Howard County Times girls soccer player of the year, Marriotts Ridge senior center midfielder Alex Price.

This was a big year for me. …2010 is my last year as a newspaper staffer.

In this post I’m showcasing the images that I think would easily be considered my “best” images from 2010. These are the images that will most likely help get me work in the future. They’re important for that reason — they’re hopefully testaments to my skill as a portrait and documentary photographer. I think when you look at these photos you’ll probably notice they rely pretty heavily on one visual aspect or another: DRAMATIC LIGHTING, VISUAL HUMOR, SIMPLE BEAUTY, OR SUBTLETY. Some are quirkier than others, but these are the images everyone will like.

I like them.

I like them a lot. But, I can’t help but think, that they’re all relatively safe images, too. There’s nothing daring about them. Personally, I love the “off moments” in life — and in pictures.

So, I’ve given this post a weirdo sibling. In that post I highlight the best images of what I affectionately call my “RUNTS.” They’re the ones that not everyone likes or gets. They’re the ones that fall short, when coupled with my “GOOD” work. Usually, they’re the “outs” when I get advice on an edit.

Having said that I’m extremely proud of THESE images — in this post. I don’t want you to think I’m discounting them. Like I said, I think they’re good.

2011 will be an interesting year. I’m on my own. hooray!!! …but I have to maintain and buy my own gear. Getting work is up to me. But I’m excited about that. Marketing is fun. I’ll finally get to work on projects I’m interested in, and I won’t get into fights with editors. “No” doesn’t cary as much gravity anymore. In my new life, editors are clients, not my bosses. I’m no longer an employee and that feels great! When the photos I like don’t run, it’s won’t feel personal or politically motivated anymore. …besides, I have a blog. So, they’ll be seen. AND I CAN RESELL THEM!!!

I don’t regret being a staffer. The Patuxent Publishing Company is one of the best photo papers around. And it was an amazing bootcamp. …but it was better when I started there. We had a bigger staff, more leadership support, more money, more space. Heck! We ran photo essays weekly — sometimes 2-3! But times have changed — DRASTICALLY for newspapers. …and for me.

So. lets celebrate this new beginning with my best photos from 2010. Thanks so much for looking.

Wilde Lake senior linebacker E.J. Gilman, the 2010 football Defensive Player of the Year, helped lead the Wildecats to a State Championship.

Dinosaurs seemingly try to escape the Ice Age at the Old Pro Golf course on the 6800 block of Coastal Highway in Ocean City in the off season Sunday, January 31, 2010.

Branches protrude form the frozen waters of Lake Kittamaqundi during the preliminary snowfall Friday, February 5, 2010.

Dr. Barbara Feinstein, of the Cat and Dog Hospital of Columbia, plays the part of patient while concerned Greyhound “Dr.” Moosh takes her pulse for the Best Veterinarian of Howard 2010 issue shoot Tuesday, September 28, 2010.

Oakland Mills’ coach Jon Browne calls junior Kerry Bethea, senior Greg Wittington, and senior Joe Kiely, the “Big Three.”  The trio are photographed in the Oakland Mills gym Wednesday, November 24, 2010.

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill attends a Conference of Bishops addressing the increased demand for exorcisms at the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott in the Harbor East area of Baltimore City Friday, November 12, 2010.

Chris Coons, Democratic candidate for Delaware’s Senate seat vacated by Vice President Joe Biden, poses for a portrait at the New Castle Library Thursday, October 7, 2010.

Centennial senior Sam Brostrom is the volleyball player of the year. She is photographed at Centennial High School Wednesday, December 8, 2010.

Corinne Zahlis at Historic Savage Mill Sunday, October 17, 2010.

Owings Mills tackle Donovan Smith, 6’5″, 280 lbs, has been offered 22 scholarships to play football in college. He is photographed at Owings Mills High School’s football stadium Wednesday, September 1, 2010.

Corinne Bell, partially obscured by artificial flowers on her kitchen table, has lived in the home she and her husband built for 52 years. The widow now lives with three cats, Tiny, Cece, and Sheba, former strays who now call the split level on Main Street, Pilesgrove “home,” too. “Somedays they’re the only company I get,” says the 79-year-old New Jersey woman. Bell, like other New Jersey seniors who live on fixed incomes, are in danger of losing their homes because of the state’s high property taxes — the highest in the nation. “I have too much stuff to move,” and worries about the future of her cats. In the past a social program called Senior Freeze alleviated a portion of the property taxes for those who qualified. The state’s former governor changed the program’s eligibility, but the state’s new Republican Governor Christopher Christie said he would restore the rebates to those who lost them, but has yet to fully reinstate the program.

Recently, I’ve been making visual side stories while on assignment. Sometimes they’re totally off task, but other times they tie into story.

When I met Corinne, who’s a lovely lady, I couldn’t help but notice some loneliness in the widow. But I wasn’t doing a story on looniness. Stay on task, Matt! Focus. Property Taxes. But lets be honest, visualizing property taxes in an interesting AND literal way is a bit tough. Well, the obvious idea is to make a portrait of her in front of her home… Snoozezilla, right? But if there’s one thing I learned from the failings of Time Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is that you have to develop your protagonists. …make people care about them. Lucky for me, the wind was so inhospitable (lightstands be damned!) we couldn’t make a decent picture of her (windblown hair) in front of her house. “Okay Corinne. It’s crazy out here. lets see if we can’t do this inside.”

