JOURNAL
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Avatar Grove: Old-Growth Forest
May 3, 2024
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The Avatar Grove is an old-growth forest located in the southern part of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, just north of Port Renfrew. The Ancient Forest Alliance has worked hard to maintain the trails, but past winter storms have caused damage and both the Upper Grove and Lower Grove are…
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Blue Angel Carries On
March 5, 2024
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Arched entrance of the Blue Angel Motel, Las Vegas, 2013. (Photo by Tadson Bussey)
I have always held a fascination with neon signs, roadside attractions, and the American motel. And Las Vegas has its fair share of all of these. During a quick 24-hour stay in “Sin City” in September…
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Best in Documentary & Street Photography
February 26, 2024
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Cover of Docu Books: Vol 28—Best of Documentary & Street Photography (cover photograph by Ben Joshua)
Founded by Thomas Koskialho and based in Finland, DocuLabs is a small independent publisher producing publications (Docu Book and Docu Magazine) in print and online showcasing documentary and street photography.
In 2023,…
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Bring Back the Past—Dry Plate Photography
February 25, 2024
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Dry plate photography was developed after the wet collodion process. With dry plates, glass plates that had been factory coated with a photographic emulsion were boxed after the emulsion dried. The plates could be stored and loaded into cameras as needed and developed at any time after exposure. The process…
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New Mexico: 18 Hours in Black and White
February 1, 2024
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View from the car: Heading west toward Ladron Peak, U.S. Route 60 on our four-day, 400-mile roadtrip around central New Mexico (January 2024).
I first visited New Mexico in March 1991 while on a cross-country roadtrip with a friend, armed with dozens of rolls of Kodak PX 5062 black and…
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El Vado Motel
January 28, 2024
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New Mexico has had a hold over me since the mid-1990s when I first traveled through the state. The skies are bluer, the landscape more inviting, and my eyes always seemed more in-focus after my visits. I have explored many corners of the state and have experienced the uniqueness each…
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Old Concord Cemetery
January 6, 2024
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In the middle of a farmers field just a few miles north of Petersburg, Illinois, flies a tattered American flag over a small clearing of farmland on an hill. The Old Concord Cemetery—sometimes known as Goodpasture Grave Yard or Berry Cemetery—is not an easy place to get to.
Located a…
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Unveiling the Unseen: The Art of Solitude
December 10, 2023
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“It’s easy to stand with the crowd. It takes courage to stand alone.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
Walking down a crowded street, one can’t help but feel a sense of solitude amidst the chaos. The world around becomes a backdrop as you embrace being alone in a sea of people. Each…
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The Spirit of Patton
September 10, 2023
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Earlier in August, I took part in a two week artist residency in Patton, Pennsylvania. According to their website, the ART14 Residency was founded in 2023 in order to give artists a place to concentrate on projects in a comfortable, collaborative, and creative space. Stopping at the Welcome Center on…
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More Than Meets the Eye
September 5, 2023
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Sometimes a person enters your life who makes such an impact that you wonder if the person was simply a mirage that you saw on the horizon. A figment of your imagination. Bill (pictured) is one of those individuals. Arriving in Patton, Pennsylvania, at age five by way of Cleveland…
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Life is Sweet
September 5, 2023
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Patton Public Library first opened its doors in 1962. Since then, the library has changed locations several times: from 405 Magee Avenue to 408, to 404, and to its present location at 444 Magee Avenue with the construction of a new building in 2010. The new building was funded through…
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Measuring Road Restaurants by Calendars
September 5, 2023
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According to William Least Heat Moon, author of Blue Highways, “There is one almost infallible way to find honest food at just prices in blue-highway America: count the wall calendars in a café.”• No calendar: same as an interstate pit-stop.• Two calendars: Only if fish trophies present.• Three calendars: Can’t…
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Landscapes of Patton
September 5, 2023
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Capturing pictures of nature and the outdoors in a way that brings you into the scene. And Patton, Pennsylvania portrays many scenes. From grand landscapes to intimate details, I hope to show my own connection to nature and capture the essence of the world around us.
“Actually, it’s nature itself…
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Random Patton
September 5, 2023
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Colors. Shapes. Light. Shadow. What catches the eye and draws me in while walking through a space and noticing and discovering the details? What I see and respond to may be the same as someone else. And it may be completely different. And that’s OK. What I may see today,…
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Botanicals of Patton
September 5, 2023
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Flowers and other botanicals have always been a go to for me to photograph, and Patton, Pennsylvania in August has so many in bloom, it’s hard not to gravitate toward them. The many gardens—both private and public—brimming with flowers are beautiful and give feelings of hope, love, vibrancy, and…
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Black and White Patton
September 5, 2023
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A photographer friend once told me, “black and white photography can evoke a mood—from nostalgia to sadness to yearning, black and white pictures somehow convey emotion in a way that color images simply can’t.”Not everything is black and white but sometimes it can be just what is needed.
“To see…
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People
September 5, 2023
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Capturing people through photography has never been easy for me. Taking portraits can be nerve-wracking, especially for photographers who also happen to be introverts (raises hand). And so, I tend to shy away from taking environmental portraits of people by sticking to street photography and candid “sneak” shots of people.…
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Central Pennsylvania
September 5, 2023
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What I’ve learned during my short time in Central Pennsylvania is that outsiders talk about “Pennsylvania” like it’s simply one state. But if you’re from central Pennsylvania, you know that there’s two Pennsylvanias: the center and the cities (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). There’s a world of difference between the two bookend…
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Centre County Grange Fair
September 5, 2023
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The Centre County Grange Fair has a 149-year history, and is a home-away-from-home to families in 1,000 tents and 1,500 RVs. It is the only remaining tenting fair in the nation. When time permits, I enjoy wandering and photographing images during a fair, capturing quiet moments even during the accompanying…
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Smithmyer’s Farm
September 5, 2023
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Set in the rolling hills of Cambria County—the Smithmyer’s Farm is filled with green in the middle of summer from the corn and soybean fields. The bright yellow of the sunflowers stand out in sunny contrast. Peak sunflower season is short, with blooms in their full glory for only…
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Bilger’s Rocks
September 5, 2023
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Bilger’s Rocks are giant boulder outcroppings set amongst the woods outside the tiny borough of Grampian, Pennsylvania. The sandstone formations are preserved and celebrated by the Bilger’s Rocks Association and were once used for shelter by Native Americans. The natural area includes caves, cliffs, passageways, and other unusual features to…
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The Gift of Time
December 16, 2022
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For as long as I can remember—or at least since the early 1980s—hanging on the wall of my parent’s house was a letterpress wood type collage with our surname in the center, surrounded by various other wood type and dingbats. It always had a prominent position in their home, even…
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Brand Extension: What We Can Learn from Kit Kat
October 1, 2022
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Even if chocolate is not on your grocery list for this week, you might check out the candy aisle at your local store. If carbs, cavities, or post-COVID chocolate fatigue have kept you away, you might be pleasantly surprised by some flavors now available. Yes, Hershey’s Kisses now come in…
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