Tag Archives: Photojournalism

Apr 22 2013

Urban Farming in PHOENIX Magazine

I am always thrilled when I have the opportunity to shoot for PHOENIX Magazine. They do wonderful work and share interesting stories about our community. Photographing along side writer Wynter Holden we covered people involved in the urban gardening community around Phoenix- “Seeds in the City”.

I love the idea of edible backyard landscapes and I feel inspired to start one of my own after seeing all the possibilities. One of my favorite quotes from the story came from Kenny Barrett with Truck Farm Phoenix. He said “I didn’t know what a Brussels sprout plant looked like, and that bothered me.” I never really thought about that but on the first shoot I did for this project at the International Rescue Committee’s New Roots program I saw broccoli growing for the first time. What a simple idea- knowing what food looks like and where it comes from. I also learned about chickens while visiting Holly and Eric Figueroa and photographing their backyard chicken coop. I had no idea how beautiful and colorful eggs can be.

My first stop on my goal to gardening will definitely be Root Phoenix. I photographed The Urban Farm founder Greg Peterson early one morning at his latest project Root Phoenix, a community organization offering gardening classes among other things. His passion for growing the food you eat is contagious. Before I started this project I was talking with the photography editor at PHOENIX Magazine, who gardens himself, and he talked about how much fun his young children have in their garden and how they love to eat lettuce. As a mother to a toddler who now refuses to eat anything green that alone makes me want to get started already.

Pick up a copy of the May 2013 issue on newsstands now.

PHOENIX Magazine
International Rescue Committee
Root Phoenix
Truck Farm Phoenix
Holly and Eric’s Urban Farm

Root Phoenix

Greg Peterson

International Rescue Committee’s New Roots

Truck Farm Phoenix

Posted in Personal, Photojournalism Tags: ,
Feb 21 2013

Washington Post Style Section

Last month I spent some time with Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona’s newly elected freshman member of Congress, for The Washington Post. I followed her while she was briefly in Arizona before being sworn into office on January 3rd. While home from Washington she met with Veterans, students at a school where she began her career as a social worker and sat down with the mayors from Tempe, Phoenix, Chandler and Mesa. As a photojournalist I enjoy assignments like this because it is a chance to see behind the scenes and walk in someone else’s shoes if only for a short while.

Posted in Photojournalism Tags: , ,
Jan 13 2012

Reflections one year later

January 8, 2011, I was working at home in the Phoenix area, editing photos as my 5 week-old son played on his floor mat beside me, when I heard on the radio that a gunman had gone on a rampage in Tucson, killing a number of innocent people and shooting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the head. As I photographed the aftermath of the tragic event on that day and during the days that followed, I couldn’t help but reflect on the fragility of life and how in the blink of an eye everything can change. It was hard to believe that something like that could happen. Maybe it was the emotions of being a new mother, but more than other events I have covered I personally felt the grief and shock of the community.

One year later I knew I wanted to be with Tucson as Congresswoman Giffords made a rare public appearance in her hometown. I could hear chanting of “Gabby, Gabby” from across the lawn even before I could see her. As she stepped on stage wearing a bright red scarf, with her husband Mark Kelly by her side, the crowd of thousands rose to their feet and cheered. I moved into position to try to capture the best angle I could as Congresswoman Giffords proudly lead her community in the Pledge of Allegiance. What stood out the most to me as I shot those photos was her huge smile that lit up the stage and everyone around her.

While I photographed the people who attended the event I saw tears and hugs and healing. People were proud to be from Tucson. The memorial vigil celebrated those who lost their lives as well as those still recovering. People snapped their glow sticks and held them high.

As I write this my son is a year old and crawling all over the house. I look at him and I know that life is both precious and resilient.

This blog was originally posted on the Reuters photo blog.

Posted in Personal, Photojournalism Tags: , , ,
Jul 20 2011

Border tours

All photos shot for Reuters.

I had an interesting assignment to see the Arizona- Mexico border through the eyes of a tourist. The tour bus left from Tucson and traveled through Arivaca then down to Nogales on a scorching summer day. The tour’s emphasis is to allow the border to speak for itself without a political agenda. The tourists had an opportunity to meet with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent, a rancher and people from the local business community. They got an up close and personal look at the wall and visited a water tank left in the desert for immigrants by the group Humane Borders.

Click here to read the story by Reuters reporter Tim Gaynor.

Posted in Photojournalism Tags: , , , ,
Jun 16 2011

Photographing an icon

It is not often that a photo assignment makes me nervous anymore. Back when I was fresh out of school and in my very first newspaper internship at the Bay City Times and Bay City, Michigan I would get so nervous before work that I could barely eat and I thought about little else other than my work. Photography is something that started as a hobby and morphed into a career. I studied under some inspirational professors at the Rochester Institute of Technology and continued on into the newspaper world before ultimately becoming a freelance and wedding photographer where I am today. After graduating, when I started that internship in Bay City, I wanted nothing more than to succeed in the world of photojournalism. I needed to do well and execute each assignment with purpose and commitment, although I worked with editors who expected the best, all the pressure I felt came from within. In my subsequent years as a photojournalist I have shot everything from the President of the United States to major sporting events so when Arizona State University asked me to photograph Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant scientific minds on the planet, I was honored but also nervously excited. I knew I would have only a few minutes to take the photograph and everything would have to be set up and ready to go for the moment Professor Hawking entered the small room. I got to the location early set up my lights and did some test shots before Hawking arrived. In the end Professor Hawking was a gracious subject and once I got behind the camera all tension about the shoot I had been carrying around evaporated at the first click.

Click here to read about my experience photographing 9/11 in Bay City.

Posted in Personal, Photojournalism, Portraits Tags: , , ,

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