A tragic loss

Days ago, Stanislass Augustin lost her mother, Gertha Augustin, in a terrible car accident. Initial reports said the accident was caused by a local high school basketball superstar. The following day when the accident was reported in the news, only the name of the basketball superstar was mentioned. Augustin, understandably upset her mother's name wasn't mentioned in any news reports, called local media outlets to ask why. The reason is the family needs to give permission to release the name. That being said, it's a tragedy anytime a person, in this case a grandmother and a nurse, dies because of another person's irresponsibility. Gertha Augustin was a generous woman, originally from Haiti, who worked at M. D. Anderson.

Myself and Shaminder Dulai, a reporter at the Houston Chronicle, were called out to photograph and interview her daughter. Situations like these can sometimes be uncomfortable. I've been on more than one of these assignments where the surviving family didn't know we were coming. However, this was not the case this time. Augustin's daughter, Stanislass, was very open and inviting. While she chatted with Shaminder, I made a picture I thought was story-telling and documentary in style. I also always make a safety picture in assignments like these. Of course, the safe photo is the one they ran with.

______________________________________________________________________________________Stanislass Augustin, 32, pictured with her son Elijah, 18 months, talks about her mother Gertha Augustin, who was killed in a car accident with Belliare star basketball player Tobi Oyedeji May 17, 2010 in Richmond, TX.

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The "safety" shot.

Catching up

Its been a while, so here are some recent pictures that I'm sharing with Mom, Dad, and the countless spammers who comment numerous times on my blog through out the day.

As many as 13,000 runners run down Texas Avenue as they participate in the Conoco Rodeo Run Feb. 27, 2010 in Houston. The run, which kicks off the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo parade, took runners from Bayou Place through the streets of downtown to the finish just past Minute Maid Park on Texas Avenue. There was a 10K and 5K race.

Server Becky Castillo laughs with customers while refilling coffee at Tony's Restaurant in Sealy, TX. The Sealy plant that manufactures medium-grade Army trucks lost its $3 billion government contract, which likely means that all, or at least some, of the 3,400 jobs at the plant will evaporate by the end of 2010. In tiny Sealy, where the BAE plant is the town's biggest employer by far, that will be a big hit on residents and the businesses that have sprung up to accommodate workers.

Other stores are reflected in a window as construction takes place inside another store at PlazAmericas Mall in Houston. Months after a public development authority rejected Sharpstown mall's request for millions to help redevelop the mall, the owners are moving forward with their Plan B. New signs have gone up in and outside the mall with the property's new name, PlazAmericas.

Jeff Smisek, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Continental Airlines Inc., the world's fifth largest airline, photographed March 5, 2010 in Houston.

Brian Royo, with the U of H Cougar BBQ team pit, takes out pork ribs at the Rodeo's World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest finals.

Vivek Sarkar, PhD, stands near a donated $7.6 million IBM supercomputer in Houston. The computer, donated to Rice University, effectively doubles the university's supercomputing capacity. Rice says it will use the computer, the first of a new line of IBM architecture, to collaborate with Texas Medical Center institutions to further biomedical research.

Former Chivas USA midfielder Ramon Ramirez is in town to promote Mexico's national team in a game against New Zealand.

Executive chef Danny Trace at Brennan's in Houston.

Rodeo volunteer Jay Justilian takes leftover food from the rodeo's Golden Buckle Foodie Awards to other volunteers  in Houston. The contest recognized the best food at the Rodeo. The competition was judged on Thursday at the Kids Country Stage. The categories included best burger, taco, baked potato, barbecue, fried food, breakfast, food on a stick, dessert, seafood and most creative.

Fort Bend Bush plays Garland Lakeview Centennial for the 5A Texas state championship in the second half in Austin, TX. Fort Bend Bush won 65-58.

Giant Snowflake

An editor wanted a cold weather feature. The only problem was it wasn't cold enough for people to bundle up. I found this big snowflake reflection in a display at Macy's in downtown Houston and waited.

Patrick Prusko, left, and Philipp Ehses stroll through downtown on a chilly day, Nov. 30, 2009 in Houston. Both were in town from Germany for a wedding.

Pressure to leave

Inside a FEMA trailer park in High Island, Texas, Yvonne VanZandt said she and her husband are being badgered by caseworkers even though they have signed a contract with a builder and could have their home rebuilt by the trailer program's March 12 deadline. She said caseworkers told her they would photograph her property to see if work was being done. (quote from story by Houston Chronicle reporter Harvey Rice).

Yvonne VanZandt, posing next to her trailer, Nov. 13, 2009 in High Island, TX. FEMA is forcing out of her trailer before the trailer program ends March 12. FEMA is forcing her family out even though a house to replace the one washed away by Hurricane Ike is likely to be completed before the trailer program ends. She is one of many residents who complain about FEMA pressure to move out before the program ends. FEMA is ending its temporary housting program for hurricane Ike victims even though it extended the program in Louisiana for four years. FEMA is selling trailers to Ike victims for prices ranging from $3,400 to $16,000, but in Louisiana they were sold for under $100.

