our driveway is a fence separating the neighbors' yard from ours and it is completely overgrown with small plants and trees. For some reason at the end of the fence, where it meets the neighbors' house, and where the brush is at its thickest, a chandelier of icicles had formed during the later part of the day. The ice was unlike anything I have ever seen. In a city surrounded by such neglected streets and buildings, where garbage and glass litters the streets and sidewalks, one hardly expects to find such beauty hiding in the small driveway space in between two house built almost on top of one another.

This is the Route 78 ditch. For probably more than 25 years, skateboarders have trekked through Red-Necks' backyards, hiked through the woods, and jumped fences to skate this infamous mecca of oldschool skateboarding. The ditch, which is no more than a sixteenth of mile long, is a cement drainage basin that runs parallel to Route 78 in Basking Ridge surrounded on one side by forest and the other by a major highway. While I am no expert, the graffiti seems to date back to at least 80's. The ditch itself is a true work of art. In addition to the graffiti, pieces of metal, pvc pipe, cement, and wood have been strategically positioned at the top of various sections of the ditch so that skateboarders can grind and stall on them as they cruise down the basin.  Each time I am reminded of the true beauty of skateboarding, and the respect skateboarders show for one another.  No more than a mile away from the infamous "Devil Tree", this ditch epitomizes what skateboarding is... using the man-made surrounding area to create our art. I doubt those who poured this cement ever considered what their labor would become, or that anyone would ever even lay eyes on it. Here we see Ted creating art in the form of a blunt to fakie.

Noseblunt

2009-01-04

Will Best, 180 noseblunt stall at El Colorado.

The PapaJohns.com bowl game was a meeting of many worlds. Wealthy residents of New Jersey and North Carolina who could afford the holiday flight to Alabama made their way down south, while many others piled in the car and made the 16 hour drive. The real meeting was not between the North Carolina and New Jersey residents but rather the out-of-staters and the locals. As the previous post mentions, the stadium was surrounded by one of the most impoverished areas I have ever seen. While walking around the outside of the stadium, amongst the crowds of people dressed in red who were busy barbecuing, drinking and throwing footballs around, I spotted this man sifting through the trash. I didn't stop long to take photos as he quickly moved from garbage can to garbage can picking out the beer cans lazily thrown inside. It seemed I was the only one in the crowd who even noticed or paid him any attention.

Jayadeva owns Integral Yoga in Monmouth Junction near Princeton. I had the opportunity to photograph his modest yet beautifully intimate yoga studio while on assignment for the Princeton Packet. While I did not have the chance to speak at length with Jayadeva, he was kind enough to allow me to interrupt the beginning of one of his classes to take some photographs. Due to an ice storm the evening before leaving my car completely frosted over, and my poor sense of direction, I arrived 15 minutes late to the photo shoot. Jayadeva, who had explained the night before the importance of a timely arrival so that I would not have to interrupt a class, was incredibly understanding when I explained to him the reason for my tardiness. Even more surprising was how understanding the entire class was as well. Everyone in the class welcomed me warmly to photograph them despite some awkward spandex outfits.

Nonnie and Poppop recently celebrated their birthdays.