First Assignment for the Times Herald-Record

I reached out to my hometown paper, the Times Herald-Record, for some freelance work and they gave me the opportunity to shoot a "trial" assignment. The story ran on Monday, Nov. 10 and was about the rising number of welfare applicants in Orange County, NY. Needless to say, not many people in the Department of Social Services were willing to be interviewed, let alone photographed. I befriended a young couple with a two year old son and a baby on the way in the office who were going to be evicted from their Walden home later that day. I shot their experience from the waiting room to the counter, where they were given aid to help them with their predicament. Turns out not only did the Times-Herald Record like my work, but I got the cover! They published an additional frame with the story on page 5. As if that wasn't rewarding enough, the director of photography and multimedia, John DeSanto, told me the following day that the newsroom received several phone calls from people who wanted to contact the family and provide additional financial assistance. The fact that my work has (hopefully) bettered the lives of others is far more satisfying than seeing it on the front page. Or a paycheck. Yes, I said it.

Nov. 7, 2008 - The Orange County Department of Social Services is seeing an increase in the number of applications for public assistance. John Thompson Jr., 20, and his girlfriend, Kaitlyn-Ann Szmidt, 18, pointing through window, apply for assistance Friday in Newburgh, NY. Thompson is holding the couple's 2-year-old son, John Thompson III. For the Times Herald-Record/Ryan Meehan

Nov. 7, 2008 - The increase in welfare cases in Orange County stands in contrast to a continuing drop in statewide tallies. Kaitlyn-Ann Szmidt, 18, and her boyfriend, John Thompson Jr., 20, of Walden, wait with their son, John Thompson III, at the Department of Social Services in Newburgh, NY. For the Times Herald-Record/Ryan Meehan