The Louie Boys

A tale of lake folklore is the story of the Louie Boys on Green Bay of Bob's Lake in southeast Ontario, Canada. The story has it that the Louie boys, who are brothers, left home many, many years ago with their little sister. It was unclear as to why they left, abandoning their home and their farm. One day, the boys did return, however, without their little sister. She was never seen, nor heard from again. The brothers, always keeping to themselves, worked together at different local farms, but, only for very short stints. Two days. Then, they would disappear into the woods, only to return many months later without a word said to anyone. The farmers and townspeople grew suspicious of the Louie Boys. Their pattern of work and disappearance continued on for some time. No one really knew of their whereabouts. Not then. Not now. The Louie Boys are believed to be old men by now, maybe alive, maybe not, but, they are believed to be haunting the woods on Green Bay.

Abandoned blue rail cars

I was on a photo excursion with my summer intern, looking for interesting places to shoot and I remembered this old, abandoned train yard, which when trains are no longer in operation, are put out to pasture here. I was introduced to the place by one of my editorial portrait subjects, an artist, Sarah Rutherford. It served as the backdrop of the portrait I did of her not too long ago.

The blue cars are covered in graffiti and rust. The windows are all broken, cracked or missing entirely from being smashed in. Inside, there was some trash, and a lot of dirt and dust. Aside from the obvious graffiti, I sensed that it served as a gathering place for drug users, late at night. Walking in and around these broken down trains, I could feel the abandonment, the desolation. They were once very beautiful cars. It's too bad they had reached the end of their line.

Sunrise on Bob's Lake, Ontario CANADA

Bob's Lake is one of over 200 known lakes in Ontario, Canada. It's a place that I've traveled to for many years with my family. It's been a home away from home- a place where I go to find a little peace and inspiration.

Beginning in late May, I will be starting one of a couple personal projects: a video project, featuring the history of Bob's Lake- specifically how and why the residents, and seasonal home-owners came to settle at of the southern most tip of the lake, known as Green Bay.

Homeless in London

Quite often I'll revisit older images that are in my image library to see where I've been and where I want to go.  I'll recall the thoughts around taking the image and why it was important to me at the time; what captured my attention and how I saw the moment reveal itself.

This image which I call quite simply, "Homeless in London," was taken while I was a student at Syracuse University and participating their semester abroad program in London, England. It's been one of my most compelling shots of my career and shall forever be included in my book.

One of the truly disheartening aspects of living in such a large city, even in such a distinguished, older city, as London, is the number of homeless people living on the streets. The harsh reality is that homelessness exists in every city in every nation, and yet, as a society, we don't pay too much attention to it because it is so prevalent. We've become apathetic or desensitized to it.

I had been walking to the American Embassy one morning and happened upon two elderly gentlemen, obviously homeless, by the way they were sheltered from the elements, resting with blankets under the front alcove of a building, with nap sacks full of their personal belongings laying on the ground behind them. The two men weren't talking to each other. They were just sitting there, one staring at the ground, the other man looking at me. Being a street photographer (as most students are when they are in school studying photojournalism), I stopped to take a picture of the two men, and to my then surprise, they did not try to panhandle, nor run away. They sat there motionless, with dignity, and having the look in their eyes that simply revealed their desire to be significant.

For me, this image reveals dignity in the face of lowliness.

Welcome!

I seek to use this blog as a means of showcasing current projects and imagery, as I progress through my journey as a storyteller. I'll write about their meaning from my standpoint and give insight to my creative process.

(For those visitors to my site over the last month (Feb, 2010), you may have noticed a different format, a tumblr blog. After much thought, I decided to switch to a different blogger. Unfortunately, the few posts that it contained were not transferable)

Thank you for your interest!