Just got my film back from the Gulf Coast and took a quick look. I was hoping to shoot mostly film on my trip, but had a camera malfunction as my Mamiya 6 got doused with water while I was out kayaking one day. Thankfully the camera survived, and the result was a few altered images including the first one here.

Last week, I spent some time covering the oil spill along the Gulf Coast. One beach on Grand Isle, LA was especially hard hit and I decided to shoot a small series of the affected landscape on white. Here's what I found.


Rock


Styrofoam boom


Sand


Hermit crab


Plastic water bottle


Plant

As usual, these images are available on the Redux Pictures Archive.

I was saddened to hear about Manute Bol's death last week. I remember watching him play basketball and blocking shots like no one I'd ever seen. This clip encapsulates the player I remember - sometimes blocking multiple shots in one possession and occasionally lofting a 3 pointer.

I met and photographed Mr. Bol last year in DC and in preparing for the shoot, did some reading about his life and work. It turns out that basketball was really just the first act for him, and he devoted his years after basketball to the plight of Sudanese refugees and worked to find an end to the genocide in Sudan, often at great personal risk and sacrifice. In person, he walked slightly stooped over from the injuries he suffered in a car accident, and was slow to lower himself down in the chair where I photographed him. He was also kind, with a gentle handshake and soft voice.

When we wrapped up, I remember saying something like "Thank you for all of the work you do," and he smiled, touched his hand to my shoulder and walked out.

I've been fortunate to be a part of APhotoADay, a photographic mailing list, for over ten years now and that's where I first saw Matt Eich's work.

From the very first pictures that came across the list, his work had an intimacy to it I rarely see. His first book bears the mark of a photographer who has given himself to his subjects and in return, been allowed access to their every day - the moments between moments when not much but daily living is happening.

There is a weight to these images, to the honest look at hard lives in one of the more economically-bleak areas of the country. But this book is not about the economic downturn, but about specific people who struggle to make their lives work and about a place seemingly designed to make this difficult.

I'd recommend getting this book immediately, but unfortunately it was a limited printing of 100 copies and already sold out. Here's hoping for a 2nd printing so more people can share in Matt's work.

Journalist/Writer Christopher Hitchens for Good Weekend

The gift Christopher Hitchens gave me when he answered the door at his apartment wasn't a stiff drink (though that was repeatedly offered), but something photographers dream of getting with their subjects-- complete honesty and an utter lack of care about how he looked. The only caveat was his sensitivity to light, so I did my best not to blast him with any direct light.

And no, I didn't end up drinking with Mr. Hitchens. Against my better judgment, I refused all drink offers, though in retrospect downing a few drinks might have given me even more time with him. Here's a few more that I liked from the shoot.