Texas Hill Country Event Photographer

Memorial Day | Memories for a Lifetime

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Memorial Day has a special meaning to me. 

I am a military kid, the spouse of a career Soldier, and the mom to an active duty Infantry Soldier and that brings my total years affiliated with the United States Military to fifty nine years of service.  Service as a family member of the great men in my life, but service nonetheless.  When I think of our friends and family who have given their lives in the ultimate sacrifice to this nation I am humbled by the magnitude of the love that I have for them and for their service. These experiences have formed my identity.

Why is Memorial Day important to photography?

First, it is the photos that we have from our past that will bring back the memories of those important people in our lives that are no longer with us.

My father Colonel Jack C. Gentry, USAF, ret.,  and my grandson James.   Photo circa 2008

Future generations will witness a testament to both family and country through the memories that are recorded print. Pictures as they say, are worth a thousand words.

My grandson James at the grave site of his great grandfather. Photo circa 2013

Photos can also establish the emotion of what the day means to others:

My mother, Miriam, at my father's grave.  Photo circa 2013

Second, what would we do if we did not have the freedom of expression that we hold so dear to our hearts as photographers.  In some cultures and countries people are censored and arrested for taking a photo. Today often times photographers are treated suspiciously.  We as Americans take the simple freedom of taking a photo for granted.  Images can be so powerful in swaying emotion:  just think about the images of concentration camps in WWII, the nuclear bomb devastation in Japan, or the immolation of the young girl by napalm in Vietnam.  All of those images are possible by virtue of our freedom of expression, honored in the United States, that other countries would not have allowed.

This is a day when we leave politics at the door and take time to think about what it means to live in the greatest country in the world and to have the freedom of expression.  But, freedom for us has come at a steep price.  Take out your photos of loved ones and friends and share them with others.  Also take the time to make new memories.  Take out your camera, or your phone and take photos to remember these times, good and bad, for the memories of future generations.

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St Louis, Missouri  Photo circa 2013

If you need an event photographer to capture family reunions or military deployments please think of Faces-Places-Photography for these special occasions.

Documentary Photography | Texas Hill Country

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There is a powerful history of documentary photography in the United States. Recently I watched a documentary about the work of Roy Stryker and the Farm Security Administration. The film called Roy Stryker and the FSA/OWI Photographers was written and directed by Jeanine Isabel Butler and "addresses an impressive range of issues--focused through representation and responsibility--is germane for us today." 

In 1975 Roy Stryker said, "the picture began to be the things of my life, the photograph was the way to reach the people, somehow, someway I wanted life in pictures." In 1935, Franklin Roosevelt put documentary photography to work. Long before the television, the internet, and the 24 hour news cycle, he believed that imagery could reach more citizens and their government action. He charged the Resettlement Administration with providing that imagery, to reveal America to Americans.

Migrant Mother of Nipoma, California, 1936 | Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange's iconic photograph captures the desolation and poverty of the Great Depression. Yet Florence Owens Thompson's children leaning into her, and the classic curve of the baby's face, combined with the delicate position of her hand draws the viewer today. Eighty years after this photograph was taken young Americans have a sense of what families endured in those trying times.

Fleeing a Dust Storm, 1936 | Arthur Rothstein

This important photograph was a last minute decision by Arthur Rothstein. He had spent the day with farmer Arthur Coble and his two sons in Cimarron County, Oklahoma during a dust storm. There was some direction in this picture story.  Rothstein asked the younger boy to lean back with his arms over his eyes and the older boy and his father to lean forward in order to show the country, and the lawmakers in Washington the troubles of families in the Dust Bowl.

Floyd Burroughs 1936 | Walker Evans

This photograph was taken when Evans was on leave from the FSA, and working on his book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men with James Agee. He documented the plight of poor tenant farmers in Hale County, Alabama. The farmer's eyes convey the pain and desolation.. Sitting with a dark black background behind him the viewer feels the sense of uncertainty of the times.

Make a Wish 4000th Wish | Valero Energy Campus San Antonio, Texas, 2015

Make a Wish Valero Energy Campus | March 2015

Visual storytelling is as important in America today as it was in the Great Depression.  Photographs are plentiful and they are everywhere. Anyone with a smart phone can document a tragedy, an emotional moment, or a gift of compassion. We all have the ability to educate and inform through pictures and texts and the information is transmitted instantaneously.

 Cowboy Santa New Braunfels, Texas | December 2016

Making relief bags for the homeless, New Braunfels, Texas | December 2016

This is a visual world and the opportunity to do great things with photographs is still as valuable today  in America as it was during the time of the Farm Security Administration. I'm committed to documenting events that are important to families and community organizations. Just as the Great Depression can be revisited today through the FSA photographs, I am certain the documentary photographs of 2016 will inspire photographers 100 years from now. Take the time to learn about me. Call and arrange to have your next event documented by Faces-Places-Photography. We are committed to telling your story!