Boston Massachusetts: Final Days of Summer

As summer is coming to a close, I reflect back on the time that I have spent in Boston this summer. It has not been nearly as much as I would have preferred, but it was time well spent. Last week I was in the city for three days. I arrived on Tuesday and was gone by Thursday. Time passes by fast when you are having a great time. The photos that you will see in this post are made on Tuesday. From the afternoon until early evening I spent my time with my friend. I am working on a project that brings me to the city and to my friend Krzystof. Krzystof is legally blind with very limited sight. He is a focus of a year long documentary project. This is my first "public" introduction to this project. I am going to be making a much more comprehensive post about this in the very near future. The purpose of writing tonight is to more-or-less express that summer is coming to an end and there is a new season approaching. Every day since last Wednesday I have been thinking about how we spend a few hours running on the Charles River. We began in Boston and did the Forest Gump thing, we just started running. 11.7 miles later we were crossing the Charles by the Charles MGH stop on the Red Line. That run was one of the best runs we have ever had. Our goal was to do the 17. something, but we fell short. It truly was a New England summer day. We could not have asked for a better temperature, or better day to run. In reflecting those moments our shoes met the ground, I am thinking about how the warmth coming off the pavement and concrete sidewalks will soon be replaced by the sounds of leaves crunching as people stroll by, hand in hand, pushing strollers, taking their dog for a walk, a break from work, or their children to play at the playground. Soon enough, after a few short weeks of some warm days, hoodies and hats will replace sunscreen and shorts as people stroll the Charles. The skyline views of Boston and Cambridge are breath taking, even on a warm summer day. As the leaves change colors, a new aesthetic will flourish. Like a clock, the new aesthetic will roll in like years before brining in those moments of a fall day in New England. I have found a few spots along the Charles that I will undoubtedly visit and make some images. My project with Krzystof will be opening this December. Over the next few weeks and months I will be visiting Boston and "these spots," I speak of both to complete the project and to enjoy the moments of a fall day in New England. Boston, like Holyoke is home. I get the same feelings in Boston as I do when I am in Holyoke. It is home and a piece of my heart is in both places. In 2009 when I lived in Cambridge for a short period of time, I fell in love with the surrounding area. I spend as much time there as I possibly can. But, again, not nearly as much as I would like.

 

Visiting the North-end always guarantees a great lunch. We have a few places that we prefer and like to go to. It has become habitual, any time we are in the city, we go to one of our usual places. Of course, we do fall victim to the touristy, Mikes Pasties, you can not go wrong with a famous canoli.

 

Even police cars can be given parking tickets for "parking" where they aren't supposed to be.

 

 

 

Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene passed through Massachusetts leaving behind flooding, street closures, high ways in passable, and some destructions of small towns, crops, properties and cars. The following images were made in Deerfield.















Gabe Chapley of Chapley Gardens poses with camera. In a conversation with Gabe, he explained how earlier in the day his family helped neighbors and friends move their live stock and machinery from the farms that were in the path of the flooding. Eager to show the images he made, he showed a few photos and a video he made. He was out, wading through the water to make photos for the local access channel.









Holyoke Massachusetts was not affected by Irene like neighboring towns and states. The Connecticut River passes through dividing the land between Holyoke and South Hadley. The dam, as seen in the preceding photos, had an overflow of water. The amount of water passing over the dam could be comparable to the amount that passes over in the spring. It wasnt until noon on Monday the 29th when the amount of flooding passing over surpassed what is typical of the spring surge. Sunday the 28th, the day Irene passed over, I stood on the South Hadley side of the river and made these photos. Monday I was allowed into the Robert E. Barrett Fishway, where I produce more images. The visit to the fishway, for me, was a last minute trip. I only had my phone with me and produce the images that come after the youtube video. Both Sunday and Monday I used my photo to produce video of the flooding.