Johnny Bench cast in bronze

Check out this video as sculptor Tom Tsuchiya talks about the process of creating a bronze statue of Johnny Bench, Hall of Fame catcher.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help needs just that...

Abandoned and sold to a private individual in 1995, the church building, formerly Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in the Sedamsville neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, is decaying after years of neglect and apathy.  A Gothic Revival, the building is a concern to city code enforcement officials.

For me it was an opportunity to put together a few photographs and diptychs to illustrate the need to take better care of not only our financial assets but the real property as well. 

A buzzard circles the steeple...

Curb Appeal

Boarded up windows and doors have been painted  to mimic the real thing.

Grand old buildings like this two-story corner brick structure, formerly a retail storefront, have been abandoned in Newport, Kentucky.  Owners in an attempt to add more curb appeal by painting the plywood used as a security measure.  provided an interesting visual. Restoration would have been a better choice.

A second story storage room doorway is in disrepair and rotting away day by day.

Going strong and answering the call to service

Let's hear it for the kid

Public employees in Covington, Ky. are threatened with layoffs and pay cuts. The employees plan a modest informational rally.  I attend, scan the horizon for a photograph and then there is the kid.  I know it is a cheap and easy photograph to make, mom has adorned the toddler in a shirt that pleads "Protect My Daddy" and a few frames later, a photograph.  Once again...manipulated.  I was used and I let myself be used...and darn it, the kid was really cute!!! 

Emilie Bowman at a public employee labor rally. Her dad's a firefighter.

A door closes...another opens...an outlet for photojournalism

A newspaper photojournalist for over 35 years, I have watched the window for display of photojournalism slam shut.  There are still some publications where there is room for visual storytelling, but too many publications have resorted to mindless online photo galleries with redundant and out of sequence photographs they call photojournalism. It is truly an insult to both photojournalists and viewers. Poorly designed photo pages that ignore storytelling and lacking in design and presentation are the rule in what now passes for visual storytelling.


 So, photojournalists are seeking new outlets where we can put forth a collection of photographs that create a narrative.  In this collection you will not find death and destruction, political upheaval and intrigue but straightforward images that capture a moment in time.

Prince William and Princess Catherine are wed, the world watches and most utter a collective sigh.  In Cincinnati, Ohio  Wedding Officiant Stephen Hoffman, in the business for 22 years,  adds four more weddings to his previous 27,000.

Here's a look at some of the photographs from April 29, 2011.

A bride walks to the wedding site.

A Segway tour group passes by the Steamboat Monument, their chosen wedding site.

A spontaneous "royal" wave at a passing riverboat.

Documents official and memorable signed on the historic date.

Modest but meaningful symbols of commitment.

A kiss and 75 dollars for the "officiant" seals the deal.

Soon to be siblings and the bride and groom in the nervous moments before the ceremony.

The ring bearer, right, assures the crowd that he still has the wedding rings.

New shoes and "french-tipped nails" for the occasion.

The wedding party gives their "royal" salute.

A book for guests to offer their best wishes in a more traditional ceremony.

Wedding "officiant" Hoffman ends the day with a ceremony in a church turned "event" center...10 minutes start to finish.

A keen eye

NPR, know primarily as an audio experience, has channels within its website devoted to multimedia.  Today the Royal Wedding offers a particular photo called "the wedding's best photo".  I concur that it is, so far, the best I've seen.  However, you'll have to thank an NPR photo editor with a keen eye who cropped the Associated Press photo that gave it more impact.  Thanks, too, to Chris Usher (facebook friend) for pointing out the link to the NPR site.

The cropped version and the original follow...

Associated Press/Matt Dunham

Associated Press/Matt Dunham