I have several updates to share before I leave, so I’ll just get right to it.

A month or so ago I drove down to Crawford, Texas to do a followup on the town after years of tourism and media frenzy surrounding President George W. Bush’s ranch. If you’ll remember, there were the Cindy Sheehan protests, which created the media circus in the first place. Bush was also known to invite world leaders to actually hold meetings in Crawford. The President’s presence in Crawford brought activists and media as well as tourists bringing money and numbers to this small country town.

New York Times reporter James McKinley was interested in what this town is up to after eight years of Bush. Apparently not much. Of the five memorabilia shops operating, only one remains. Crawford only has one main street…and several of the stores are no longer in business. One of the stores, The Yellow Rose, still houses all the memorabilia, only to see it collect dust.

“Yet long gone are the days when this town of 750 people played host to foreign heads of state or teemed with journalists, protesters and White House officials.

And as Mr. Bush has settled into a quiet retirement in Dallas, appearing rarely and seldom speaking about politics, so too has this town near which he spent his vacations in office.

He still comes to his 1,400-acre ranch on holidays and on some weekends, but he does not arrive with the thwap-thwap-thwap of helicopters anymore. He slips quietly through town in a black sport utility vehicle and leaves just as quietly, townspeople say. ”

What remains are the local people…who for the most part are obviously Bush supporters. There is the local coffee shop restaurant, and a new bank, and the sole remaining memorabilia store. Crawford, Texas seems to have returned to what it was…another small Texas country town.

The Times ran a cool little slide show of Crawford, Texas with the story and a nice clip in the paper.

I had two assignments in a week to cover Kay Bailey during the end of her campaign. She started strong and looked good in the polls until the last few weeks when she simply fell behind. She was pleasant enough as she shifted through the smiles and handshakes of a seasoned politician. Yet, you could see there was no drive left in her campaign. The tour bus made all the usual stops around the DFW area, resting at all-American cafes, retirement homes, and town-hall style Republican meetings. The other media and I only had access to one leg of the drive between locations, but that was more than enough time to catch Kay Bailey dividing her gifted cupcakes amongst her team.

I also shot the Kay Bailey watch party. Everyone pretty much knew she was going to loose, but the media attention was spectacular considering it was only the primary election. I must say, I am surprised the New York Times found such interest in state politics.The watch party was at Eddie Deen’s Ranch near downtown Dallas. It was very fitting for Texas…the walls are lined with western themed store fronts and the place has obviously hosted a line dance or three.

I do like politics.

***I would like to point out that I was mistakenly given credit for Ben Sklar’s photo of Governor Rick Perry in the sweet clip that ran on the front of the National section. I did take the other two.

I was excited to be working with photo editor Taylor Umlauf and we immediately saw the potential for a larger story. My pitch was to work it into a longer piece extending beyond the closing of the book store. I had four days in Laredo and realized after day one that I would need more time.

Laredo is quite the town. When I arrived, I had two hours before my first meeting. After checking into the cheapest hotel I could find (the Loma Alta), I briefly walked around the closest three blocks to my hotel. Amidst the many Mexican pottery import stores and mechanic shops adorned with signage brightly painted in Spanish with Mexican motifs and iconography, I forgot I was in the US. For my first two days in Laredo, I did not see another white person and did not hear English. Needless to say, it was great to feel like I was out of the country again…and refreshing to find a community like this in the US.

The problem with shooting such a wide ranging story in four days is that you can’t possibly understand all the dynamics that come into play and expect to know why Laredo has such low literacy. I met many interesting characters and was able to establish a base for further exploration. I feel that the combination of the economy, Laredo’s location on the border, the overwhelming majority of Spanish speakers and the culture of non-reading all mix to prevent reading from progressing.

Not all was bad. I spent some time at an elementary school, where students had written letters to corporate headquarters asking to keep their book store. These kids were smart and more than impressed me with their bi-lingual abilities and outgoing personalities. The problem became clear after talking to the kids for a short while. It isn’t that they can’t read, as much as their parents are not English speakers. Kids speak Spanish at home and leave their English at school. I believe this lies at the heart of the issue and presents a clear clue as to why illiteracy remains so high. Parents are often first generation immigrants to the US and simply don’t have a need for English in their everyday life.

