Urban Tarzan

December 9, 2007 – Fuji, a four-year-old scarlet macaw (above), displays his amicable nature, while Sam (below), a twelve-year-old macaw, displays his temperamental personalityon their respective cages in New York. According to John Brennan, or “Urban Tarzan”, a 35-year-old professional animal wrangler, to whom the parrots belong, the difference in personality can be attributed to their difference in age.

October 7, 2007 – Urban Tarzan displays a East African Nile Crocodile to a mostly 8-year-old audience in New York, at the Halloween-themed birthday party of his friend Doug’s child Dougie. December 9, 2007 – An East African Nile Crocodile named Gustav, who is close to two years old, enjoys a shower in the New York home of animal wrangler John Brennan, known professionally as “Urban Tarzan.” This crocodile species is one of the largest in existence, second to only the salt-water crocodile, which can grow to be over 20ft.
October 7, 2007 – A rhino iguana, about 7 years old, from the Caribbean, bathes in the fluorescent lights of its tank as John Brennan, 35, cleans the tank of an albino cobra in the reflective background. Brennan is a professional animal wrangler, whose stage name is “Urban Tarzan” and is seen caring for his animals, all of which are rescues, at his home in New York. December 9, 2007 – “Mr. Sparkles”, a crocodile monitor, who is 18 months old, sits in his tank in the home of John Brennan in New York. The species gets its name from Papua New Guinea due to the natives who call them “crocodiles of the trees” because they live in trees and can grow up to 8ft. long (including the length of their tails). The crocodile monitor has the same dentation as the Tyrannosaurus Rex and is the largest monitor species next to the Komodo dragon.

December 9, 2007 – John Brennan, 35, lets his rat Merlot crawl down his arm before he feeds her a leaf of lettuce at his home in New York. Brennan, a exotic animal caretaker and professional animal wrangler, found Merlot in the produce aisle of a King Cullen supermarket as a pup. “Instead of feeding her to snakes, I kept her and raised her up.” Merlot is now one of his favorite pets.

The Crumbling of MA State Parks

November 19, 2007 – The unfinished roof on a barn on Brookwood Farm, part of the Blue Hills Reservation, in East Milton, MA, exhibits the inability of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), due to increasingly low budgets, to maintain Massachusetts state parks. Additional repairs are needed on several broken windows, its rotting foundation, and its peeling and fading red paint. Former MA Governor Mitt Romney bequeathed current Governor Deval Patrick with an overwhelmingly large deficit causing Patrick to cut the operating budget of the DCR at the expense of the land.

November 19, 2007 – Behind the Houghton Pond visitor center on the Blue Hills Reservation, a state park in East Milton, MA, which is maintained by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), trash is scattered along the banks of the water, coexisting with the wildlife as part of the ecosystem the state is supposed to care for. Due to a significantly low budget, the DCR is unable to fix such vital issues.

November 19, 2007 – Massachusetts’s state park employees exhibit concern about erosion and fallen trees on hiking trails that run throughout the Blue Hill Reservation in East Milton, MA. Trails are unable to be maintained to the extent they should be due to understaffing caused by the low budget of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, a problem that has its roots in former Governor Mitt Romney’s administration.

November 19, 2007 – Don McCasland, an employee at the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory Science Center, explains past efforts to remove graffiti from the top of Eliot Tower on Blue Hill, part of the Blue Hill Reservation, a state park in East Milton, MA. He mentions that due to their significantly low budget they were only able to repaint park benches and trashcans, leaving many existing problems behind.

November 19, 2007 – Despite past efforts to remove graffiti from Eliot Tower on Blue Hill, near the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory Science Center, part of the Blue Hill Reservation, a state park in East Milton, MA, there are still countless visible marks of vandalism remaining. The administration of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has left current Governor Deval Patrick with a $1.3 billion budget deficit, making it very difficult to improve the conditions of state parks to the necessary extent.

Veteran's Day Ceremony

November 8, 2007 - Air Force Cadet Brandon Hong, a freshman in Boston University's College of Engineering , takes his turn walking on red carpets outside of Marsh Chapel last night to honor soldiers in the annual Veteran's Day ceremony. Pairs alternate among 300 participants from the Air Force, Navy, and Army ROTC, and pace for twenty minutes.

November 8, 2007 – Air Force Cadet Johnathan Meehan, a freshman in the College of Engineering at Boston University (no relation), walks west while participating in the annual Veteran’s Day ceremony in Marsh Plaza in Boston, MA. Walking east is Navy Midshipman Mike Burke, a Boston College freshman. In pairs of two, participants from a group of 300 students, rotate after twenty minutes of steady pacing to honor veterans.

