This is a pretty simple and straight forward shot but for me it captured her love for her husband during a sock hop event at a nursing home in Cohasset. As a photographer, you are constantly looking for moments that tell a story or are rich with emotion. Here, the wife gazes lovingly into her husband's eyes while the entertainer sings "Only You", an Elvis Presley classic. Afterwards, she wiped away a tear and I was touched by her love for her husband and the bittersweet feelings that she may be experiencing.
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St. Frances Cabrini is a Catholic church in Scituate that was earmarked to close in 2004 by the Archdiocese of Boston. The parishioners there were upset by this economic decision by the Church and formed a vigilant community that occupied the church 24/7 since October 26, 2004 preventing the Archdiocese from selling the property. I have covered their vigil off and on for the past 11 years and have even stayed overnight once for a story. Many of the parishioners have forged strong relationships with each other that have strengthened their faith community through this experience.
After 11+ years, the parishioners of St. Frances had exhausted every legal avenue and the Archdiocese set a deadline for them to leave the church. The parishioners celebrated their last mass on May 29, 2016 at their beloved church with a mixture of sadness and anger at how they have been treated by the Archdiocese.
For me, the first picture captured the profound emotion that some of the parishioners had during the last mass. Veronica was returning to her pew after receiving communion and had spotted an old friend sitting in the church. She was moved to embrace her two friends. The second photo gives the sense that it was difficult for some parishioners to let go of the church that they had fought for so long for. This parishioner's father was the last funeral service to be held at the North Scituate church.
They will continue to worship together and form an American Catholic group in Scituate.
Photojournalists cover the major holidays every year and this is year was no different. Memorial Day is one of the major holidays that we cover and rightfully so. I was assigned to cover Cohasset's Memorial Day parade and ceremony because of the location and timing of the event. This year, it was raining off and on throughout the morning so many towns opted to either cancel their parade or hold the ceremony indoors. Cohasset decided to soldier on and carry their event as planned.
One challenge of covering an annual event is pushing yourself to find a unique image that will rise to the top and make readers stop and look deeper into the paper. I often use framing as a way to draw attention to the main subject of the photo. Admittedly, I probably use it a bit too much but it's a nice and effective way of quickly getting to the heart of the photo. I framed this veteran's face with the shoulders of his fellow veterans standing in the rain at Veteran Memorial Park. I shot it so that there wasn't any other background noise to distract the reader from the portrait.
I fired off a few frames and picked the frame that invoked the somber occasion of remembering the soldiers who had paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
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