Another year, another dollar.

Hello,
Recently I took a trip down to Washington, DC to work. I drove talent for the Mark Twain Prize. I want to thank my fellow SVA Alum Cat Del Buono for getting me the gig. While I was down there, I didn't have much time for picture taking. However, I did manage to hit up this weird activity.

People do indoor rock climbing on artificial rock surfaces. I had no idea this existed, much less that people pay to join rock climbing gyms. Here is a shot, of my buddy, Paul Khouri, showing me how climbing is done.



The best part of being in DC was being around all that wonderful architecture. The monuments, capitol, white house, all of it gave me my inspiration for my next photo project.

Tomorrow I leave for Phoenix, Arizona. Here I hope to take my next move, and more photographs.

World Savvy Promotes Arts at Queens High School

Hello all,
Sorry about my tardiness in updating my blog. Life has been very crazy these last six month since I graduated from the School of Visual Arts. Briefly, I have decided to pursue teaching full-time. After leaving the Queens Courier I wanted to make sure that my new job would leave me enough time to continue being a photographer. Teaching is the obvious answer to this.
Currently I am enrolled to earn yet another Master's degree at Brooklyn College. This time it will be in English. I hope to start teaching High School, while working on a PhD. And then there is the photography.

This little piece up above is an internet slide show I made in my waning days at the Courier. Think of it as a tidbit while waiting for new work.

I have recently started on my followup to American Pastimes. I'll try to get some samples up

American Pastimes

American Pastimes

American Pastimes

By J. Alan Hamill

Book Preview

I apologize that I have not updated in a couple of months. I have had a very busy time recently. I have graduated school from the School of Visual Arts and have entered the world of photojournalism. In my time away I worked at two different newspapers here in the New York area. Currently I am freelancing for NYC&Co and working on getting more clients.

The book above is the culmination of all my work at SVA. I invite everything to take a look at it and if you wish to support me then buy a copy. I spent a lot of time taking these pictures and I think my view of American culture will amuse quite a few people out there.

I'll try very hard to update more often. I have new work that will be put up shortly.
I'm also trying to put together a sports section on my website.

Talk soon
Alan

John Edwards for President.

So it has been forever since I have posted. As I'm typing Barack Obama was just declared the winner of the Wisconsin primary. John Edwards dropped out of the race a month ago. Obviously these pictures were taken a long time ago. Overall I think these pictures were not much of a success. They are boring and need a much stronger point of view. Honestly I have not been working as hard as I need to be. I recently got a job with the Jersey Journal. I have been working so much that my school work is suffering. Part of me does not care. I only have a couple months left of school and I want to get into the newspaper business. Overall I'm just really stressed as rapid life changes are being thrust upon me.
Anyway, back to the pictures. I think I can do better and hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently.

Arizona Tourist's Attractions

Ah, the desert. Who knew that America's not-so wild west would be prime stomping grounds for the next set of American Pastimes. These were all took over Thanksgiving in Arizona. I have not gotten any feedback on them as of yet so there is not much for me to say. However, I will note that I think my skills at spotting these opportunities are greatly improving.

Shawnee Mountain Hot Air Balloon Launch and Timberfest.

Ok folks, so this set is a trip I took to the Shawnee Mountain Hot Air Balloon and Timberfest. Basically, it was just your normal country fair in rural Pennsylvania. The catch is that I think I found exactly what I was looking for in terms of my statement about American culture. This is especially true on the first page of these photos. I also think I am finally developing the voice that has been lacking in this project. As much as art school can be a joke, I believe they are helping me to craft my skills. My photographs are improving.
In other good news, my thesis advisor is going to be Jeff Mermelstein. Jeff is an amazing photographer who I would tell anyone who is interested in street, decisive moment photography to check out. I love his book No Title Here and I have the utmost respect for Charles Traub and SVA for setting this up for me.

Jessica and Alan's Birthday Bowling

Not much to report. These are just some photographs from my birthday party. It was really fun, but they are just drunk snapshots. Enjoy.