NYC in Black and White

These are two samples of my New York City trip. I brought along a Canon G9 point and shoot digital camera but most of the
serious work was done on a medium format camera shooting T-max 100 film. These two images were taken as I stumbled onto
the Dominican Republic parade near Bryant Park.

Politics

Recently I was sent to cover Senator John McCain's visit to Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was my first assignment after returning from a two week long vacation in the East Coast. It didn't take long to get back in the swing of things. After mingling with photographers and news media people it was down to business as I try to focus on the work at hand. The Media relations people for McCain were very cool. They know local press is at the bottom of the totem pole, so when I got the chance to shoot up close of him speaking it was a bit nerve wrecking. Security personnel keeping their eyes on you at all times. The experience seems to be surreal. In these cases you can only try to get something "different" and not embarrass yourself or the people you work for. These two images above are some of my observations from the event.

East Coast Trip

For the last two weeks I've bee on the east coast visiting family and friends. On the first day of my trip I got to go to the
new Newseum which is the museum dedicated to journalism. It's an amazing building and one can spend hours just staring at the photos, mementos , and videos of anything journalism related. The most powerful section of the museum is perhaps the 9-11 display where a wall displays the hundred of front pages of Newspapers' coverage of the event. Very powerful!!, and in the foreground
is the radio tower atop one of the fallen towers. The picture above is a panoramic I shot with my Canon G9 from the terrace overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue. With the stitch program the camera came with it was super easy compiling five different shots to make this image.

Thank you so much to everyone who made out to the 'OUTTAKES' exhibit last Friday night. The photos you see here are from
the journalist crew who helped install the exhibit and who have work in it. Again, thanks so much to everyone. The photographers posing for the group photo are from left to right: Adolphe Pierre-Louis, Jaelyn deMaria, Cable Hoover, Nick Layman, Greg Sorber, Roberto E. Rosales, Dean Hanson.

photography exhibit

I'm glad to announce an upcoming exhibit titled OUTTAKES where photographers from the newspaper I work for; The Albuquerque Journal, have gathered to show previously unpublished work. The opening reception in Friday July 4th, 2008
at the Harwood Art Center on the corner of 7th and Mountain. Bring a friend or family and talk to photojournalists who cover the great state of New Mexico. For more information go to www.Harwoodartcenter.org. The photo above is the photo I'll be showing at the exhibit. It shows three generations of fishermen on the Island of Meanguera.

Los Pescadores (The Fishermen)

For several years now I have been working on a project which some day I will hopefully turn into a book. Shortly after
i moved to New Mexico from Maryland, I started travelling back home mainly to go to the beach and drink beer. Soon under
a light buzz I started noticing what was always in front of me and that was the fishermen in El Salvador, my own people. I grew up near the ocean until I was about to turn eleven and migrated to the United States. My uncle would take us the beach every Sunday and what always caught my attention was the fishermen returning in the afternoons with the catch of the day. Today I'm trying to return home as often as I can to photograph these fishermen pulling their nets at odd times of the day to find a surprise caught on the net. I just got back on April 13th from a two week trip to El Salvador where I concentrated my efforts around the fishermen on the island of Meanguera which is located on the gulf of Fonseca. I've gone there several times where I met Don Francisco Orellana seen in the second photo. Don Francisco, is a native of the Island who knows the ocean like the back of his hand. He tells me stories about the fishermen like himself and the struggles they go through just to survive. Fishing in these waters of the Pacific ocean means statying out at sea for several days because gas costs so much in those areas. These fishermen navigate the waters with now compass, GPS system, life vests, or radios. They are at the mercy of God out there and luckily they always return to a familiar light and warmth found on the island of Meanguera. I plan to keep going back every year to capture these fishermen so their experience will be documented. Today they encounter international competition from foreign comerical fishing vessels from japan, the U.S, and Europe. These are vessels who violate international laws which prohibit them from dragging their nets three miles from shore or closer. As a result of these violations the native fishermen have to go out deeper and deeper out at sea to catch what they would just off shore on their backyard just several years ago.
Shark fishermen now must go some 50 miles out at sea just to make their trip worth the effort. They traveled in fiberglass boats which is a change from the old dugout canoes of the past.