I dropped off my son at the Marblehead Community Charter Public School this morning and was excited to capture the annual ceremony declaring that the Marblehead school year has begun. I learned today that Glover's Regiment has been firing this salute to start the school year since 1995. This year the location was moved closer to the school which made for a much better photo opportunity than last year in the field.
This morning, the Marblehead Community Charter Public School will start the school year with a bang (or actually five) as the Glover's Regiment fires a five gun salute to open the academic calendar. I first witnessed this Marblehead tradition last year as my son entered fourth grade. I'll be returning this morning for the start of his fifth grade school year and this uniquely Marblehead way to start the school year.
In late July, I decided to head out and try to photograph the Marblehead Veterans Middle School. I had previously scouted the area and thought I would try for a long exposure image. While I had a few ideas in mind, none were panning out quite as I had hoped. As I was ready to pack up and leave empty-handed, I noted the old lettering at the top of the building denoting this as the former Marblehead High School and the proximity of the American flag. I ended up on my back looking up at this scene as it was [...]
Today's image was an easy one to pick and it has a number of different meanings. First and foremost, I'm tired of the cold and the snow. This is the scene at Eveleth School from a beautiful (and warm) Spring day last year. I walk my son to school here every morning and kept an eye on the trees waiting for the flowers to peak and for a nice cloud filled sky. This was as perfect as I could have imagined and should give you hope as you walk out this morning and take your kids to school or head [...]
For the past few weeks, I've been on the hunt for examples of great foliage in town. Everytime I drove down Pleasant Street, I would look up at Marblehead High School and note the status of the trees there. On October 27th, the day before Hurricane Sandy was due to arrive, I decided to make a quick stop in the afternoon. I figured this would be my last chance to shoot the trees there for the season and thought the timing might just work out. As I drove around the rotary and parked, I was thrilled to see the oranges [...]
This week, the Glover school demolition began. I saw the first chunks removed on my way to work on Monday and noted even more disappeared by noon Tuesday. I had come home to grab lunch and quickly got the camera instead. I took a few shots from School street but then made my way around to Cherry Street and saw this view. The view reminded me of watching the old YMCA come down with layers appearing for singular moments in time. As it was the crew's lunch break, I had some time to compose this image to showcase the interior [...]
This is easily my favorite photo from my morning spent photographing the Glover school. There is so much about this image that I still don't understand: Why a mural of a whale rowing a boat? Why is this little desk pushed up against the wall? At the same time, you can again see signs of the age of the Glover in the huge vent to the right and the green flooring. Below is the teacher's break room. It's a truly tiny space and, when I saw the light coming in and the half-erased words on the chalkboard, I knew that [...]
Ever since I took a tour of the Glover school at the time of the last override vote, I had wanted to come back and shoot the boiler room. These boilers are incredible for their sheer size and age (almost 100 years old). As you can see, there have been modifications made over the years to try to squeeze more heat out of them by adding a blower to the front. The scary thing is that these boilers are one bad part away from the scrap heap. It seems that we've made it through this Winter with them keeping our [...]
Part 2 of the 4-part series from my shoot at the Glover school. Above and below are two of the stairwells in the Glover school. The first struck me as half of the glass panes have been patched up and most are held in place with duct tape. The floors show the toll of a hundred years of little feet walking up and down the stairs. Below you'll find the seal of the town of Marblehead at the top of another set of stairs. Please click the photos to see them bigger and explore the details presented in each image. [...]
I had the distinct privilege and pleasure of spending some time shooting the Glover school this Wednesday. As many of you know, the Glover was built in 1916 and houses grades 1-3. The school's boilers have reached end-of-life and I'm informed that parts are only available from demolitions of buildings of that age in this state. The town of Marblehead voted down a debt override exclusion to allow this building to be rebuilt by a margin of 71 votes. I hope that these images can shed some light on the current standing of the school. While there is an immense [...]