Scenes from the New Hampshire primary

April 4, 2012

Surrounded by security, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista arrive for a campaign event at BAE Systems, a major defense contractor, in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Jan. 9, 2012. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

People wait to catch a glimpse of Mitt Romney at a Romney campaign event to begin at Gilchrist Metal Fabricating in Hudson, New Hampshire, on Jan. 9, 2012. Romney is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney speaks at a Romney campaign event to begin at Gilchrist Metal Fabricating in Hudson, New Hampshire, on Jan. 9, 2012. Romney is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

While speaking at a town hall meeting in Northfield, New Hampshire, former congressman Rick Santorum holds on to a gilt-edged copy of the US Constitution that he keeps in his pocket. Santorum is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

Romney supporters gather behind Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, as he speaks to the media during a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The rally was called, “Earn It with Mitt,” and was designed to bolster local efforts to help Romney “earn” voters’ support for the upcoming Republican primary.

A campaign sign for former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich hangs next to a sign reading “closed” in Manchester, New Hampshire. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

Members of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s security detail eat lunch while waiting for Gingrich to finish a radio interview at the Northern Grafton County Republican Committee offices in Littleton, New Hampshire. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

A reporter uses a laptop in a news van as former senator Rick Santorum speaks to a crowd made primarily of media and protestors outside Belmont Hall and Restaurant in Manchest, New Hampshire, on Jan. 6, 2012. Santorum is seeking the 2012 GOP Republican presidential nomination. Protestors were primarily from the Occupy New Hampshire group..

An empty volunteer form lays on a table with Newt Gingrich campaign materials outside a town hall meeting in Lancaster, New Hampshire. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.

People listen to former congressman Rick Santorum at a town hall meeting in Northfield, New Hampshire. Santorum is seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for president.

People wait outside a hangar to catch a glimpse of Ron Paul after a rally at Jet Aviation in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Jan. 6, 2012. Paul is seeking the 2012 GOP Republican presidential nomination.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, speaks to the media during a “press availability” after a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The rally was called, “Earn It with Mitt,” and was designed to bolster local efforts to help Romney “earn” voters’ support for the upcoming Republican primary.

A car pulls a trailer sign in support of Ron Paul on which is also printed the words “Audit the Fed” and “Occupy Wall Street” outside a Ron Paul town hall meeting and rally at the Church Landing at Mills Falls hotel in Meredith, New Hampshire, on Jan. 8, 2012. Paul is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

People leave the room after a speech by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich at the Hillsborough County Republican Gala at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Jan. 6, 2012. Former congressmen Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich spoke at the event. Both are seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Volunteers make calls to gather support for former senator Rick Santorum at Santorum’s New Hampshire campaign headquarters in Bedford, New Hampshire, on Jan. 7, 2012. Santorum is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Protesters march in a Pride Parade in downtown Manchester, New Hampshire, on Jan. 7, 2012. Some of the protesters are part of Occupy New Hampshire or Occupy the Primary.

A Romney staffer answers a phone call at the Romney New Hampshire campaign headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Jan. 7, 2012. Romney is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

A man polishes the Romney campaign bus outside a Mitt Romney town hall meeting and rally at the Rochester Opera House in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Jan. 8, 2012. Romney is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Newt Gingrich speaks to the Nashua Rotary Club at the Nashua Country Club in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Jan. 9, 2012. Gingrich is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Congressman Ron Paul speaks at a town hall meeting and rally at the Church Landing at Mills Falls hotel in Meredith, New Hampshire, on Jan. 8, 2012. Paul is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Camera crews work outside a house party where former Utah governor Jon Huntsman is speaking in Bedford, New Hampshire, on Jan. 8, 2012. Huntsman is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman waves to the crowd after leaving a campaign event at Crosby’s Bakery in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Jan. 9, 2012. Hunstman is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Former senator Rick Santorum greets supporters at a campaign event at Jillian’s, a bar in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Jan. 9, 2012. Santorum is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Occupy protesters gather outside a Rick Santorum campaign event at Jillian’s, a bar in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Jan. 9, 2012. Santorum is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

I spent the first part of January photographing the New Hampshire Republican Presidential Primary campaign. There's a short edit of the work, focusing on spectators and supporters, in the portfolio section of this site. These are a few I liked that didn't quite fit in to the short edit. Many more images are available in my online archive.

