Baltimore woman Sheontay Smith, 27, is on a waiting list for subsidized child care. She is photographed Tuesday, December 6, 2011 in the Southwest neighborhood of Baltimore “Sowebo” where she works as an inspection scheduler for the Baltimore Housing Authority. Day care for her three-year-old is $520 a month, her second highest monthly expense next to rent. She could apply for child care assistance if she didn’t have a job.

The New York Times story, which outlines the frustrating reality of raising a kid by a single working mom, is here.

One of the tough parts of making these portraits is that they were during her lunch hour. Ideally I would’ve gotten her at least getting her son ready for school in the morning, but, for some reason, that wasn’t feasible. We also couldn’t make pictures in her office. So, we just walked around the block. I felt bad because Sheontay — a pretty attractive woman — would get hollered at. “Damn Girl! You a model?!?” I know my camera and I didn’t help. Sheontay took it all in stride, though. 

City Springs School social studies teacher Nick West catches “Bobby the Beaver,” the talking piece he uses for “circle time,” Thursday, August 25, 2011. His 8th grade home room students, including Dwayne Jefferson, middle, and Jonte Parker, right, use circle time as an opportunity to interact, and discuss issues of concern.

The Baltimore City charter school has implemented several structural practices such as single gender classrooms and the Restorative Practices pedagogy.

Principal Rhonda Richetta’s idea is to create a safe and respectful culture rather than utilize traditional “crime and punishment” methods. After Restorative Practices became mandatory, the school lost a majority of their teachers. Mr. West, who just started his third year at City Springs, has the most seniority among middle school teachers.

This was one of the more interesting assignments I’ve had for Education Week. The story is about school security. But when I got to the school, I felt like security was a non-issue. I guess that means its working. Everyone was respectful towards everyone else — which is a pillar of the Restorative Practices model of education. Staff members use “affective language” when talking with students. Students were encouraged to deal their issues in “circles” rather than fighting, employing the teachers as mediators of sorts. I bet that gave the teachers a super-strong connection to their kids.

Something’s working at this place. I’ve never met more polite middle schoolers. And it’s not like this school is full of hand picked genius/polite students. City Springs is an inner city Baltimore neighborhood school. It’s not the worst neighborhood, but it’s comprised of three housing projects and 99% of the student body receives free lunches.

I got the impression that school was, ironically, a source of calm for most of these kids. Everything’s structured. — even their locker breaks. I guess that makes sense because when I was in school, locker breaks were when most of the fighting happened. And most importantly, the kids are learning! The teachers have the time to finish lessons.

“I don’t really use it that often.” says City Springs School Principal Rhonda Richetta talking about her security system. “It’s not this security system that has changed the climate in my school. It’s the Restorative Practices.” When she first started as principal she remembers having to break up fights 5 or 6 times a day. She wanted to change the school’s culture rather than beef up the security measures. She now finds that she has to rely less on the school’s security camera system set up in her office, and has fostered a respectful culture between students and faculty.

Faculty did leave, however. After Restorative Practices became mandatory the school lost the majority of their teachers because, according to Richetta, they didn’t want to change how they taught.

From what I understand, a major critique of this approach to teaching is that it doesn’t allow for educator creativity. Almost everything is structured and scripted. But when your students live in poverty, I wonder how much structure and respect a lot of them are getting when they’re not in school.

When installing new security cameras Richetta chose small cameras to not foster a an over securitized ambiance.

Eighth-graders in Tracy Hauser’s home room Brittany Carter, left, and Tyveona James, right, join hands with classmates during “circle time.” 

Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School Kindergarteners in Amy Raymond’s class Piper Stephan, left, and Delaney Lane, right, read to each other. Amy Raymond, kindergartener teacher at Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School in Glenelg, Maryland — part of the Howard County Public School System — utilizes Common Core Curriculum to teach her students Wednesday, November 30, 2011. Her class is the first generation of students taught under the new national standards, emphasizing subject mastery.

