Category: Story telling

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Field of Dreams (and Video)

I love baseball – not sure why.  Maybe it’s just the idea of baseball that I love.  It’s traditional, American and a nostalgic reminder of summers past – at least for me.  I’m also a Cubs fan and I know what it’s like to be the eternal underdog, yet forever hopeful.  And that’s me – forever hopeful and optimistic. cubs_fans

I watched the movie “Field of Dreams” recently and I realized that it’s not really about baseball at all.  But about a belief in your dreams and following through with what you believe in.  And to do that you must be hopeful.

What does that have to do with video?  Nothing really, but it’s why I started exploring this medium 10 years ago, when technology was transforming video because it was going from an analog to a digital world.  And because of that, it was dramatically changing not only that “industry” but our culture as well.  It became “possible” to further your dreams – because of technology.  Whether that be shooting a full length “film” from a creator’s stand point or presenting and distributing your “brand” in a new way via a new platform (the web) and one where you can interact with your “target audience”.

Ten years have gone by since I started shooting digital video.  It’s been a challenging, yet rewarding time in my life and my career.  I have a tremendous sense of hope and see opportunities in this medium because I think it’s just the beginning of how we’ll see, hear and experience  video in our lives.

The video world is full of crazy formats and codecs as well as other unknowns and it can be scary for a photographer to jump into an entirely different mind set – let alone skill set. But taking risks can yield great rewards.  You just never know unless you take the chance.

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“Breaking The Spirit”

I was reminded recently of an experience that I had while shooting a story for Smithsonian Magazine on Arthur County, Nebraska. Truth be told, it was an assignment that I almost didn’t accept. I thought that a story about the least populated county in the United States was not a story for me – I shot city stories for the most part. But then I thought, why not? It ended up being one of the most gratifying magazine assignments that I ever did – on many levels.

Personally, it pushed me out of my cultural norm. “What am I going to do in a desolate part of the country where cows far out number the people?” Photographically speaking as a people shooter, it really pushed me to see and shoot differently. Because there were so few people, I lingered longer and got a closer glimpse into their lives than I normally would have on a 7 day city shoot with lots to cover.

One day stood out for me. I was photographing a cowboy “breaking” horses. cowboy_belt_buckle I watched as he worked with an incredibly spirited horse, trying at first to calm the animal. I remember asking a question about “breaking” the horse to which the handler replied that he never wanted to “break” an animal’s spirit, but rather to gain the animal’s trust. I thought to myself that this cowboy must be a wonderful father and husband and a part of me fell in love with that notion – his understanding of the difference between “managing” this stunning creature and “breaking” its spirit.

I realized that maybe that moment in time was in essence the story itself and the reason that I needed to take that assignment. I remind myself of that every time I’m hesitant to stray from my comfort zone. That almost always there’s a reward. I was fortunate that the assignment editor on that piece saw something in me that I didn’t.  So many times, for a variety of reasons “clients” feel the need to over dictate the visual message and the end piece reflects that, becoming an entity that is neither “here nor there”.  The “spirit” of the piece becomes broken.

These days because of tight budgets and fear of losing one’s job – things tend to become more predictible and safe – choosing shooters who’ve done that type of story before or re-doing the same stories that have proven to be “successful” in the past. But every once in awhile – someone (like the cowboy) comes along and recognizes something in my spirit and gives me the necessary “rope” to bring my vision to the project while still managing the “whole” – and marvelous things happen.

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Staying Outside The “box”

A friend of mine recently reminded me that I have said that I like to stay outside the “box”.  That I have spent much of my career trying not to be categorized or pigeon holed into one specialty of photography.  Perhaps not the greatest business decision, but nevertheless a series of mini decisions to continually depart from whatever my norm is or has been.

Even as a child I discovered early on that I wanted to explore – in the broadest sense of the word.  I surely did that in my days right out of high school and college when I embarked on a year long backpacking odyssey across half the globe.

