Tuesday, May 22, 2007










5/19 First Day in the Pines

I've finally started photographing the Pine Barrens of New Jersey last weekend. It's a project I've been talking about doing for some time now and with the recent forest fires I thought it an opportune weekend to begin. I began by going straight to where I knew there would be affected forest. Warren Grove, NJ was my first stop, the location of the Air National Gaurd bombing range and the approximate location of where the fires had started. From this point I drove over one hundred miles within the pines to accquaint myself with the area. Along the way of course taking photographs of anything I found of interest. The home of William Mowatt was one of these places. The 81 year old's home was burnt completely to the ground while neighboring homes suffered only from melted siding and smoke damage. While I was at Mowatt's home an SUV full of relief workers pulled up from an organization call Tzu Chi. Based in Taiwan it's members travel the world helping victims of disasters. While at Mowatt's home they took some still photos and video of the site and gave Mowatt $300. Others who were helping that day were friends and family of Mowatt along with members of the Air National Gaurd.
Additional stops I made that day included campgrounds and canoe launches in which I plan to revisit and further photograph.