Author: Sharon

My passions include photography, music, people, teaching, learning, taking risks and asking "I wonder what would happen if I..."

“Public Access and Democracy: From the Boob Tube to YouTube, A Revolution in Our Time” – CATV Annual Meeting

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Coming Up: Tuesday, May 24 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Sawyer Free Library Friend Room

Come to the Cape Ann Annual Meeting and hear: “Public Access and Democracy: From the Boob Tube to YouTube, A revolution in Our Time”

Learn about the evolution of public access television, where ordinary people can create television programs and release them on CATV and the internet!

Let’s figure out how to merge Blogging and Broadcast!

There was a time before there was bloggers, before there was social media, before there was internet when the only public media “portal” to our community was Public Access Television: Channels 12, 27, and 67 on your Comcast cable dial.

There is a long history of individuals who fought long and hard for the right of each community to have these channels for PEG programming, which stands for Public (general interest), Education (school and public education programs) and Government (transparency in government meetings). Today, Public Access facilities around the world produce more programming annually than CBS, NBC, and FOC television combined.

YOU have the right to make television shows and cablecast them on CATV, as well as out through the internet. One of the most exciting developments on Cape Ann in the past few years is the incredible success of Good Morning Gloucester and the existence of all you wonderfully talented authors. In a keynote presentation that will be given by Barry O’Brien, there is a great acknowledgement of the work of Joey C., and the team of bloggers that make GMG so much fun. As television and the internet merge, we want to determine how our rights to Public Access television can be preserved and developed by applying our communities’ talent.

There will be tasty refreshments! Come on over Tuesday, May 24 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Sawyer Free Library Friend Room and join the conversation.

Main Street, Gloucester, circa 1890

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Main Street, Gloucester, circa 1890 John I. Coggeshall/©Fredrik D. Bodin

This is the bend in Main Street’s West End, just past Palazola’s (where the large tractor trailer trucks get stuck). The photograph was taken shortly after trolley tracks were installed, but before the time of automobiles. In those days, small deliveries were made by horse drawn wagons. Large long-haul deliveries were made by train, sailing vessels, and steam ships.
Photographer John Coggeshall set up his 8×10 camera in front of Valentino’s. The second building on the left is where Bananas is now. Next to it, behind the horses and wagon, my gallery is the light-colored building. At that time it was James Patten’s fruit market, with a print shop upstairs, and in 1896 it was the Wingaersheek Cafe. On the other side from right to left are the present Gloucester Estate Buyers, Cafe Bishco, Stone Leaf, and the Bookstore. Boynton Way, now a walking street, was open to traffic.
Printed from the original 8×10 inch glass negative in my darkroom. Negative # A93810-011
Fred Bodin
Bodin Historic Photo
Like us on Facebook.com/BodinHistoricPhoto
82 Main Street
Gloucester, MA 01930

Gloucester Gig Rowers – Open House on Sunday

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Wicked Local Photo by David Sokol

WHAT Open House

WHO Gloucester Gig Rowers

WHEN Sunday, May 15, 5-8 p.m.

WHERE Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center, Harbor Loop

COST Free

With warmer weather just around the corner, the Gloucester Gig Rowers want to offer a unique alternative to those looking to get out a bit more and meet new people this summer.

The group rows in a pair of Cornish pilot gigs –seafaring craft that are traditionally about 32 feet long and require six rowers and a coxswain to be considered fully manned – from April to November every year out of the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center. Some row recreationally, some row competitively and some are just trying it out for the first time.

Billed as a social experience as well as an opportunity for exercise and a little competition, members of the Gloucester Gig Rowers are hoping to attract others to what makes gig rowing and being part of the group so appealing. With that in mind, the non-profit organization will host an open house to the public on Sunday, May 15, from 5-8 p.m. at the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center.

Read more: Gloucester Gig Rowers to hold open house on Sunday – Gloucester, MA – Wicked Local 

Sober Connections Presents “The Spring Event” at the Cape Ann

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All proceeds going towards the non profit filing costs for Sober Connections Inc.
Big Giveaway Prizes during event from Local Merchants (Save your admission Ticket Stubs!)
Kids under 12 Free
Doors open at 7pm
Please consider our “Sponsor a Ticket” program. You can purchase tickets anonymously at the door or on our website, for those new in sobriety that would love to come to have fun, but financially are struggling to make ends meet as they walk the path to stay sober.
To Purchase tickets in advance, please visit Http://SoberConnections.org

(Any Local Merchants wanting to participate in the “Local Merchant Giveaway, feel free to email Daniel Driscoll at danield@SoberConnections.net to make arraignments to pick up your gift certificate or donation to show those new to sobriety that the community cares and are behind them.)

