Year In Review Part 2

Finally getting around to posting the remainder of my year in review. It is admittedly a loose edit but thought it was a good representation of my year.

Thanks again for looking and for all your support. And I hope everyone out there has a great 2013. Feedback or questions always welcome.

And again for best results view in full screen by clicking on the four arrows in the bottom right corner of the slideshow.



2012 Year in Review Pt 2 - Images by Matthew Healey

2012 Year in Review Part 1

Well 2012 is almost in the books as they say.  It's been quite a year.  Celebrated my first wedding anniversary, worked with some fantastic new clients, did a little travelling, and worked with and photographed some amazing and inspiring people.  Though the work still has it's ups and downs I am still happy to be doing what I love.

I have put together a gallery of some of my personal favorites from the past year.  Still have some digging to do but will start with this batch.  Hope you enjoy and as always, I am more than happy to hear any feedback.

Oh and for best results click on the 4 arrows in the bottom right corner for the full screen gallery.



2012 Year in Review Pt 1 - Images by Matthew Healey

Life is beautiful.

'Hello friend. Life is beautiful"

It's the first thing you hear when you walk into Stan's junk store in Wareham, Massachusetts. You turn the corner and there he is, sitting in his lounge chair with his winter coat, and winter mitts on, trying to watch a movie on the beat up television in the corner. Then the inevitable question "Whatcha lookin' for?" in his Minnesota accent. I first bumped into Stan in my travels while scouring junk, antique and thrift stores for whatever catches my eye. It's a hobby of mine. Stan's store is classic. A random assortment of items he has gathered over the years, most tucked away in a corner, gathering dust, and not worth all that much. But that's what makes it so fascinating. You can spend a long time getting lost in the drawers filled with trinkets. I spent a little time chatting with Stan one day.

He told me that he grew up on a farm in Minnesota.  After awhile he began traveling and selling ice fishing decoys that he had collected over the years from folk artists.  He became pretty well known in the world of fishing decoys which are very collectible.  On one of his trips he found himself in the Wareham and Buzzards Bay area and as he put it "My truck broke down so I stayed" 

He used to have a bigger shop in Buzzards Bay but that has since closed down.  He now spends each day in his little shop on the bridge trying to make a few bucks a day to get by.

Juxtaposition

One of the most exciting aspects of working as a photojournalist is the fact that every assignment you have is different.  Sometimes they are exceptionally different.  For example showing up at a fancy gala for a celebrity photo after just leaving a murder scene that was only a two miles away.  At the gala, people are laughing, having fun, drinking, eating all while looking their best.  At the crime scene you are sometimes dealing relatives of the victim who are literally having the worst day of their life.  It can be strange and can take some getting used to and you have to learn how to wear different hats.


Back in July I had one of those days.  Was sent to a candlelight vigil for two murder victims and then directly over to a private concert featuring scantily clad 20 somethings downing free rum all night.

Boston, MA - A card written in memory of Hyde Park murder victim Billie Marie Kee is amongst other gifts at a memorial in front of the apartment building where Kee was found as seen during a vigil on Saturday July 30, 2011.   Photo by Matthew Healey

Boston, MA - Tanisha Dupree of Boston, light candles for Hyde Park murder victim Kevin 'Smiley' Thomas at a makeshift memorial on the front steps of the apartment building where Thomas was found, as part of a candlelight vigil on Saturday July 30, 2011.   Photo by Matthew Healey during a vigil on Saturday July 30, 2011.   Photo by Matthew Healey

Boston, MA - Friends of Hyde Park murder victim Kevin 'Smiley' Thomas, hold hands in prayer as part of a candlelight vigil on Saturday July 30, 2011 in front of the apartment Thomas was found in.   Photo by Matthew Healey

Boston, MA - Friends of Hyde Park murder victim Kevin 'Smiley' Thomas, from left Robyn Chaney of Boston, Valerie Simpson of Boston, Lisa Dupree of Boston and Tanisha Dupree of Boston, light candles at a makeshift memorial on the front steps of the apartment building where Thomas was found, as part of a candlelight vigil on Saturday July 30, 2011.   Photo by Matthew Healey

 

Quincy, MA - A couple dances before Ciara performs at a private concert as part of the Station Invasion presented by Malibu Rum at Oyster Bar on Saturday July30, 2011.   Photo by Matthew Healey

Quincy, MA - Two women wait on the dance floor before Ciara performed at a private concert as part of the Station Invasion presented by Malibu Rum at Oyster Bar on Saturday July30, 2011.   Photo by Matthew Healey

Quincy, MA - Fans take photos as Ciara performs at a private concert as part of the Station Invasion presented by Malibu Rum at Oyster Bar on Saturday July30, 2011.   Photo by Matthew Healey

Quincy, MA - A couple dances before Ciara performs at a private concert as part of the Station Invasion presented by Malibu Rum at Oyster Bar on Saturday July30, 2011.   Photo by Matthew Healey

Weekly Rentals - John Michael

John Michael.

