Voices from Afghanistan for NPR

Voices From Afghanistan: Combat Outpost Charkh from NPR on Vimeo.

"Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division has seen some of the fiercest combat of the war in the past six months while fighting for control of the central bazaar in Charkh, Afghanistan.

With about 140 soldiers, it has racked up 50 Purple Hearts in grenade and mortar attacks, ambushes and straight-ahead gun fights. The company has lost five soldiers."

A Sinking Nation for NPR

An audio slideshow I produced for NPR with Above the Fray fellow Brian Reed and audio expert Laura Krantz.

Al Sharpton for NPR

©NPR

November 2

November 1

Lost In The Trees

If you haven't had a chance to check out Chapel Hill based Lost In The Trees, you should. Their unique blend of orchestral folk is, as Bob Boilen put it, "mighty potent stuff." They are my go to headphones on, volume up, any time of day escape. Seeing them today was a true treat and I may or may not have blushed fiercely after spotting Ari in the hall and gushing my fandom.

We Grew It, Let's Eat It! On NPR

The book made it to the airwaves this weekend. Listen in for giggles, Scott Simon stomping on squash, and dreams of ice cream plants. You can find a copy of the book through the Tenley Circle Press or Amazon. Happy growing!

Mrs. Bush

(thanks to May-Ying for taking this pic!)

Yesterday I met, and briefly photographed, Laura Bush for NPR. It was pretty neat.

Officemates

goodbye cave. hello window.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Check out the video I edited for the ES&MZ Tiny Desk at NPR. The Tiny Desk Concerts are seriously one of the greatest perks about working here and editing them, well now that's just heaven.

VA: Remote Area Medical 5

Eddie Sturgill, Pound, Va.

Will Mays and Eddie Sturgill hang around their car late in the evening. Danny Sturgill was sleeping "like a chainsaw" making it tough for Eddie to sleep in the reclined passenger seat. Early this year Eddie had a triple bypass. With no insurance it cost him more than $300,000. Will quipped "he'll be dead before he pays that off." Eddie said his only option is to declare total bankruptcy.

VA: Remote Area Medical 4

Sheri Wittaker (standing)
"Look at these people," Sherri said as a woman drove by with curlers in her hair, "they are so desperate, somethings got to be done, they come from all over, do you see these people? I can't begin to tell you, you just gotta sit and watch them." Sherri and her extended family set up camp near the National Guardsmen ushering potential patients to parking spots late into the night.

VA: Remote Area Medical 3

Jacob Reese, 5
Jacob came to RAM with his sister Emily, his grandparents, aunt, uncle and infant cousin. The goose egg above his right eye is the result of a head on collision with a parked car while playing in the fairground campground/parking lot. "Will you take a picture of me and my Nana," he asked, "I love my Nana so much." The next day he would cry in his Nana's lap while getting his oozing ear checked by a volunteer physician.

VA: Remote Area Medical 2

Stella Barr & Montana Mccall, 21, Gladsprings, Va.
Last year, Stella's daughter, and Montana's girlfriend, Andrea had both her wisdom teeth pulled, this year it's Stella's son Tommy's turn. The Barrs and company arrived the day before the clinic began and all received numbers in the single digits and teens. Tommy arrived after his shift that night and received a number in the 700's. The following day he decided not to wait in line for hours on end, despite the pleas of his mother and girlfriend.

VA: Remote Area Medical 1

Mitchell Boggs, Pennington Gap, Va.
Last year Mitchell had all of his teeth pulled. The first day we met he said they would be mailing his dentures to him the next week. The day after he had been entered into a lottery and wasn't sure if he would receive his dentures or not. After an entire year without teeth Bogg's friend Ralph said he had lost a lot of weight and I relied on Ralph to translate Mitchell's garbled speech.

I spent this past weekend in Wise, Va. photographing a Remote Area Medical expedition for NPR. The gallery follows one woman through her experience over the course of the weekend but along the way I encountered many touching, heart breaking, and even infuriating stories. It was such an honor and pleasure to work side by side with a reporter and producer, their sound really captured the essence of the place and people and our photo editor complemented the piece beautifully with stunning portraits of patients and doctors. It's the type of story that reminds me time and time again why NPR is such a remarkable place.

I wish I had collected some of my own tape to give these other people a voice. Next time...

Look: Blind Photographers

"My images are fragile; I've never seen them, but I know they exist, and some of them have touched me deeply." ©Evgen Bavcar

For many years I've had a reoccurring dream where I go blind. Once, this dream involved me struggling to load a roll of film, unable to see, unable to photograph. Sight Unseen, currently at the California Museum of Photography highlights work from a multitude of blind photographers who create haunting, tender, passionate images, and reminds me that the power of images can transcend all imaginable boundaries.

Check out my article on The Picture Show.

WHNPA Awards

© David Gilkey/NPR

NPR took home a slew of awards at this years WHNPA Awards hosted at Nat'l Geographic -- including a bunch of firsts for the eminent David Gilkey and prizes in narrated slideshows and videos.

Karl Kuntz

Karl Kuntz from the Columbus Dispatch hung out at NPR for two days teaching basic photo to a new batch of Knights in training. Made me miss Syracuse and the photo gang.

Knight

Playing with the G10 during training.

Listen, Read, Contribute