Random acts of art
A mural in a walkway on the east side of the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City on Monday, Feb. 28, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
There’s a tunnel on the east side of the capitol that is decorated with a series of murals depicting different regions and events in the state of Oklahoma. The sand dunes at Little Sahara, wheat harvests, city skylines and Barry Sanders as the OSU running back are a few of the scenes in the poorly lit walkway. My favorite of the whole bunch is this scene of a firefighter climbing through smoke while children play in the foreground. Every time I visit the capitol and see this mural, I think it would make the perfect cover to the science fiction novel Hellstrom’s Hive by Frank Herbert.
As for random acts of art, if you somehow missed this slideshow from October 2009 you should give it a quick look.
-John Clanton
Some unpublished sports pictures
Norman's Nathan Sheely swims the Boys 100 Yard Freestyle during the finals of the Class 6A State Swimming Championships at the Oklahoma City Community College Aquatic Center in Oklahoma City, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011. Sheely finished fourth in the event. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Staff photographers at The Oklahoman covered a wide variety of sports events around the city in the last few weeks, from high school swimming championships to college wrestling to NBA basketball. Here are a few images that were not selected to run in the newspaper. You can see images from these events as well as other sports, news, feature and entertainment assignments by clicking here.
Oklahoma State's Dallas Bailey wrestles with Oklahoma's Tyler Caldwell (top) during their dual at McCasland Field House on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Okla., on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011. Tyler Caldwell won this match. Oklahoma State won the dual 24-9. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (0) goes to the basket between Los Angeles' Blake Griffin (32) and DeAndre Jordan (9) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Los Angeles Clippers at the Oklahoma City Arena, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
From inside Libya
Salah Abdalhfed joins other Libyan immigrants and students as they protest Moammar Gadhafi and the current situation in Libya at 23rd and Classen in Oklahoma City on Monday Feb. 21, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Ameen Emneina held a sign in Oklahoma City on Monday night that read “My Famely (sic) might be Dead.” His brothers had joined the protests of Moammar Gadhafi in his hometown of Benghazi. He’s been trying to reach them by phone, but he says the line is always disconnected. Emneina was one of many Libyan immigrants and students who held signs during a protest at 23rd and Classen in Oklahoma City. Photographers from Dallas to Serbia to Cairo covered protests in their cities, localizing an international story.
Meanwhile, there are few images coming out of Libya. The Associated Press is sending out images from a photojournalist named Alaguri, images taken from the state-controlled television stations, images from amateur photographers involved in the protests and from videos accessed from YouTube.
Images from wars, earthquakes, and riots are often heartbreaking and unsettling. When we saw images from Haiti after the earthquakes or from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, there’s an instant connection to the people involved in the tragedies. Photography transcends language barriers, education levels and social status. Photographs can tell emotional stories that connect people, that inspire aid, direct prayers, loosen up purse strings or empower people to get involved on a local level.
There are graphic images coming out of Libya, but with foreign journalists prohibited from entering the country, war planes and helicopters attacking protesters and hundreds of people killed already, what’s most unsettling in this case, is what we’re not seeing.
Men carry a coffin at Al-Jalaa hospital in Benghazi, Libya on Monday, Feb. 21, 2011. Libyan protesters celebrated in the streets of Benghazi on Monday, claiming control of the country's second largest city after bloody fighting, and anti-government unrest spread to the capital with clashes in Tripoli's main square for the first time. (AP Photo/Alaguri)
Residents are seen walking past a burned-out vehicle in Benghazi, Libya on Monday, Feb. 21, 2011. Libyan protesters celebrated in the streets of Benghazi on Monday, claiming control of the country's second largest city after bloody fighting, and anti-government unrest spread to the capital with clashes in Tripoli's main square for the first time. (AP Photo/Alaguri)
To see more images from inside Libya, click here. You can read more about Ameen Emneina and the protests in Oklahoma City by clicking here.
-John Clanton
Deployment
Cody Black, of Oklahoma City, hugs his daughter Keagan Black, age 3, as he meets his family outside the OKC Arena following a deployment ceremony for members of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team at The OKC Arena in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Thousands of people gathered at the OKC Arena and in the Cox Convention Center on Wednesday for the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s Deployment Ceremony. We’ve photographed dozens of deployment and return ceremonies in the past ten years, but this was by far the biggest ceremony I’d ever been to. Soldiers and their family and friends nearly filled the OKC Arena to watch the ceremony.
As photojournalists, we’re looking for moments that connect the readers to the subjects. I’ve written about this before, but it bears repeating occasionally, especially in a time when the media is often portrayed as part of the problem or as a nuisance. We’re there to document the people that make up the story, to offer a glimpse into the emotion they’re feeling.
Reading that 3,400 soldiers are being deployed is one thing, but seeing the look on a soldier’s face as he holds his daughter brings the story and the sacrifice home.
