According to Wikipedia, The Soiling of Old Glory is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken by Stanley Forman during the Boston busing crisis in 1976. It depicts a white teenager, Joseph Rakes, assaulting a black man—lawyer and civil rights activist Ted Landsmark—with a flagpole bearing the American flag (also known as Old Glory). I believe the first time that I set eyes on this photo was as a Swampscott High School freshman in a 1979 current events/history class. Every SINGLE time that I walk near or on this ground, I feel something. I always give at least a moment’s pause to think about the photo, think about the hurt that came from that assault, from that time. Today, I was given the assignment to: “be near the State St. MBTA station at 9:15am, and photograph (the new) Mayor’s first commute/walk to work.” I knew where Mayor Wu had to go from point A, the T station, to point B, City Hall. It was not lost on me the difference between today as compared to that moment 45 years ago. I got there 15 minutes early, but not early enough. Her MBTA train was early! I had already plotted-out my course of action, choosing a lens that would correspond with Stanley’s ultra-wide lens. I knew almost exactly where Stan stood, and where the assault on Ted Landsmark occurred, but Mayor Michelle Wu had already passed that area, albeit by just a few feet. I shot this photo. I was so excited, like a kid in a candy store. I started to show my photo to others who were gathered near Wu. Sadly, many did not know what I was talking about. Many thanks to Stanley Forman Photos who is a friend and mentor. I STILL learn something from him every week.

The full Friday the 13th Harvest Moon rises over Boston Harbor’s Graves Light. A short story about this photo. I left our house at 7:00pm, having left at the end of dinner with Laura and Leo. I got to where I wanted to be for the moonrise at about 7:03, and the moon rose at 7:10. I was positioned a little too far away from where I wanted to be (for the alignment of all these elements) so I had to run a couple of blocks as fast as I could to lineup the moon exactly where I wanted the lighthouse to be. Prior to my running to line things up, I was a top a seawall. There was a resident, a flight attendant leaving for a flight and she was very chatty and nice. She asked me what I was doing and I told her that within a minute or two the moon will be seen as an orange glow, and I pointed, “right there”. She had recently moved here from Texas. The moon started its colorful ascent. She was saying something like “oh cool, oh wow , there it is!” I abandoned her, and my phones and car keys, as I started my run to align. She grabbed them and ran them over to me fast, so she wouldn’t miss her flight, and so that I would also get my stuff (secured). Now I’ve got a friend. I’m gonna email her the photo. Have a nice flight Sarah. Anyway, I was back home at 7:18pm. A very memorable 18 minutes. Pretty quick! My very supportive employer, NBC10Boston, ran the photo during the weather segment on a few shows.