I asked Bailey if he had anything planned for his birthday. Stopping his car, he picked up a sign that read, “IT’S MY B-DAY, SHOW ME YOUR BOOBS.” It had been a good day so far. 

It was still his turn to work on the strike line, so dutifully he resumed his antagonizing of the workers who had been recruited to take their positions for dramatically worse pay & benefits. I was hoping to capture some of the raw emotion that colors his speech, even if the end product is a series of punch-lines. Bailey may be the comedian, but his muse is a dark bitterness towards those who had been giving he and his “brothers and sisters,” a raw deal.

The photo may not say it, but RIT (orange) won its first soccer game of the season against SUNY Oswego, 2-0.

Bailey sent me a message, he said, “Get here now and bring your camera.” It’s been 99 days since the strike started, and Dr. Pepper Snapple Corp. made their first offer in more than a month. He wanted to celebrate this new progress, and the purchasing of his new tent.

Eric Valle, 20, stands beneath a completed super adobe dome.

Kassandra Nunez waits for the paper mâché cast of her belly to dry. Her husband Jose applies another layer.

My return home, for my 21st birthday, was greeted by news that my friends, the people I have grown up with, were beginning to start families of their own. It sounds cliche, but I can’t believe how fast everyone has grown up.

My wonderful nephew Braydon, with my sister Julie and brother Joe.

Matt Meyer drives me home from Sonoma State University.

I traveled to Taos, NM to check out Earthship Headquarters. I’ve been following the Earthships team for a few years now, and my pilgrimage only reinforced my trust in the power of technology and human inspiration.

In my interviews with Earthships’ employees and interns, I learned about the unique business model of creating these sustainable structures. While the team travels to Canada, India, Peru, Haiti, Australia and tons of other locations to build, there hasn’t been much in the way of profit-seeking expansion, or successful copycat architects. The passion for creation still lies with the originator of Earthships, Michael Reynolds.

I bought one of his first books, A Coming of Wizards, a hodgepodge of new-age spirituality, green philosophy, poetry and physics. I guess this is more of an indulgence to the part of me that used to acknowledge the divining visions from a man positioned under the energy field of a homemade pyramid.  

My work as an architect/builder began to reflect what was happening to me. The earth became a sacred place that I wanted human life to embrace rather than exploit. I set about trying to achieve this for myself and others. I became focused on developing self-sufficient housing made from recycled materials using energy from the sun and wind.

Over 30 years later, Reynolds has produced entire cities from his inspiration. Any crazy person can write down their rambling, pseudo spiritual thoughts. It takes a special kind of crazy person to put their word into action.

Coming out of the Pantry, I’ve been thinking about ways to photograph my family that wouldn’t irritate them or elicit comments from others. I don’t think this would be the most successful endeavor, nor would it result in good pictures. I have a problem. Deal.

I tried photographing lightning for the first time. In White Sands, New Mexico, it took over 1000 shots to get something that resembled treefingers.