Affluence in Belmont for the Wall Street Journal

April 1, 2012

At the edge of Belmont’s city limits on Concord Avenue, an oval sign welcomes drivers to Belmont, Massachusetts, USA, on Thurs. Jan. 19, 2012. The sign asks drivers to “please be courteous” and “obey the traffic laws.” Belmont was an ordinary working-class town in the past, but its median wealth has increased in the past 30 years alongside drops in crime and increases in education.

Cars drive through Belmont Center in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA, on Thurs. Jan. 19, 2012.

A view of houses in a neighborhood in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA, on Thurs. Jan. 19, 2012.

A street sign marks the intersection of Pleasant and Prospect Streets in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA, on Thurs. Jan. 19, 2012.

A view of houses in a neighborhood in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA, on Thurs. Jan. 19, 2012.

Cars drive through Belmont Center in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA, on Thurs. Jan. 19, 2012.

A view of houses in a neighborhood in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA, on Thurs. Jan. 19, 2012.

Plymouth Congregation Church stands above Belmont Center in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA, on Thurs. Jan. 19, 2012.

A few months ago, I photographed Belmont, a suburb that grew to relative affluence after a long history as a working-class community outside of Boston. The assignment was to go to the town and find some nice houses to photograph for an article comparing the city to Fishtown, PA, a similar community that took downward trajectory after the 70s.

West to east across the Plains

March 25, 2012

Last year we drove from Washington State to Boston to move some furniture and a cat. While the trip was relatively quick, managed to catch a few glimpses of the tourist meccas of South Dakota, bison in the Badlands, Iowa's corn fields, roadside evangelism, and everything in between.

iCreatetoEducate for Education Week

March 16, 2012

Melissa Pickering is the founder of iCreatetoEducate, a start up that aims to engage K-12 students worldwide with science and math through animations they create themselves, photographed at her offices in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. The company’s software was developed at Tufts University and iCreatetoEducate now has about 50,000 users worldwide, 75% of whom are in the US. M. Scott Brauer for Education Week

Monica Navarro (16, junior) creates an animation using SAM Animation software after school at Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston, Mass., on Thurs., Feb. 3, 2012. The pair are students in Kristina Buenafe math class. Buenafe has been using the SAM Software, which was developed by Tufts University and put into schools by Melissa Pickering’s iCreatetoEducate company, in her math classes since the ’09-’10 school year. The goal of iCreatetoEducate is to help students engage with math and science in a creative way. Buenafe says that “rather than memorizing for a test” the software helps students “express themselves in a creative way.” “They come up with things I wouldn’t have come up with myself,” said Buenafe. “It helps my ideas come to life…I like being creative” said Navarro.

Monica Navarro (16, junior) creates an animation using SAM Animation software after school at Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston, Mass., on Thurs., Feb. 3, 2012.

Alex Yen (18, senior) creates an animation using a LEGO figure and SAM Animation software after school at Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston, Mass., on Thurs., Feb. 3, 2012.

Nancy Peng (16, junior) creates an animation in which an alien meets a crab using SAM Animation software after school at Josiah Quincy Upper School in Boston, Mass., on Thurs., Feb. 3, 2012.

Had a tough shoot in February for Education Week covering a startup called iCreatetoEducate. The startup puts animation software and webcams in the hands of children worldwide to approach math, science, and other subjects in a creative way. It was one of those assignments where you walk into a room and there are 4 people sitting quietly in the room using computers, but I got some images I like. Click through to see how Education Week published the images.

Inside a Sunny Delight plant for the Wall Street Journal

January 30, 2012

Joe Mertzic, an electrician, stands on the plant floor at the Sunny Delight Beverages Company Littleton Plant in Littleton, Mass., USA, on Thurs., Dec. 1, 2011. The Sunny Delight Beverages Company has received federal money for business improvement, allowing the company to purchase new equipment for their production line. This new equipment increases production efficiency and reduces the plant’s water and energy use. But with increased automation and efficieny, the company’s demand for workers has decreased, causing layoffs.

Area technical lead Tom Borden checks the performance of machines as they fill plastic bottles with a Fruit2O beverage in the “filler room” at the Sunny Delight Beverages Company Littleton Plant in Littleton, Mass., USA, on Thurs., Dec. 1, 2011.

Label operator Jenny Sovvannasack makes sure things are working properly as bottles of a Fruit2O beverage travel along the labeling and packing process at the Sunny Delight Beverages Company Littleton Plant in Littleton, Mass., USA, on Thurs., Dec. 1, 2011.

