I think we all have a nightmare scenario that we fear so much, we try not to think about it. My dad once described his as being slowly stabbed through the heart, a scene which I recently witnessed the aftermath.
Listening to the police scanner, a man was said to be “down.” More often then not, a person down is simply someone drunk or who has fallen. But very quickly a call was made out to the CALSTAR helicopter to medevac a stabbing victim to a Bay Area hospital. The man had apparently been down in the street with two puncture wounds in his chest. The EMTs described it as, “possibly from a screwdriver.”
As CALSTAR flight nurses transferred the victim into the helicopter, the pouring rain pelting down woke him. He struggled with the flight nurses, trying to tear away his IV and oxygen mask. The man pleaded inaudible requests, as the sound from the helicopter’s rotors drowned out every sound. They eventually had to tie him down to a stretcher.
Cmdr. Tracy Molfino from the Salinas Police Department said they do not know who may have stabbed the man, and are looking for any possible witness or tips to the crime.
I described the scene to my dad, who is also an old emergency room doctor. “That is his nightmare scenario,” he replied.
Anyone with information can call anonymously to the Monterey County Tip Line at 1-888-833-4847 or submit information online by using their Report Crime Tips Online Anonymously Form.
The constant request for a “good weather photo” can be quite a challenge in California — it’s always nice here. There is nothing dramatic about another 70 degree day.
So when a bright rainbow floated over the Salinas Valley after a few brief showers, I was pretty excited to get the shot. I finally had my “good weather photo.” Of course we forgot that page 3A was in black and white.
Sometimes we don’t always get it right in the newspaper business, but at least it can be pretty damn entertaining.
Rises in violence in the south of Monterey County lead community leaders on a mission to end it. And they decided to start by going door to door.
The self-described Army of Peace created by King City’s Clergy Council went out to hand out fliers. They are hoping that the face to face outreach will help direct residents affected by the violence to resources in the community.
I’m hoping to do more with this story, as I was fortunate enough to meet some great community leaders, and incredibly interesting characters. To read the full story about the Army of Peace flyer sweep by reporter Kimber Solana click here.
The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was my first time photographing pro golf, and the experience left me with the distinct taste of Perrier Water (really, that’s what they served in the press tent). While the affluence of Pebble Beach isn’t exactly my cup of tea, as gated communities leave me feeling nervous, the place is stunningly beautiful.
The golfing crowd can be a bit stodgy, with so many rules. I’ve never had so many people repeatedly tell what I can and cannot do. So thank God for Bill Murray.
I’m not usually star-struck, but seeing Dr. Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters really brought out the 7-year-old in me. Murray is incredibly funny in person. The most emotion I photographed from the tournament was a half raised fist, but Murray strolled onto the sixth hole and gave a homoerotic kiss with his pro golf partner. While volunteers tried to usher a dead silence from the crowd, Murray talked and purposely distracted the golfers. Brilliant.
So I ask, why can’t golf be more like Bill Murray?
Is it appropriate to publish pictures of the dead? This is a question I wrestled with before publishing the photo above.
Our community is acquainted with death, especially a violent death. The city of Salinas suffered a record high 29 homicides last year, as images from these scenes are becoming a common sight. While many of our images from the newspaper contain graphic evidence of violence, like blood and bandages and grief, we rarely show “the body.” It often is a matter of taste, whether or not the photo acts purely as an exploit of a brutality. We ask what damage the photo can cause? Why publish it?
This photo represents a scene that almost everyone in this neighborhood of Castroville was witness to. As I drove through the streets, neighbors were even walking from their homes to investigate, their curiosity comforted by so many flashing lights. There were dozens of people lining the police tape, and all of them stared into this scene.
While the photo shows an inhuman act, and may disgust and distress the viewer, it is a reality many live with in the Salinas Valley.
Below is the format in which we decided to publish the image. We did not believe the photo was appropriate for out print edition, but we wanted to show it with the context of the whole scene. Sgt. Rick Statham of the Monterey Sheriff’s Office provided the narration for this audio slideshow and recapped the night’s events. The photos are in chronological order from when I arrived.
February 16, 2010 - 8:06 pmLenny - Wow man, again these are amazing. Were you worried at all since it appears that the search wasn't even over? I agree with what you and the paper decided to do. While it is reality and people may be used to it, the paper still has a responsibility to its viewership to censor this reality. Like Kai said though for some reason it seems thata pictures on a screen are more acceptable then in print.
Good shots man you never cease to amaze.
Lenny
February 26, 2010 - 3:42 amcjay - Hey Lenny, thanks for the compliments. I haven't been too worried about safety while covering these stories, mostly because it isn't random. Out of last year's 29 homicides, only 1 was non-gang related. And when you're just trying to keep up with the story, I think you kind of forget about such worries. Funny enough, the arrest and search series of photographs were all taken as I walked back to my car. The scene unfolded literally in front of where I parked (you can see my silver Hyundai in some of the photos), which also made me wait about an hour to move my car.
