Another year

My annual check-in. I’ve spent the last twelve-ish months trying to learn how to become an audio reporter, which means I’ve been holding a microphone much more than my camera.

But as I get better at recording and using sound for stories, I’m hankering to revive the visuals part, too. And whenever I’ve felt this way in the past, it’s usually been helpful to take a look back.

Some of my recent favorite images had nothing to do with work. I’ve begun making self-portraits — so much has happened these past few years, and making images is a part of making sense of it all. I’m starting to collect them here on my website.

The stories I’ve done for VPR and Vermont PBS (the two nonprofits have merged) over the past year is reflective of the beats I’m trying to build. They’re focused mostly on the changing dairy industry and equity in agriculture, i.e., challenging systemic exclusion of Black, Indigenous and other people of color, as well as those who are low-income, linguistically-isolated, non-citizens and LGBTQIA+. Among those stories: how Vermont vaccinated it’s immigrant farmworkers during the pandemic.

I think my favorite piece, though, is a story about a woman who started dunking in the icy, winter waters of Lake Champlain while grieving the loss of her husband. Gisela Veve was so generous with her story, and the group she joined, the Red Hot Chilly Dippers, so fun to spend time with. (A version of this piece ended up on NPR, which was pretty cool, too!).

I took away so much from this reporting experience that I adopted the practice, chilly dipping 2-3 days a week through the rest of the winter.

Until next year, I suppose!