Damage Destruction and Hope
I made a trip down to the Texas Gulf Coast earlier this month, and was blown away by the damage from Hurricane Harvey, and by the fact that the mainstream media has already packed up and left. It seems, once again, that if nobody’s sitting around waiting for rescue, begging for help, that according to the MSM’s standards; it must not be a story anymore. They tend to move on quickly nowadays, searching for the basest of emotional denominators.
It wasn’t always that way of course. I come from the old school, cameras and film, and rooms full of IBM Selectrics typing on old end-rolls of newsprint. The smell of newsprint and whiteout permeated my air, and got in my blood.
Those days are gone, and never coming back of course. But my ideals lead me to think there’s a chance for some great, thorough photojournalism in Rockport and Port Aransas – Aransas Pass, Texas. I am sure somebody with bottomless funding is going to do it (the story), and they’re there right now, while I am 400-miles away – so close, yet way too far.
All I would need is the funding to make this story go, but isn’t that always the rub for creatives these days? The lack of support is endemic.
With the roll-back of the photography industry, I started thinking recently … why not roll back my work as well? Maybe it IS time to chase a firetruck or two? Maybe the time is right to start the clock all over again. Why not anyway? After getting a solid second shot after cancer, maybe this is how the rest goes. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Of course, as you can see, this journalism blends with my current passion for fly fishing and writing for magazines, like Drake magazine. It was Drake’s assignment that funded my trip down to the coast, and I had several willing participants lined up to help make that story a success.