PHOTOS: Beautiful People of NEPA, 07/01/15
This is Marie. I waited a long time to take this photo. She passed away seven days later. She was a cool lady. Dunmore, PA. 2/5/15
This is Josh, the most upbeat and outgoing McDonald’s employee ever. He swears he is not on drugs. It seems a lot of people think he’s on drugs. Scranton, PA. 2/26/15
This is Rachel. She is what I would refer to as a pisser. She tells me I’m the best looking guy in the world, but I know she says that to all the guys. Scranton, PA. 2/3/15
This is John. He told me that a lot of people ask him to take his photo. Now don’t I feel stupid. Dunmore, PA. 2/3/15
This is Derek, a baseball player of some renown. Moosic, PA. 7/8/13
This was the first “Beautiful People” shot. I wasn’t thinking about getting names at the time. Sorry, mystery man who looks a lot like Kurt Vonnegut. Scranton, PA. 7/2/15
Neva and Harry have been married for 65 years. This photos makes me wonder if I’ve ever really been in love. Scranton, PA. 1/24/15
The pictures not taken…
I just jumped out of my car today to ask an old woman in South Side for a portrait. She did not want to be photographed or tell me her name or age, but she did want to tell me her story. She is a first-generation Polish-American who lived through the Depression but never went barefoot, which she is very proud of. She is also proud to be fluent in the Polish language.
She then told me the story of her grandmother, a widow with two teenage daughters who was forced to quarter 12 Russian soldiers during WWI. Her grandmother disguised her children as boys so they would not be raped, and her ruse was never discovered. “When you read the Constitution and it says, ‘No soldiers shall be quartered,’ it means something to this old lady. Somewhere my grandmother is in heaven with her boots on.” South Scranton. 7/1/15