Zombies Protest the BU Biolab

November 7, 2007 – Boston resident Jeff Reinhardt, 21, holds biohazard caution tape as he is followed by a group of zombie protesters rallying against the construction of the controversial Boston University Level IV Bio-safety Laboratory in Roxbury, MA. As they stumbled through the streets, the zombies moaned, “The bio-lab has infected me.”

November 7, 2007 – Suffolk University student Clay Adamczyk, 20, is seen dressed as a zombie protesting the controversial Boston University Bio-safety Laboratory that is being constructed in the South End of Boston, MA, which will be the nation’s only Level IV research facility in an urban environment, holding some of the world’s deadliest pathogens. Adamczyk spent his afternoon in his kitchen creating slabs of flesh and gore out of various ingredients including flour, strawberry Jell-O, and food coloring, among others, to don in the evening, intending to make a dramatized statement as to the effects the lab could have if these viruses were mishandled or released.

November 7, 2007 – In an effort to protest the Boston University Level IV Biosafety Laboratory, David Wu, 19, from Roxbury, MA, gathered among others dressed as zombies to stumble through the streets of Boston, MA. To make his appearance more menacing, Wu bit into fake blood capsules, letting the red liquid trickle down his mouth and onto his shirt.

Newbury St. Artist

November 1, 2007 – As a passer-by admires his work, Eric Kluin, a Newbury St. artist in Boston, MA, shades salmon colored pastel into the woman figure he has been working on for three years. Having worked on most of his artwork for years at a time, he says that he knows a piece is complete, “When someone walks by and decides they want it.” Having used the sidewalk as his studio for 12 years, without a gallery to exhibit his creations, he is forced to sell his work for cheaper than he would like. On average, his artwork sells for $300 to passers-buyers.

November 1, 2007 – Former University of Michigan art student, Eric Kluin, is found working outside of Sonsie on Newbury St. in Boston, MA, every day of the week throughout most of the year. Kluin has considered the sidewalk his studio for 12 years, since the restaurant’s grand opening. Kluin came to Brookline, MA, where he currently resides in a tiny studio, after being convinced to move to the Boston area by a woman heroin addict whom he met at a halfway house in Arizona. He no longer stays in touch with his former traveling friend.

November 1, 2007 – After delicate application of salmon colored pastel to a piece of artwork he has labored over for three years, Eric Kluin, an artist often found outside of the restaurant Sonsie on Newbury St. in Boston, MA, gently blends the color into the canvas to shade the side of his character’s leg. Kluin often fears overworking a piece and claims it is one of the most frustrating aspects of being an artist. The piece he is working on is inspired by tarot cards and is being created due to the suggestion of a friend.

November 1, 2007 – The rugged hands of Eric Kluin blend salmon pastel into the leg of a woman figure he has drawn here on Newbury St. in Boston, MA. Kluin works on the sidewalk every day of the week, three seasons out of the year. On the hot days of spring and summer, he is often seen without a shirt; during the fall, he says that he fears winter. In jest he mentions, “ In the winter, I hope for spring.”

November 1, 2007 – An easel and art supplies, belonging to Eric Kluin, sit outside of Sonsie on Newbury St., Boston, MA, and wait for the artist to get back from a coffee break. With two empty cups hidden behind the black crates, Kluin requires a lot of caffeine to keep him going as he works. The artist strategically stations himself close to both a Starbucks and an art supply store.

Red Sox World Series Victory Parade

October 30, 2007 – Red Sox fans of all ages attended the World Series victory parade that ran from Fenway Park to City Hall in Boston, MA. Adorned in his Red Sox jersey, fifteenth month old Yuma Son wanders around the crowd among fallen confetti.

October 30, 2007 – Long time Red Sox fan Del Christman, known to many as “Dogman,” walks away as he attempts to get a better view of the Boston Red Sox World Series victory parade from Fenway Park. Dogman is a veteran crowd pleaser, hot dog guy, and clubhouse manager at LeLacheur Park, home of the Lowell Spinners. Having been there for over twelve years, he has bobble heads, t-shirts, and even his own baseball card.

October 30, 2007 – Boston Red Sox fans John McCorkell, and his daughter Hildey, 4, of Hanover, MA, cheer as floats drive by on Boylston Ave. in Boston, MA, during the World Series victory parade.

