Cpl. Ray Michael Bevel

For those who have not heard, my cousin Ray was killed by an IED in Iraq over the last weekend. This weekend my family is all headed to West Texas for his funeral services. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Ray was a sweet kid with a big heart and big ears. He was quiet and polite and I don't recall him ever saying a cross word to anyone.

When all the other cousins had gotten to cool to hug... Ray was always the one to get in there and grab you around the waist and squeeze his goodbyes out of you. I will miss his shining face.

Too Much

OK. Sorry guys... I went as long as I could... but the kid is just too damn cute NOT to be on my blog. I introduce to you my nephew...



I doubt this is the last time you will see him.

Empathy

I have written before about the difficulty of covering funerals, it's hard to explain what it's like. Most of the time for us it's just another day at work. But on occasion it can be emotionally taxing. Military funerals are especially hard for me. I have a relative overseas in the war and it's always hard to lock that out.



Yesterday I shot Coach Eddie Robinson's funeral. I wrote earlier in the week about spending a day with him and his wife. So having seen the way they were together I knew the funeral might be difficult. For the most part it was a happy occasion, a celebration by thousands of people who had gathered together to celebrate his life.

But during the first song, Doris Robinson broke down and wept. The strength and composure she had shown all week left her in an instant. For just three minutes in a nearly four hour funeral we saw the grief and sorrow that strikes someone who has lost the one thing they love the most.



Watching through thousands of dollars of glass and mirrors, you can't look away and the camera is no longer a barrier. You are involved. You watch and you shoot and you are truly attached. For a moment you feel just a fraction of what that person feels and there is nothing to be done about it. All we can do is our jobs and try to understand what true empathy feels like.

Industrial Art

I love shooting heavy industry. I don't know why, but it always seems to have a certain grit about it. There is very little color so when color does show up its always vibrant. Here are a few examples, one from a construction site and the other from the Port of Shreveport.

A Lifetime of Love

Former Grambling Coach Eddie Robinson died this morning.

One of the things he always pointed out was his love for his wife. “The real record I have set for over 50 years is the fact that I have had one job and one wife,” Robinson said.



I had the good fortune to spend a game day with Coach Rob and his family a few years ago as his health was declining. It was a great day filled with warm people and old stories. Everyone knew Coach Rob and had a story to tell him. The press box was filled with NFL scouts who had been coached by Robinson in college. People just stopped by the Robinson's home before and after the game. Coach Robinson remembered some of them and not others, but was kind and welcoming to all of them.

Perhaps the thing that stuck in my mind the most was the obvious love between Robinson and his wife. You don't often see that kind of relationship these days.



I made this photo while setting up for a formal portrait in the Robinson's home that morning. It hasn't ever been published anywhere else. It's something I made just for myself. His high school sweetheart and wife Doris takes a just moment to adjust his tie and collar before the portrait and in that moment I can see 60-something years of love and dedication. Its a shame we can't see that more often.

When Dirt Turns to Mud

Just a short update... my dirt road turned to mud.




When parts of Texas received up to nine inches of rain on Friday the Sabanna River rose up out of its banks and we had to go in the back way, which other than the 20+ feet of water is a much worse road. This was 18 hours after the rain had stopped and the bridge is still under 10+ feet of water. Two full days later we were able to cross with some effort.

Dirt Road Goodness

Well, later this afternoon I will jump in the truck and head west. Texas to be exact. Saturday is the opening of wild turkey hunting season and at the crack of dawn I plan to be somewhere deep in the woods where the cell phone won't work and we can hope there is no internet access.

Every once in a while a man needs to just find a red dirt road and drive. This weekend I will do my fair share. I hope that you will find your road soon.

Love in the Quarter

So I argued... well discussed... the other day with another photographer how cliche' this composition is.... and then I went and shot a photo using it. And worse yet, I like it.

The Quarter is a great place to be in love, I know. This couple stood outside a restaurant on Decatur for an hour and chatted and then, before she went back to her section at work... a brief embrace as his dog stood by, watching the traffic.

The way her hand touches his arm. That's the photo. The rest, well the rest is just background, without that light touch, barely skimming the hair on the back of his arm... well, then its just a bad photograph now isn't it?

New Orleans

How I love this city.

I've had good times, bad times, hard times, times I don't exactly recall and times I wish I didn't. But I love the city. More than any other it has true heart. I sometimes wish I could move here, and then I think it might lose its magic; its strange luster.

But the more time I spend here, the more I know it wouldn't.

Self-Portrait in Green

A photographer I used to work with made self-portraits incessantly.

He claimed they were the spirit of creativity. That it was his way to see inside himself. That they were the most sincere form of creation. He spoke about them all the time. Shot them all the time. But rarely showed them to anyone. He has since changed the last practice and has displayed huge numbers of intricate serial portraits.

On occasion I shoot one myself. I find some of the same release that some do, but don't shoot nearly the same number as others and not at the same level. Mine are usually just side thoughts. Random exposures on other assignments. A relief from my boredom.

Anyhow, here is one I shot recently while working on a department wide project called Green.