portraits

Welcome (Back) to Texas: Some Portraits

Most of the time I’m not sure if it’s Texas that I miss so much, or just the people who live there (or who used to live there, back when I did). It’s probably some sort of combination of the two; I have yet to figure out the proportions.

Anyway, part of the reason my pre-job vacation was as fantastic as it was was the simple fact that I got to see said people…some of whom I hadn’t seen in almost three years (see: Anishka, first photo). Reunions are the best. [note: these are not ALL of the wonderful people I visited. that would make for a very, very long blog post…]


Not a portrait per se, but I like this picture a whole lot.


Portrait Collection

I have to do an environmental portrait about once a week—usually on the weekends, usually of farmers or gardeners, and usually at ridiculously early hours because farmers and gardeners operate on schedules that are foreign to me.

20100703_0010West Tisbury resident Simon Bollin with one of the several vintage tractors he has restored.

_MG_1575_karenWest Tisbury backyard gardener Karen Overtoom in one of her four garden areas. In addition to her prizewinning tomatoes, Overtoom also grows zucchini, cucumbers, onions, melons, blueberries, lettuce, and herbs.

_MG_1556_editEdgartown backyard gardener Paul Jackson pulls fresh carrots from the ground during a reporter’s visit. Since he began work on his garden, Jackson has had to haul in new soil each year to cover over the nutrient-deficient sand that dominates the area’s growing zone.

Sometimes I shoot pseudo-portraits that have nothing to do with the actual article being run, and which will thus never be published. I take them anyway.

_MG_1566_editEdgartown backyard gardener Paul Jackson talks pet beagle Lily through a trick in her backyard pen. Lily has been Paul’s sole home companion since his wife passed away in April.

Sometimes I get about five minutes to do the whole photo thing. (No, that’s not a weird vignette- it’s the roof shadow):
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Marc Rosenbaum, self-described Systems Engineer and Energy Guru for the South Mountain Company in West Tisbury, on the front porch of the company’s headquarters. Founded in 1975, South Mountain is a design and construction company focusing on the creation of environmentally and architecturally sound buildings, a process that starts with the exclusive use of local materials.

Oh, and here is Louie Larsen with a giant lobster. Because giant lobsters are awesome.

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Louie Larsen, owner and founder of The Net Result fish market in Vineyard Haven, with an 8-pound lobster. The Net Result celebrated its 25th birthday on July 4.