Thanks to Education Week, I had one of the most adorable assignments I’ve had since leaving my staff newspaper job at The Patuxent Publishing Co. But as it turns out, Common Core is anything but …cute. It’s a big deal in the business of public education. Here’s a link to the article, but unless you’re a subscriber you can only read the first few paragraphs. Don’t worry. Here’s the Common Core Standards State initiative page, the Wikipedia page, and — get this! — there’s an iPhone ap, too! At the end of the post are some newspaper .pdfs “clips.”Students in Amy Raymond’s kindergarten class at Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School in Glenelg, Maryland play “Try To Go Home,” a number game utilizing common core curriculum K.CC.4a & K.CC.4b. (how’s that for wonky?) The way it works is, a pair of students roll dice to move a figurine. They used dinosaurs this week because the letter of the week is “D.” The purpose is to emphasize “one to one” number correspondence and improve operational and algebraic thinking. The students are (L-R) Marisa Lamb, Sierra Collis, Caroline Zdrale, and Dylan Ma. Maggie Metz raises her colorful finger-tipped hand.You know me… I really like to put myself in my work. In front of his classmates, Triadelphia Ridge Elementary School kindergartener Austin Wagner pauses before turning over the date “30″ on the calendar. Daily rituals like this help Amy Raymond’s class develop number proficiency. As I left the office, this Labrador mascot statue made me jump a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not scared of dogs, I just wasn’t expecting a dog in a school. … And out the corner of my eye, this thing looked super-real.Maggie Metz, left and Austin Wagner, right, work on assignments.

The nice thing about kindergarteners is that there are moments all over the place. Amy Raymond plays “Try To Go Home,”  with Sierra Collis.Ethan Sutch writes his class’s attendance on the board. This daily exercise utilizes math skills learned in Amy Raymond’s kindergarten class.…as in, “and why not make this picture?”Amy Raymond and her students (L-R) Dylan Ma, Gregor Lesho, Ethan Sutch (standing), and Gouri Gupta.I MADE THE COVER!!!

ABC News Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz sits in her office at the ABC Washington DC Bureau Thursday, October 13, 2011.

Martha is a super cool person. When we were setting up the shoot for a New York Times profile, she wanted to know what I was thinking for the shoot. So, I threw out a few ideas, then she paused and asked: would you be interested in doing the shoot by a Blackhawk helicopter?

Me: YEESSSSS!!!!

She knows a guy, of course.

And in true Murphy’s Law fashion, it was drizzling the day of the shoot. It’s hard to look attractive, professional, and well put together when damp. Am I right? So, unfortunately, we nixed the helicopter shoot last minute. Lucky for me, she has an absolutely gorgeous office AND a sense of adventure. So, when I asked if she wanted to continue the shoot on the roof, her eyes got wide: Yes! I’ve never been up there!

She calls the operations manager and next thing we know, we’re on top of the world!!!!

…errr, the ABC building in DC.

On our way back down, she noticed these cool reflections and walked out into the shallow water.

Me: Oooooh! can we take some more photos here?

Martha: Duh!

…okay, she didn’t say “duh,” but she was super-into the idea.

This was definitely one of the most fun portrait shoots I’ve had this year.

Brooklyn couple Jason Feifer, and Jen Miller, both 31, married at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington D.C. Saturday, October 29, 2011. After signing the Ketubah, a Jewish wedding contract, the couple gathered in the Farimont’s lobby with the wedding party and their parents minutes before getting married.

I shot a wedding for the New York Times! …weird, right?

Well, I guess it’s not that weird if you’re an avid Vows reader. And, let me tell you, I met a few during the shoot. They were soooo excited to see me. Which, to be honest, I wasn’t expecting. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed being “the photographer from the Times.”

But not to misrepresent myself, I let everyone know I’m a freelancer. It irks me when photographers try to pass as staffers when they’re not.

Jason and Jen are a writerly couple. I love this quote from the story: “He used a semicolon correctly; that was reason enough to get a drink with him.”

