Come On Sun!

 Sunrise on January 23, 2022. Temp is 20 degrees, "solar" lamp on the deck is frosted over, waiting for the sun!

FireFlag 2019

A Flag files across the street from the Montgomery Fire and Rescue building on Madison Avenue, supported by two department ladder trucks.
 

EndOfLeaves2021

 

The last leaves of the Fall of 2021 are g-o-ne.

Winter is here.

 

Tall Shadow

 

The (Near) Universe

 I took this photo in South Montgomery County in 2019---the Moon, Venus (closest to the moon) and Jupiter the smaller bright dot to the right.

Scene of Justice Served

     The Federal District Court Building in Montgomery overlooks the Greyhound Station in which Freedom Riders were assaulted by members of the KKK as city city police looked the other way on May 15, 1961, Mothers Day. 

     Rulings by Federal Courts cleared the way for desegregating public transit across the country, Alabama included.

     The bus station is now the Freedom Rides Museum. 

     The old Federal Court building is to the right of the Museum.

 

Sunset

A nice sunset provided a pair of Capitol Building photos this evening

 

Framed

 

Heads

 

Heads.

In Iesu Nomine

 

Another Beautiful Bloom

 One of my Night Blooming Cereus Plants produced this beauty last night. By sunrise, it will be dead.

 

Tomorrow is World Photography Day

 

My former co-workers (and still friends) Bob and Sandra.

   

WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY DAY HISTORY

"The first World Photography Day was held on August 19, 2010. It was on this date that nearly 270 photographers shared their pictures in a global online gallery. People from over 100 countries visited the online gallery. This event marked the first official World Photography Day. The day is held August 19th as it’s the date in 1839 that the government in France purchased the patent for the Daguerreotype process. The French government called the invention of the Daguerreotype process a free gift to the world." (Source: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/world-photography-day-august-19/)

 

(Bob and I are founding members of "The Nine", a Montgomery based photo group.)

Historic 2-Fer

 The statue of Rosa Parks on Dexter Avenue where she got on the bus that would carry her into history. Another Historic spot is across the street: The Winter Building, from which the telegram giving approval to fire on Ft. Sumter was sent. It was the first shot fired in the American Civil War. 

Montgomery was briefly the confederate capital.

And yes, the Winter Building is for sale.

Caught me! 2 Photos Years Apart

 Caught me...or at least my lens.......two photos years apart.......with children spotting my lens.

St. Peter's Catholic Church on Adams Street, Montgomery

 

Here is the church website.

https://www.stpetermontgomery.com/

At EJI

 

Endings

 Cemetery photos are by nature, sad. 

But this one struck me as especially so. 

Three simple words...no name...no dates. 

Just enough information to express heartache.

                           (In Montgomery's Oakwood Cemetery)

 

 

Rainy Summer

 No shortage of rainfall in Montgomery this Summer.

3rd Annual/Stonehenge SACS Photography Exhibit July 10-29, 2021

Each member of "The Nine" submitted one photo for display, but not judged, in the exhibition.

Mine was "Bridge Eileen" (Left) titled for my last Aunt. I was on my way to her 2009 funeral in The Bronx when I caught that photo.

 

The N.Y. Times published it in a story about early cell-phone photography.

The students who entered the competition did excellent work!

 This one was one of several honorable mentions among the student photos. Im told the photographer's mother bough it to display ion their home.

 

Dad & Daughter at Gallery

 

My new bird-feeder works!

 

Montgomery City Hall

 Gay pride flags fly above and across the street from Montgomery City Hall.

 Rosa Parks: Waiting for the bus to carry her to the history books!

Rainy Night, Broken Bike

 

High School Photographers Competition! Deadline is This Thursday!

 

If you are a  high school photographer.....or you know one....please point them to this page!

A significant competition has opened, and the work they submit can have been taken of any subject at any time, within the rules below.

The 3rd annual SAC’s Gallery & Stonehenge Gallery 2021 Photography Competition & Exhibition presents:The SAC’s Gallery 2021 Student Photography Exhibition 

 

The 3rd annual SAC’s Gallery & Stonehenge Gallery 2021 Photography Competition & Exhibition presents:The SAC’s Gallery 2021 Student Photography Exhibition Guidelines: 

This Student Exhibition is presented by The Society of Arts & Crafts (SAC’s), in conjunction with the SAC’s Gallery & Stonehenge Gallery Photography Competition & Exhibition, an annual show sponsored by SAC’s, hosted by Stonehenge Gallery, and produced by “The 9” Photography Group. SAC’s is a non-profit, 501(c)3 charitable organization committed to the advancement of art education and art appreciation. 

This student event will be held at SAC’s Gallery, 529 South Perry Street, in Montgomery, Alabama, from July 10 through July 29, 2021. 

Submission is open to all high school students, working in all forms of photography.There is no entry fee. There is no theme for this exhibition. There is no time limit for when the work was produced. Let's expand interest in photography as a fine art. Show us your best! 

