Boquillas del Carmen for the New York Times

I scored a great assignment this month from the New York Times travel section to visit Boquillas del Carmen, a tiny Mexican village just across the border from Big Bend National Park.

The border crossing at the Rio Grande River was officially closed in 2002 after the events of 9/11. With tourism dollars dried up, two-thirds of the residents of Boquillas had to relocate. Families were separated, some unable to visit from the US side of the border.

Last year, the river crossing reopened with a new $3.2 million dollar US border and customs building. Tourism is coming back to the sleepy town of Boquillas, but it has a long way to go. You can read the article here.

Boquillas del Carmen - Images by Julia Robinson

2013 Chuckwagon Races

Spent the Labor Day weekend with the delightfully weird Sol Neelman at the National Chuckwagon Races in Clinton, Arkansas. This event was a blast to shoot if also incredibly hot and light challenged. All the races happened from 1-4pm; hard on the horses and the photographers. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

We ran into the local Democrat-Gazette shooter Benjamin Krain, an APADer from back in the day. His remote camera was annihilated by chuckwagons while hustling his own (impressive) set of images from the weekend. I love how prevalent the photo family is, even in the middle of nowhere Arkansas. We're always one beer away from friends in this industry.

Looking forward to the next one!



2013 Chuckwagon Races - Images by Julia Robinson

Michael Cunningham for Ed Tech Magazine

I photographed Michael Cunningham, UT Austin's Director of IT, for Ed Tech Magazine last month. Cunningham has shifted disaster preparedness from causes to effects - instead of preparing for a tornado, they prepare for the effects from that tornado. It's a simple idea, but one that gives the system redundancy and flexibility in the face of any disaster. We did the shoot a few days after a massive bomb threat was called into campus forcing a university-wide evacuation. "We had a plan for that one, too," quipped Cunningham.


Ed Tech - Images by Julia Robinson

Greenwood Hall for the Chronicle of Higher Education

Went out to Bryan, Texas for the Chronicle of Higher Education last month. Photographing a call-center is challenging, to say the least - cubicles, computers, headsets, sedentary workday. You'll never see a photographer work harder than when the visuals are slim.

"Thank you for calling Troy University," Ms. Martin answers calls to its 800 number. "My name is Adrienne. How may I help you?"

What callers may not realize is that she isn't at Troy's main campus, in Southeastern Alabama—or any of its other locations. She's not even a university employee.

In fact, Ms. Martin is taking calls from an office building here in Central Texas, some 700 miles from the city of Troy. Her employer, Greenwood & Hall, handles phone traffic for clients that include 35 colleges and universities.

Greenwood Hall - Images by Julia Robinson

Texas Medicaid Fraud for the Wall Street Journal

Texas is cracking down on Medicaid fraud including cosmetic dental procedures and unnecessary root-canals on small children.

William Steinhauer, a San Antonio dentist who heads a Texas Dental Association committee that specializes in Medicaid issues, said he is happy the state is cracking down on fraud. "For too long Texas doctors have been trying to profit off of poor patients," he said.

Archive (2012-03-24)>BlogPhotos>TexasMedicaid - Images by Julia Robinson

Bee Revival for the Wall Street Journal

Recent rains have provided relief from Texas' drought conditions and led to a resurgence of bees as wildflowers and other plants have made a rebound. A 40-year-old warehouse worker was stung more than 300 times after disturbing a massive colony of bees in Pflugerville on August 8. In a separate incident on August 6, a man was stung while attempting to remove bees in his home with a vacuum cleaner. He went into shock while driving himself to the hospital and crashed into a pedestrian, several cars and a house in west Austin.

Keith Huddle is the man they call to remove these hives. Business has been booming since late spring with Huddle doing 4-5 removals a day. Needless to say, it's hot in those suits. Think I dropped 5 pounds in 45 minutes. Whew.