Mooney, Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China 1983
Mooney, Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China 1983

But it was after that sojourn that I pursued a career in photography to facilitate a somewhat vagabond life.  And that I did combining a photographic career with my quest for discovering people and cultures. I ‘ve been  fortunate over the years to have garnered assignments from high profile magazines like National Geographic Traveler, Smithsonian and Travel & Leisure.  And I loved the path that I had chosen.

It was about ten years ago that my restlessness pushed me into the medium of video.  Technology was making it possible and affordable for me to shoot my “stories” in this medium with sound and motion.  But I was more focused on adding those new dimensions to “the story” rather than on the “tools” itself. Getting into video proved to be a great move, certainly a good business move as society has gravitated more toward the web.

So in my desire to live a life “outside the box”, I’ve come full circle and realize that “decision” has not only been “good” for  business – it’s led to a very interesting and rewarding way to live life.

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Making a Difference

I’ve always been quite active as a volunteer in my community.  When my daughter was going through the school system, I was very involved with various committees and events throughout the years. What I enjoyed most was being able to share my gift of expertise as a professional photographer and filmmaker.  One year I produced, shot and edited a piece for the school’s International Baccalaurete Program highlighting what some of the students were doing for the CAS portion of the program.  CAS stands for Creative Action and Service and  the students need to spend a certain number of hours in each of these areas.  So I created a short video made up of interviews with current students talking about what types of things they were doing to fulfill those hours.  I also took whatever still photos and video that the kids or their parents provided me and worked it into the piece.  The video was a hit amongst the kids, their parents and the teachers and will be archived to show future students contemplating the IB program.

I’m not so involved with the schools now that my daughter has graduated, and I miss that community connection and what I got from that personally. I do mentor high school kids from time to time who are interested in photography and video and I love to work with the passionate ones.  And last year my husband/partner, Tom and I shot and produced Freedom’s Ride, a short documentary about 20 predominately white students from our high school district and 20 predominately black students from a public school in Harlem, NY who rode the bus to and from Alabama, retracing the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. That was an incredible and rewarding experience for all.

Currently we sit on the board of our local public access TV station Mendham TV.  Independently Tom and I have produced 20 half hour talk shows for the station, called Mendham People.  We recruited local people for hosts who came up with various local people to interview in a Charlie Rose type format.  One of our hosts was our local postal clerk, Pete.  We live in an area where we don’t get mail delivery so everyone goes to the post office on a daily basis and sees Pete. So he’s a well known figure and knows everyone in town.  Recently our station started airing the town’s public meetings.  The station isn’t funded but we managed to get volunteers and trained them to shoot the meetings. I’ve started attending town meetings  and I feel much more in touch with my community.  Volunteering on the board of the local TV station has kept us involved with our community and is a way for us to continue to “give back” to our community.

It’s always nice of course when I get personally thanked or recognized in some small way for my volunteer efforts, but the biggest reward is always  how it makes me feel.  I believe we all can make a difference even in the smallest acts of “giving” and to all those who have shared their time and talents, you know how rewarding it is personally. I’ll end with a quote by Arthur Ashe.

“From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”

—Arthur Ashe (1943-1993), professional tennis player, civil rights supporter

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“The Most Trusted Man in America” – Walter Cronkite 1916 -2009

We lost one of America’s greats yesterday, Walter Cronkite died at the age of 93. I grew up, getting my “news” from Mr. Cronkite along with millions of other Americans. We all believed what he said and we trusted that what he said was the “truth” and not just “opinion”.

Walter Cronkite brought us some of the most amazing news stories of the 20th Century and he did so with the utmost integrity. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth, John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Martin Luther King’s assassination, Bobby Kennedy’s assassination, news about the Vietnam War and of course the first Moon landing. He said once and I’m paraphrasing, that amongst all the turmoil and problems of the 1960’s, the Space Program and in particular that first landing on the Moon showed America’s true spirit and resiliency. He personified that – he gave us hope for the future.

I think anyone who remembers getting their news from Cronkite, longs for those days when the news was the news and not an endless stream of pundits’ opinions. We’ve lost our trust in journalism and journalistic integrity. And with social media and “citizen journalism” I not sure we’ll ever get that trust back.