Adoption, thousands of trees and a war hero

Saturday was a busy day. Check it out! 

black

C. B. Black, 66, a former letter carrier and U. S. Army Sergeant received a purple heart and bronze star Nov. 21, 2009 in Houston at the central branch of the Houston Public Library. Black had lost the medals nearly 40 years ago in a fire at his father's house where his medals were stored.

TREES

Rony Kraft hauls away two sweet gum trees as the Trees for Galveston Project gave away 2,000 trees Nov. 21, 2009 in Galveston, TX. The project is helping to replace the 30,000 tree lost from Hurricane Ike. Each resident received two trees per a person. About 500 trees were given away in the first hour.

TREES

Volunteer Pat Chianetta, center, holds a sapling as the Trees for Galveston Project gave away 2,000 trees Nov. 21, 2009 in Galveston, TX. The project is helping to replace the 30,000 tree lost from Hurricane Ike. Each resident received two trees per a person. About 500 trees were given away in the first hour.

adopt

From left, Shannon Vincent holds Spencer, 1, who he and his wife Heather, holding Sarah, 2, are about to adopt as Galveston county Child Protective Services holds a mass adoption day Nov. 21, 2009 at Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX. The Vincent's are swearing in before the short five-minute process takes place. CPS is celebrating National Adoption Month and bringing awareness to the many children in the child welfare system who need and deserve permanent, loving homes.  In the greater Houston area, including Galveston County there are more than 1,700 CPS children waiting for an adoptive home.  Most of these children are older, part of a sibling group or have special needs.  They are in CPS custody due to abuse, neglect, or abandonment by their own biological families.

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Shannon Vincent holds Spencer, 1, who he and his wife Heather, are about to adopt.

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Donna Venti holds Ruthie Venti, 1, moments after she was adopted by Donna and her husband Stephen.

Dusk in the reflection

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________University of Houston freshman Daniel Rojas attempts to throw a frisbee from a handstand to sophomore Edwin Castaneda as they play during a break from classes Oct. 27, 2009 in Houston, TX. They were both on an Ultimate Frisbee team, but didn't have time for practice due to their class load. The former Klein Forest high school students usually play once or twice a week at U of H. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Evon Washington has been a framer for 27 years at Heritage Art Gallery, located on Almeda. Oct. 6, 2009 in Houston, TX.

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91-year-old Milo W. Ford, who was recently honored for playing the organ for 70 years at the First United Methodist Church in Dayton, TX, sits before his organ, Oct. 23, 2009 at the church. He also would manually ring the daily chimes each day at 5 pm when he was 13 years old. He only stopped while attending Rice University (and would return home to play many times) and when serving in WWII for a few years and three years that he was hospitalized with TB. He also worked as janitor at the local bank as a boy...and grew up to be the bank president and serve three years as the town's mayor.

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A C-17A flies past a grounded C130 airplane at Wings Over Houston Airshow, Oct. 31, 2009 in Houston, TX at Ellington Airfield.

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Mike Daly, with the commemorative Air Force, looks at a P-47 as it is started at Wings Over Houston Airshow, Oct. 31, 2009 in Houston, TX at Ellington Airfield. Daly said the plane is a predecessor to the A-10 tank killer, and was used in WWII during the invasion of Normandy. His uniform is from WWII-era 82nd Airborne. Daly is retired from the Air Force.

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Bea Uhl, standing inside a B-24 bomber, looks out on a F-18 Hornet performing maneuvers at Wings Over Houston Airshow, Oct. 31, 2009 in Houston, TX at Ellington Airfield.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Aaron Phillips dressed as "A.J. 3000 as Pimp Lucius" at the Lone Star Rally, Oct. 31, 2009 in Galveston, TX in the Strand.

Primarily portraits

Quick post

Miguel Favela, 11, poses Feb. 6, 2009 at Brenham Middle School in Brenham, TX. Kelly Favela, a 31-year-old divorced mom, put her mentally disabled son in Lufkin State School last June. Less than a week later, he was in an ambulance on his way to a Houston hospital after being overdosed with insulin. An investigation found that he was misdiagnosed as a diabetic by a doctor at the state school who failed to check his medical records. Miguel Favela, 11, is now at a different state school in Brenham but Kelly continues to have concerns about his welfare. Like thousands of other parents faced with how to work and care for their mentally disabled children, Kelly, a hospital social worker, made the difficult decision to place her son in one of 13 large state-run residential facilities, schools that are now in the vortex of a debate over what to do to make them better, or whether to keep them open at all.

Winter post

Last update of 2008

Hello Blog Viewers, This is the last installment for 2008. If I remember correctly, this past year has been my longest continuous employment in my life as a photojournalist. It will be a year in February at the Houston Chronicle. All previous employment in photojournalism has been punctuated by soul-searching careers in completely unrelated fields, grad school and multiple three-month internships.

