Found New Orleans Rhyme Book, 2005

5'10" 215 lbs.

A Product Of Our Environment: A Preview Of What I'm Working On For Aperture

So last summer in the midst of a project I was working on called Down These Mean Streets, The Aperture Foundation contacted me saying they wanted to meet. They wouldn't tell me what it was for and I had to submit to a portfolio first. So I did. Fast forward to a couple weeks later, some meetings had, a proposal written, I get an email saying I got it. I was one of five photographers (the others being the incredibly talented Gabriele Stabile, Thomas Holton, LaToya Ruby Frazier and Shen Wei) selected to document the New York City Green Cart Initiative. This commission is in partnership with the Tisch Illumination Fund, The Mayor's Fund for New York City and the Department of Health and provides underserved urban communities with ready access to fresh fruits and vegetables via hundreds of independently-owned Green Carts stands.



One of the things that I was intent on showing in the work I made for Mean Streets was the lack of healthy food options and the ever abundant liquor stores and fast food chains and I wanted to continue this exploration. So for this commission I will be photographing in the geographic locations within the 5 boroughs where the highest reported instances of poverty, obesity, diabetes, illness related to poor nutrition and people living without health insurance overlap with the locations of the Green Carts. My goal is to create a visual record of the food options that surround the Green Carts within this geographic overlap. I’m interested in the impact the fruit and vegetable carts will have on these areas and how they will compete against one of America’s most addictive drugs: fast food. As our country adapts to a changing economy and we debate healthcare, the weight of these national issues can be seen on a local level through the Green Cart initiative and its influence on New York City’s most economically deprived neighborhoods.

It is exciting to be a part of this project and it is so important that commissions of this nature are put into action which demonstrate a commitment to explore social issues through the medium of photography and continue on in the vein of the great work done by the WPA photographers many years ago. There is no time since then more important for this than right now.



-To see a preview of all 5 photographers' work please visit the Aperture Foundation website.

The Bronx

Nay Nay from the Bronx.



And a feature of my work currently up on the Black Snapper.

An Overflowing Bucket Of Shit, It's The American Way

A new interview is in the current issue of NY Arts Magazine. To read the full conversation click here. Here is an excerpt:

Leah Oates: Your images deal with working-class people and environments in the United States, and have a melancholy side to them. How did you come to this theme in your artistic practice?

Me: The working-class people, as you refer to them, the workingman is the victim lab rat of this great experiment called America. America is founded upon a man at the top of the pyramid shitting in a bucket and then handing it down to the man below him, then that guy shits in the bucket and hands it down to the man below him. As each man takes his turn shitting in the bucket and handing it down, it eventually reaches the man at the bottom and that is the workingman. The workingman is given a bucket of shit filled so high that there is no room for him to shit, and no one below him to hand the bucket down to, so he is stuck with it. He has no other option or choice, and he is forced to eat and deal with everyone else’s shit, everyone else’s mistakes, failures, miscalculations, and selfishness. And, well, that ain’t cool with me. This bucket of shit or perhaps a nice way of referring to it is the trickle down society we have built our politics and economy on, doesn’t work for everyone, and problems can’t just be pushed downward, swept under the carpet and forgotten about. It takes Americans the absolute worst to realize that there is problem, and usually at that point the pile of forgotten problems under the carpet have become so big that the carpet looks like the tiny white snow cap on top of a mountain. And by then it is too late.

There's A War Going On Outside

There's a war going on outside no man is safe from. You could run but you can't hide forever from these streets that we done took. You walking with your head down scared to look, you shook, cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks, they never around when the beef cooks in my part of town....it's similar to Vietnam.

-Mobb Deep

The Daily Beast

I am excited to have Down These Mean Streets featured on The Daily Beast. Thank you Rachel!

Obama, We Are Dying Out Here

Obama, we are dying out here. Stand up and put change into action, talk is cheap, doing is doing. We need health care, we need health education, we need health options. We are dying slowly...

New Projects Coming Soon

My work in progress We Are All In This Together, which is an accumulation of several years worth of work as well as brand new stuff, and, Deadline, my project examining the newspaper industry and the internet era, will be up on my website shortly. Stay tuned....

Aperture Green Cart Commission

I am thrilled and excited to have been selected by the Aperture Foundation to work on a year long commission documenting the Green Cart initiative in New York City. I will be working with 4 other awesome photographers, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Thomas Holton, Gabriele Stabile & Shen Wei on the project. For the past year I have turned my camera to the problems that plague our inner cities in hopes that through the power and salience of photography change can come and positive action can be made. There is a food revolution happening right now in inner cities throughout America and it is a light at the end of a long dark tunnel to discover programs like the Green Cart initiative. It is refreshing and uplifting to be able to now turn my camera and document the efforts to bring locally grown fruits and vegetables at affordable prices to some of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in New York where there are little or no health resources and food options available.