I did find an adult ESL class studying English. It was in conjunction with a US history class to prepare for the citizenship exam. Many of the people I spoke with mentioned the desire to help their children with homework as a primary reason for taking the free class held at a local high school.

I connected with one particular family and spent a day with them. They were exemplary of everything I have mentioned. The mother was Mexican and the father was from the US. They own an apartment complex in Laredo, but like most Americans, have been facing tough times in the past year. In addition, they have two children ages 9 and 11. The mother is participating, out of her own will, in the adult literacy class. Not only does she desperately want to help with her children’s studies, but she will be taking over the day to day operations of the apartment complex as her husband find another job. She was a banker back in Mexico, but has had trouble in the US due to the language barrier. I really felt bad for this family. They were so nice and really seem to be struggling. I am sure the mother’s English will be great…I am hoping their economic situation improves. (I did not use their names, as their photos have not yet been published. You will have to wait for a future post.)

I met a man who had lit a fire in an abandoned cantina because his home had not heating. At first, I didn’t know how this would fit in the story. It became clear…he has lived in this country for several years and has trouble finding work. He speaks little English. Seems to top off the story.

The plan was to create a four part series online using all the elements I shot and the over three hours of audio recordings I made. Luck would have it that the Associated Press ran an article on the bookstore a day after I finished shooting and drove the article to publish early. We had to scrap two parts of the story including the one involving the family. I was still very pleased with the six column picture they used on A3 as well as the two slide shows.

Check out the article written by Stephanie Simon found on the Wall Street Journal site. The also ran a short audio slide show featuring some of the kids I photographed and made a nice update to their Photo Blog.

***I want to write an update to address several comments and thoughts regarding this post. People have expressed concern over this issue and suggest that I was presenting negative impressions of Laredo. I would like to point out that I never spoke poorly of Laredo and continue to feel that I had a great time and found the community very welcoming. Any negative perceptions regarding West Laredo do not come from me. Others have suggested that my post is one sided. This story was never meant to generalize Laredo as a city in general. It is a story specifically regarding illiteracy in a city ranked with the lowest literacy rate in the country. I invite people to offer their opinions as to why Laredo has trouble with literacy. We did make a point to talk about the many bi-lingual classes and other aspects which Laredo can be proud of. In addition, I would like to point out that I did not write the article which was published in The Wall Street Journal. I welcome criticism and enjoy the dialogue. I look forward to hearing more comments. Thanks, Matt

They wanted some very straight forward head shots with a very particular lighting set up. It was a good opportunity to focus directly with fine tune the lighting set up. With little variation on the position, expression, or lens use, I really wanted to make sure the lighting went over well.

The photos was for a “Top CEO” issue for the publication. They wanted me to match the style of photos they had pre-planned. Mr. Conlee was very accommodating, and despite the simple set up, he was gave me 20 minutes to shoot. Very much appreciated.

Here are a few variations of the shot and how they ran it in the publication.

Be sure to stay tuned for the announcement. Coming in the next day or two!

I am still waiting on several assignments to publish, but did see the NY Times finally run this article by Cliff Krauss and Jad Mouawad on the cleaning process for the millions of gallons of water used to fracture shale rock in order to release the natural gas.

The story on natural gas seems to be getting bigger and bigger…as does the industry itself. I’m not sure if I am going to continue taking pictures, but I do find myself continually saying, “time to buy stock in natural gas.”

While natural gas is a cleaner energy then the burning of coal, I am worried about the environmental impacts of draining and sucking our shale deposit’s gas reserves. Once gone, won’t this free flowing cash cycle end?

Many of these wells are built in urban places…golf courses and country clubs are not resistant to offers of money. “Hazards like methane contamination of drinking water wells, long known in regions where gas production was common, are spreading to populous areas that have little history of coping with such risks, but happen to sit atop shale beds.”

