Asheville, NC

My brother-in-law and dear friend. The Sophisticated Chimps

Bike Trip

The first part of the trip actually started on a bike in the opposite direction of the destination. It was to St. Augustine from Gainesville, a 80ish mile bike ride. It wasn't as grueling as it sounds, especially for a unseasoned biker like myself. The trip was mostly along highways but when we finally reached the beach after a 8 hour ride, it was bliss.

Coast to Coast

I set out on a road trip three weeks ago from Florida to the coast of California with Vanessa (pictured below). For a couple weeks I was able to forget about the pressure of responsibility and concentrate on the open road. The end was San Fransisco, where I caught a flight to New York to start an internship at MediaStorm. It's amazing watching the landscape slowly change and morph in ways that are so drastic. I'll post images from throughout in the next week or so.


Saint Augustine, Florida


US-1, California, near Cambria

vegas.

fear and loathing, but mostly loathing.

spaces.

Vegas. In a way, it's bigger than itself. It's already in the middle of a vast desert, but then they constructed monstrous buildings with huge rooms adorned with all sorts of crazy things you could only dream of. The Las Vegas Convention Center, host of this year's PMA convention and trade show has about 3 million square feet of space. So, in such a busy city boasting adventure and excitement around every corner, there's bound to be loneliness.

found

from the depths of my mind...er...archives...

RIP, Rocky

Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.


Scripps announced today that the Rocky Mountain News will publish their last edition on Friday. They have been up for sale for some time now and finally had to bite the bullet after not receiving any offers. It's devastating to see that fine paper go. The talent and work those people put into their paper amazed and inspired me and they will be greatly missed. Best of luck in the future to all of you...

Here are some random quotes I pulled from reader comments:

The English language is becoming increasingly “dumbed down” and turned into sound and video bites with no depth and even less intelligence. Newspapers help hold a community together and are an important voice for democracy.

This is a total bummer. The great American spirit doused by the torrential rains of recession. And now life goes on.

I love you Rocky Mountain News.

This is one of the saddest days in Colorado history.

Your front page was our front door.

I think I will cry...

Goodbye, old friend.

You will be missed.

Airshow.

missing

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, 5, went missing from her home in Satsuma, about a 1.5 hour drive from Gainesville, last Monday Feb. 9. Authorities are treating it like an abduction, but everyone is suspect. I spent the last three days there. It's a small tight-knit rural community, and the families have received tons of support from the surrounding areas. When I first arrived, the ground search was in full force, with a Texas-based group called EquuSearch on horseback trampling through the woods. Today, they called off the search and are pursuing only the investigative side of the case. The authorities they have leads, but can't give any details yet.

It's terrible when something like this happens, and as a photographer it's difficult to shoot when the families really just want to be left alone. They appreciate the coverage since they recognize the value of raising awareness about their child, but the hordes of TV cameras in their faces pushed the parents to the edge at points--already deprived of food and sleep. So, I tried to lay low and not cause them more grief than they were already experiencing.