A Dream Come True

"It was hell, really. It was hard to hold a job before the union came." That's how Annie Henry, a certified instrument processor at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, remembers what life was like for workers at the hospital. Another worker, William Watkins, recalls in "A Dream Come True" that there were employees who'd been with the hospital for 20 years but never got a raise, simply because their supervisors didn't like them.

That changed in 1968, with the help of Coretta Scott King. Just weeks after her husband was assassinated while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Mrs. King urged union Local 1199 to continue Dr. King's work by organizing hospital workers around the nation. According to 1199 members still working at Hopkins today and interviewed in this documentary, Mrs. King's visit changed everything, leading them to a successful organizing drive and a better relationship with their employer.

Laura Pugh, a cook with 41 years' experience, sums up the difference this way: "It is incredible to be able to sit down with [hospital] big bosses, vice presidents, presidents, no matter who it is … and talk, and get things settled."

Watch out!

I've been lucky enough to shoot in a lot of manufacturing facilities, which can make really interesting photos. One thing you have to be careful for, though — these places are dangerous. At an aluminum plant, for instance, you can't see any difference between molten and solid aluminum, so the only safe thing to do is don't touch anything!

That's why I was so surprised when I went to a plant last week where workers cut material for military uniforms. I asked one of the workers to show me his machine. He walked over, ran his hands over the controls, gestured inside to where the blades were.

"Watch out!" I wanted to shout. You see, aside from the inherent danger of these machines, this worker was blind. Yes — this was at Blind Industries and Services of Maryland.

But it didn't matter. As I watched that worker and others do their jobs so I could decide whom to photograph, it became obvious I couldn't tell the sighted people on the floor from the legally blind. They all seemed equally comfortable, and effective, in an environment that for me was a little dangerous.

Back to the Bus Shelter

The 2.2 million-members Service Employees Union International, probably the fastest-growing union in the country, recently elected Mary Kay Henry as its president.

When Henry traveled to Baltimore to meet with organizers she stopped by one of the bus shelters I'd done the photography for to pose for a photo of her own.

What kind of photography?

When people ask me what kind of photography I do, I explain that it's most often photos that are to be reproduced someplace - maybe a magazine or newspaper, maybe an ad or a newsletter or a poster or a web page or a book jacket.

Of course, there are other places my photos turn up from time to time. Like, for instance, a series of bus shelters in Baltimore.


And it's for a good cause -- see http://www.theheartofbaltimore.org/.

Official Photographer for the Big Guy

I was at a holiday party thrown by a union in Baltimore over the weekend, and they had a problem. Santa was there and so were about a zillion kids. But Santa's photographer was missing. Could I....?

You bet! When am I ever going to get a chance to play official photographer to a mall Santa again? And it was a blast. The kids were all adorable, all zillion of 'em. Of course, there's always a few who look at the Big Guy in the Red Suit and say "No Way." It's an understandable reaction. But it seems their parents still want that photo.

And if I think about it, these photos are going to be held onto long after everything else I shoot this month is history. Even if some of my subjects were less than enthusiastic.

I Love Baltimore

Well, sure, I married a lady from Baltimore two years ago. And driving up there to see her in the years before that was always a treat.

But I've always liked working in the city. I seem to have the best experiences there, right back to when I started full-time photography in the early '90s. I remember one of my first assignments was to travel around for a day with a doctor who still made house calls. We started in the projects and finished up in a mansion. I don't remember how he got such a varied client list, but I still recall many of the stops we made, including the teenaged quadriplegic, being cared for by his aunt. He'd spent months as a homeless quadriplegic, living in an abandoned building. Only in Baltimore.

I've been up to Baltimore a lot recently, especially photographing healthcare workers. Often these workers don't have health benefits for themselves, or for their children, through their employment. The very people whose job it is to care for others often don't have any way to care for themselves should they get sick. Only in the United States. But it's great to meet these folks and their families, get welcomed into their homes. Yesterday I photographed a woman named Stephanie, her wonderful teenage son and daughter. One photo I did was on their front stoop -- such a hallmark of Baltimore homes.

History is made, and faces tell the story

I had an assignment last night to cover an election victory party in Baltimore, Maryland. It started out well enough — nice venue, positive vibes, free food — and that grew through the evening.

Then, at 11:01, when the polls closed in California, the TV screens flashed the message: "Barack Obama Predicted 44th President of the United States."

I was watching the people. This was a crowd that had come in expecting this very result. But the reaction that went through the crowd — it was sheer shock, certainly followed by joy. From where I was standing, the story of this point in our nation's history is told in the faces of its people.