Today Trinity and Sierra graduated from high school! They both got lots of whoops and hollers as they walked across the stage, then went out to Sierra’s mom’s house out of town to hang out with family to celebrate.
Over the past couple weeks I’ve done some rough edits with this story. After talking with a bunch of editors, friends and photographers, I decided to keep an eye out for story telling details and some sense of the outside world. Today I was able to grab a detail I really liked that and also a shot with some family involved. I did get a photo with Trinity talking to some older women (grandmas), but it just didn’t have enough ‘umph.’
It’s been so extremely rewarding to be able to follow the two of them around for the past 6 months. I’ll only have another one or two trips out to Macon before I head out for Denver this summer, and I couldn’t thank the two of them, and their family and friends, enough for teaching me the value of long form story telling and the deep and meaningful relationships that can stem from them. I’m proud of both of you and you have taught me so much. Thank you.
Here are the two photos I mentioned and some extras I liked from the day.
Sierra got a giant blanket from her grandma covered in pictures of herself as she grew up. ^^^
Today I got to reconnect with Sierra and Trinity. They’re both doing wonderful and are ready to graduate and move onto bigger things. Today I tagged along with them as Trinity got measured for her tux for prom, they visited Sierra’s friends and their three-month-old daughter. While rocking the baby asleep Sierra told me the two had already come up with names for their children one day. Here are some photos I liked from today. It’s always awesome catching up with them.
The baby seemed to get along with Sierra a bit better. Trinity said this happened every damn time.
The two are staying together even though Trinity will be headed to Columbia to study journalism at MU and Sierra will start on her path towards medicine closer to home.
The two have already proposed and are engaged and could be getting married as early as this summer.
You two are awesome. Thanks for letting me hang around all the time.
I’ve shot 14 basketball games in the past two weeks for Missouri State High School Activities Association tournament. It’s been a bit ridiculous, a little over kill, but it helped shake off a bit of my rust.
I hardly had time outside of the games to shoot many features. I had to knock off my laundry list of stuff for the wire, and access was limited, so when I got the chance I tried to watch out for the range of emotion that comes with a shot at the state title.
A bit of a long post, but here are some of my favorite moments from the past couple weeks.
Thanks for wading through all these! It’s super nice to be shooting more again. More to come!
Hey! It’s been ages since I’ve blogged. I apologize. I have a lot of work to show as the semester winds to an end, so expect more posts soon. Here are some current frames.
I’ve been blessed with not only getting to work with Trinity once (for my My Life My Town project last year), but again for my capstone project with Rita Reed and David Rees.
Trinity has fallen in love with Sierra since I saw her last. The two are extremely involved and live in Trinity’s home with her father. They go to school together, but both work many hours a week and have lots of school obligations. Their time together is precious when they get it and are looking to continue their relationship as Trinity goes to MU next year to pursue journalism and Sierra works on a career in radiology.
I’ll be shooting much more of this, but here are some frames I’ve liked from my first two days with them. It’s been a blast.
This last weekend I had my first assignment for the AP since this summer. It made me a bit nostalgic about this summer, but really made me miss working everyday. That’s all I want!
Williams, a singer, known for his rendition of “Moon River” and his Christmas specials, passed away on Sep. 25. His friends and family organized a public show at his theater, the Moon River Theater, in Branson, Mo., as a sort of last hoorah. Branson entertainers and other friends such as the Osmonds, the Gatlin Brothers, Bob Newhart and the John Davidson showed up to show their support and perform.
Either way, it was nice to go to an event that’s a bit staged and one-dimensional, and try and make some slightly off-beat frames. It was my first time in Branson, and it is just such a strange, strange place.
Andy, I didn’t know you, but from all the stories I heard that day, you sound like a pretty great dude. RIP.
I hope you’ve heard of Larry Towell. He’s awesome.
I remember when a friend of mine showed me his book “The Mennonites” for the first time, and it’s had a lasting impression on me since.
Towell worked with the Mennonites of Canada (his home), and as migrant workers in Mexico. I just really, really enjoy all these pictures. They are older, but a bit off beat. They are seen differently. Clean, yet not over thought.
I like the idea of covering something as a whole community. I think these sort of essays and stories are important documentation of our time and people. I think Towell does a fantastic job of having a visual continuity to this work. Without it, it would just be a bunch of pictures.
It’s pretty hot around LA this week. Somewhat of a heatwave, though it isn’t like it is in the Midwest. Either way, I went to the Valley because the mountains block the cool ocean breeze from chilling things down. I drove around, walked a few blocks with a mailman, accidentally stumbled across people setting up a set for “Parks and Recreation” and ran into kids getting snow cones. The awesome Jonathan Makiri suggested a pool in the area I check out, so I headed there. At first I just walked around the pool, but eventually talked to a family who was beating the heat in the water and they suggested I hop in. I was a bit wishy washy….but grabbed my shorts and fish tank from the car and made some photos.
