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FOURTH OF JULY
by Joe Jaszewski
Photo Intern Houston (TX) Chronicle
July 4th, 2001.
Houston, TX
For the last 18 years I have spent the Fourth-of-July at 5601 Callister Ave. in east Sacramento. Next door to the house where I spent the first 14 years of my life the Judy family has always thrown a block party on the Fourth with other neighborhood friends. Even as my family moved to a different neighborhood, as I and the Judy kids went off to college, the tradition continued with my ex-next-door-neighbors. We played water volleyball, barbecued some meat, my mom brought a green salad, and even as the kids got older we still set off fireworks in the street when it got dark. After that, we walked down and watched the big fireworks show going on across the river.
Indeed, shooting for the Houston Chronicle, at a circulation of nearly 600,000, is a much different experience than shooting for the Idaho Statesman which has a circulation of around 80,000. On staff of six photographers in Boise if I didn't show up for work one day to shoot my assignments for the front of the business and sports sections there would be a major problem. If I don't show up for work at the Chronicle, with a staff of 15-plus, for my assignment for page six of the metro section I think they will survive. But those resources have a blessing as well. I can be turned loose to work on projects, one of which is underway and two more are in the planning stages. I learned early on that unless I wanted to be hunting for features all summer I needed to initiate some of my own assignments and take the lead. I am excited at how positively my ideas have been received.
At a newspaper this large, and probably at many which are much smaller, there isn't much hand-holding. They throw you in with the sharks at the beginning and it is sink or swim. At first it was overwhelming: being in a different city with different people in a different apartment working for a different paper. Being thrown into that situation and being forced to get my bearings quickly and hit the ground running was a wonderful experience. It wasn't the most pleasant, but it will prove to be very useful. As I get more settled in, finding the good restaurants, figuring out the freeway system, navigating my way through the newspaper's system things become more enjoyable and less stressful. Of course, by the time I feel completely comfortable here, it will be time to go back to school and the familiarity of northern California. Such is the nature of internships.
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Tonight
I found myself on the fifth floor of the Houston Chronicle building processing
film over 2000 miles away from 5601 Callister. Earlier in the day I photographed
a parade in Friendswood, south-east of Houston. That evening I photographed
the BP Power of Freedom celebration at Tinsley park in downtown Houston.
My film was in the processor when I called over to 5601 to see how everyone
was. The phone was passed around from neighbor, to mother, to friend,
to sister. I found out it rained. They wish I was there. The burgers are
on the barbecue. John brought his girlfriend. Before we hung up, I heard
a "Happy Fourth-of-July, Joey!" in unison from everyone at the party.
I bid them a reluctant goodbye, and wished them a happy Fourth. |
Joe Jaszewski