Reporter Maria Zamudia and I recently took on an enterprise story to revisit the Trique community in Monterey County. Many indigenous people from the southern state of Oaxaca, Mexico moved to make a home in Greenfield, California, where jobs in the fields promise some income. They bring a vibrant, beautiful culture, but the Trique people recently received a great amount of notoriety for the practice of selling young girls into marriage. A local man was arrested in January 2009 for arranging for his 14-year-old daughter to marry a neighbor in exchange for $16,000. The headline made national news, like “Man accused of selling daughter for cash, beer.”
The swarm of media attention that came down upon the Trique people in Greenfield caused many to have a healthy distrust of any reporter or photographer. So as Maria and I walked along the streets of Greenfield trying to revisit the story, we had some fears of how we might reconnect to the community. And then we met Gloria.
Gloria Merino is a 4-foot-10-inch woman with gnarled, tiny hands and an incredible story. She was sold into marriage when she was only 8-year-old, but has finally gained personal independence at the age of 42 by supporting herself with traditional weaving. Gloria was kind enough to share her experiences with Maria and I, and even performed a traditional ceremony on me (more on that later).
The video below is wonderfully narrated by multi-talented Maria, and you can read her full story by clicking here.
This is also my first attempt at video with my new Canon 5D Mark II camera, and we fought the entire time. While the camera works great now, I lost a lot of the footage because of compression problems. But damnit — I was going to make it work.
Here is an excerpt from a recent story I did on a wonderful family in Chualar. It’s hard to be a bitter, embattled journalist with stories like this out there.
BY CONNER JAY • cjay@thecalifornian.com • January 20, 2010
The baby boy was born deaf and drug-addicted after only 26 weeks in his mother’s womb.
“They all said you don’t want to start with someone with this many problems,” Ida Cook recalls of the advice she was given before adopting her first child. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I do.’ ”
Ida and her husband, Garry Cook, never envisioned parenting a “perfect” family. Looking through binders of photos of children up for adoption, they knew there would be a risk with any decision they made.
“You really don’t know what you’re getting into, whether you have your own child or adopt one,” Garry said. “But sometimes it’s better to go with the need.”
Related
Thursday in the Californian newsroom was running beautifully smooth and slow. There was time to catch up on some enterprise work, perhaps even enjoy a caffeinated beverage without having to slurp it down. But as soon as I had my delicious coffee in hand, they told me to run out for a video.
However, this really was a great story worth the extra attention.
Local soccer phenomenon David Estrada was drafted as the No. 11th pick in the MLS draft. Most sports analysts had him listed as getting picked up in the third or fourth round, so both Estrada and all of us the Californian were suddenly rushed when he was selected within the first hour of the draft. Although the interview, photos and video were fairly rushed with the sudden attention surrounding Estrada, the final package came together well. We even convinced Estrada to pose for us in his childhood backyard in East Salinas where he first learned how to play soccer. From humble beginnings to sports stardom — it’s always a good a story to hear. To read sports reporter Ryan Wallace’s story and view photos by photographer Scott MacDonald click here.
“When I review my life as a photographer, I feel blessed and fortunate to have experienced so many wonderful emotions, the most significant being the sense of being alive, powerfully alive.” — Peter Turnley
January 12, 2010 - 2:53 pmMiggie - This could have been my favorite place in the city. So quiet and reflective. I think we'll see this again, someday. We will look different, but it will look the same. There's something assuring about that. Plus, I need my microwave. And we need to holler at Juanita. I love this shot, Conna.
One of my end-of-the-year enterprise stories was compiling a multimedia presentation for the Salinas Californian’s photo desk’s Pictures of the Year. I finally decided on using a free online program called Vuvox to combine all our images with video interviews of us explaining the pictures. It feels rather awkward watching yourself speak, but we wanted a way to directly speak to the people of Salinas about our experiences photographing our community. Below is my final Pictures of the Year presentation. Please visit the Californian website here to view great work from our chief photographer Richard Green and staff photographer Scott MacDonald. And read our top ten stories of the year by all the wonderful reporters at the Californian here. There are some incredibly interesting stories bundled into this package.
December 31, 2009 - 2:47 pmKimber - Well done Conner. very well done.
January 3, 2010 - 5:06 amcjay - Thank you Kimber, you didn't have too bad a collection yourself with the Californian. We still deserve a proper celebration for surviving the year.
January 20, 2010 - 10:38 amjenn kim - i love it. your skills never cease to amaze me! keep up the good work, make me proud! :P
I think we all have a nightmare scenario that we fear so much, we try not to think about it. My dad once described his as being slowly stabbed through the heart, a scene which I recently witnessed the aftermath.
The constant request for a “good weather photo” can be quite a challenge in California — it’s always nice here. There is nothing dramatic about another 70 degree day.
Rises in violence in the south of Monterey County lead community leaders on a mission to end it. And they decided to start by going door to door.
by cjay
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