There will be several $100 Merit Awards presented. Photographers will submit images of their work to their instructor or designated person, who will then select which photos will be submitted for exhibition at SAC’s Gallery. The number of photographs each school will be allowed to submit will be announced well before the deadline.The maximum physical dimension for photographic images is 14 inches. This is the measurement of the longest side of the actual photograph.Photographers are encouraged to use white or off-white mats. All photos must be framed in a way that complements the work and is appropriate in a gallery setting. Professional-looking presentation is important. All photographs, including those on canvas, metal, wood, or other non-paper substrates, must be framed and ready to hang with wire hangers. No unframed gallery wraps will be accepted. Sawtooth hangers will not be accepted. All images may be for sale, from which the student will receive 100% of the sales price.Students may submit work in all forms of photography, including but not limited to color, black and white, alternative process, and manipulation. Cropping and adjustments to exposure, contrast, color balance, and saturation are acceptable. Film or digital cameras may be used.

 The jurors, 3 members of The Society of Arts and Crafts, will choose the award winners from the photographs after they are hung in the Gallery. Please add a title card affixed to the upper right-hand corner on the back of your image with your name, school, instructor, email address, phone number, title of the piece, and the sales price. (Label “NFS” if the image is not for sale.)Delivery and pick-up of images to and from SAC’s Gallery are the student’s (or the instructor’s) responsibility, including insurance. Images remaining at SAC’s Gallery 30 days after the exhibit closes become the property of SAC’s Galleryunless other arrangements have been made with the Gallery.If you have any questions, please feel free to call, text, or email me and I will get back to you as soon as possible.We look forward to a fine show, highlighting our talented high school students! 

Thank you, Kay Brummal President, The Society of Arts and Crafts (334) 313-2642 kaykayphoto@gmail.com

IMPORTANT DATES: 

Thursday, July 1 Deadline for delivery of framed photos to SAC’s Gallery, by 5:00 p.m. 

Saturday, July 10/Thursday, 

July 29 Exhibition opens/closes  

Saturday, July 10, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., Awards at 2:00 p.m.Opening reception at SAC's Gallery (live or virtual, TBD)  

Thursday, July 29 Exhibition closes  

Thursday, August 5 Deadline for photographs to be picked up, by 5:00 p.m

A Special Non-Pulitzer

 

New York (CNN Business)The Pulitzer Prizes recognize some of the year's most important journalism. This year, someone who isn't a professional journalist, but whose actions had as much impact as any, is among those being honored.

Darnella Frazier, who filmed the death of George Floyd, received a special citation, Aminda Marqués González, co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board, announced Friday.

The board said Frazier was honored "for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and justice."

 (Full CNN Story is HERE.)

Glad to see this happen. She deserves it.

First Time: a Beating, This Time An Escort

 

     The first time a Freedom Rider Bus drove to the Montgomery Greyhound Station---in 1961---police abandoned the bus and its occupants. The KKK knew that would happen, and attacked.

     On the 60th Anniversary, Montgomery Police escorted a restored bus of the same era to the station, now repurposed as The Freedom Riders Museum.

60 Years After a KKK Attack At The Montgomery Greyhound Station.

 

The Freedom Rides Museum is reflected in the windshield of a restored Greyhound bus that is now part of the museum's exhibit.

 

 The former Greyhound Bus Station, now The Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.

 The restored Bus, which will be used as an outreach for the museum. It is not known to have carried Freedom Riders, but it is of the correct era.

 

 

 The  Greyhound station where riders and journalists were beaten by KKK members. Montgomery Police were told to look the other way, to give the klan terrorists a chance to attack. They did.

Retirement

      How did I ever get anything done when I was working 40+ hours a week?

 My retirement was two years ago on Friday!

     You may have noticed me popping up on-air on Alabama News Network every now and then, and that will continue, but mostly I've been laid back, writing and working on my photography. 

     Two of my photos were juried into the Montgomery Art Guild/Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts show that opens on May 22nd.

     

 

 

     But there is also ample time for...naps?

 

From my 'Nam file

 One story I wrote for the "Red Devil" Brigade newspaper in Quang Tri, Vietnam was about an event that was always top of mind. As they approached the end of their tour, they became "short-timers"...and counted down the days left till they could board a military aircraft to return home.

This photo shows the soldier I focused on. I took it on board the C-130 aircraft carrying him to Saigon or DaNang or one of the places where they would transfer to a chartered civilian aircraft that would take him back to the U.S. 

I wrote about the process he followed going home. In fact that was the title of he story:
"Going Home"

After I had taken my photos, I had to get back off the plane. My end of tour was more than eight months ahead of me.

I'll look for that story...if I have a copy of it.

Building Art

 

Poem: Time passing

 

How many decades did it take

for this oak

to swallow this fence.

How many people noticed?

 

Did they consider stopping the process?

Or did they just consider their own mortality?