Vision screenings in Hispaniola

One day in June I got a call out of the blue from Adrian Hong asking me if I'd like to volunteer to photograph a trip he was taking with Lumoon Vision staff and two optometrists to give vision screenings and eye glasses to people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

In late August, just as Hurricane Irene was about to hit New York, we caught the last plane out of JFK before all flights were grounded and headed to Santo Domingo. Over the course of a week, with the help of local volunteers, hundreds of children were screened and provided with eyeglasses. Some of the kids in the IDP camps in Haiti had extremely high prescription needs, up to +8 or 9. Even a few adults who had never had an eye exam before were screened. One older man in the rural Dominican was considered legally blind. The team gave him a pair of eyeglasses, around a +8 prescription, and he could see clearly for the first time in his life. I'll always remember driving back down the road and passing him as he was showing off his new specks to friends, wearing the biggest smile I've ever seen.

Screening kids in the DR

Queuing up for screening in the Haitian refugee camp in the DR

Stuck!

This kid was amazing. He rode the tail all the way across the river.

Eliot and the two cutest kids in Haiti

Haitian IDP camp outside Port au Prince

I wanted to take them all back to NY

We brought a few soccer balls from the DR for the kids in Haiti

Kids stand for portraits in Haiti and the DR before they're screened

Martha's Vineyard wedding

At the end of September, after a long non-stop month of hot and dusty Hispaniola, Fashion Week, and the UN General Assembly, it was a treat to spend the weekend on Martha's Vineyard with my family photographing the wedding of my cousin Andy and his bride Angie. It was a keg party-crockpot wedding, and after being the photographer at so many stiff and stressful weddings where the bride is too frazzled to even enjoy her day, this was a breath of fresh air. When they came skipping out on the dance floor to Third Eye Blind's 'Semicharmed Kinda Life' I knew it was going to be a great night.

Congratulations Andy & Angie !

Seen on the scene - the creatures of the tents

Held twice yearly in February and September, New York Fashion Week features designers from all over the world, displaying their creations on the runways. A small venue of tents pops up in Lincoln Center to house the crowd of celebrities, designers and models who descend upon the city. The event also draws its own share of notable and outrageous personalities, fashionistas, and those who come just to be seen on the scene.. (continue reading here)

À tout à l'heure Dominique!

After three months of court appearances, sensational headlines and living in a fish bowl, a New York judge dropped all criminal sexual assault charges against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
On Thursday night, all the photographers were expecting DSK and his wife Anne to take their usual private car service when they went out to dinner.... (continue reading here)



DSK leaves for Paris at JFK airport.

My photos from same sex marriage are up on The Legal Stranger website, a fantastic project started by Amanda Lucidon. The project documents the obstacles faced by same sex couples in America.

I met Amanda a few weeks ago at the pop up chapel and she filled me in on the challenges that same sex couples face.

With the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 a marriage was explicitly defined in federal law as a union of one man and one woman. This allowed more than 1,138 rights and protections to married couples including Social Security benefits, veterans' benefits, health insurance, Medicaid, hospital visitation, estate taxes, retirement savings, pensions, family leave, and immigration law.

According to Federal Law, these rights are not allowed to same sex couples, whether married (according to state law) or not.

Go to http://legalstranger.com/ for more.

A Week of Love in New York

Last Sunday was a beautiful and historic day for New York when we became the 6th state to allow same sex marriage. Sunday was the first day that couples could wed, and when I arrived at the Manhattan court house at 8am there was a line around the block with hundreds of couples waiting to wed. The scene outside the courthouse was like a party, with couples and supporters crowding the sidewalk, even breaking out in song at some points with "going to the chapel, and we're going to get marrieddd!" Later on I went over to the Brooklyn court house and it was the same thing, with supporters crowding the sidewalk and cheering on the couples as they exited the building after being married. It was reported that the judges were bickering with each other, each wanted a turn to marry a same sex couple on the historic day. City hall across the street set up a sort of party room with free champagne, cake, music and a photo booth for the couples.

The entire day was amazing and I'm so thankful I got to photograph it. My entire shift I was grinning ear to ear behind my camera. I'm very proud to have been raised in Massachusetts, the first state to allow same sex marriage, and now to live in New York city. Finally the law here reflects our population.






Phyllis Sifel and Connie Kopelov (seated) are the first couple to be married in New York City



(L-R) Damian Ross and Gary Coshgrove kiss outside the Manhattan City Clerk's office



(L-R) Myron Levine and Philip Zinderman celebrate after being married outside the Manhattan City Clerk's office July 24, 2011. They have been together for 51 years.





Nastassia Heurtelou and Luz Heurtelou (right) are married at the Brooklyn Clerk's Office





Margie Baker wipes frosting on her spouse Edie Jud after being married at the Brooklyn Clerk's Office




Saturday was a whirlwind day. I volunteered at the Central Park Pop Up Chapel, where photographers, videographers and volunteers donated their time and skill to wed 24 same sex couples.



"I promise I will understand if you decide to eat an entire bag of swedish fish for dinner. I promise I will always do the 10pm dog walk. And I promise that I will always have your back no matter what life throws at us."



Bryn and Leila








Christabelle and Valerie





After the pop up chapel I shot the engagement party of Ken and Christina in SoHo.