African Americans make up 44% of all new HIV infections in 2009, despite making up just 14% of the US population. Even more disproportionately affected are black women, who are 15 times more likely than white women to become infected with HIV and 3 times more likely than Latina women.

Stigma, poverty, homophobia, and a lack of awareness are all factors in the skewed numbers. But speaking out is one of many ways to combat the spread of HIV.

Special thanks to Kimberlin Dennis, Halima Grant, Naimah O’Neal and Dr. Barbara Gripshover.

A few weeks ago, I got to do a quick shoot with Meridian friend Alyssa, who works for Vanity Fair’s site. She was doing a Q&A with two Brooklyn synchronized swimmers. This was in honor of the March Issue’s Proust Questionnaire of Esther Williams, a famous (albeit retired) swimmer. There was no direction but obviously synchronizing their movements was the a visual that we were most interested in capturing. Also, since this was more fashion-y than I usually get to do, I went a little heavy handed with my flash to get the feel right. The girls, Nicole and Nicole (I know, perfect for this piece right?) were troopers. Not only did they dragg suitcases of clothes to the shoot but then posed outside in the cold. Also a shout out to Hotel Williamsburg that fed us pastries and let us use their beautiful space.

I won’t go into detail for the time being as I’m trying to convince Serena on a project that would go into depth about Barbados.

While working in my archive, I felt like these two images went well together. So, I did a quick diptych in Adobe Lightroom.

On the left, 5,000 revelers take to San Diego’s Mission Bay during Floatopia. On the right, a fundraising dinner at a home on Country Club Drive in La Jolla.

Both Will and I are in grad school (he’s at Ohio’s visual communications program, while I’m at a all over the place journalism program at CUNY) and are swamped and are failing at posting. But for good reason readers! Look at my first audio slideshow. I spent hours messing with the audio, selecting photos, and then timing everything.
I used soundslides instead of Final Cut, just to test out new software. The interface was actually fun and mostly headache free. And even though you have to host the project yourself (opposed to uploading it to Vimeo, as a Final Cut project would allow you to do), they made a great little tool to help embed projects.

My beat for school is Lower Manhattan. I picked this a few weeks before Occupy Wall Street started. Initially, I thought I’d be writing about “the yuppies” but the protest changed everything. A roommate and my next door neighbor were very passionate and down at the site of the protest regularly, often staying the night. I found out after a brief chat with my neighbor that he was the oldest overnight protester. Naturally, I asked if I could talk to him about his experiences.

Turn on the captions for a little more info here and there. Or, to see it bigger go to my website.

San Diego-based photographer Tim Mantoani has finally put his years-long photographic project, Behind Photographs: Archiving Photographic Legends, into book form.

I asked Mantoani about the project a year ago this week, and it’s great to see that he didn’t run out of the gigantic, expensive Polaroid film he uses.

In my Q&A, I suggested that the project would be great to throw on Kickstarter.com. A year later, he’s used Kickstarter to raise almost $13,000 — with 17 days to go! Ergo, for planting the seed of that idea, I think I’m due a chunk of that change. Almost certainly. Maybe.

I love photos of photographers. I can’t wait till our library gets a copy!

I looked through the nearly 5,000 photos I took that are published on the site. There were some surprises (I took a photo of Calvin Trillin, a writer I now adore but at time had to ask him to spell his name for me; A photo of a roommate before we were roommmates or even friends). There were plenty of photos I don’t recall taking, or even the event where it was taken.

Here are some of my favorites, from oldest to newest. There are some photos I like for aesthetics sake, some photos I like for a memento of nights that didn’t feel like I was working, photos I like because of the people in them. PMC, it was real. Thank you.

From the very first event I shot. John Bartlett before his runway show, New York Fashion Week 2009.

Don King and TI at Inauguration weekend in DC.

Grace Jones. Another one I didn’t know at the time. I should have known it was big deal with the model’s expression in the background.

Topshop opening. Stayed up the night before, catching some zzz’s in the bathtub before running over to hang off the side of the building to get a shot of the line.

I have never seen such a reaction at a red carpet before. People went WILD for Dolly.

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish and Nomika Zion. I read about Dr. Izzeldin in a New York Times article about losing his three daughters in Gaza when he was treating patients in Israel. Such an honor to meet him.

Waris Ahuwalia.

Venerable U Agga Nyana, Venerable U Pylnar Zawta, Venerable U Gawsita. Screening at HBO about the Burmese monk uprising. Sat with a co-worker and Albert Maysles.

Audience spill out after New York Photo Festival.

I love what a good sport Ross is being about the obvious fanboy.

This was a strange night.

I shot this entire event on manual focus without realizing it. Fortunately, this photo came out great.

Tory Burch at the First Fashion Night Out.

Dick Waggoner from Texas!

Another strange night. This time at Fendi.

I’ve kept up taking photos and tweeting up a storm about the #OccupyWallStreet protest down in the Financial District for class in my graduate journalism program. The protests have been going on since September 17th and as far as I can tell this sustained overnight occupation is first of its kind in Lower Manhattan.

The good folks (hiii Bokeen and Miz Chartreuse) of Consumption Junction got in touch and interviewed me for their show about the protests to get a reporters take on it. Check out the podcast.