Jason is an editor at Fast Company, and in May Jen will have her 2nd book (first novel), The Year of the Gadfly, published. They’re both freelance journalists, too. So, of course, their vows were amazing. They made us laugh — like a lot! And because it’s a wedding, people were crying, too. Not me, though. I’m tuff!

To emphasize their love of books, each table was adorned with hardback copies of their favorite authors.

The “I do” kiss.

The flowers are Jen’s homage to the country wedding she daydreamed about.

Jen shows her brother Danny Miller a few dance steps. Where he lacked in dance floor grace, he absolutely made up for in his speech. He absolutely slayed! 

Who doesn’t love a good Hora?

Jason’s parents Roy and Barbara get hoisted, too.

Miller family patriarch Aaron Miller, left, is hugs his family, Lindsay, his wife, Danny, his son, and his newly married daughter Jen. She’s covered up by her taller dad & brother.

Jason Feifer and Jen Miller show off the silver knife from Tiffany, wedding gift from Jen’s maid of honor and best friend Risa Berkower. According to Jen, Risa and her mother are amazing cooks who often hosted dinners and celebrated jewish holidays at her home. Before cutting the cake, Jen made a comment about Risa’s gift being “aspirational,” hoping “one day I might bake a cake as well as Risa and her mom.”

Personally, I love this little moment. Who doesn’t love a little icing on their fingers?

This was a really cool wedding, but to make things even cooler, was that Jason’s mom Barbara will forever share her birthday with their anniversary! She turned 60! Doesn’t she look great?

hahaha! In the spirit of Halloween, the wedding party surprised guests with a choreographed rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller!!!

Jason even found a rad, creepy zombie mask to wear. This is him pulling off a spin. One of the things Jen’s brother said to close out his hilarious, sarcastic, sardonic speech resonated with me. He quoted someone — I think a family member — who said “Never marry someone you love. Marry someone you like.” But he went on to acknowledge that Jen and Jason are that rare combination who both love and like each other. And if there’s one thing that struck me about this couple — who met on OK Cupid — is that they operate like a team. I agree with Danny. Jen and Jason are a good model of friends in love. Hats off!

their twitter:

Jason: @heyfeifer

Jen: @propjen

Oh! I know you wanna see more photos from their wedding! Click here to see 60 more photos. You can buy prints from there, too!

Members of the Iverson Mall Walkers walk the upstairs at Iverson Mall in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland Wednesday, September 14, 2011.     This was an early shoot (yaaaaawn/streeetch), but fun. You can check out the AARP Bulletin story here.Iverson Mall Walker Carrie L. Free, 86, takes on the role of “monitor,” Wednesday, September 14, 2011. She walks against the flow to make sure her fellow walkers are not showing any signs of distress.Gloria Dock, coordinator for the Iverson Mall Walkers, takes a few laps upstairs at Iverson Mall.Norma S. Smith, 86, photographed at the end of her walk Wednesday, September 14, 2011, is one of the founding members who started the Iverson Mall Walkers back in 1989. To this day she is the only consistently active member who walks Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at Iverson Mall in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland.Lifelong friends Joyce M. Shaw, 75, left, and Peggy V. Edwards, 66, keep each other company while walking the upstairs of Iverson Mall.Helen Lee, a member of the Iverson Mall Line Dancers, gets vocal and boisterous during their morning dance routine Wednesday, September 14, 2011. The line dancers are a faction of the Iverson Mall Walkers.Benjamin Stevenson, foreground, packs up his music collection after playing DJ to the Iverson Mall Walkers’ line dancing group.

Brinita Ricks, 20, middle, a Wilson College senior is getting attention from five-year-old son Troy Ricks, right, and Bella Smith during dinner at the Jensen Dining Hall Tuesday, September 6, 2011. Dana Hill, 26, walks past on the right, while Hill’s daughter DaNya Ford, 7, eats, left. Ricks, Hill, and Bella’s mother Whitney Gress take advantage of the Chambersburg Penn., all-women’s college’s “Women with Children” program while pursuing their degrees.

Earlier this month Erica Lusk called me to shoot a wonderful story for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Brinita Ricks and her son Troy are just two participants in Wilson College’s Women With Children Program.