I had the privilege of meeting and photographing Walter Cronkite in 1986. I was shooting a story for the National Geographic Traveler Magazine about Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. I was given contact info for Walter Cronkite and called him up and asked him if I could photograph him for the article. Mr. Cronkite spent his summers in Martha’s Vineyard and was a well known figure there especially among the “sailing set”, so it was thought that a photo of him would make a nice addition to the story . We set up a date and a time for the photograph. Being a professional, I always confirm any appointments the day before. So the day before our shoot was scheduled, I called the telephone number that I had, to confirm. This was well before the days of cell phones and emails and even before computers became such a big part of our lives. Throughout the day, I kept calling the number that I had from whatever pay phone was available but I kept getting a ringing phone – no answer and no message machine. The day came and went and so did the next day – the day I was supposed to photograph him. I missed our appointment because I never connected to get details of where to meet him. I felt betrayed by “the most trusted man in America” that somehow he had forgotten our appointment. And then something hit me that night – perhaps when I rewrote my notes with all my contacts and phone numbers for the shoot – I had not written his phone number down correctly. So I took a shot and called directory information to see if by some slim chance Walter Cronkite was listed. Much to my surprise he was listed! The next day I called him, profusely apologizing, embarrassed and humiliated and told him how I had incorrectly written his phone number down when I was rewriting my notes and that it never occurred to me to check the telephone directory to see if his number was listed. I assumed that someone like him who was so high profile would have an unlisted telephone number.

Cronkite

He was incredibly gracious, yet he did warn me about making “assumptions” and I have never forgotten that lesson. And he gave me a second chance and set up another day for the shoot.

The day of the shoot was a glorious day on Martha’s Vineyard and Mr. Cronkite suggested that I photograph him on his sailboat. His mother was also on board and I remember her as being quite a character. I have fond memories from that afternoon. I took my photos but he didn’t head back to shore to drop me off – he loved to sail and it was a perfect day for it so we continued to sail throughout the rest of the afternoon.

I cried last night when I heard the news of his death. I cried because he’s gone and also because we’ve lost our trust in journalists and the news media in general. But like Cronkite, I’m hopeful for the future. Thank you Mr. Cronkite for your integrity, professionalism and your personal words of wisdom for me that wonderful day so many years ago. “And that’s the way it is”.

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Family Biographies

I think one of the most gratifying areas I create videos for is in documenting family stories. This past weekend, I traveled to Michigan for a large family gathering. Because this part of my family is over 800 miles from me, I don’t get to see them as often as I like. I also know that the years go by like minutes these days and that many of my aunts, uncles and cousins are getting on in years.

On this particular trip I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and decided to set up time to get my relatives to sit down for video interviews. I wanted to archive their stories for future generations of our family. Mom,Jereta, Joyce, Dorlen, Frenchie

We took an afternoon and one by one, each aunt and uncle told me stories of growing up and the hard, but happy life they had on the family farm. They talked a bit about my mother and I’m grateful for that because she is no longer here to tell her story.

At times the tales were funny and it times they were quite emotional. But I think at the end of the day we all agreed that what we had accomplished in taping their stories,  was an important thing to do. Video is such a wonderful tool for documenting a family’s story because they are telling their stories in their own way, with their own voice. Creating family biographies is one of the most rewarding areas that I work in. And it’s also the most appreciated.  I’d like to think in my own small way that I’m continuing a legacy for future generations to come.

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Woodstock and The First Man on the Moon

What does Woodstock and the first man on the moon have in common? They both are celebrating their 40th anniversary this month. Amazing not only that it has been 40 years but that those totally different events happened in the same summer.

I remember both vividly. I watched the moon landing being televised on my 18th birthday. And I was part of the crowd at Woodstock.

At the time – to me – Woodstock didn’t seem like a historical event but the moon landing did. A few months ago I visited NASA and the control room where the best and the brightest facilitated that historic event. Houston_NASA_2202 It was humbling. But what really hit home was how basic the room was in terms of technology. Rotary dial phones and just a handful of buttons on the consoles. I instantly remembered a moment on TV when they showed NASA technicians feverishly using their slide rules. My daughter doesn’t even know what a slide rule is.