In the past year, I've watched my co-workers go out on hum-drum assignments and come back with pretty spectacular work. I have to remind myself that while I was off living on a beach in California driving a milk truck and watching the sun set into the Pacific, these folks were honing their craft on a daily basis.

I'd like to think after a year that I'm starting to hit some kind of groove in my daily work. Once in a while in the past year I would come back with a pretty good photo and then go months without anything decent. Time will tell. There is still plenty of room for improvement.

I think in the next year, my photo journalistic resolution is to bag some projects. Everyone is different, and while I've attempted projects outside of school at different internships, they've always felt rushed and usually fell short in some aspect. I wanted to give myself time to get settled in, let the city enter my blood and find a story organically.

A few ideas have since lined themselves up. In the recent past, the ideas seemed forced and more focused on the academic concept of what makes a good story - almost like listening to a robot play a concerto instead of a musician playing with emotion.

I hope everyone had a good year. Until the next post...

Cheers,

Eric Kayne

A light month

Hi Loyal Viewers, By light a light month, I by no means light in terms of workload, only in terms of pictures I have to show. I wish I had more, but I don't, so please enjoy what I have. I'm thinking about starting a new project or two in the coming month, so stay tuned. I'm kind of excited about them and the initial results have been encouraging.

Cheers,

EK

October 2008

Religion from on high

Recently recent

Whew!

Got through my first hurricane intact. Twelve days without power, but some folks in town STILL don't have power as of Oct. 1, 2008. Crazy, huh? And this was only a category 2 hurricane (although the storm surge was equivalent to a category 4 hurricane). I spent most of my time doing local coverage here in Houston, although I did spend a little time in Galveston, Seabrook, and Kemah.

Its good that life is finally resembling some semblance of normality. I can cook in my kitchen again, take a hot shower, browse the internet in my air-conditioned bedroom. I guess it was a bit like camping, only more like getting lost and spending more time in the great outdoors than originally planned.

Ike stuff will come later. First some stuff I couldn't post last time because it hadn't been published yet.

Cheers,

Eric

Two theaters in Houston are starting to show movies in the South Indian languages of Tamil, Malayalam, and Telegu made in India's smaller, but just as prolific as Bollywood, South Indian movie industry. There are also three new radio shows in town targeting the growing community, many of whom have come here in recent years as engineers or students.

Prasad Kalva and Damador Valluri started the Andhra Mirchi and Tamil Mirchi radio shows earlier this year to tap into the growing South Indian market in Houston.

During the rehabilitation and discharge from the hospital, I got to spend a little time with a family that was inside the bus that crashed in Sherman, TX resulting in 17 fatalities.

The Bui family, all five of whom were in the Sherman bus crash Aug. 8. Three were seriously injured; the two youngest children were banged up but didn't spend inpatient time in the hospital. Thiep Bui, the father, and Matthew Bui, his 15-year-old son, both eventually left the Dallas hospital where they've been doing therapy for the past week. They leave behind Thui Tran, the mother, who is still in Baylor's ICU, although improving modestly.  The next day, Thiep was sent home while his son was to remain at the hospital for further rehabilitation and observation.

Heat and humidity

Its the first thing people sometimes think of when the word "Houston" is mentioned. The city has been living up to its expectations lately. I've had a recent dose of time-travel when my air conditioner in my tiny garage apartment hit the skids. I've been thinking to myself "so this is what it was like for people here before the mid-20th century." With heat also comes increased activity. I've been frenetic and again have let my blogging skills lapse. Not having my regular steady stream of temperature-controlled, dehumidified air into my humble 300 square foot flat, however, has given me pause, enough to bring you the following blog post...

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We should do this more often

Okay, so I've been slacking a bit on updating my blog. Its been a busy month. Also, I have to wait until things publish in the paper before I can present them here. So without further adieu, here are some recent and not-so-recent images. Remember when the Rockets were still in the running? They fell out after a record 21 straight game streak that got them into the playoffs.

I had to photograph this next one twice. The first time I didn't notice the guy in the very back wasn't sharp. I came back a second time with a tripod. A lesson learned, I photographed them inside a wreck of a building they'll eventually transform into their collective.

l.

The Art Car Parade, a 21-year tradition of artists decorating cars and parading them through central Houston is an ode to the city's creative spirit. Unfortunately, this year's festival ended in tragedy when the beloved photography curator at the Art Car Museum, Tom Jones, was killed by a drunk driver. Jones was sitting on a curb outside the museum in the early morning hours following the parade relaxing with friends when a car hit another car parked at the curb. The parked car slammed into Jones and killed him. The following images are from the parade and the following memorial the next day and a week later.

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Also depressing was the demolition of an almost century-old church in the third ward in Houston. Some community members were in the final stages of getting the decrepit building a historical designation. One morning, however, the bricks spontaneously fell from one side of the building. It was later decided the building needed to be demolished immediately.

Not to leave you depressed, I end this blog entry with...tiny horses. Everyone loves tiny horses. Please enjoy.

What I've been up to until now, part deux

What I've been up to until now