Newspapers And The Age Of Information

photo taken by Michael W. Plunkett in the Philadelphia Inquirer downtown news room

Been on a break from the blog as I have taken a step back to examine the internet, specifically how we access information. Been working on two new projects. Have spent some time photographing the newspaper industry and the current transitions our newspapers are faced with, seeing how the paper is made, how information is gathered, presented and how the paper is put together. My father is a newspaper man, my grandfather was a newspaper man, my great grandfather was a newspaper man and my great great grandfather was a newspaper man, this is in my blood, it was how I was raised, from the reporters to copy editors to teamsters, everyone felt like family. A sneak peek of this work to come shortly as well as more on my other new project.

No Longer Can We Ignore The Lack Of Health And Food Options In Our Inner Cities

There is a food revolution happening right now in our inner cities (a must read). The future of our country and its citizens lies not only in how we value our education system and living conditions, etc, but in the health of our people. Our health care system has been under great focus recently, as it should be. How we have let our health care system become a business dominated by insurance companies and pharmaceutical makers I do not know. How the sick workers who gave their brave lives to spending weeks working on Ground Zero and now can not get insurance coverage (Moore's Sicko) brings tears. This must end. Instead of spending millions of dollars on treating the preventable illnesses (obesity, diabetes, stroke, blindness, limp amputation and kidney failure) that result from little or no health and food resources in low income areas, we must target the problem before it begins. Many programs (The Food Trust, Fresh Food Financing Initiative, urban farmers, to list a few of the many) have sprouted up across America that recognize the immediate need for change and have hit the streets and taken action. Here is some information:



From Gov. Paterson’s press release announcing strategies to expand grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods:

“There are not enough healthy food options in many urban and rural communities throughout New York State. The lack of affordable, nutritious food is negatively impacting the revitalization of many communities, and the health of New Yorkers,” said Governor Paterson.

“With too few supermarkets in neighborhoods across the five boroughs and many existing businesses shutting their doors, much of the city is being affected by supermarket shortages, and a lack of access to affordable, healthy foods,” said Speaker Quinn.

"It was established in 2008 because of concerns that New Yorkers were losing access to fresh, affordable foods. Despite a growth in population in New York City, the number of supermarkets has declined by one third in the past six years. Diabetes rates have doubled in the last 10 years. Childhood obesity has become a public health epidemic. One out of every four New Yorkers under the age of 18 is obese. In many high-poverty areas, the rate is closer to one out of three. For the first time in history, children have a lower life expectancy than their parents.

Obesity causes serious health problems, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. It puts children at greater risk for life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks, stroke, limb loss, and cancer, and it places an enormous strain on our healthcare system. Last year New York spent $6.1 billion to treat obesity related health problems, the second highest in the nation."



From the report Designed for Disease: The Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes

"The food environments of lower-income communities and communities of color are of particular concern, given that obesity and diabetes rates are highest in these communities. Lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color have fewer grocery stores and an abundance of fastfood restaurants and convenience stores compared to higher-income and predominantly Caucasian neighborhoods. When grocery stores are not accessible—when residents do not have access to a private vehicle or reliable public transportation, or when grocery stores are not located within short walking distance—residents of these communities often resort to purchasing the generally higher-calorie, lower-nutrient foods sold at nearby convenience stores and fast-food restaurants. These disparities in food access contribute to subsequent chronic health conditions, including obesity, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, as well as to higher mortality rates and years of potential life lost."



From The National Fresh Food Financing Initiative

"Millions of Americans in low-income communities and communities of color walk out their front doors and see nothing but fast food and convenience stores selling high-fat, high-sugar processed foods. Residents of rural areas face a different but related challenge—a complete lack of any nearby food options at all. Americans in too many urban and rural communities must travel long distances just to access the fresh food they need to live healthy lives."

Everything Dies Baby That's A Fact, But Maybe Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back

My new project DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS is now up on my website.




Atlantic City

"Well, they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night
Now, they blew up his house, too
Down on the boardwalk they're gettin ready for a fight
Gonna see what them racket boys can do

Now, there's trouble bustin in from outta state
And the d.a. can't get no relief
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade
And the gamblin commissions hangin on by the skin of his teeth

Well now, everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City

Well, I got a job and tried to put my money away
But I got debts that no honest man can pay
So I drew what I had from the central trust
And I bought us two tickets on that coast city bus

Now, baby, everything dies, honey, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back...

Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold
But with you forever I'll stay
Were goin out where the sands turnin to gold
Put on your stockins baby, `cause the nights getting cold
And maybe everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back

Now, I been lookin for a job, but it's hard to find
Down here it's just winners and losers and don't
Get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well, Im tired of comin out on the losin end
So, honey, last night I met this guy and Im gonna
Do a little favor for him

Well, I guess everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe evrything that dies someday comes back..."

-The Fucking Boss

Cold Sweats. From Bad Dreams.

Every night in Detroit mad dudes up in my face. Mad aggressive. I held that wrench so tight. Just waiting. Waiting for good to go bad in that unpredictable split second that it always does. I'm still here, still standing tall, still riding hard.