Photojournalism Week 11

PhotoJ Publication 2

Local

Welcome to Middlesex, New Jersey 08846. Ever since I was 2 years-old I've called this Central Jersey borough home. Middlesex is similar to any other typical suburban town: it's small, predominately middle-class and pretty dull.

Four square miles; that's how big Middlesex is. In these four crammed miles there are two supermarkets, two Dunkin Donuts, about 7 pizzerias, five Chinese take-out restaurants and a dozen dry cleaners. Due to its tiny size, gossip spreads fast. Everyone in Middlesex knew who was getting a divorce, who was dating whom and all the rest of the insignificant gossip. I couldn't stand this. The closest "big" city near Middlesex is New Brunswick, about 10 minutes away, where Rutgers University is located. More than half of my graduating high school class ended up there.

Going to college in a big city was always appealing to me because I wanted to be able to live my life without other people knowing every single detail. I decided to go to school in Philadelphia first and foremost, because I couldn't afford to go to college in New York City and I wanted to see and experience new things. An urban university like Temple, provides students with so much more than a university in a suburban setting can, especially when majoring in photography.

After I graduated high school I was so eager to get out of Middlesex and into the "real world." It's easier said than done. I soon came to realize a lot changes when you're taken out of your comfort zone and it wasn't as easy to adapt as I thought it would be. Although I enjoy living in Philadelphia, I also love visiting home and seeing my friends and family.


Watchung Elementary School: I walked up these stairs and into kindergarten and can still vividly remember that morning.

Middlesex High School football field: This field is where I took my last steps of school during my high school graduation.

Dunkin Donuts: Many 2 a.m. summer visits were spent here with my friends and I.

Home sweet home: I live my "other" life away from Philadelphia here and have for the past 7 years.


Living

I realize that living in a city your are bound to regularly encounter: homelessness, crime and poverty. Beauty lies beneath the urban decay and it's all a matter of how we choose to see it. This how I chose to capture beauty in Philadelphia through my lens:


Birds chirp while perched on power lines.

A piece of a mosaic "Welcome" gate in a run-down park on the corner of North 10th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue.

Blue skies surround the Greater Straightway Baptist church located at 1705 North 7th Street.

Teenagers take photographs of one another at the Swann Memorial Fountain in Logan Square.

A girl held her mother's hand as they marched down Market Street during the 44th Regional Puerto Rican Day Parade, held on Sunday, Sept. 24, 2006.


Entertainment

The Mark of a Moderate Man preforming at Brenda and Jerry’s in Bath, Pennsylvania.

Alan Vito, Jake Clark and Justin Renninger are best friends from the Lehigh Valley who have been making music together for over two years. “Our music is influenced by the good times, bad times, and the friends that are with you for everything.” Alan and Justin balance both school, work and the band. But as Alan said, “My passion is music.”


Saturday Night

On Saturday, November 11, 2006 I spent my night hanging out and relaxing at one of my best friends’ homes in Middlesex, New Jersey.

Nick Foti tries to pose his Yorkshire Terrier, Mackenzie for a photo.

Nick watches an episode of “American Idol Rewind” in his bedroom.


Spot News

A man takes a photo from his camera phone of a large T-rex in the Toys “R” Us located in Times Square, Manhattan on Sunday, November 12, 2006.


An 88-foot Norway spruce was scaffolded, as workers began setting up the tree at Rockefeller Plaza, in Manhattan on Sunday, November 12, 2006. This years’ Rockefeller Center Christmas tree weighs 9-tons and will be decorated with at more than 30,000 lights and topped with a Swarovski crystal star. The annual televised tree-lighting ceremony will be held on Wednesday, November 29, 2006.


Photo Illustration

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Pink filled the air on the brisk, windy morning of Sunday, October 29, 2006. Thousands gathered to participate in the 13th Annual Susan G. Komen New Jersey Race for the Cure held at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Princeton, New Jersey. At the starting line, fellow participants held motivational hand-made signs and cheered runners and walkers on along with the honorary chair, René Syler from CBS News’ The Early Show. Vendors handed out free information about breast cancer awareness and early detection. Breast cancer survivors were dressed from head to toe in pink and filled the morning with a tremendous amount of hope and strength.