John Boal Photography

School is too easy for kids these days.   This is my Andy Rooney post.   In my day, we didn’t have inflatable earth balloons, and we didn’t have limos take us to lunch just for showing up to school every day… Yes you heard me right, I saw and took pictures of students getting in a 30 foot Hummer limo to go to lunch.   Did they save a drowning child from a frozen lake?   Did they ace the SATs?   Is it the state championship football team?   Nope.   They showed up to school every day for a WHOLE SEMESTER!   J ust ridin' in a limo lookin' out the sunroof Hmm… I’ll get to the Earth balloon in a minute. Yesterday, I met about 40 very nice kids as they boarded (I say boarded because the limo was closer to a yacht than a car), the limo in two trips and arrived at a Ruby Tuesday’s for lunch.   All paid for by the Eagle Mascot.   He has a fund that he has corporate sponsor donate to.   He then uses that money to put together events for the students, like the limo ride to lunch.   He’s...

Today I went out with some homeless shelter volunteers to do the annual “count”, of homeless people. It was, more or less, enlightening. Luckily for us, there was a homeless man, entirely willing to talk to us and allow pictures. There, stashed away among the forests of Eastern Prince William County, was a sophisticated campsite. Several tents, a hammock, frozen pots and pans hanging from a line. Tables. Generally, a far more pleasing environment to live than I thought the homeless were accustomed. Don’t get me wrong. I’d never be interested in spending more than a day in that environment. But I suppose having grown up around DC, I always thought the people I saw sleeping on the grates was the reality. But it’s only a portion. 2 years ago, I participated in a more formal documentary mission of counting the homeless, in York, PA. And what we stumbled upon in that frigid night were people who didn’t want to be found. Surely there must have been those that wanted help. Perhaps ...

It has been three weeks since I’ ve put anything in here. Jeez, it sounds so bad once I put it down on paper. Can’t hide from that. VIEW MY SLIDESHOW OF INAUGURATION IMAGES, HERE 4 AM, pre -Inauguration Day So it’s been too long, I admit. And furthermore, I suppose if it is going to be that long between entries (promise not to have that long a break again…), I figure this one should be a doozy . Because I know all 7 of you are hungering for my words and pearls of wisdom. Actually, there may be 10 or 12, checking this out because on Inauguration Day I handed out my card to some folks. 2 million people in a city, that actually only houses about a quarter that much is quite the sight, if you can actually see farther than 12 feet in front of you. This can be done, however in a myriad of ways. You can wait until you crest a hill, and then look at the 200,000 or so people walking in front of you. You can climb on a dumpster. You can hop. Or you can put one foot on a metal security barrier...

Finally the New Year is upon us. Finally, I say, because this past year was quite the turbulent one. It also marks the first year anniversary of this blog. Hooray! I know you all are excited about that. But actually it represents a mild achievement for myself. When I set out to do this, I really wanted this blog to be about the random thoughts that entered my head, melded with my photographic work. Somehow I thought, that what I do on a daily, or weekly basis, might have some relevance to the world at large. And passing that insight on to others might help me (and the reader, presumably) in the way that we approach the world. Maybe it demystifies the idea of a working photojournalist. Maybe it brings the world closer to the reader. But most of all, it’s a selfish endeavor. Let’s call a spade a spade. For most of my life, I’ve enjoyed writing. For a brief moment in my life I considered whether a career as a novelist would be something to pursue. It never panned out. As i...