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June 12, 2010

California Fire Season

Filed under: journalism,wildfires — Tags: CAL Fire, fire season, firefighter, firefighting, forest fire, Hummingbird Fire, Robinson Fire, Summit Fire, wildfire — waters @ 12:24 am

Other states have hunting seasons or tourist seasons. We have those in California as well but we also have fire season. As the dry summer winds heat up the California landscape the moisture is driven from the ground vegitation first and eventually from the trees creating a very dangerous set of conditions. If you have ever spent a summer here you quickly get used to reading and hearing about the wildfires that spring up around the state.

Two years ago I got the chance to cover my first set of wildfires that occurred very close to San Jose. The first fire was the Summit fire that started when a land owner illegally burned some debris up on Summit Road along the border of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties. (more…)

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October 21, 2009

What’s Next

Filed under: journalism,Tajikistan — Tags: Dushanbe, family, Khojent, migrant labor, Tajikistan — waters @ 5:18 pm

It is nine in the morning on my last day in Dushanbe. I have been here just 14 days and in eighteen hours I will start the journey back to Ireland. I had originally hoped to take the train from Dushanbe to Moscow and document the trip that many of these labor migrants take. Unfortunately the process for securing all the correct visas (you travel across four international borders) takes nearly three weeks to complete. I do not have the time or the money right now to wait three weeks in Dushanbe while the visas are arranged. Perhaps in the spring I will try and make that part of the story happen.

Tajikistan is a beautiful country. Its terrain and climate remind me very much of California, particularly the Bay Area. It is a mostly mountainous terrain with one large valley in the Southwest part of the country which is where Dushanbe is located. The city itself is a fairly new creation having been build by the Soviets only 70 years ago. There was once a small village and market located here. In fact the name Dushanbe simply means “Monday” in Tajik as this was the site of the “Monday market”.
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October 4, 2009

A Plee for Assistance

Filed under: human rights,immigrants,journalism,Moscow,Tajikistan — waters @ 5:08 pm

I am sitting in a hotel room in Dublin waiting to head to the airport to board a plane for Dushanbe, Tajikistan. It is the next step in my story on Russian migrant workers from Central Asia. As you know I spent two weeks in Moscow and got some good work done there and made some very good contacts.

My next trek to Tajikistan will help to round out the story. I want to show where the workers are coming from and the families that they are leaving behind. To do this I will spend about two weeks Traveling around Tajikistan meeting and documenting families. The final piece of this journey is to take the four day train ride from Dushanbe to Moscow.

My plea to you is for financial assistance. If you remember reading my previous post on my new ideas to fund documentary photography you are familiar with my concepts. If not you can find them here. I have reopened the Pledgie page and would love for everyone that read this to send as much as they can afford. Even $5 would help.

Now it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. If you really feel my photography is good and that this story needs to be told then step up and help me make sure I can finish shooting this story and get it sold. After spending two weeks meeting these people I feel now more than ever that their story needs to be told. Please help me click the link above and make a pledge.

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September 29, 2009

Dushanbe Here I Come

Filed under: human rights,immigrants,journalism,Moscow — Tags: Dushanbe, migrant, Moscow, Tajikistan — waters @ 10:17 pm

I have been back in Bantry for just over a week now. Things in Russia went very well. I had a wonderful visit with Sergey, Katya and Vasya. Vasilly was quizzing Sergey over the past two years wanting to know when Uncle Neal would be returning to Moscow. And then there I was! I brought him a toy robot that I found in the toy store here in Bantry. He loved it. He has learned a lot of English since I was there in 2007 and we were able to make up the gap using Google Translator. It was a short visit but I think we all liked it.

I met many people from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan who were willing to share their stories with me. Many of them are helping me get connected with friends and family back in Tajikistan when I head there in less than a week. That is assuming I get there on 5 October.
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