The Katrina Story on Wheels

Kadir van Lohuizen and Stanley Greene created a traveling street exhibit (on a truck) of their photographs from New Orleans and the Gulf after Katrina and the years that followed.

The truck traveled from Houston to New Orleans, where it arrived for the 5th anniversary of the disastrous hurricane and its aftermath.

I put this together with Neil Harris, using bits of audio from the photographers coupled with their amazing, and haunting, images.

The Katrina Story on Wheels, posted with vodpod

Witness to the Pity of War

Photographer Adam Ferguson was on patrol with marines in Marjah, Afghanistan, when a sniper opened fire on them. As marines pin-pointed the location of the gunman, they called in a mortar strike on the site. That strike missed the insurgents, but shrapnel killed a 14 year-old girl in the village. Ferguson had an audio recorder rolling as these events unfolded.

This video — using that audio and Ferguson’s photographs — tells the story of an anguished Marine captain confronted by the grieving father of the girl who was accidentally killed. It’s heartbreaking.

Witness to the PIty of War, posted with vodpod

Inside the controversial Park51 Mosque, talking with young attendees

In a TIME poll this week, 61% of respondents said Muslims should not build a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero. Young students and professionals who pray at the Park51 mosque, try to change those opinions

In Controversial Mosque, Young Muslims Pray for…, posted with vodpod

Inside the Park51 Mosque

Last night, TIME was the first news organization invited to shoot video inside the Park51 Mosque in lower Manhattan. I began the evening with a visit with a group of Muslim students at an NYU event where they broke their fast and prayed the Isha prayer, the final of the five daily prayers in Islam.

After their iftar meal, I was invited to go inside the building where the Park51 Mosque group has been holding prayer services for at least several months. The former Burlington Coat Factory is two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center attacks, and if you haven’t heard about the controversy around plans to raze the building and construct an Islamic Community Center, then you haven’t been paying much attention to the news lately, have you?

The folks in the mosque were warm and welcoming, though there was the usual wariness about a camera pointing at people during prayer. Imagine what it would be like if someone were filming in your house of worship.

The first video we posted earlier today was edited quickly in order to connect it to a TIME story on Islamophobia, including some surprising poll data about Islam in America. This video features two young Muslims who attend prayer services at the mosque.

I’m working on a larger piece for Friday.

Fun with Taxidermy

An actual squirrel riding a toy tractor

Images from Seattle and Washington

Queasy at the gum wall

Yes, that’s chewing gum

Frank Gehry’s Experience Music Project Building, with reflection of Space Needle

Eric on his boat, in the rear view mirror

Eric at the helm

Ferry to Bainbridge

Pacific NW Break

Here are a few shots from my iPhone from my vacation in Seattle and the area (more from the big camera later):

Mt. Rainier

Hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park, to the Summer Land subalpine meadow area. An 8.5 mile round trip. Beautiful day. Sore feet.