It’s a far cry from THEN to NOW in New York City apartments. Photo at left of tenement life by Jacob Riis. Photo at right of my daughter and roommate by me.
After more than a year of insane political discourse — pre and post election — it’s good to divert our attention to something a bit less agonizing. But uh-oh, my favorite movies of 2016 also carry political and social baggage. Maybe that’s just a marquee of the times we live in now. We are lucky to live in a society where art can be a protest and a protester can create art. Enough with the previews; here are the five films that captured my attention this year.
Political pics, travel snapshots, school photos, sports, wedding and workshop photography highlighted my year in pictures. Here’s a sample of my favorite images from 2016.
Secretary Hillary Clinton waves to a Detroit crowd just days before her stunning loss.
Sting and Peter Gabriel rock the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
35 years ago, my not-yet roommate was belting a song on our college quad about a guy who died in a South African prison. “Who sings about stuff like that?” I wondered.
Peter Gabriel sings about stuff like that.
On that same quad, someone’s radio was playing a boppin’ song from a British band and to this day I remember my introduction to Sting as he sang with his band The Police.
Sting also sings politically charged songs. Peter Gabriel also sings boppin’ songs. They’re on tour together and I got to witness their synthesis last night at The Palace.
“Buckingham Palace?” my cousin Keith joked via text. No, although they’re both British, this was at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Thank God my brother was working from home when the umpteenth butthole with a gun this year walked into Dean’s usual place of work and shot someone, then killed himself. That was the other day at UCLA. By the time you read this, another gun tragedy (or twenty) will have taken place, guaranteed.
My mom was shaking when she heard the news. So was my brother. So was my friend whose son studies on campus and passes that building every day.
Apr
30
Talented, funny installers from Strawberry Solar — Will Held, Connor Lark and Joe Nagle — attach panels to our garage roof in rain, sleet and snow.
For about the price of an average used car, we’ve decided to install solar panels on our garage roof.
Apr
24
In a bucolic early image, my grandmother strikes a heroic pose with a speckled friend in New York’s Catskills.
My grandfather used to say that before 1916, the world was ruthless. My grandmother, Ruth Harris Adams, was born in 1916. If the world was ruthless before that date, I can only guess that afterwards it was ruthmore, ruthful? Ol’ granddad passed on before completing his silly pun. Grandma Ruth lives on.
Democratic candidate Bill Clinton speaks at the New Hampshire statehouse in 1991.
This photograph hung in the White House, according to then President Clinton’s secretary.
A few years back, The Boston Globe published some of my New Hampshire memories.
Here’s one of my favorites, featuring a much younger Bill Clinton.
Back when my wife and I worked as photographers in New Hampshire, it was always fun photographing presidential candidates who swarmed the state. Bill Clinton was probably the most memorable. We met him many times, but three encounters stick out most in my mind.
Here’s my fun Boston Globe story about the time our Christmas card photo went horribly right.