Deb, the manager of the motel, had told me a lot about John, before I had even ventured to his room.  For one, he is an alcoholic and in her words is 'drinking himself to death'.   The other story that she told me repeatedly is from when he was living in the guest home across the street.  The guest house is part of the motel property but can legally allow for long term residents.  John was living there for awhile and people had gotten used to his routine.  One day some of the residents realized they hadn't heard or seen John in a few days, and they were starting to get concerned.  So Deb checked on him and found him on the floor in rough shape and called for an ambulance.  He spent some time in the hospital.  During that time, there was a major fire in the guest house.  Deb thinks that if he hadn't been hospitalized he probably wouldn't have made it out.

John is wheelchair bound and spends most of his days drinking, and watching movies on AMC.  He can often be seen making a regular trip to the liquor store a block away.  Residents joke that it takes him three hours.

He has been in his current motel room for over a year.  He used to live in Florida and worked as a computer repair technician.  He also spent some time as a farmer in upstate New York.  He moved to the Cape with his wife but things didn't work out, and ended in divorce.  He does have adult children but they don't live in the state and he doesn't see them often.

For food he receives meals from the local Meals on Wheels program, and sometimes from concerned neighbors.  Deb has removed the curtain to his back window so that she can check on him from the office.  If she doesn't see his silhouette in the window for more than a day then she will head down to his room and check on him in person.  She doesn't want him to die in the motel.

If he is forced out of the motel he thinks he will probably end up in a shelter.  He wants to move to the motel across the street that has been turned into condominiums, but isn't sure if that will ever happen.

Weekly Rentals - An introduction

The West Yarmouth Lodgings on Route 28 in West Yarmouth is one of many motels along that stretch of road that advertise weekly rates.  For many residents who are seasonal workers, underemployed or unemployed, the motel has become an affordable and stable long term housing option.  Unlike an apartment rental the motel does not require a renter to pay first, last, and security deposit before moving in.  The other bonus is that the utilities are all included.  The downside is that the rooms are small, they don't have a full kitchen, and they can be drafty in the winter.  There is also the matter of crime.  The Yarmouth Police are not unfamiliar with the motels and some of their residents.

In January of 2011, a Barnstable Superior Court judge ruled that the motel was in violation of the town's motel zoning bylaw that limited motel stays to 30 days or 90 days in a six month period.  The ruling came with a deadline requiring that all residents must be out of the motel by May 1, 2011.  The motel owner appealed the ruling and eventually submitted a proposal to the town to avoid a mass eviction.  He has come up with a plan to update the buildings so it will be properly zoned to allow for long term residents.  In the meantime the town is reaching out to residents by pulling together healthcare, housing, job and food assistance agencies for help.

I have been visiting the West Yarmouth Lodgings since Februrary in an attempt to tell the story of some of the residents who live there. This is the first installment of many in what is a still developing story.

West Yarmouth, MA - Februray 9, 2011: Deborah Bellows (L) Manager of the West Yarmouth Lodgings motel, chats with a resident who withheld his name.  Bellows has been managing the motel for over eight years and lives on the property.  Photo by Matthew Healey

West Yarmouth, MA - Februray 13, 2011: Phil Cripps (C) plays a video game while his wife Sherry Foster (2nd-R) talks on the phone and his 19-year-old son Nathan Cripps (R) looks on.  Daughter Jasimine Cripps, 12-years-old plays a game on a handheld device on her parents bed.  The Cripps family have been living in the motel for almost two years.  Phil is currently unemployed and looking for work but wife Sherry and son Nathan work as dishwashers at a nearby hotel.  Photo by Matthew Healey

West Yarmouth, MA - February 15, 2011: "This is my home" says Debbie Lopes, who has been living at West Yarmouth Lodgings for 8 years with her husband.  She saves on her rent by cleaning rooms at the motel.  Photo by Matthew Healey

West Yarmouth, MA - February 24, 2011: Tiffany Rose takes her 14-month old daughter Jenna Marie Rose for a walk in her stroller in front of the motel.  Tiffany has been living in the motel since October and is only able to stay because she has been offered reduced rent.  She is expecting her second child soon and said that if she is forced to leave the motel her only other option is a homeless shelter.  Photo by Matthew Healey

West Yarmouth, MA - March 22, 2011: Michelle MaCura (C) plays with daughter Neveah Martin as Neveah's dad Joe Martin (L) looks on.  The three have been living in the West Yarmouth Lodgings since August of 2010.  Photo by Matthew Healey

West Yarmouth, MA - March 9, 2011:  John Michael, who has been living at the West Yarmouth Lodgings off and on for two years, watches television in his room.  Photo by Matthew Healey

Ongoing. Cape Cod living.

Just a single from an ongoing and still evolving series that I started working on in February about a different side of Cape Cod.

Feburary 8, 2011: At the Cavalier on Route 28

More to come in the near future I hope so keep checking in.  Thanks and comments are always welcome.