This weekend the organizers of the annual Phillips Mill Photographic Exhibition that I had been selected for put up a number of the prints so the exhibitors could get together in a brief one-time social distanced fashion to see the work hung as it was meant to be.  I met some nice photographers, was filmed, then took my pictures off the wall and came home. It was a worthwhile experience.  My lingering disappointment was not getting to meet the esteemed  juror, Emmit Gowan. Perhaps another time … I hope so.

Someone there told me that one of my pictures was pretty ironic, given the current situation, and when you see it now perhaps it is.  What I remember the day I made it was how much fun I had hanging out with the police waiting for the rain to stop and the parade to begin. It’s easy to think the worst of people and many deserve it for all the reasons we are painfully aware of.  But I’d like to think the police I met that day were a great group of people who serve their community with honor, and that is how I will choose to remember them.

I sincerely hope we have the type of meaningful national discussion concerning racism and related issues in this country that is long overdue.

Stay safe,

Michael