ToraCon

There are few words that can be used to describe the yearly anime convention at RIT that is Tora Con. Weird. Fun. Interesting. Educational. Geeky. Slutty. Any of these could apply to the children, students and adults that converge on campus to celebrate all things anime with lectures, performances, social gatherings and shopping. For one who is uninformed about anime, simply walking around campus was an adventure of colors, sights and crazy hair styles.

In doing so, it quickly became apparent that the primary reason for attending Tora Con was about spending time with your friends in costume, mugging for the cameras and commenting on other characters. The weather cooperated perfectly, spilling people outdoors into the courtyards and walkways to mingle.



For those not anime inclined, the event could be overwhelming with masses of costumed teenagers clogging the walkways and shouting strange, game-related phrases. The anime lovers were frequently given wide berth by students visiting or working on campus.

What has been on my mind? Migrant labor. As I found out about 6 months ago, I have been blissfully ignorant to one of the largest stories in the county. Monroe county, and the neighboring Wayne county, both support large numbers of migrant workers who come to pick the fruit and vegetables that are grown here. I have been working on immigration reform and documentary work in the area for the past 6 months, which has been frustrating, hard, intense, interesting and fun.

Not only do these people come long, long distances to work, they do not plan on staying. They do not cause trouble. They do not take jobs away: in fact, every farmer I have spoken with has said that they have begged, pleaded, and dragged American workers to the fields, only to have them quit after a few days. Despite these facts, there remains a good amount of negative press about migrant workers, and their role in society.

I am concerned that the upcoming "immigration reform" will do nothing to help, and that the debate around immigration will become bogged down in lies and assumptions. Perhaps I am naive in thinking that my own documentary and academic work will somehow effect how people think about migrant workers, and will help some see how the situation is. For those who are reading this, please check back for updates. If you are looking for more information on this subject please see:

Food, Inc. (film)
With These Hands (book)
NYCLU Immigration Reform (website)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14509724 (radio piece)

she's baaaaack!

Alright, so I took a bit of a hiatus after my (brief) debut on the blogging scene. But I am back to record the events in my life, or at least in part.

So what have I been doing? I have been working on producing a project on immigration reform for the New York Civil Liberties Union...see it here http://www.nyclu.org/immigrationreform. I helped coordinate where the photographers were going, and edited the audio and images to send to the NYCLU

I have also been photographing, like the portrait assignment (above) that I completed of a classmate of mine this morning. This was the first attempt in a long time to do a formal portrait, but I feel that it was successful. Portraiture is going to become important quickly, as I am starting work on a documentary project on migrant workers in upstate New York. Odds are though that pools and props will not be a part of that project.

Photographer for you to check out? See Leonie Purchas at http://www.leoniepurchas.com/home/ Not only are her portraits of the families in Cuba amazing, her authenticity in photographing is something to be admired. It is almost jarring in comparison of some of the "pretty" photographers whose images tend to get more play. Luckily, my professor Loret showed us her work in class.

Way to See

Best Advice given so far?? Know what I am talking about. Know the business. Seeing as I am almost finished with a very expensive J-school, you would think that knowing the business would be inherent in the curriculum, but for my year, it is not (the year behind me is much more fortunate). I feel like this is the case with many schools, which are just catching up with the identity crisis of journalism and trying to decide where to move from there.

Its exciting. It leaves you in a lifeboat, scrambling around the Internet to learn just how a photo agency works, and who's who at the top. Not to mention the difference between markets, and all the concerns of the Role of Journalism.

Top sites that help the lost and confused:
mediabistro.com
Errol Morris's column in the NYT
multimediashooter.com

My New Years Resolution:
To learn about and post a new photographer/site each day.

See you soon!