Megan's Blog

Ed Epley, an 82-year-old peace activist from Corvallis, Oregon, stands in front of the Benton County Courthouse every day from five to six PM with his 1961 VW bus, which he bought brand new back in the day. Epley joined this vigil a week after it was created in 2001. The vigil's first meeting, which began on October 7, 2001, in accordance to the first US bombing of Afghanistan, took place in front of the courthouse with about 50 people. Now, Ed is one of the few people who still stand out in front of Courthouse every night, helping the vigil reach its name of being the longest lasting daily anti-war peaceful protest in the United States. Most of the people who were part of the original group are gone: some grew too old, some can’t come down due to the cold weather, and some have moved away. Ed, however, continues to stand despite the challenges. Ed Epley, on December fourth, told me he protests in hopes to “keep the issue current to the people here that we still have t...

Topic 1      My favorite photo is the environmental portrait I took of Eddie Hernandez. This photo really shows who Eddie is as a person. His smile is great, the colors all work well together, and it is easy to tell what his job is. This photo just really makes me proud; this picture was also published in the paper the next week!      The composition, color, and angle of this photo really show what I have learned in this class. For that, I am proud of myself. During week one, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never worked with a camera professionally, and I had touched a real camera once before this class. To know I am capable of doing awesome things with the camera because of this class is really refreshing and makes me proud. My photos in the first two weeks really lacked the interest and composition. There wasn't much about them that really caught the eye, but this photo was a turning point for me. I feel the photos in the week after really shine...

     My favorite story in It's What I Do  by Lynsey Addario would have to be when she is in Istanbul during chapter five and a bomb goes off for the first time very near to her. The bomb ended up killing one of the reporters there, whom she knew and talked to. This was a huge reality check for her; it showed her there was real danger in what she did, and the experience made her so deeply upset, she had to excuse herself do the back of the building to cry. All she wanted in the moment was to call her mom, but she soon realized someone had stolen her phone. To me, this really shows not only what she was experiencing, but it showed Addario what was truly important to her--her mom. Not just this though, because although this experience was traumatic for her, and many others, she still wanted to go to war zones and photograph the atrocities; so in many ways, this was also the beginning of her love with war.      Addario has some notable photographing ...