Don't We All Hate Those End-of-Year Lists? Me too. So here is mine.

The endless, end-of-year lists, all structured to be click-bait, are in full swing. I've been doing such a blog post for 4 of the last 5 years. I'm not sure why I missed 2016, but here is my contribution for this past year, 2018.

There were three magazine covers, two for Merrimack Valley Magazine, and one for Commercial Integrator, a trade magazine. There were several features for these and other magazines that I am proud of, as well as a very un-typical-for-me architectural shoot that was actually fun.

Finally, there were my artistic efforts. I was really happy to have had showings at two Curated Fridge shows (click for more on that), one photograph shown at the Whistler Museum of Art in Lowell, Massachusetts, and two photographs that made the 'on-line annexes' of gallery shows, one at the Photo Place Gallery, in Middlebury, Vermont, and the other at the Black Box Gallery, in Portland Oregon.

Thank you, as always, for your support this year and have a great 2019!

From the July-August 2018 issue of the Merrimack Valley Magazine

From the September-October 2018 issue of the Merrimack Valley Magazine

From the May-June 2018 issue of the Merrimack Valley Magazine

From the March-April 2018 issue of the Merrimack Valley Magazine

From the September-October 2018 issue of the Merrimack Valley Magazine

A Blog About Nothing

Need to blog. Need to blog. Need to......

You get the idea. It's time to show some work that only appears on my Instagram feed for the most part. Some of it was made here in Lowell, Massachusetts, some in Lawrence, at least one in Nashua, NH, some in Boston, and some in Honolulu. Feel free to critique me in the comments. I can take it... I think :-)

Full Circle

Yovani and I were following each other on Twitter before we had actually met. I remember meeting her at the first Tweetup that I attended and was a little shocked that she and a couple of other people came up to introduce themselves as followers. The power of social media sort of hit me at that moment, but that’s another story. 

Yovani is a native Lowellian. She told me that she went to college in Maine, so I had to Google Farmington, Maine. It’s up there. Zipping around with StreetView, it looks where I grew up, but more so. Yovani came back to the Valley though, getting her masters at UMass Lowell, working for a state senator and then for several years in Lawrence, at Lawrence Community Works, managing rehab and other construction projects. She now works for the City of Lowell, which she really enjoys.

The Big Doors were calling though. Yovani seemed psyched to be photographed in front of the famous landmark. I think it worked.

Local Farming Lives

I really want you to go out and get this month's Merrimack Valley Magazine! It should arrive on news stands around September 16th. I do have the fall fashion cover story, but I will talk about that in another blog. I want to talk about my local farming photo essay today though. I am really happy that I was able to pull this long-term story-in-pictures off! Working on it most of the Spring and early Summer, I got to visit a number of agricultural enterprises around the valley and meet with some really dedicated people, each of whom was more than happy to spend time giving me guided tours of their operations. I really do get to see aspects of some things that most people don't get to see or sometimes, even know about. Hopefully, this article will give you a taste for what is growing all around us. And speaking of taste, there is an accompanying article in which Carolyn Grieco, of Carolyn's Farm Kitchen, cooks up some of the dishes recommended by the farmers, just to be captured in my photos.

So please check out the magazine for the rest of the photos, the extended captions by Emilie-Noelle Provost, as well as the accompanying article with lots of recipes and food shots.

Farmer Dave checks the progress of his crop

Farmer Dave's blueberry crop

Mann Orchard crates await the harvest

Lydia and Francey, of Mill City Grows, discuss their city community garden in Lowell

Jeanmerli of Groundwork Lawrence taking care of the weeds

Groundwork Lawrence... I love these!

The beautiful landscape of the Cider Hill Farm

Karen of Cider Hill Farm shows me what's growing

I first met Karen and Glenn in the spring, shooting another assignment. Like all of the others that I visited, they were more than generous with their time and enthusiasm.

Busy as...

Merrimack Valley Apiaries

And let's not forget the final product! 

Everyone Loves a Dog on the Cover

Before the premier of the Home issue of the Merrimack Valley Magazine is gone from the shelves, I thought I would post of few of my images from the pages of the magazine. Among other things, it features an extreme makeover in Andover, decorating ideas ranging from antiques to framing, beautiful lofts in Lawrence and a really inspiring Habitat for Humanity project. Oh, did I mention that these shoots were mine?

Cover Sandwich - Merrimack Valley magazine

I photograph people. But I sometimes shoot other things! This month's cover of Merrimack Valley Magazine features my food photography. My photos of MassInnovation CEO Robert Ansin for Coffee Talk are shown here as well. These were shot in available light, some of which I brought with me. (sorry for the lighting-geek humor!)

Merrimack Valley Magazine
MassInnovation CEO Robert Ansin

Blast from the Past

The latest edition of the Merrimack Valley Magazine features a fascinating article by Chris Markuns, my photos and a lot of up-front work by Christine Lewis, about the vanishing Social Club. I would imagine, like most people, my initial mental image was of dark woodwork, a fireplace, cigars and a cast who looked like the Monopoly guy sitting in leather chairs sipping single-malt scotch. Um... not exactly. These are neighborhood clubs in non-descript buildings in which groups of friends have gathered to hangout since they were kids in the neighborhood. I found the guys to be very welcoming. My visit was a truly interesting experience. Read about these clubs in the latest issue of the magazine!

Merrimack Valley's Private Social Clubs

If you have any questions or comments about this article, or anything else, I encourage you to leave a comment! And if you want to discuss a project, shoot me an email. I'll answer it!

Lawrence YMCA Music Clubhouse

Recently, I shot a story for a magazine article that profiled a program at the Lawrence, Massachusetts YMCA, called the Music Clubhouse. In the basement of the Y, kids are invited and encouraged to learn, practice, perform and to exercise their musical creativity. This is one of several Music Clubhouses sponsored by the Music and Youth Initiative, a Boston non-profit that has established seven others in the Greater Boston Area. The Lawrence clubhouse exists with the help of numerous collaborators, such as Avid, my alma mater Berklee College of Music, and numerous other donors and volunteers.

Recently, I shot a story for a magazine article that profiled a program at the Lawrence,

Massachusetts YMCA, called the Music Clubhouse. In the basement of the Y, kids are invited and

encouraged to learn, practice, perform and to exercise their musical creativity. This is one of

several Music Clubhouses sponsored by the Music and Youth Initiative, a Boston non-profit that has

established seven others in the Greater Boston Area. The Lawrence clubhouse exists with the help of

numerous collaborators, such as Avid, my alma mater Berklee College of Music, and numerous other

donors and volunteers.