Also, look at ALL this extra crap which is used in the process. When the drills enter the ground they mix massive amounts of water, sand, and chemicals to separate rock and help gas flow. Of course, these companies process, clean, and distill the excess water to be reused again. While the science says it is cleaned, I continue to wonder where the mistakes show up and how much waste goes unreported. More striking is the unknown affects on the ground water around these wells. From the article, “A string of incidents in places like Wyoming and Pennsylvania in recent years has pointed to a possible link between hydraulic fracturing and pollution of groundwater supplies. In the worst case, such pollution could damage crucial supplies of water used for drinking and agriculture.”

This is obviously bad politics for these massive companies, although there is relatively low toxicity found (or reported). It’s the same story as companies claim their methods are sound and environmentalists claim there hasn’t been enough research. We’ll see who is correct.

Stay tuned for the BIG news!

Each team of students, which came from high schools all around Texas and New Mexico, built a robot which had to battle others in timed matches. The goal of each match was to gather balls, globes, and cans and direct them back to a designated location. I don’t think I could even drive one, let alone build it.

I am kicking myself for not bring my lights to the event. I did manage to take a series of portraits with some of the kids and their robots. I could have spent all day with a studio set up…and would have. I’m pleased with the images I got simply because it was so fun to shoot. These kids are the future and they seem to be loving it. Pretty refreshing.

You can see the Dallas Morning News article written by Jeffrey Weiss online.

***Just as a note: I did not tell the kid to flex his arms like that. I suppose his ripped body just does it on his own.

This game was all an attempt to lure Hispanic and Latino fans to sporting events in the US. There was even a carnival set up outside in the Cotton Bowl Stadium parking lot with McDonald’s hosted children’s basketball games, Home Depot poster painting sessions, and Norteño music concerts sponsored by Jeep. It seems like professional sporting organizations (and corporations) in the US are late to realize the rising buying potential of the rising the Hispanic population within sports. The story, written by Wall Street Journal reporter Ana Campoy, also mentions the rise in popularity for Nascar racing. I would have loved to shoot that as well. How fun would Lucha Libre be on the race track?

Be sure to check out the online slideshow as well. Oh…Columbia won the game 2-1.

A month or so ago, I got to hang out with Wall Street Journal reporter Ana Campoy and photograph a canning class. It was fun despite the different pickle recipe. The process I shot was for instant pickling as opposed to the fermenting process I would work on with dad. The pickles weren’t dill and didn’t crunch…but they were still tasty. I suppose that is the magic with canning…everyone has their own recipe and cans in their own distinct style. They also made jam…but the peaches weren’t really ripe.

The story was highlighting the reemergence of canning in the US. You know…slow economy…people have to can right? I was talking with my mom about the story and she more or less…well more than less…laughed at me when I mentioned “reemergence.” She reminded me that we have been canning for the past twenty years. It made me think there really hasn’t been a rebirth of canning, so much as simply an idea to market canning in a slow economy.

It is a little late this season to start canning, but I know next year I will be buying a set of jars and lids to begin the long tradition of canning that already exists in my family.

You can check out the Wall Street Journal canning article and slide show online here.

***So…after hearing critiques from EVERY immediate family member, I find it necessary to make a few corrections and revisions. In so doing, I hope to successfully mock each member of my family for taking such an interest in my blog, and inadvertently mock myself for writing this very sentence.

My dad would like to point out that we do not, in fact, make dill pickles, but rather Sour Garlic Pickles. He also would prefer me to use the word “preserve” instead of repeating “can.” His only other objection was to give more credit to my mother as the one who picks out the pickles and thus make it truly a family affair.

While my mother enjoyed my embellishments, she was just quick to point out (and certainly enjoyed pointing out) my grammar and spelling errors as only a mother can.

My brother was quick to call me out as a phony (my real job was to simply eat the pickles.)

Lastly, and in my opinion, most obvious, I am a nerd. Yes, yes I am.

You can find the article here.

I wasn’t able to get up on the rig to shoot, as the Norwegians were office guys, but the story is certainly interesting and worth reading. Check out the NY Times article here. I look forward to following the development of shale gas extraction in the coming months and years.