October 30, 2007 – Boston Red Sox fan Dom Devito, 48, of Lynnfield, MA, holds a sign to direct the attention of Boston Red Sox players who prepare for their World Series Victory parade through the streets of Boston. He is joined by dedicated Boston natives, Julio Resendes and Derek Dosreis, who drove all the way from Buchanan, NY, to support their favorite team.

Head of the Charles: Course Committee

October 21, 2007 – Michael Todd, one of three Course Committee chairmen for the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA, unloads anchors from his boat at the Weld Boathouse, home of the Harvard-Radcliffe crew teams, to the helping hand of Bill Sichel, a safety crew volunteer. The anchors held buoys in place, which marked the course for the rowers. The course boundaries are of utmost importance because they help to direct crewmembers away from danger zones such as bridges and shallow water. Todd is in charge of making sure the buoys do not drift during the course of the event, which is subject to occur due to rising water.

October 21, 2007 – Ellie Reinhartt, 17, of York, ME, pulls a green boundary buoy from the Charles River in Boston, MA, at the completion of the Head of the Charles Regatta. Several other course development volunteers, including Ruth and Katherine Sweeny, of Reading, MA, and one of three course committee chairmen, Tim Wood, coach of the Belmont Hill crew team, join Reinhartt in the boat. Together the team is responsible for pulling all of the 350 course boundary buoys; the job takes over an hour to complete. According to Michael Todd (not pictured), another course committee chairmen, it takes three hours to set the course.

October 21, 2007 – Michael Todd, one of three Course Committee chairmen for the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA, ties together blue buoys with Betsy Walkerman, who came from Vermont to volunteer, at the Harold W. Pierce Boathouse. Todd is in charge of setting up the course boundaries with buoys and taking it apart. Blue buoys are placed at the end of the course, just after the finish line, creating a path rowers must follow after completing the race. All crews must past beyond them before turning back down the river to avoid congestion.

October 21, 2007 – Michael Todd, one of three Course Committee chairmen for the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA, grabs a rope to tie it into a sea gasket, a sailors knot that prevents tangling, as Travis Ebel, a course volunteer, grabs a crate full of buoy anchors, bringing them to the Harold W. Pierce Boathouse for year-round storage. The anchors are hand-made of PVC and concrete and weigh 20 pounds.

October 21, 2007 – As the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, MA, comes to a close, George Bird, a member of the Course Committee, who is part of a group of volunteers in charge of setting up and pulling apart the course, repairs a light on his boat after docking for the night at the Harold W. Pierce Boathouse.

Hillary Clinton Campaign

I thought I was cool getting into this event as a press photographer but soon realized that having credentials limited me significantly. After attaining my press pass and speaking to one of the event coordinators, I was told that I could not leave from the "press box", which was basically a platform for all reporters and cameramen at the back of Symphony Hall. (Later on we were given a few minutes to get shots from a balcony.) Aside from being restricted in movement, I only had a 70-200mm lens with me (and no tripod). I realized that had I not took the time to establish myself as a photographer and instead roamed about with my camera as an audience member, I would have had much better (closer) shots (although you probably can't tell from my chosen five). Nevertheless, I did the best I could given the circumstances.

October 10, 2007 – Lead singer of the band the Goo Goo Dolls, Johnny Rzeznik, opens for Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. Rzeznik traveled all the way from Buffalo, NY, to be at the event to support Clinton.

October 10, 2007 – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gives a thumbs-up to an audience of mostly college-aged supporters before she begins her speech at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. Audience members were handed “Hillary for President” signs, which were held high throughout the event.

October 10, 2007 – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addresses an audience of mostly college-aged supporters at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA. Clinton expresses her plans to remove troops from Iraq, take action against global warming, and reform health care in America. Behind her stand three groups of a cappella singers from Wellesley College, who performed as an opening act for Clinton, a Wellesley alum.

October 10, 2007 – After a rally to gain support from college voters at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stands in front of a giant American flag and applauds her audience. If elected, Clinton will become the United States’ first woman president.

October 10, 2007 – After a rally at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton bids her audience farewell by shaking the hands of supporters.

Lead in Toys

I went into this shoot assuming it was going to be just a protest, but I soon found out it was much more. After their demonstration outside, the group of protesters went into the Mariott hotel for an information session regarding the hazardous amount of lead that is being found in toys.

September 27, 2007 - A group of concerned parents gathered outside of the Marriott hotel on Huntington Ave., in Boston, MA, in silent protest of the lack of action taken by the Massachusetts legislature regarding the hazardous amounts of lead in children’s toys. Despite levels as high as seven times the federal limit, such toys are still currently found on the shelves of stores. The protesters wear stomachs of made of plaster to express the fact that lead exposure during pregnancy causes long-term complications in newborns.

