(New) Berning Down the House

I’ve lived in North Carolina over half my life. There are a lot of places that I’ve had the opportunity to visit in this wonderful state. But there is so much that I have yet to see.

New Bern is one of the places I’d never been to. Until now.

New Bern was first settled in 1710 by Swiss and German immigrants under the leadership of Baron Christopher De Graffenried. The city is named after the capital of Switzerland, Bern, and shares its flag, as well as its mascot; the bear.

But don’t call Bern, Switzerland, the Old Bern. They are Bern. Period.

The little town, where the Neuse and Trent Rivers meet, is the second oldest in North Carolina. It served as the capital of the North Carolina colonial government until the end of the Revolutionary War and then briefly as the state capital. In 2010, the town will celebrate is 300th anniversary.

New Bern is home to Tryon Palace. Built in 1770, it served as the home to British Governor William Tryon and remained the capital building until 1794, when Raleigh became the state capital. The palace was destroyed by fire in 1798.

In the 1930’s, a push was made to restore the old state capital, led by Mrs. James Edwin Latham. She died before construction began and her daughter, Mrs. Mae Gordon Kellenberger, took over the project.

In April 1959, Tryon Palace opened its gates and gardens to the public.

But Tryon Palace is not New Bern’s only claim to fame. It’s also the birthplace of Pepsi Cola.

In 1898 Calem Bradham, a pharmacist in New Bern, introduced the world to his new elixir. It became an instant hit.

On the 100th anniversary of Pepsi-Cola, Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of New Bern, Inc., opened the doors to the Birthplace of Pepsi, located in the same location as Bradham’s pharmacy. The shop offers Pepsi products on tap and memorabilia for the Pepsi fanatic.

Last, but not least, if you happen to make the trek to New Bern, be sure and stop in Mitchell’s Hardware.

Mitchell’s Hardware is a “turn-of-the-century hardware store” that has been serving New Bern since 1898. If they don’t have it, you really didn’t need it in the first place.

If the Glove Fits.....

Gloversville, NY, is located in upstate New York, about an hours drive outside of Albany, at the base of the Adirondack mountains. The area provides much of the raw resources needed to make gloves; an abundance of furs and leather as well as bark for tanning. In the early 19th century, the little village became an epicenter for glove making, thus giving the town it’s name when the first post office opened in 1828.

One of my assignments here is to photograph recently retired glove maker Bob Perrella. I get him to pose in front of one of his old shops.

After our shoot, Perrella asks me to follow as he slowly makes his way down the basement steps of his house. His arthritic knees of 82 years make the trek even more difficult.

Downstairs, stacked against the wall, are the remnants of his glove making business.

Perrella is a second generation glove maker. His parents started the business years ago. And when Bob and his brother were old enough, they too joined the family business that he ran up until recently.

Bob Perrella pulls out one of the boxes stacked against the cold wall in his basement. He opens it up and pulls out a few gloves. “You can’t afford to make these any more,” he says as he goes through the box. Glove making today has mostly moved overseas to China and other countries where labor is cheap, reducing costs and undercutting American glove makers. Gone too is some of the quality as Bob shows off the inside of one of his fur lined gloves.

These are not simple work gloves. Some are the elegant, long gloves similar to the ones Audrey Hepburn wore in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

And there are stacks of them in Bob’s basement, along with cutting dies and old photographs.

The town that got its name from being a major hub for glove making has lost many of the companies that made it the center of the glove making world. And when Bob Perrella retired, the town lost one more.

The Lantern will Light the Way

I really enjoy shooting food. It’s perhaps because I love food that I like photographing it so much.

One story that I’ve been working on recently, and seems to be exploding in popularity, is farm to table restaurants. These are restaurants who bypass the suppliers and go straight to the farmers and their locally produced food.

The Lantern in Chapel Hill, NC, run by chef/owner Andrea Reusing and focuses on producing Asian food using seasonal and local ingredients.

Their menu includes items such as Black Pepper and Garlic Soft Shelled Crab with Roasted Chile and Lemongrass, the Heirloom Tomato Salad with Japanese Shiso and Shallots and the Lantern Local Pickle Plate.

If you’re ever in Chapel Hill, you’ve got to give them a try. They're at 423 W. Franklin Street.

Not Your Average Run of the Mill

My buddy Ian Curcio has been trying to get me to come down to Spartanburg, SC, for a long time and shoot some models with him.

This past weekend we finally had the chance to make it happen.

Ian secured the models with a little help from his friend Tony Garner, a local actor. He also found us a great location, an old textile mille on the outskirts of Spartanburg.

The shoot was awesome, except for one drawback: It was hot as blazes in the mill.

I think we all sweated out about ten pounds of water weight. There was no AC in the mill, so I can only imagine how hot it must have been when that plant was in its prime and all the machinery and people were working in that little sweatbox.

We had a blast though. The key was to have fun and make some pictures all of us could have for our own personal use.

I think we’d all like to do it again. Except, next time, it will have to be in a climate-controlled environment.

Losing My Religion

On one of my recent trips, I found myself about 30 miles southeast of Washington, DC, in Charles County, MD.

As you drive through Charles County, you come across a lot of historic churches. I couldn’t turn a corner without coming across a church that wasn’t as nearly as old as our country, if not older.

For instance, St. Ignatius Church in Port Tobacco was founded in 1641 and is the oldest Catholic Parish in continuous service in the United States. The church and cemetery are beautiful among themselves. But the church’s founders could not have found a more picturesque setting. St. Ignatius sits on a hill overlooking the Port Tobacco River, in a perfect position to catch the evening glow of the setting sun.

Christ Church in LaPlata, MD, has been rebuilt numerous times. It once stood in the town of Port Tobacco until about 1904, when it was moved, stone by stone, up the road to LaPlata.

The Mt. Carmel Monastery in Port Tobacco was started in 1790 by four Belgium Carmelite nuns and is the oldest Carmelite Monastery in the United States.

Each church has it own history. They all have their own fading statues in their cemeteries. But most important, they each have their own unique beauty.