I was raised by a single mom. And like most kids in this program, I’m an only child, too.

My mom and I were a duo. Sometimes a team, sometimes each others’ spoils, but regardless of how aggravated we got, we were always good to each other. After all, we were all we had.

To some, this life might seem tough, and overwhelming — which it is — but I have such fond memories of my childhood. And I know these kids will too.

There’s a lot of happiness in those dorm halls. And as stressful as raising a kid, studying, and working is, these women are surrounded by a sympathetic community of fellow single moms.

So, throughout this assignment, I kept looking for moments that felt familiar to me. I felt a connection to Troy and the other kids. I had a pretty good understanding of their motivations, their boundary curiosities, their need to burn off excess energy, despite their mom’s pleas for order.

But, y’know… I’m an adult too. — an adult with hindsight. I know what I put my mom through. …but I also know how much I loved my mom as a kid. I mean. I still love her as an adult. It’s different. My love has evolved and become more complex, and in many ways is stronger. As an adult I respect and admire my mom. After all, we have a past. …I mean, I was a teenager, for Christ’s sake! And those ties are made through slow, heavy, and sometimes painful processes. A five-year-old’s love is visceral. I’d be willing to bet Troy doesn’t know why he loves his mom. …I know I didn’t. But I did love her. — unconditionally.

And lets be honest… A five-year-old’s hug is probably one of the most authentic forms of emotional expression. They hug because they want to. And they hug who they like. — unless directed to do otherwise.

Brinita Ricks, 20, usually studies in lobby of her dorm Prentis Hall, while she waits for her five-year-old son Troy Ricks’s to get home from Kindergarten.  

Brinita Ricks, 20, right, greets her five-year-old son Troy Ricks, as he walks off the school bus at the edge of Wilson’s campus Tuesday, September 6, 2011. Troy’s classmate Jashad Coles, 5, holds the hand of his mother Christin Warner, a twenty-two-year-old junior at Wilson College who is studying Economics.

 Brinita asked Troy to take their dirty dishes to the dishwasher, Sterling Keyes. On the way, Troy spilled some spaghetti on the floor. So, he came back to their table, grabbed some napkins, and cleaned up his mess.Children from Wilson College’s “Women with Children Program” (L-R) DaNya Ford, 7, Bella Smith, 4, Jashad Coles, 5, and Troy Ricks, 5, play on the furniture in the Prentis Hall lounge after dinner Tuesday, September 6, 2011. The all women’s college located in Chambersburg, Penn., is one of the few remaining women’s colleges left.Wilson College’s new president Dr. Barbara Mistick, standing, threw an informal meet-and-greet for the “Women with Children” participants and their children titled “Popsicles with the President,” Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at Prentis Hall, in Chambersburg, PA. The new President brought her dog to meet the kids. I think he got a little overwhelmed with all the affection.I know. I know. There are a lot of photos in this edit. …BUT if you want to see EVEN MORE PHOTOS from this shoot, check out my archive gallery:

http://mattrothphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Wilson-Colleges-Women-With-Children-Program/G0000a0t.7eUNcJg

and/or the archive gallery slideshow:

http://mattrothphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery-slideshow/G0000a0t.7eUNcJg/?start=

From there you can buy prints, license images, and help support my business by buying even weirder things like coffee mugs, t-shirts, keepsake boxes, and even more.

Thanks!

Gerald Genrich participates in the relaxation portion of the “You Can! Live Well Virginia!,” a six-week grant-funded program that helps seniors learn how to manage their chronic pain independently. The program offered at the Mount Vernon Rec Center in Alexandria, Virginia, ended the six-week workshop Tuesday, June 21, 2011.

I shot this assignment for AARP Bulletin last June. Here’s the article.Licensed Clinical Social Worker Colleen Turner, left, the local coordinator for “You Can! Live Well Virginia!,” and Will Claton, the volunteer leader, head the workshop.

