End of the Line

Posted on by December 29, 2014

In the summer of 2009 I was traveling south by train on an 23 hour trip from Chernivtsi, Urkaine to Sofia, Bulgaria. As the border between Ukraine and Romania is not one between European Union countries, the passengers underwent a customs/passport inspection. It turns out there was plenty of time for this inspection since the entire train was lifted and its wheel chassis removed and replaced with wider gauge wheels. Apparently the train tracks are a different width in these countries so that every time a train crosses the border, this labor intensive effort is required. Customs inspectors topping their … Read on…

Visit to Babi Yar

Posted on by October 24, 2012

In the summer of 2009, I traveled to Ukraine, in part to explore my family history by visiting my paternal grandfather Maurice Seymour’s hometown of Khotyn, Ukraine.  While in Ukraine, I spent several days in Kiev and while there visited Babi Yar, the site of a horrific massacre of 33,000+ Jews over 2 days in 1941. The Wilson Quarterly just published an article about Babi Yar and illustrated it with the photograph above.  After hearing my story, they wrote a nice post about me and my travels to Ukraine.  I also wrote of this time on my blog.  You can … Read on…

Full Moon Dancing in Paris

Posted on by October 24, 2012

I took this photo in August of 2009 while I was on a trip in Europe. While walking around Paris late one night with a friend I had met and strolling along the Seine, we happened upon a group of people sitting around playing music. There was something about the music and energy they were putting out that led us to hang around and listen for a bit. At some point they asked me if I played and handed me a guitar. I remember putting my whole soul into playing with them, singing a minor ¾ tune of mine called … Read on…

Woman Selling a Chicken

Posted on by November 8, 2011

I was in L’viv, Ukraine in the winter of 2009/2010 and while there took a special trip to the meat market to take some photographs. It was quite a scene far removed from the plastic wrapped supermarket butcher experience commonly found in the United States. This scene in Ukraine had men with axes chopping carcasses, skinned calf heads proudly on display, about 30 women (no men) selling a wide array of sausages including the ever-appetizing blood sausage, and people touching, squeezing and smelling the meats before purchase. Although I’ve been eating vegetarian for the past 4 years and find scenes … Read on…

Brighton Nightlife

Posted on by October 18, 2011

While walking around Brighton one evening with my friend Paul in the summer of 2009, I came across this scene.  Just an ordinary scene perhaps, but when seen from this perspective with harsh outdoor lighting it becomes entirely something else.   I love shooting at night.  The world as seen through a lens transforms.  It is as if the light becomes the central character or at least lends a strong supporting cast.   In an image such as this, we don’t get a chance to know anything much about any of the people, so we are left to ponder who … Read on…