Spirit of Community for the Statesman

Most of my assignments these days boil down to portraits. As a freelancer, most of my calls come after some big news event has happened and editors need the photos yesterday. Whenever I can, I broaden the scope to include documentary shooting. If the deadline is flexible and some meaningful interaction close at hand, I'm happy to put in the extra time. These are the photos that are the most revealing to me, the ones I love to make.

At a recent portrait assignment, I sat in on an interview with Gilbert Ramirez and his wife Jane. Like many east Austin residents, they're worried about rising property taxes and the loss of community as older families move out and new neighbors settle in. Gilbert told me about his neighborhood's communal tool shed and a commitment to help elderly residents with their yard work. There's community spirit in action.

With a long lead-time on publication, I went back a few days later when a group of neighbors came together to help Maddie Collins get her yard into shape for spring. The paper might still run the portrait, but I'm more fulfilled as a photographer, story-teller, and neighbor by making the extra effort.

The Blanton After Dark

UT Men's Tennis

I do love good jube.  No.2 Virginia swept No.6 Texas 5-2 on the match, but UT senior Kellen Damico had quite a day against UVA. 

Senior Kellen Damico, left, and freshman David Holiner, right, celebrate a match point over UVA's Jarmere Jenkins and Sanam Singh during doubles play.

UT Senior Kellen Damico defeated UVA's Jarmere Jenkins in a hard fought three-set singles match.  Damico prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Outtake

Solar panels and hydrant roping.  Gotta love progressive Texas.

Save Texas Schools Rally for the Dallas Morning News

Earlier this month thousands of teachers, parents, administrators and students marched to the capitol to protest cuts to education spending in the state.  Texas faces a budget shortfall estimated at between $15 billion and $27 billion.

The Forbidden Gardens for the Wall Street Journal

Texas certainly has its share of weirdness.  15 years ago, Seattle businessman Ira Poon invested $20 million to create a miniature replica of China's Forbidden City in a Houston suburb.  The 40-acre site also included a miniature terracotta army, like the one that guarded the tomb of China's first emperor. 

The Forbidden Gardens museum was certainly quirky and largely ignored by its neighbors in Katy, Texas.  Ignored, that is, until the highway department planned a freeway expansion right through the site.  Without an alternative location for the exhibits, the museum opened its doors to an all out fire-sale.  Droves of visitors came to claim a piece of the display that many had never visited before.

It was a strange day.  Elated bargain hunters toted off wheelbarrows full of terracotta while museum employees grieved for their lost jobs and the end of an era.  You can read the poignant article by Angel Gonzalez here.



Forbidden Gardens - Images by Julia Robinson

Capitol Rally for the Texas Charter Schools Association

Had a fun time covering a rally for the TCSA.  Parents from all over the state descended on the capitol in support of charter schools.  They made their voices heard on the south steps then tracked down their legislators for some tough talk on the looming budget cuts.



TCSA - Images by Julia Robinson

Shearwater for the Statesman

Once in a while an assignment can be a complete joy.  I'd heard the buzz about Shearwater, but hadn't had a chance to listen to their music.  I got the call to cover a performance of three of their most recent albums at Central Presbyterian Church in Austin.  The albums are thematically linked and together form The Island Arc.  Fans came in from all over the nation to hear this (possibly) once-in-a-lifetime performance of all three albums in order.  I was enchanted.  There's a trip to the record store in my future.

Texas Tea Party for the Dallas Morning News

On the eve of the 82nd Texas Legislature, the Tea Party was in town to lobby for a Speaker of the House more to their liking.

Ronald Taylor, from Sherman, Texas holds Tea Party flags during a rally on the north steps of the Capitol on Monday January 10 , 2011.  Tea Party members from around the state gathered to show their support for Ken Paxton as the next Texas House Speaker.

Tea Party members, including Dallas Tea Party Coordinator Ken Emanuelson (center, in black), observe a moment of silence to remember victims of the Tucson shootings.

Maggie Wright, left, and Ruth Zschiesche, right, members of the Texas Patriots in Burleson, hold signs protesting the election of Joe Straus as Speaker of the Texas House in the Reagan building on Monday January 10 , 2011.

Capitol security guards react to a rush of Tea Party members in the Reagan building as the Republican caucus conducts a vote for Speaker.

Members of the Republican caucus return to the capitol after a 70-30 vote in favor of re-electing Joe Straus as Speaker of the Texas House.

Dallas Tea Party members Lorie Medina, left, and Tori Fabry, right, coordinate with other protesters at the capitol on Monday January 10 , 2011.  Medina came from Dallas to support Ken Paxton as the next Speaker of the Texas House.  "We deserve someone much more conservative than (current Speaker of the House Joe) Straus," said Medina.  "This is not the Tea Party standing alone.  This is all of Texas."

Christiane Benson for the Statesman

Christiane has Batten disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that leads to blindness, mental deterioration, a loss of motor skills and death, typically in the teens or early 20s. It's hard to tell that anything is wrong with this vivacious 8-year-old. Though legally blind, Christiane runs around the house playing hide and seek with her brother Garland, 6, and is learning how to tap dance.

Her parents helped develop a single test that will screen parents and children for 448 rare genetic disorders, like Batten, and will cost under $500, the current price for screening just one disorder. The test can't save their daughter, but they hope it can help other families and researchers looking for a cure.

Christiane, 8, peeks out from behind a chair while hiding from brother Garland, 6.

Christiane Benson, 8, plays with her mom, Charlotte, and brother Garland, 6, in their backyard in central Austin. Christiane has Batten disease, a neurodegenerative disorder.