Newaygo junior Abbi Van Wyck and Hazel Park sophomore Carlos Coronado pose to illustrate the ghostly tragedy of CMU's own Romeo and Juliet saga. According to legend, a pair of lovers planned to elope and meet at the CMU seal at midnight, but the man had car trouble and was late to meet his lady. She froze to death and he died of heartbreak upon finding her.(As published in CM-Life Friday, October 30, 2009).
This was a long night for Jake, Sean, Sihang, and me! Jake and I had photo illustration assignments for CM-Life and Sean and Sihang made it all a full-blown good time. We also had great subjects. Jake's photo illustration turned out really fantastic, and Sean just posted some excellent photos documenting the night. If you want insight into my near faceplant, check Jake or Sean's accounts. Almost lost my front teeth, I think.
My first photo story of the season, "Hearts Wide Open," was/is about the relationship between husband and wife Russ and Karen Attwater. A few weeks ago, I accompanied Karen to a doctor's appointment in Midland. Here's a single from that day.
Karen Attwater, 62, of Mount Pleasant, winces as the needle is inserted during her monthly appointment Friday, October 9 at the Midland Cancer Center in Midland.
"I always get squeamish and make a big fuss," she explains, though this is old hat for her. Karen makes the hour-long trip to Midland once every four weeks to get an IVIG to combat her hypogammaglobulinia, a genetic disorder which attacks the immune system.
"Well...I take a 3-hour IV every month...to keep me alive," she says. "So that's my $6,000 project for today."
These images are from a work I just finished for my art Photo 4 class; the assignment was to create 7 images linking together on the web that spoke conceptually - really open-ended. To see the full project in its intended format/order, start here and click through. The project ends in stop action video; my first fun .gif (Hopefully soon I will be adding another stop action video, but I kind of crashed Photoshop too many times to use it for that particular piece - it was too big an animation and I need to learn Flash for it).
The stock photo for this image is actually great quality; however, I chose to destroy it in order to allude to the color dot configuration very close up of a TV screen. Journalism friends, don't cry - it's conceptual! Ha.
This last image I think works also for a journalistic photo illustration; I need to work on a cutline for it.
Contestants at the Top Dog eating contest regroup between bites Friday at His House Christian Fellowship. Teams of six were challenged to consume as many hot dogs as they could handle in a span of 10 minutes. The Top Dog contest raised money for the Jimmy V. Foundation.
From 2 -3 AM on Saturday, October 10, I was riding shotty in a taxicab with a CM-Life reporter as part of a 1-day 24-hour coverage piece CM-Life did on Mount Pleasant.
I shot stills and video and collected audio for the below multimedia piece within one hour - stressful to do all of the above within that time span!
I was pretty strung out about how I would perform under that kind of pressure, but I'm fairly pleased with the piece visually. (Still amazed how much better the quality of the stills are than the video, though). Had to get friendly with programs like Final Cut and Audacity, too - which was frustrating but good experience for me. Couldn't have made it through the editing process without Jake and Neil there sweating out assignments and helping.
Go here to read the story by CM-Life staff reporter Maryellen Tighe, and link around to coverage of the rest of the big day - codename 'Operation Pineapple.'
This is my favorite single from my sports feature picture story. Quite similar to a single I did for my Caregiver/Care receiver story...I'm noticing lately I really gravitate toward reflections. Sort of worries me.
Parma junior Maria Idzior, right, surfs the Internet with her girlfriend, Holland junior Kat Sweet, Sunday, October 4, in Kat's Mount Pleasant apartment. Maria and Kat met through their intramural rugby team, the Central Michigan Rebels.
Russ and Karen Attwater have been married for 27 years. They live in Mount Pleasant, Michigan with their "children," two Irish wolfhounds, Jillian and Logan, and two cats, 'Garage Kitty,' and Christopher. Their life together is marked by caring ever-sharpened by banter, but always quietly tender. "My wife...she's a tiger," says Russ, 72, of Karen, 62. He refers not only to Karen's persistent character, but credits her strength in combatting the struggles in her life.
Eight years ago Karen Attwater was diagnosed with hypogammaglobulinemia, a genetic disorder. Once a month, she drives to the Midland Cancer Services Center to get necessary immune bodies dripped through an IV into her body. This ordeal is crucial to her life.
"I take a three-hour IV every month to, well, keep me alive [...] My life is rather like that of [the character in the movie] Bubble Boy," Karen explains. "There are times when I just...don't want to do it. I don't want to drive all the way there. I don't want to have them stick that thing in my chest. I just don't want to do it. But then I look over [at Russ] and I think, who's going to take care of him? So I do it. I go."
Karen's condition is the least of the Attwaters' worries. Four years ago Russ had an emergency open heart surgery, and his body now demands another procedure to avoid ongoing chest pain, or a heart attack. Russ and Karen, after extensive discussion, have decided a second surgery is the best course of action, for better or worse. Russ also dealt with a MRSA staph infection that makes such medical procedures even more hazardous.
The Attwaters traveled two hours to the Meijer Heart Center in Grand Rapids on September 21, 2009. They consulted with Dr. Robert Hooker, a surgeon for Spectrum Health, and set a date for a second bypass the following Tuesday, September 29.
The week between check-up and surgery was not an easy one for Russ and Karen. Russ insisted on working at his job as per normal routine until that Friday, while Karen mapped out housing arrangements, a dog-sitter, and medical details for the day of the surgery.
"D-Day" as the Attwaters referred to it, began before dawn with a 5:30 AM check-in at the Meijer Heart Center, and surgery scheduled for 7:15. The two hours between check-in and procedure were filled with preparation, including a swab test for remaining MRSA infection and an extensive body-shave.
Russ was rolled into surgery at 7:29 AM Tuesday morning. At about noon, Karen and her daughter-in-law, Hope, were informed that Russ' procedure went successfully, with the removal of two hernias from his chest and a rewiring of his heart. Karen could expect Russ to be home within 5 or 6 days.
The next day Russ had a tube removed from his left lung, and half of it collapsed. Russ remains in the hospital until this latest obstacle can be overcome.
100,000 paper planes fly through the atmosphere in Grand Rapids, Michigan to a rendition of Icelandic band Sigur Ros' track, "Olsen Olsen" played by musicians below on Monroe Avenue Sunday, September 27. Spectators at the event collected many of the post-consumer planes and sang along with the melody.
Janis Franco, 7, clambers down a tree along Monroe Avenue in pursuit of more paper planes Sunday, September 27. "I got a jackpot 'cause I climbed a tree!" she said.
Sigur Ros is one of my favorite bands ever, and this event was amazing because there were people from all walks of life present, from hipster high schoolers to grandparents with little kids. Beautiful day. Go to my flickr and to the Facebook event to see more photos, or to Youtube if you want video.
Defensive end and Detroit senior Sam Williams grips hands with his teammates in reverent celebration of Central Michigan's 48-21 victory Saturday over Akron in Kelly/Shorts stadium.
I'm hungry for life and pictures and giving of myself. Photojournalism, for me, is an avenue for documentation, art, and compassion.
All photos copyright Libby March, Central Michigan Life, The Midland Daily News, The Jackson Citizen Patriot, or the Concord Monitor.