Kim Ang, a packer, checks on machine operations as bottles of a Fruit2O beverage travel along conveyor belts during the labeling and packing process at the Sunny Delight Beverages Company Littleton Plant in Littleton, Mass., USA, on Thurs., Dec. 1, 2011.

Stacks of finished beverage pallets stand on shelves in the Sunny Delight Beverages Company Littleton Plant in Littleton, Mass., USA, on Thurs., Dec. 1, 2011.

Carlos Munera, a packer operator, moves past a conveyor belt filled with Fruit2O bottles in the middle of the labeling and packaging process at the Sunny Delight Beverages Company Littleton Plant in Littleton, Mass., USA, on Thurs., Dec. 1, 2011.

Electrician Joe Mertzic watches as machines fill plastic bottles with a Fruit2O beverage in the “filler room” at the Sunny Delight Beverages Company Littleton Plant in Littleton, Mass., USA, on Thurs., Dec. 1, 2011.

Tom Wuth mixes up a batch of the Fruit2O beverage in the “batching room” at the Sunny Delight Beverages Company Littleton Plant in Littleton, Mass., USA, on Thurs., Dec. 1, 2011.

Late last year, I spent a day in a Sunny Delight plant in Littleton, Massachusetts, for the Wall Street Journal. The company recently used federal money to update equipment in the plant, improving the efficiency of the beverage bottling process. In doing so, the company has been able to grow, but this growth hasn't resulted in more jobs. I was pleasantly surprised with the access I was given to the plant for the few hours I was there, though unfortunately that day the plant was bottling a colorless product called Fruit20, rather than a more colorful Sunny Delight product. You can see how the pictures appeared in print and online in the Tearsheets section of this website: Tearsheet: Sunny Delight plant for the Wall Street Journal The article is also available online at WSJ.com: Man vs. Machine, a Jobless Recovery

Mitt Romney campaigns in New Hampshire

December 6, 2011

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, speaks to supporters and the media at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The rally was called, “Earn It with Mitt,” and was designed to bolster local efforts to help Romney “earn” voters’ support for the upcoming Republican primary.

Romney supporters gather to listen to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, as he speaks during a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The rally was called, “Earn It with Mitt,” and was designed to bolster local efforts to help Romney “earn” voters’ support for the upcoming Republican primary.

Protesters, including Planned Parenthood supporters, demonstrate for passing traffic outside a rally for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The rally was called, “Earn It with Mitt,” and was designed to bolster local efforts to help Romney “earn” voters’ support for the upcoming Republican primary.

Romney supporter Barbara Clark, of Nashua, NH, waits for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, to at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The rally was called, “Earn It with Mitt,” and was designed to bolster local efforts to help Romney “earn” voters’ support for the upcoming Republican primary. Clark is a lifelong Republican, having voted for Republicans since Eisenhower. “The only Democrat I voted for Koch in New York,” said Clark.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, greets supporters and signs autographs after a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The rally was called, “Earn It with Mitt,” and was designed to bolster local efforts to help Romney “earn” voters’ support for the upcoming Republican primary.

Former governor of Minnesota and Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty (brown jacket) speaks to the public in support of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, during a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The rally was called, “Earn It with Mitt,” and was designed to bolster local efforts to help Romney “earn” voters’ support for the upcoming Republican primary.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, speaks with supporter James Conway at his home in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The neighborhood traditionally votes Republican. Romney spent about an hour walking through the neighborhood knocking on doors to speak with likely primary voters in the area.

Members of the media watch as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, walks through a neighborhood and knocks on the doors of likely primary voters in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The neighborhood traditionally votes Republican.

Joined by local politicians, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, walks through a neighborhood and knocks on the doors of likely primary voters in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sat. Dec. 3, 2011. The neighborhood traditionally votes Republican.

I've been following the 2012 Republican presidential race in New Hampshire whenever I get a chance. This weekend, I went to Manchester, NH, to photograph Mitt Romney's efforts to get out the primary vote with a rally for supporters and a short period of canvassing a neighborhood of likely Republican primary voters. It's been eye-opening to watch this process up close (literally close! I've been close enough to touch any of the candidates I've photographed.) and to see how manufactured the process is for the media. Every event is carefully coordinated so that members of the national media are present. I'm not always successful at finding a unique perspective of the pageantry, but I enjoy trying. More pictures from the day are available in my archive: 2012 campaign - Mitt Romney in Manchester, New Hampshire - 3 December 2011.

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