photo story

This assignment was a photo story, i had the amazing opportunity to meet a fellow Bellingham community member who lives at the Sean Humphrey House on H street.

Meet Keith. He is the second-to-youngest of 5 siblings. At 18 he became the only member of his family to leave home (Springfield, Massachusetts). For “35 years,” Keith, “traveled either by bus or sometimes plane, throughout the United States while working as a nursing assistant at different nursing homes and never stayed a place longer than 6 months,” until he came to Bellingham, where his world experienced love, loss, and the challenges of HIV/AIDS.

30 years ago, at Rumors Bar in WA, Keith Lefebvre met John J. Julius (pictured in the frame Keith is holding up), a Lummi Island Native American who welcomed Keith into his heart, and family. John had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS before the couple met, but that remained a non-deterring factor in their decision to marry in a Metropolitan Community Church which no longest exists in Bellingham.
After one night, a little too much to drink, and a few weeks later, the doctor told Keith he was HIV positive.
“I thought my life was over. I maxed out my credit cards to no end, took all my money out of the bank.”
Keith defied his own odds, and lived for 30 years HIV positive until last year when he found out he had progressed into full AIDS.

John suffered from AIDS near the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in America. One of the first type of treatments for HIV/AIDS was a drug know to Keith as A.Z.T. It took doctors years to figure out the drug did more harm than good. In John’s case it, “attacked his kidneys and liver,” and took his life. Keith is certain if he was taking a different type of medicine he would be alive and next to him today.
This photo Keith is holding is of John just weeks before he passed away. The metal in the lower right corner is a key Keith gave to John which opened a heart shaped box with Keith’s photo inside.
The “key to my heart only I lost the heart and my heart when John died.”

For 10 years Keith took the same drug that killed his lover. He was sick every day and dropped to 90 pounds by the time he came to the Sean Humphrey House 4 years ago. The Sean Humphrey house, located at 1630 H Street in Bellingham, is a private home which houses 6 residents living with HIV/AIDS. Today, Keith takes 30 pills, “just to keep me running,” he explains, as he shows me his drawer of medicine pictured above.

Despite 30 years of HIV/AIDS, four back operations, 2 hip replacements, and his early stages of dementia, Keith is living proof that with the right medicine an HIV/AIDS patient can live 30 to 40 more years.
“I am not sick anymore,” Keith explains. He gained his weight back in the 4 years at the Sean Humphrey house and now is planning to move out to an apartment downtown.
“The most important thing for me is to move, get the help I need and get on with my life, to get my dignity back.”

“You got to follow the rules here,” mentions Keith, explaining he is not so good at that and why moving next month out of the Sean Humphrey house is his number one priority along with restoring his sense of pride and dignity. Keith has arranged for a caregiver to come by for assistance and is looking forward to living his life with the independence he deserves.

Assignment #6

This assignment we were to either produce an illustration or a stand alone photo. This is some of my take:

Bellingham’s Alternative library does not only offer a sanctuary to the literate mind, but a comfort and freedom zone (for but not limited to) the members of Western Washington University’s, “Students for Optional Clothing” club to meet and function…naked.
Sarah Worknen, an 18-year-old hitchhiker from New York who “lives outside,” paints the body of a fellow WWU, “Students for Optional Clothing” member Tuesday, March 2, during the clubs, “Body Paint Extravaganza!”

Assignment #5 Motion

For this assignment, our job was to capture motion, so I thought it would be a perfect time to shoot some fire poi spinners, here is some of the take:

Pictured above on Wednesday, Feb. 23 is 20-year-old Jordan Oberlindacher, a WWU student and poi club member, with the unusual capability of spinning fire. He picked up the hobby of fire poi over a year ago after watching a friend spin and becoming, “transfixed with the motion”. Months of practicing in the confined space of a dorm room with a make-shift sock for poi have turned his skills into sheer excellence. Jordan makes frequent appearances to spin at WWU’s Drum circle which occurs every Monday for those interested in seeing.

Assignment #4

For this assignment, our task was to capture "honest emotion" and this is a bit of what i came up with:

Chelsea Poppe, 20-year-old WWU student, and actress rehearsing her character in, "The Rabbit Hole" before the final night of the play.

Everyone dreads the dentist when their sweet tooth doesn't feel so sweet anymore. My mouth can vouch for it too in the photos above where my cavity is being treated by Dr. Samiramis Sando of Bright Now Dental (pictured the in last photo), located in Bellingham off Meridian.

Assignment #3

For this assignment we were to take pictures of people in their natural environment, this could include their work, play, art, anything that helps tell more of the story about our subjects. This is a bit of what I stumbled upon.

Juliana De Groot poses Tuesday night during her DJ shift at KUGs 89.3 FM.
Juliana has been a working for KUGs for two years. Her latest creation is her own show entitled, “Let’s Stay Friends.” The show is a quirky mix of, “art punk, experimental, and noise music,” and can be heard every Tuesday at 10 p.m. till midnight.
“It gets really noisy in here,” she explains with a grin. “Pretty much I get to play really spazzy music. It’s fun! No one else plays it!”

A peek at Western's drum circle club:

Assignment #2

For this assignment, our class decided on a question of "describe a recent moment of happiness" in which we were to find 6 different strangers to answer. I found myself having trouble with this assignment, mainly with finding subject matter, but this is what I came up with:

Local performer, Travis Meginniss, sings, plays guitar, and the harmonica on the streets of Bellingham. He can typically be found outside the Food-Cop, or on Railroad in the evenings, and his happiest moment is when he hits a, “Johnny Cash solo,” particularly from his favorite song, “Folsom Blues”

Construction on Wednesday Jan. 26 clogged the downtown sidewalks with men wearing neon-orange-and-yellow vests.
One of which was Dwaine Thornton, a 46-year-old man who looked relieved to be able to catch his breath from digging to answer my question.
“83’, that was the year, when I was driving my Pontiac Trans Am, that was when I was happy last; had a lot of bad cards in this life.”

WWU students are beginning to relax now that most have completed their midterms. Dylan Mansfield, a WWU student explained he was happy last, “5 minutes ago, when I rode my bike down Indian,” celebrating a day of completed exams.

The Seattle Boat Show, West Coast’s largest Boat Show, began January 21 and extends until Jan. 30 bringing many curious spectators to Quest Field Event Center.
Two being, Diane Swingler, 48, and her three-year-old son, David, who are pictured above and wandered to Seattle’s train station located next to Quest Field to take a break from the crowds.
Diane explained how they went to church earlier this Sunday morning, and that is where she felt most happy, “being with friends and family” and that what makes her happiest about church is, “her relationship with god.”
David was too shy, and Diane spoke for him, saying, “David loves trains, so he’s really happy to be at a train station right now.”

A visitor in her old town, Melissa Watt, 26, explains how it’s good to be back, and she is happy now because, “she just saw an old friend.”

Assignment 1: Disposable Camera

My first assignment for photojournalism was to pick up a disposable camera, and experience the challenge of not instantly knowing what the image looks like, and no flash. We were to take a photo with someone in the frame, My roll didn't quite come out how expected but here is some of my take. 

 "The voice of Bellingham" is "running for state senate," in Sensuous Senator, a  Bellingham Theatre Guild production airing April Fool's Day.
    Micheal Gill, 42, actor, voice of magic FM radio station, and self-proclaimed, "camera whore," will be playing the congressman running for senate, Jack McGuire.
    The play will be showing through April 17, and tickets will be available shortly through the Bellingham Theater Guild box office.