In the melee of people looking for their loved ones outside the OKC Arena, I looked for moments like this that helped tell the story. You can see all the pictures that photographer Jim Beckel and I turned in from the deployment ceremony today by clicking here.
-John Clanton
Pictures I Like-So far this month
A motorist tries to dig a path for their car on the access road to I-235 near Britton Road during a major winter storm that hit central Oklahoma Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2011. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman
So far this month, Staff photographers at The Oklahoman have put over 1,100 images into our archive system. I thought that seemed like a high number and attributed it to the snow storms. When I looked up the same time period over the last few years, however, we turned in about the same amount in the first 13 days of February 2010 and 2009 we turned in nearly 1,400 images.
We’re getting back into a more normal routine after the recent snow storms. No early deadlines or assignments canceled because of ice and snow this week. There are plenty of images to catch up on from the end of last week and some good stories to look for on the Alternate Crop blog site in the next few days. Here’s a last look at some of the blizzard images you may have missed last week, as well as gymnastics and Rumble the Bison. We’ve put up galleries about the PBR events in Oklahoma City over the weekend as well as galleries from Oklahoma City Thunder games that you can watch by clicking here and remember that you can click the images on this post to see them on a dark background.
Abby Hoffman, 12, of Jenks Gymnastics competes on the bars during the Nadia Comaneci International Invitational at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Friday, Feb. 11, 2011. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
The sun sets at a frozen Lake Hefner, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011, in Oklahoma City. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Guilherme Marchi's ride ends during the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) 2011 Built Ford Tough Series event at the OKC Arena in Oklahoma City on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma City's Serge Ibaka (9) blocks the shot of Washington's Kevin Seraphin (13) during the NBA basketball game between the Washington Wizards and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Oklahoma City Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, January 28, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Jennie Linck (right) slips and falls as she and her sister Meg Linck (in pink) help push German exchange student, Alexander Kauschanski, down their street in Heritage Hills during a snow storm in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Firefighters battle a house fire in the 1900 block of E Harrison in Guthrie County, February 3 , 2011. Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
Greg Rosino surprised his wife Krystale at work when Thunder Mascot Rumble delivered a Valentine Surprise on Saturday, February 12, 2011, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
The Blizzard Strikes Back
Heavy equipment pushes snow off of Penn near Britton during a snow storm in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Staff Photographers from The Oklahoman spent Wednesday morning photographing the second major snowstorm in the last two weeks. We’ve compiled a gallery of images that you can see by clicking here. If either of you missed the time lapse video we put together of the last major storm you can either scroll down a couple of posts or click here. If you’re interested in vague Star Wars references, then you might also be interested in this post from a few weeks ago.
Payton Ford V, age 8, hits a snow drift as he sleds at Will Rogers park in Oklahoma City , February 9 , 2011. Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
State of the State
A portrait of Mrs. Perle Skirvin Mesta hangs in the lobby outside the House of Representatives Chamber at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin delivered her first State of the State address at the Oklahoma State Capitol today in Oklahoma City. I got to the Capitol too early and decided to look for pictures that readers couldn’t have seen if they haven’t been to the Capitol. There’s a portrait (above) at the entrance to the House Chamber. It hangs in a room that is carefully guarded while the House is in session. I photographed State Senator Judy Eason McIntyre’s office and her Barack Obama items. Below is a look from the house floor at the media and family members looking out over the House Chamber. To see more news-related images from the Capitol and Gov. Fallin’s speech today, click here.
A cardboard cutout and other images of President Barack Obama peek out of the office of State Senator Judy Eason McIntyre's office at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Members of Congress wait to be called to order before Governor Mary Fallin delivers her first State of the State address at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Blizzard
Just before the snowfall started, Nate Billings had the idea to do a time-lapse video of the blizzard from multiple locations. He set up a camera on the ninth floor of the OPUBCO tower at Britton and Broadway in Oklahoma City on Monday night. I braced a camera to a ladder in my garage to get images of the snow piling up in the window, and Sarah Phipps set one up in the front window of her home in NW Oklahoma City.
We attached Pocket Wizard receivers to our Canon Mark II cameras and set them to take a picture every 20 seconds. To avoid glare off of the windows that could ruin the effect, you have to mask off the area around the lens. To do this I nailed an old blanket to the top of the window and draped it over my camera. On the sides of the windows, I propped up two large pieces of cardboard. This kept the garage light or the light from the kitchen from refecting off the glass.
We started recording around 11 pm on Monday night and let the cameras take pictures all night long. I turned off my camera at about 12:45 pm on Tuesday.
We ended up with three very different time-lapse videos that we edited together to make this video.
As always, you can see images from the blizzard and all of our photo galleries by clicking here.
-John Clanton
Winter Storm
A man walks through deep snow on E Charter Oak Road in Logan County, Oklahoma February 1, 2011. Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
Staff Photographers at The Oklahoman have been out since early this morning getting pictures of the blizzard conditions in Oklahoma City. Click here to see the gallery of images they’ve produced so far today.
-John Clanton