It’s amazing how far we’ve come in 40 years. I suppose to some 40 years may seem like a long time – but to me it sure went fast. Most likely I won’t be around in another 40 years and I can’t help but wonder what changes technology will bring to our lives.
But underneath the technology is the human spirit and the drive of pursuit. Let’s hope that we humans use technology wisely.

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Story Telling

Now that I am producing both still imagery and video, I am trying to find the right word or title that I can call myself. I’m not just a photographer anymore, yet I really hate the word videographer. I’ve come up with a couple of words like “hybrid” and “visionographer” but still can’t quite find that right word.

And then I realized who I am. I’m a storyteller. I tell the story through visuals and sound and motion. Storyteller – a simple name for a person who has played that role since human beings began telling their story by painting on cave walls.

I love the story – beyond anything else – beyond the toys and the tools. It’s in my blood – it’s what has always motivated me and inspired. It’s why I became a photographer. It’s why I needed to learn video. Both were essential in telling my stories.

I must say that almost every magazine story I ever shot, what I loved most was connecting with people and listening to their stories. Perhaps I should have been a writer but I was more comfortable with my visual ideas and always felt a loss for the right words to express them.

When I think of all the movies that I’ve seen, the ones that really stay with me, have one thing in common – they tell a good story. A film can have all the special effects in the world but if it doesn’t have a good tale – it’s nothing beyond the packaging and fizz.

So the next time someone asks me what I do – I know what I will say – I’m a storyteller.

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A Means To An End

I read this weekend about a memorial service for the late lindy hopper Frankie Manning. Frankie died last month – he was 94 years old. Frankie might have looked like his years but when he danced – he was 18 again.

I met and photographed Frankie Manning about 10 years ago when I was shooting a story about swing dancing for Smithsonian Magazine. I had pitched the story to Smithsonian at a time when “swing” had become the “thing” – once again. As much as I had a great time shooting the story, I kicked myself from time to time for pitching a story all about movement and sound to a print publication. But it got me thinking about video.

About the same time, technology was making a profound impact on video and specifically DV (digital video). I was hearing about how filmmakers and journalists were experimenting with video as an affordable means to approach their craft – without the need for huge crews and big Hollywood budgets. Then I read about the first DV symposium that was going to take place at the AFI (American Film Institute) in Los Angeles. I flew out to LA a month later to attend and it was a week that changed my world – my creative world that is. I listened to panel discussions, took workshops and learned about cameras and editing systems etc. It was a springboard for my mind and I started thinking of all the stories that I wanted to tell – that I could only tell – with a “motion” medium.

Ultimately, I got into video because it was the right medium to communicate certain messages. At that time video wasn’t the trend.  I didn’t feel  like I needed to learn it because everyone was doing it. For me it was the right tool for certain stories. It was a means to an end.

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Memorial Day

This weekend for many is the start of summer. For others it’s a big shopping weekend. And then there’s the real meaning of the weekend and Memorial Day itself, and that is to pay homage to those who have died for our country.

I started thinking about a group that I was made aware of at the Final Cut Pro Users Meet at NAB this past April. The group was called Wounded Marine Careers Foundation http://woundedmarinecareers.org/foundation.html

Essentially that evening 20 plus wounded veterans came to the stage to present themselves as newly accredited media professionals. They had just graduated from the The Wounded Marine Training Center for Careers in Media where they were trained and certified in filmmaking skills.

That night they showed a video that they had made about the program itself. That night they presented themselves as professionals new to the marketplace to be hired for their skills.

I was in awe of what these men and women had to overcome to get to this point. I was in awe of the organization that gave them the chance to heal and to establish a new career. Whoever hires them will no doubt not only be rewarded by their know how, but their tenacity and loyalty as well.

What a story it is in itself. To empower people to help themselves and to bring others’ stories to all of us in the process.
What a win win situation.

Maybe this weekend while we are remembering those who have given their lives for our country – we can also remember those who gave their service to our country and how now we can help them.