I was photographing a PBR event in Estero, Fla., when Kenny Hammock, center, of Auburn, Fla., was bucked off a bull and hit the ground hard. He started convulsing. Bull riders rushed out to tend to him as paramedics were called. I’ve seen people knocked unconscious before…and witnessed folks twitch a bit as they are coming out of it. But I’ve never seen anything like this. It looked like an epileptic seizure. Then he stopped, eyes open and glazed over. I thought he was dead. But apparently this is a common occurrence. A bunch of bull riders standing around me started comparing stories of getting knocked out during bull rides and how bad they apparently twitched. So no big deal. Right?
I was going through some work from 2009 and came across this shot of a soldier at the Army Navy game in Philly in December. Shooting square format really seems to slow me down. Most of the time I feel the shots become too static and centered. I look at photographers like Larry Fink and am in awe.
Feeding alligators is “woman’s work.”
My Army vs. Navy project just went up on the Mother Jones Magazine website. Check it out here. Special thanks to Mark Murrmann for making it happen!
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Josh O’Connor and I spent the past few days driving back roads from southwest Florida to Atlanta, where he starts a new job with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. It’s interesting trying to separate what you want and expect to see, and what you actually see. In the end, I found a collection of images that doesn’t really offer a narrative…but become a phrase or two in a larger story that I can’t quite get my mind around. That said, the BBQ was great. 
I spent yesterday at the Redneck Yacht Club with Greg Kahn. A couple of guys on a home-made swamp buggy took us under their wing and carted us around all day. The driver, Monty, loaned me a pair of his coveralls when I tore the entire crotch out of my pants when I hopped up onto the buggy. I guess if you are going to rip open your pants and expose yourself while shooting, this was the place to do it. 
Inspired by the landscape photography of Michael Kenna, I wandered around New York City after midnight with David Holloway looking for a descent frame. I can see why photographers spend their careers pacing this city. Part of me felt like all of it has already been done…but most of me felt like I was part of something bigger…maybe even a tradition of sorts. I am excited to be here.
