Back in Africa

Sometimes, you're given an opportunity to capture an image but you don't have the best tools. That's when you just have to rely on the strength of the image fully express itself. I think that's going on here.

Back in 2004, I took a trip to The Gambia, in West Africa. I joined a photographer to record video that was to be used in promotional pieces. I don't think the project was ever finalized, and the trip changed my life, but not for the obvious reasons.

Anyway, we were documenting events being attended by the President of The Gambia, one Dr. Jammeh. Some of the events were rallies, held at various schools. I had creative license to roam around and record what I thought was worthwhile. I also had my first digital still camera with me, an old Nikon Coolpix.

At one school, I saw a group of women preparing food, and I was able to grab this shot of the kids eating from a common bowl, right in the school yard. I'll bet that most of us have seen an image like this before, but having the real thing right in front of me was both humbling and revealing. Most of all, it was a reminder that we extremely fortunate to live in the US, or in another advanced nation.

Image Conscious

I'm working on becoming a better photographer. Image-making was always a big part of my life, and both sides of my family contributed to that interest. I love the photo (posted on my Facebook page) of my grandfather's photo studio -in a Displaced Persons Camp in Austria, from the late 1940's.

On occasion, I'll post a photo that I consider compelling, and commentary -especially remarks that help me improve-are welcome.

This photo was taken during my trip to Anchorage, Alaska about 5 years ago. This was my computer wallpaper for the longest time.It was shot with a Canon Digital Rebel XT, Sigma 18:125 lens, manual focus, and auto everything else. I really liked the multiple layers in the photo. From the water, to the glacier, the woods, the fog, and the mountain just poking through the mist, this shot was largely the result of good timing.

I took a glacier cruise on my last day in Alaska, where I snapped an awful lot of photos. This next photo is my current wallpaper:

Again, there's a lot going on within the frame. There were three things that I hoped to see when I was in Alaska: a bald eagle (check), salmon in the wild (check) and a glacier (multiple checks just in this photo). I was in Alaska just after Labor Day in 2007, and it was still sweltering back home. In Alaska? Not so much. Pro tip: Glaciers are cold. Wear something warm.

During a trip to Boston, I put a whale-watching trip on the agenda. The weather cooperated, and the New England Aquarium's catamaran took us out to a pretty active area about an hour out to sea.

We first encountered a minke whale, which wasn't too photogenic. Later, we came upon a pod of dolphins. There were easily 50 of them within a short distance of the boat. None, however, were especially energetic, so the photos weren't too interesting.

On the technical side, I shot with a Canon Digital Rebel XT, with a Sigma 18-125 lens. Since I'm still learning the tech stuff from the photo side, I think that's all I can report.

After hanging with the dolphins for a few minutes, we saw likely whale activity a short distance away, so the captain headed us in that direction. We got some great close-up views of two humpback whales.

Since the boat was crowded, shooting at the rail was mostly out of the question. And a tripod wasn't happening, either, so I just did my best.

The whales spent a good 10 minutes just hanging on their backs, occasionally pounding their pectoral fins onto the surface. You could easily see where barnacles had attached themselves to the whales. That's the photo at the top of this post. One whale breached one time, and I didn't have a great view of the action.

But the breach did get ooooh's and aaaaah's from the crowd. After about 15 minutes of the fin pounding and such, the whales seemed to decide to move on, and we headed back to the dock. We did encounter another minkie, and more dolphins on the return, but we simply sailed past them.

As we entered the harbor, you could feel the moment when the temperature rose by about 5 degrees, and the day had become overcast. This was a pretty good way to end a Boston weekend.

Hoosier Wants To Play. Or Sleep.

Jimmy Russell at Joe Canal's

Joe Canal's Jerry Benziger

DP Camp in Hallein, Austria

My grandfather was a photographer, and one of my influences in imaging. There are 31 photos in this set, all from the Post-World War 2 era. He, my grandmother, father and aunt were war refugees, living then in a Displaced Persons camp in Hallein, Austria. These photos, and many other that I'll post later, survived to tell the story. My family took any number of side trips while they were in Austria. I don't know how commonplace that was. There was a death camp nearby, where these first few photos were taken. The caption on the back reads: "Ebenze March 1947 crematorium + mass graves Austria".

Unfortunately, too few of the photos had captions. This one had no caption.
UPDATE: My cousin, David Kessler, tells me that he has seen this photo in his grandfather's house. He notes that it "depicts a kaddish ceremony at the site of a mass grave of Holocaust victims. There's a rabbi in the photo who led the services."

My grandmother, Liza Rak Kessler, and my Aunt Ina Gershenson.

My grandparents are second and third from the right, with my Aunt Ina fourth. From seeing other photos, they may have been on a visit to a salt mine. There's a stamp on the back of the photo, and what I can still read says this: "Salzbergwerk Hallein. Foto Sch(can't read) Mercner"

My grandfather, in the DP camp at Hallein.

