As 2011 winds down, I’m happy to have my head above water with this being my first year working as an independent photographer. The challenge of balancing personal work and hustling for assignments has been one that I’ve welcomed and surprisingly enjoyed. With the coming year I’m looking forward to building on the progress that I’ve made in 2011.

These pictures are my favorites- they help me recall how I felt during those moments over the twelve months. Though this is a batch of unrelated images, the sequence makes sense to me and conveys my feelings and mood throughout 2011. I’ve started to move away from single images to thinking about how photographs work together in a sequence.

In October 2010 I started work on a personal project looking at the city of Martinsville, Virginia and how the community is coping with the scar that the departed industries have left behind. This year I decided to stay close to home and immerse myself in the community. If I didn’t have an assignment or a commitment then chances are I was in my car heading south on highway 220 en route to Martinsville. I’ve learned quite a bit from the people this past year but I realize that I’ve only scratched the surface. I’m looking forward to continuing this project in 2012 and learning even more from the people in the community that have invested in me as I have them.

This year assignments and personal work allowed me to explore my home in Southwest Virginia along with neighboring communities in the central part of the state as well as Richmond- the capitol city, Paris, France, Baltimore, Maryland, Kansas City, Missouri, Raleigh, North Carolina, Oakland, California, Atlanta, Georgia, Western Pennsylvania, the Arkansas Delta region, the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas, the Mississippi Delta and the coast of Oregon. Seeing this list of places makes me smile- even though I consider myself a homebody, I really enjoy the travel.

My sincerest gratitude goes to each of the clients and publications that trusted me with their stories- they made the above paragraphs possible. Those that featured my work in 2011 were The AARP Bulletin, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Marguerite Casey Foundation, Equal Voice News, Bloomberg, Guardian UK, Global Post, The National Post, Getty Images, and Bay Path College. Many thanks to all the editors I had the privilege and pleasure of working with this year- your assignments have helped fund my personal work and for that I’m grateful.

Also, a big thank you to all my friends, family, mentors and colleagues.

I’ll see you on the other side of 2012.

Happy Holidays!

Last month I met Don Bright of Midlothian, Virginia while on assignment for AARP Bulletin. Bright, 69, lost his job of 30 years as a maintenance engineer for the Independent Container Line, an international shipping company in Richmond, Va., when his division moved to North Carolina in 2009. He collected unemployment for six months and e was diagnosed with leukemia and needed a year off from his job search for chemotherapy and recovery.

To read Judi Hasson’s story that appears in this month’s AARP Bulletin please click here.

Last Thursday I was talking about plans for a trip to New York City next month with a friend. After exchanging goodbyes, I decided to turn my attention to the mountain of grant applications and contest entry deadlines that are scattered over my desk. Just as I was settling into a working rhythm, my phone started buzzing- it was a New York area code. If you’re a working photographer a call from an NYC area code typically means a commission or an assignment is coming your way.

I picked up the phone and immediately said I was available. The editor told me that they needed me to get to Blacksburg, Virginia because two people had been shot on the campus of Virginia Tech and the suspect had not been identified or apprehended yet. My heart sunk, this was the first that I had heard of this situation and I hoped that this would not be a copycat of 2007. With instructions from the editor I headed to Blacksburg.

When I arrived, the entire campus was on lockdown. Tactical units from neighboring counties and cities patrolled the sidewalks and buildings where students would normally be milling around. It was eerie to be walking around the sprawling campus alone. Media outlets from across the state began to trickle in as minutes passed. Later it would be reported that Deriek Crouse, 39, a Virginia Tech police officer, was killed during a traffic stop on the Virginia Tech campus by a Radford University student, Ross Truett Ashley, 22, who soon after killed himself.

Please follow the coverage of my former co-workers at The Roanoke Times by clicking here.

To see more of my coverage for Getty Images please click here.

After attending a Citizens for a Better Greenville parents meeting a local restaurant, I was able to spend part of an evening with Robert Holloway at his home. The 21 year old Holloway was able to reach to 11th grade and then he was pushed out. He now works as a meter reader for an electrical company. To find out the path that lead Robert to be pushed please read Kathy Mulady’s story by clicking here.

During a recent trip back to Kansas to visit my parents I was able to fit in an assignment that involved spending part of a day with Paul Lillig, a home designer, who specializes in making homes more comfortable and safer for seniors and people living with disabilities. To read DeAnn Smith’s story please click here.

Last month the Marguerite Casey Foundation commissioned me to work on a couple stories in rural Arkansas. I’ll be posting links once those stories publish on the Equal Voice site. Until then, enjoy a few photos from the road.

This fall I decided to put together a direct mail promotional piece with the goal of building a working relationship with specific editors and art directors. I wanted to do something beyond a 5×7 postcard but at the same time I didn’t build a piece around novelty items that would distract from my photography. After a few preliminary sketches and countless hours of on Google researching materials, I decided to put something together that convey authenticity and honesty- two ideals that I value in photography. With that I kept it simple. The promo piece would house a few recent frames from the Martinsville project along with text to give to provide context.

For a few weeks in the summer I was a regular at all three hardware stores in the area. I now know which of them will cut Plexiglas and which has the best deal on spray paint. Though measuring and cutting prints was at times frustrating and mind numbing, it did feel good to spend two weeks away from the computer working on something with my hands.

Many thanks to David Wright for making time to print these photos and to Michael Sink who helped with the stickers.

Last month I was given the opportunity by The Washington Post to spend part of a day exploring East Ambler Johnston Hall, a newly renovated dormitory on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. The university’s idea with regard to the renovations was to building a community within the six floors of the hall. Students have the choice of living in the dorm for all four years. Along with residence hall staples such as communal lounges and suite rooms, East Ambler houses a movie theater, fitness center, game room, library and a full kitchen on the sixth floor. Additionally, two professors and their dog live among the students as well.

My time at East Ambler was split between an open house event and documenting daily dorm life. The open house consisted of a tour for alumni and university employees. After weaving through halls and rooms with a student guide, I left the group tour in search of moments. Here are a few outtakes and favorites from the assignment.

To read Jenna Johnson’s story please click here and to see the photo gallery that accompanied the report please click here.

Last month I was dispatched to Blacksburg, Virginia by an editor from the Style section for a story about parenthood featuring Erika Meitner, Steven Trost and their son Oz Trost. I spent part of an afternoon with the family making portraits and watching them play together. Meitner and Trost both teach at Virginia Tech, Erika as an assistant professor of English, and her husband as an instructor and the principles of economics coordinator. The story centered around their four year-old son Oz and how the couple balances their careers with parenthood.

Additionally, I decided to use this assignment as an opportunity to test out my new 6×6 camera. I was pleased to see that the Style section editor went with one of the 6×6 frames instead of the digital.

Here’s how the photo appeared. Please read Jane Gordon’s story by clicking here.