Tuesday, June 9, 2009

sports, final moments and in memorium

yesterday, i was on my way back from shooting a couple assignments and would be pretty much driving past the memorial to Navaeh, so i decided to drive along that road on my way back and see what was there, if any people were stopping, etc...i kind of felt like i was trying to get the picture i should have gotten a few days ago - just another day trying to play catch-up with this story visually, but since i was so close, i just went there....
it felt pretty creepy, staring down at the riverbank where her body was found, and even though i haven't felt really emotionally drawn in by everything (probably because i've been more consumed with the how we're missing everything than being really in it), i couldn't help but start to get choked up by the sadness of it that just kind of hit me as i pulled up along the road...there were a few other cars that stopped, and some got out and stood along the bank and looked at all the toys, flowers and religious items that have been placed there in her roadside memorial...but no one wanted to be photographed, so i shot this image, and then i left, just feeling kind of laden and thick and sad and feeling like this world can be a very horrible place

and then today

today was somewhat hectic - i knew i had a baseball game early afternoon - state quarterfinals, but i got a call from Mr. Bosch that one of the schools being shut down was going to give the building a big group hug after taking down the flag for the last time that afternoon - it was about 45 minutes before my game (which, as it turns out, was really 15 minutes before that, since sports gave us the wrong time...i figured that out later as i heard the announcer saying it was the top of the fourth and i'd only been there about 15 minutes - on NO planet whatsoever does baseball get to the top of the 4th in that time!!!)....so, i went to the school, made some frames which i kind of like - the group hug thing was pretty much a bust visually, but i really liked some of the moments before that, and they still fit the tone of the story....so, here they be...


i don't know which of these 2 frames i like better, but i think i'm turning one in for our community photo page next week

the principal asked all the students to shut their eyes and concentrate, think about their most special memory of their time at the school - i just really liked how this little girl covered her eyes and was focusing so hard on what was, for many of them, a very sad day

then, off to baseball

got a call just as i was leaving the game that the family of Navaeh may be willing to sit down and talk to us - in particular the mom, who has been mum to the media under police suggestion...unfortunately, she decided either today or yesterday to go on the Nancy Grace show, which she ended up walking out on, because she was being attacked - never heard of this CNN woman before, but i saw a clip of the uncle being interviewed and some other pieces she's done, and she's pretty heinous...mom couldn't have picked a WORST first media interview to give if she'd tried! needless to say, that pretty much blew any chances of her talking to anyone now, but the rumor remained, as the sheriff's office reported today that they got back DNA results confirming that the body found was Navaeh's....anyway, i was told they were going to make some kind of dstatement and to get to their apt. complex ASAP, so i did - the uncle did finally come out and made some brief remarks - not going to bother posting my pic, because it's just more of the scrum - this time, i had to crawl down into the middle after getting nosed out by the tv people, even though i was in position, so, that being said....here's an outtake from the baseball game that i liked - just a general baseball feel kind of shot, but i'll post it so ya can take a look-see if you like.....

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