My Aunt Ina, probably at the age of 13 or 14, at the DP camp in Hallein.

My grandfather, outside his photo studio in Hallein.

David Kessler also helped with this: It's a card for the Jewish New Year תש’'ח, which corresponds to 1948. Also note "Kieslowicz", our grandfather's original Polish names (they were from Bilgoraj), and "Hallein."

The stamp on the back of this photo reads, "Lud. Mich. Schmidt, (23) Bremen-Vegesack, Poststr. 56, Eingang, Breite Str."

My grandmother is second from the right.

My Grandfather, Stanley Kessler. His birth name, and as his was known then: Shaia Kieslowicz. The photo is from the DP camp in Hallein, Austria, after WW 2

"A Part of My Childhood Died"

If you know classic rock, you'll recognize that as a line from a song by the Kinks. What I'm going to discuss was from my college years, but the point remains valid.

During 2010, my fraternity chapter was transitioning from Tau Epsilon Phi (TEP) to Tau Delta Phi (TDP). TEP national was in disarray, and we disassociated, and, in what appeared to be a happy circumstance, TDP was trying to organize a group at Penn State. Since our TEP chapter grew from a defunct TDP chapter, it looked like a return to our roots.

Unfortunately, the TDP group never became a chapter, and the men basically abandoned the house. The house needed work, and could not attract enough pledges and new brothers to sustain it financially, and that created a kind of negative feedback loop. This weekend, I was one of a small group of Brothers who came back for something of a final work session. We were cleaning the house in preparation for its sale.

Adding to the mess that the former residents left behind was damage from a break-in. Broken windows had been boarded up, but other damage remained. Lots of old, junk furniture needed to be removed, and the debris needed to be cleaned as best we could. In an unheated house that didn't have running water.

There were about eight of us performing this labor of love, hauling trash and old furniture, sweeping and vacuuming, and sharing some old stories along the way. Being in the house for (probably) the final time, I could hear the voices of my Brothers and Sisters, could see us all when we were young and invincible, could smell and taste some of the incredible times of growing up.

I'm forever grateful for my time at the TEP house. Since graduation, whereever I've lived, 328 East Foster Avenue always remained my house and home, and State College, my home town.

One of the great features of both town and campus is the vitality, the constant change. Some of the places I loved as an undergrad are long gone. Sadly, the TEP house has joined that list. So we ended our night with one final beer and a toast to the happy memories of the home we all shared.

What Do You Wanna Do? I Don’t Know, What Do You Wanna Do?

Below is my latest post for the CNJ ROAR, the newsletter from my chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association. This month's topic was what to do while visiting Penn State. As an alumnus, the list is a little different than it would be for an undergrad.

****************************************************************************

We’ve all faced that discussion, whether we were sitting in our room at State, hanging out with friends back home, or even while trying to plan a date night. Since we’re back into Football Season, where being in the Top Ten is a season-long goal, we’ll pay homage by listing our Top 10 things do while visiting Penn State. Like the AP Top 25, this is a largely subjective list that’s built around a few objective criteria. Naturally, we welcome your personal favorites that we somehow omitted, with special citations for the best of what has passed from the Penn State scene (like the Train Station or Chicken Cosmo).

1. Enjoy ice cream at Berkey Creamery. Its new location is bigger, and some undergrads never even knew the old site.
2. Watch a football game at Beaver Stadium. Will it eventually become Paterno Field at Beaver Stadium, or Beaver Field at Paterno Stadium? And now that Michigan added more seats, will our stadium expand again?
3. Climb Mt. Nittany. Although it’s no longer visible from Beaver Stadium, it’s a dynamic icon.
4. Have grilled stickies at The Diner. Eating at The Diner after the bars closed is still a graduation requirement, right?
5. Have your photo taken while sitting on the Lion statue. It’s a busy place during home game weekends, but your camera is safe in the hands of the next group in line.
6. Buy something Blue & White. Whether you prefer the campus stores or the downtown merchants, none of us have enough Blue & White on our cars, in our offices, or in our wardrobes.
7. Attend something other than a football game. Penn State hosts lots of other events: the full NCAA sports program (3-time National Champion Women’s Volleyball, vocal supporters at men’s basketball, etc.), Thon, and Arts Festival are just a few available options.
8. Visit Wine Country. It’s Happy Valley, not Napa Valley, but Mount Nittany Vineyard & Winery in Centre Hall has a tasting room that’s open every day but Monday, and offers some nice selections.
9. Visit the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens in The Arboretum at Penn State. One of the University’s new additions, located at Park Avenue and Bigler Road, the Arboretum is 370 beautiful acres.
10. Check out where you used to live. Maybe your spouse or kids have never seen the place, or maybe it’s time to put a brick and mortar punctuation mark to the stories you’ve been telling for years. Just be warned: where you lived, or your favorite place to eat, just might not be there any more.