Archive (2012-03-24)>BlogPhotos>Bee - Images by Julia Robinson

Cotulla for the Texas Observer

I spent an afternoon in Cotulla for the Texas Observer last month. This tiny town south of San Antonio is known in my family as the epicenter of Pig Fest, aka, the La Salle Wild Hog Cook-off. We've spent many a chilly March weekend sampling the finest chili, stew, roast, tacos, sausage, you name it, and watching the hog-themed parade down Main Street.

Cotulla is a different place now. In the last two years the population has more than doubled from 4,000 to 10,000 due to the fracking of the Eagle Ford Shale. Temporary housing and hotels can't be built fast enough. Heavy equipment and truck traffic roar through Cotulla's only stop-light, snarling traffic and damaging roads. The locals are happy with the boosted economy and higher paying jobs in the oil fields, but there is a cost. You can read Alex Hannaford's article here.

UIL Baseball for the Dallas Morning News

I followed the Rockwall-Heath team for two games leading to their 10-1 4A state championship win, aka slug-fest. It's the first state championship for the school. Much deserved guys.

Rockwell-Heath's Jake Beldsoe (#34), left, and Grayson Lewis (#10) right, both slide safely into home as Montgomery's Cody Conn, center, bobbles the ball in the third inning during the UIL 4A semi-final at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock Texas on Thursday, June 7, 2012. Heath defeated Montgomery 6-3 and advances to the UIL 4A state finals on Friday.

Rockwell-Heath's Clayton Rasbeary sports a red mohawk during the semi-final game against Montgomery.

Rockwell-Heath pitcher Jake Thompson finished the game with a limp in his right leg.

Luke Fisher, 13, left, and Jacob Williams, 13, right, cheer on the Rockwall-Heath Hawks in their championship game against Cleburne at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas on Friday, June 8, 2012.

Rockwall-Heath pitcher Jovan Hernandez was the MVP.at the UIL 4A State Championship game at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas on Friday, June 8, 2012.

Rockwall-Heath's RJ Williams, left, avoids the tag at home by Cleburne's Max Reynolds, left, in the second inning.

Jovan Hernandez rounds the bases after a two-run homer.

Rockwall-Heath's Grayson Lewis, center, slides safely into home after Cade Flory, right, on a double by Russell Hughes in the fourth innin.

Rockwall-Heath pitcher Jovan Hernandez, right, celebrates after throwing for a double-play that ended their 10-1 victory over Cleburne during the UIL 4A State Championship game at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas on Friday, June 8, 2012.

Rockwall-Heath pitcher Jovan Hernandez, right, hugs teammate Clayton Rasbeary, left, after receiving the MVP award.

UIL Softball for the Dallas Morning News

Plano East fell short in their 5A semi-final against Klein Collins. Third place never feels good.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Eclipse

Like every other person with functioning eyes in America, I went out to chase the eclipse last month. My partner in eclipsin' Lance Rosenfield and I started out downtown where tall buildings threatened a total bummer of a shot, so we blasted out west finding a vacant limestone cliff just in time for the magic. Beer tastes better after a successful hunt.

UIL State Track for the Dallas Morning News

That most wonderful time of year when I get a list of a dozen high schools and traipse all over the field to photograph them during simultaneous events. It's a multitaskers dream, but doesn't leave much wiggle room for making photos for me. I'm often trapped at the finish line waiting for the next heat to blast through, so might as well photograph the jube/deject where I see it, regardless of which school it is. I would love to see next year's assignment read - UIL Track: Emotion. Go.

Death of a Salesman for the Statesman

As part of the Fusebox Festival of performing arts, a NYC theater company has been commissioned to create a site-specific play. They chose the Lucky Lady Bingo parlor and will present a re-imagined version of "Death of Salesman" using a roster of both actors and non-actors from Austin.

