This year is dedicated to my friends Colleen Dugan Losh, Bob Gilbert, Andy Carruthers, Arianne Teeple, Mark Odell, and all of the other talented photojournalists to be fired this last year. 2009 was my tenth year of working as a newspaper photojournalist, and at the beginning of the year I was sure it was going to be my last. The photography layoffs fell everywhere, each one increasingly, pathetically counterproductive to the goal of keeping the public invested in newspapers.
But there was still work to be done, stories to be told, and histories large and small to record. I tried my best to knuckle down and get on with it, the only calling I've ever had or wanted.
So lets start with joy. A guitarist from a high school rock band leaps through the air at the county wide battle of the bands. My fourth year of shooting this concert.