6/11/11

The Decisive Moment.


If you juxtaposition the Casey Stengel quote, "There comes a time in every man's life and I've had plenty off them" with Garry Winogrand's' "Being a good photographer is no more that finding a good place to stand" then a summary of what I do is near complete. Barry Hannah, the great late writer was recently described as a "postmodern hick." Never having cared about labels, time periods or art curators trying to stay employed by tagging things with one or the other....I buy into me being a hick but I don't know what modern is, let alone the horse that rode in on or what the horse left left behind.

5/17/11

May Harmon Killebrew rest in peace.....


A good man. A wonder of a ball player. I saw him interact with hundreds of fans last year, including myself. he sat in a sweltering conference room on a Birmingham summer day and continue to sign until he had to leave to catch a plane.We had spoken the night before about his playing days at Fenway Park. I don't gather autographs, that isn't something I do, but a friend had him sign a poster for me that I now covet.

4/16/11

Upload...

I was so spent by the time that I finally hit the podium, I will have to watch the DVD to remember what I said. The Color of Baseball: From Birmingham to Boston. A presentation at Harvard University on March 30, 2011. One more time, I am convinced that I am going to retire from all of this stuff.....

3/12/11

Homilies at Harvard

Coming to Harvard university on March 30th at 6:30PM,a panel discussion and a lecture (by Billy Boy, hisself.) When I get everything in line, I will post a in-depth comment about it. Race and baseball have been a large part of my focus for the last ten years and this will be a nice summary of everything that I have photographed and issues that need to be talked about. Reginald Howard, a former Negro League player, will be joing us, coming up from Memphis for the event. Details to follow....

1/8/11


January 8, 1935 was dead center of the time in American history called "The Depression." Abject poverty, shotgun shacks, breadlines indicated a depression for several reasons. Of the many births and deaths that day, there is one we remember. The most popular entertainer in world history was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. Popularity doesn't account for much. It is more like asteroids blinking on the horizon, particularly in our current age.What made Elvis special and more than a radar blip on an overpopulated screen were many things. Most notably, he was the agent of social change in the 1950s. I have read him referred to as the man who destroyed culture forever. So many things changed after he hit the stage and before he hit the screen. For two, think of Paul Newman and Andy Warhol. For three, think of a crewcutted boy in Brookline looking to stay meek to garner approval but rebel to get out from the weight of his own burdens.