Bob 'Daddy O' Wade for the San Antonio Express-News

Bob 'Daddy O' Wade has created some of largest folk-art in Texas including the giant boots at NorthStar Mall in San Antonio, the giant Iguana at the Fort Worth Zoo, the giant musical frogs at Chuys in Houston. Do you sense a theme? Everything is bigger when Daddy O is involved. Wade is part of an exhibit at Austin's Museum of Art at Laguna Gloria, where artists have designed a miniature golf course. Wade's #4 hole is called 'Chicken Ranch,' and pays homage to an earlier installation at the museum in which he also used lived chickens.

Peligrosa for the Statesman

Light monkeying around for Peligrosa, a Latin DJ collective that has a regular jam at the Scoot Inn.

SXSW 2012

Two months is enough time for recovery, right?

SXSW is a beast for any journalist to cover. Depending on what your client needs, which bands are 'breakthrough artists,' and how long the lines are, making the frames you want is a challenge. Most of these were snapped in the half hour I was running to the next line/show/sweatypresspit. I would love to street shoot the entire thing - following the sound of a good time, the good light, the randomness of the scene. You can only shoot so many open mouths at a microphone. Maybe next year.

SXSW 2012 - Images by Julia Robinson

Gary Clark, Jr.

It's rare these days to meet another native Austinite. That's why it was a total pleasure to photograph Austin's own Gary Clark, Jr during SXSW. During the total chaos of a tightly scheduled media day, it was nice to talk about the olden days, his collection of rad hats, and hear a bit of the family life behind the musician.

Chuckwagon Races

Chuckwagon races just sound awesome, don't they? I came across their existence working on my story on Charles Goodnight, who was widely credited for inventing the chuckwagon in the late 1800's. After my stay-cation with the Ultimate Weird Sports Photographer, Sol Neelman, (see previous post) I drove out to Bandera for an event that's been on my radar for over a year.

Sunday's races at the Twin Elm Guest Ranch did not disappoint. There were only a few heats that day, but it whet my appetite for the National Chuckwagon Races in Arkansas later this year.


Chuckwagon Races - Images by Julia Robinson

Unicycle Football

This month I was visited by one of my favorite people, Sol Neelman. Our friendship dates back to the first (third) Aphotoaday Geekfest that I helped organize in Austin in 2005. A few dozen photographers invaded the Days Inn and Star Seeds for a long weekend of photo shenanigans. Friendships were forged and paths forever changed. Sol left the world of newspaper photography, embraced the freelance world, and his love of weird sports.

Lo, these 7 years later (dang we're getting old), he's published his first book with a second on the way. Whenever he comes to visit, weird sports is on the agenda. That's how we found ourselves in San Marcos, Texas for the 2012 semi-finals of the Unicycle Football League. Cooper Neill joined us for some quintessential Texas weirdness.



Unicycle Football - Images by Julia Robinson

Bad Dogs for the Wall Street Journal

I had a string of dog-related assignments a few weeks back. One of them took me to San Antonio where a new court system dedicated to dog offenses is getting mixed reviews. City officials appreciate the focused attention on canine violations which they hope will reduce the 3,000 residents a year that are bitten by dogs and the more than 150,000 dogs roam city streets on any given day.  Residents say the system targets family pets, not strays, and levies exorbitant fines for minor offenses.

I spent some time with the pups and their owners caught up in the system. You can read the article here and see the WSJ slideshow here.



San Antonio Dog Court for the Wall Street Journal - Images by Julia Robinson

Derrick Wright for Thrivent Magazine

I met Derrick Wright last December doing a shoot for Thrivent Magazine. Derrick, a West Point graduate and Army officer, was working as security for US diplomats in Iraq when a rocket attack in the Green Zone left him clinging to life with shrapnel in his skull. Doctors later removed 2/3 of the left side of his brain. That was 2007.

Derrick has relearned to walk and talk, though he still struggles with reading and short-term memory. These days he writes about his family and the Small Victories that keep him motivated and moving forward. It's a life they never imagined, but one they've embraced.