September 27, 2007 – Dr. Sean Palfrey, a Boston Medical Center pediatrician, explains to an audience of concerned parents at the Boston, MA, Marriott hotel the harmful effects of excessive amounts of lead on the body. Exposure to lead increases the chances of suffering from asthma, ADHD, and autism, to name a few. High levels of lead are currently being found in toys that are made of cheaply produced material known as PVC.

September 27, 2007 - The portable XRF, an x-ray fluorescence analyzer that detects chemicals in any substance in less than 60 seconds, such as the levels of lead in paint, is used at the Marriott hotel in Boston, MA, to reveal to an audience the dangerous amounts of lead in popular toys, such as the rubber ducky. Judy Robinson, a concerned parent, addresses the audience in the background about her fears and questions why there has been no action in the state of Massachusetts to protect children from such unnecessary and avoidable harms.

September 27, 2007 - Joseph Allen uses a portable X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) device to test a “Superfly” monkey, whose cape is made with PVC (vinyl), for levels of lead in the Marriott hotel in Copley Square in Boston, MA. Allen is a doctoral student at the Boston University School of Public Health specializing in the exposure of toxic chemicals in the home environment and is especially concerned because he has a one-year-old son who plays with toys similar to those failing such tests.The experiment proves to an audience that certain children’s products are hazardous to health and development. Costing between $30 and $40 thousand dollars, the XFR is by no means a common household electronic, making it unavailable to parents concerned about their own children’s toys.

September 27, 2007 – Michael Schade, of the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, who is also the coordinator of this information session, held in the Marriott hotel in Boston, MA, informs the audience about the harmful effects of lead in toys that are made of PVC (vinyl). He explains that all of the toys found on the table to his right, which are currently being sold in stores, exceed the federal limit established by a 1978 mandate in response to toxic levels of lead in paint.

Beantown Jazz Festival 2007

September 29, 2007 – Concession stands and merchandise tents stretch on Columbus Ave., between Burke St. and Massachusetts Ave., in Boston, MA, in lieu of the fifth annual Beantown Jazz Festival hosted by the Berklee College of Music.

September 29, 2007 – Jake Jacobs of Houston, TX, slices a rack of ribs to serve at his fifth Beantown Jazz Festival in Boston, MA. This is his fifth year catering the event.

September 29, 2007 – On the Sovereign Stage set up in the middle of Columbus Ave. in Boston, MA, Bob Franceschini jams on his tenor saxophone during the Mike Stern Band performance at the Beantown Jazz Festival last Saturday.

September 29, 2007 – Those who could not afford to pitch a tent at the Beantown Jazz Festival on Columbus Ave. in Boston, MA, found ways to improvise. Felix Delahegboned, 28, of Jamaica Plain, uses the fence of Carter Playground to hang his merchandise - t-shirts with Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, and Malcolm X printed on them.

September 29, 2007 – Keyon Harrold, a trumpeter in the Charles Tolliver Big Band, plays a solo on the Target Stage of the Beantown Jazz Festival on Columbus Ave. in Boston, MA last Saturday.

Welcome Home Soldier

During a layover in Washington, D.C. I noticed a family in front of me with balloons and signs waiting in anticipation of someone's arrival. I turn around to see what the celebration was about and realize that exiting the terminal behind me is a soldier returning home from the war in Iraq. Quickly taking the case off of the camera in my hands, I haphazardly grabbed the first shot and began shooting the rest of the greeting.

September 21, 2007 – Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Chapman embraces his wife, Heather Chapman, for the first time in one year at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. after having just landed. His arrival from Iraq comes one week after President George W. Bush announced plans to gradually withdraw troops.

September 21, 2007 – Reuniting for the first time in one year, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Chapman, of the United States Army, stands next to wife, Heather, and gazes into the eyes of his three year-old son, Thomas, at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., as his six year-old son, William, shows off the sign he made to welcome his father back from Iraq. His niece and nephews, who made signs and carried balloons, welcoming their “Uncle Dennis, American hero”, also greet Chapman.

September 21, 2007 – Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Chapman entertains questions from his nephew, Ethan Armstrong, 8, who is curious as to what kind of weapons he had while in Iraq. Chapman had been in serving in the Iraq War for one year and is reuniting with his family for the first time here at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

September 21, 2007 – Having just reunited with his family for the first time after one-year of service in Iraq, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Chapman, of the United States Army, leaves Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. delighted to be home.