Workshop attendees (clockwise L-R: Gerald Genrich, volunteer leader Will Claton, local coordinator Colleen Turner, Loretta Trout, and Jeanette Spicer (in blue) mill about and socialize after the last session.

Dr. Logan King, Equine Veterinarian, and I are long time college friends. — which is surprising considering I forgot his name the first three, maybe four, times we met. Luckily I redeemed myself by remembering every other fact about him. He’s valedictorian of his high school, pre-vet, loves grindcore. …I even remembered the layout of his dorm, and that you pronounce his hometown, Lafeyette, GA, like a Southerner: “Luh’FAY-ut.” And if you pronounced it like a European, you’re bound to be corrected.

Logan will forever be one of the loudest people wherever he goes — and possibly one of the most hospitable. He’s one of those progressive, loud-mouthed, Southerners. There are more out there than some of you Yanks might believe.

But when I say Southern, I really mean COUNTRY! He’s got this magnetic, low, boomy, southern droll, …with a swagger to match.

I love listening to him talk — and he talks a lot! British people and Logan. But not just because of how he says words, it’s the way he tells his stories!

–And oh the stories he’d tell us! When he first started vet school it was “I was elbow deep in this cow’s ass” this, and “you shoulda seen this bloody, puss-filled infection!” that.

Logan’s a naturally smiley kinda guy, but when he talked about doing vet stuff, his smile got even wider, his eyes twinkled, and, despite the subject matter, he radiated super-positive energy. Of all my friends in college, Logan was the most passionate about school.

These days, Dr. Logan King and I are heralded by our friends as the two guys who are doing what we love. We “made it.”

So, of course, I was super-stoked to photograph him in action during his morning rounds, Wednesday, July 27, 2011. He works in the greater McDonogh area of Georgia, which is in between Atlanta and Macon. Y’know, where the stereotypes live.

Our first stop was to see a bull who had a big, gross, bloody infection on his jaw.

***FAIR WARNING*** The next portion is a bit gruesome. …but kinda awesome, too!

While we were there, both Logan and the bull’s owner, Stephen — a super-nice guy — got stung by wasps!

Logan was lucky — he only got hit on the back. Poor Stephen got stung right above the bridge of his nose. This is Stephen swatting and killing the remaining wasp.

Good news. The Bull’s wound was just an infection — “lumpy jaw” — not cancer.Stephen didn’t want to have to sell his breeding bull for beef. Our next stop was to The Powder Forest, horse boarding farm where Logan x-rayed one horse, Spider, with his portable x-ray machine — which he boastfully paid for in cash!

Needless to say, the good doctor’s business is doing pretty well — a testament to his skills, but I think more than that, his gregarious personality.

He followed up with another horse (with cool hair) who was having problems sweating.

…and looked at a super-old horse, who’s recent aggression might be an indication he’s going through something like horsey dementia. sad.

When I made this brush picture, everyone in the barn was like, “what in the world is he doing?” The Logan said something to the effect of “Matt’s a weird dude, haha! but trust me, he’s super talented.” That meant a lot. And the last stop of the day — at least for me — was to see a miniature donkey!  how friggin’ cute! A week or so previous, his owner called a farrier to trim his hooves.

Afterwards, the little guy was walking a bit too tenderly for a bit too long. Dr. King’s prognosis? The cut might’ve been a bit too short, but nothing to worry about. The donkey was just not used to the new feeling just yet. 

The way I see it, a good story is a good story is a good story. I had already shot a ton of good “safe” photos that fit nicely in the scope of the article. Sara actually told me what she had schemed and asked if I wanted to come along. I’d be a fool not to, right?

I like the top photo for a lot of reasons. First of all, it makes me feel nervous for Sara. This picture’s all about Anticipation. Will Stephanie say yes? what happens if she says no? Will it make things weird between them?

But I also like all the effort and details Sara went through to put this stunt together at the last minute. And I love the tape! Not just the stuff holding the sign up, but the roll hung from the door knob, too. She borrowed the vase from a teacher and picked the flowers from the front of the school (shhhh. don’t tell anyone.)