“Okay. Well, while I’m out here, I might as well get my mail.”

And that’s when the light switch turned on. I’ve always been a fan of, as I like to call it, “exploding the ordinary.” So, as Corinne walks back to her home, mail in hand, I notice a simple composition: house, yard, Corinne. The wind was knocking her around. She seemed vulnerable. And there it is. There’s that loneliness I felt when I first met her. I make a few frames. The one I chose is of her, in a slight stumble — a shuffle, really — en route to her front door. Her home has always given her shelter. And I saw a beautiful connection between Corinne and her home in a mundane moment. Her home is the glue that ties her life together. So, there’s the tie-in, exorbitant taxes would disrupt her life.

Corinne Bell sits down for a cup of tea and a Tastee Cake.

Corinne Bell pets her cat Tiny while sipping on tea and nibbling on a Tastee Cake.

Sometimes Corinne Bell can see the neighbors’ livestock from her window.

Tiny, one of Corinne Bell’s three cats, asks to be let back in the house.

Corinne Bell can see the cemetery where her husband is buried in from her kitchen window.

One toothbrush. One rinse cup. Fantastic wall paper!

A photo of Corinne Bell’s late husband “Slim,” sits on her bedroom dresser.

Corinne Bell waits for her cat Tiny to come back in the house.

If you like, feel free to embed the slideshow at the bottom of the page on your blog or wherever. And if you do, I’d love a heads up and possibly link to your link.

NJ Taxes and Corinne Bell – Images by Matt Roth

Retired Richmond police officer Bill Lightfoot, photographed at his Richmond home, ended his 36-year career in law enforcement with the elder abuse unit, much of which was dominated by financial abuse cases. He was a homicide detective for nine years before that, but says he was more astonished by the circumstances surrounding the elder abuse victims. More often than not, the abusers were immediate family members and/or primary care givers. After retirement Lightfoot is glad to have left the casework, but not the subject. Seven years after retiring his shield, his work continues through outreach and he helps craft laws concerning elder abuse in the Richmond General Assembly. Here’s the article. They used the above photo as the jump for the Virginia State’s page, but I’m not sure if it’ll stay with the story when fresher material is updated.

The idea was to make photos that reflected the story’s gravity. The mood needed to be somber, a bit dark, and pensive. The editors and I agreed that a domestic setting, like that of his subdivision, made the most sense, too.

and me being me, I played around with reflections, hoping to layer information in an aesthetically interesting way. I’m not sure this one worked, though. Obviously I like something about it. Otherwise I wouldn’t be showing it off.

I tried a few variations incorporating him within the setting. His body language really jumped out on this photo. He’s seen a lot of horrible things in his career. His posture gives off a guarded sternness, but his eyes gleam with concern …compassion.

Initially we wanted to photograph Robin Runser, one of the main subjects in Vicki Needham’s story. Her dad was recently victimized by, for lack of a nicer term, a gold digger. Of course, my timing couldn’t be worse. I called her right as her dad was about go into surgery. She was a wreck, and broke down on the phone. She apologized for crying, telling me she couldn’t talk and absolutely did not want to be photographed. But she told me I could call her tomorrow.

I thought maybe I have a chance to save the assignment. I read a draft of the story, and a photo of Robin made the most sense. Well, actually, a photo of her dad made the most sense, but he’s not ID’d in the story. So I assume he’s been kept anonymous for a reason. And while she appreciated my call back, she stood firm. Of course I had to respect her wishes. Any more persistence would be ill received. It’s a shame. I could tell a portrait of her would be so powerful.

A truly emotive, visceral portrait should be like a punch the reader’s stomach: fast and they should feel it. The idea is to inculcate empathy. Here’s the twist… To conjure those emotions, we journalists have to ask them to relive whatever darkness they’ve endured. And then we listen. We watch. Some of us will take notes. Some of us will make a picture. The hope for me is that the portrait will be strong enough to make an impact on the readers — in this case, to help elderly people avoid and/or spot the signs of financial abuse. But the reality during the shoot is that we’re re-opening a wound.

These people are brave.

It’s one thing to read about it, but some of the stories Bill Lightfoot told me — because I needed him to get to that place — were far more penetrating than what the article said. Nothing against Vicki Needham. Her article is poignant, informative, and all around a good read. Bill’s demeanor changed. His posture became a bit more guarded and the eye contact we shared became a bit more brief but heavier. The more and more I got to know Bill, the less and less I included the setting, letting him, alone, set the mood. Above is one of the last photos I made of him. We’re still outside — it’s actually raining, spitting — but I underexposed the background to isolate him while he told me more stories from his day as a police officer. He told me he’s figured out how to cope with what he’s seen. Part of his current job, as an advocate for elder abuse prevention in Virginia, is to tell these stories, so it seems like he’s putting his memories to good use.

But I imagine photographing Robin Runser would be so much harder. One of the things Lightfoot told me was that so often the family members of those victimized suffer collateral victimization. I believe it. I heard it on the phone.