In search of a home

On Thursday night, September 16, 2010 four tornadoes reportedly touched down in Athens County, Ohio, one of which struck in or near the Pine Aire Village trailer park in Athens, destroying the Reynolds family’s trailer. For almost two months, Brad and Jennifer Reynolds and their three children bounced between temporary residences. Since their trailer was uninsured, the Reynolds’ struggled to return their lives to a sense of normalcy following the disaster.

These pictures are my first edit of the Reynolds' story. They moved two different places after their trailer was destroyed before being able to buy a house thanks to $17,000 in relief funds from the state of Ohio. I'll be continuing to follow their story as the family settles into their new home.

Thanks for looking,
Pat

Jam and dance

In the first photo Diane Lee of Athens, Ohio and Jack Blue of Belleville, W.Va. dance during a bluegrass jam on Sunday afternoon, October 17, 2010 in Millfield, Ohio. Onstage are Josh Birnbaum (Left) of Athens, Ohio and Cliff Longenette of Tuppers Plains, Ohio. I went to the jam about a month ago with Josh and loved the place. Hope to get back there again soon.

-Pat

Dad

My father, Kevin Traylor of Rock Island, Ill. poses for portraits in front of an abandoned gas station on Columbus Rd. and Avalanche Pizza in Athens, Ohio. My first introduction to creative photography came while looking through my father's photography projects from a few 35mm film classes he took in college. Most of his images placed a person doing something stoically out of context in a graphic environmental backdrop. This is an homage to his style, which is very indicative of his sense of humor and personality. I shot these about a month ago when he and my mom and brother came out to visit. Listening to some of the professors talk about the importance of documenting their own families made me want to do a portrait series on my family. Hopefully these are just the beginning of a really interesting personal project.

Cheers,
Pat

Portraits

A couple portraits from hanging out with Steve Lowry (bottom photo) and his daughter and son-in-law Kayla and Jon Oberholzer the other week. I shot Steve and his grandson Camron splitting logs earlier this quarter and the family was kind enough to let me make some more pictures. I originally planned on making a portrait of Steve and Camron, but schedules didn't exactly work out so we did something else instead. I like how these turned out and hopefully I'll see these guys again soon.

Cheers,
Pat

Sunrise at the Country Kitchen

A few shots from Kasler’s Country Kitchen in Amesville, Ohio around sunrise on Friday morning. The middle shot of Amesville's Helen Withem drinking tea will be included in the Fall 2010 Dawn to Dusk project, which will be published in the Athens News on Nov. 4. A website with all of the student images from will go up on that date too and I'll include a link when it launches. Until then...

Best,
Pat

Welcome to Ohio

(From left) Max Garvin of Wilksville, Brooke Blansette, 7, Breanna Blansette, 10, both of Lancaster, and Myron Blansette of Wilksville watch the annual demolition derby at the Albany Independent Fair in Albany, Ohio on Friday evening, Sept. 10, 2010. Garvin comes to the derby almost every year, but brought his granddaughters this year for the first time. "You always run into someone you know," said Garvin about the fair.

Pictured from left are Emma Rupe, 7, of Athens, Thomas J. Roush of Malta, holding Wyatte Amis Lee Roush, 2 weeks old and of Athens, Curtis A. Roush Jr. of Athens, Tyler Brozak, 18, of The Plains and Sabrina Suman, 14, of Hadenville. The family members are standing outside of Curtis A. Roush Jr.'s trailer on Friday afternoon, Sept. 17, the day after a tornado reportedly touched down in or near the Pine Aire Village trailer park in Athens, Ohio. Mr. Roush's trailer was not badly damaged by the tornado but he has friends and neighbors whose homes were destroyed.

Nathan Zink, 8, battles his father Glen Zink, both of Wintersville, Ohio, in a gladiator style carnival game on Saturday night, Sept. 18 at the Hocking County Fair in Logan, Ohio. "He always puts a whoopin' on me," said the elder Zink.

(From left) Mandy, Melissa, and William, all of Atlanta, Ga., hang out and smoke marijuana during Ohio NORML's Harvest Fest on Friday night, Oct. 1, 2010 at a campground near Pomeroy, Ohio. The group of friends from Atlanta travels to multiple music and camping festivals around the country during the summer and fall. The Ohio NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law) Festival is one of the last such events of the festival season.

Alexander High School's Josh MacGregor (43) and T. Bennett (11) embrace after a touchdown by Bennett during a game against River Valley High School on Friday night, Sept. 24, 2010 at Alexander High School in Albany, Ohio. The Alexander Spartans defeated the River Valley Raiders 49-20 on Alexander's homecoming weekend.

Steve Lowry pauses while stacking firewood with the help of his grandson Camron Lowry, 5, and friend Greg "Red" Perry Jr. (neither pictured) on Friday afternoon, Oct. 1, 2010 outside his home near New Marshfield, Ohio. Lowry uses firewood to heat his home during the winter instead of using a traditional electric furnace, claiming that when the power goes out, his neighbors keep warm at his house.

Welcome to Ohio and my blog of a few pictures and thoughts from my experience as a photojournalism grad student at Ohio University. I'm over halfway done with my first quarter here at the School of Visual Communication and it has definitely gone by fast. I’ve been super busy, but I’m loving Athens and the program- awesome professors and fellow students. The above photos are from some of my first few assignments for VisCom 581, Editorial Photography, which is the first shooting class in the sequence for grad students. Thanks for looking.


Cheers,
Pat