Annisquam Light, circa 1890

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a93810_032
 Annisquam Light, circa 1890 Charles E. Dennison/©Fredrik D, Bodin
The first Annisquam Lighthouse was built in 1801 on Wigwam Point, where the Annisqaum River meets Ipswich Bay. It was replaced in 1851 by the lighthouse in this photograph. The forty one foot high wooden tower was octagonal. The keeper’s house, to the right of the light, also built in 1801, had a covered walkway connecting it to the lighthouse. Cows grazed the lighthouse grounds, and wandered along the beach at low tide. The present  Annisquam Light was erected in 1897, and is made of brick. The light was automated in 1974, and the keeper’s house is currently used by Coast Guard families.
Printed from the original 8×10 inch negative in my darkroom.
Fred Bodin
Bodin Historic Photo
82 Main Street
Gloucester, MA 01930

4th Annual Digital Photography Workshop

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On Saturday I had the opportunity, along with over a dozen others, to tap into the expertise of 4 photographers at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. By using the museum environment, Barry, Dave, Tony, and Lenny presented a day-long workshop on camera basics, composition, lighting, portraiture, and photo documentary. After each segment, we were sent out into the yard to capture photos using what we had just learned.

The construction of the Ardelle, the antique tools, the boats, the woodshops, the entire Museum grounds gave us excellent material to practice our newfound knowledge. We students ranged from beginners to advanced photographers, and each of us was able to take what we needed from the workshop. I now have a better understanding of the cause and effect of different aperture, shutter speed, and ISO settings. The guys went out with us and answered our specific questions and gave us tips. Then we returned to our “classroom” where we were able to view our images on the big screen. We politely critiqued each others’ photos with positive input from the instructors.

The rain held off until late afternoon.  We celebrated our day of success, exchanged email addresses, and left with a big thank you to the Workshop team!

If you are interested in becoming a better photographer, watch for this workshop in the future. Take the time to do a photo walk around the Essex Shipbuilding Museum on your own, and if you like what you see, become a member!

To see some of my photos taken during the workshop, click here.

Help Request

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I received a request from Don Dunsky yesterday. The library is working on a project and would like to find out the location of this house from sometime in 1930’s or 1940’s. Any information? Thanks! (Under the photo in pencil, it says “Beach Rd.? across from golf course”  Must have been someone’s guess.)

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for “fifth of May”) is a holiday held on May 5. It is celebrated nationwide in the United States and regionally in Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla. The date is observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride, and to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War. In the state of Puebla, the date is observed to commemorate the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza SeguĂ­n.  Cinco de Mayo is NOT Mexico’s Independence Day, the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico, which occurs on September 16th. Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that is virtually ignored in Mexico.

Long Beach Rodeo, circa 1950

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Long Beach Rodeo, circa 1950 Alice M. Curtis/©Fredrik D. Bodin

What’s going on here in front of the Long Beach Hotel? Remembering another rodeo photo I have, taken at the Plum Cove baseball field, I figured it out (maybe). Horses, cowboys and cowgirls in western outfits, and two different locations: this was probably a publicity event for the circus. People came to watch the horses race down the beach. The spectators tell us the time period: A policeman in vintage uniform, girls and boys checking each other out, and the cool kid in the white t-shirt (I can just see a pack of Marlboros rolled up in his sleeve). If anyone remembers the Long Beach rodeo or has any pictures, I’d love to hear from you.

Printed from the original 6×7 centimeter film negative in my darkroom.

Fred Bodin

Bodin Historic Photo

info@BodinHistoricPhoto.com

82 Main Street

Gloucester, MA 01930

978-283-2524

Safe in Port

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And here they are at 6pm last night.

But this was the sky a few minutes before-

New England weather!

Ketchopulos Market, Rockport, 1931

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Ketchopulos Market, Rockport, 1931 Alice M. Curtis/ ©Bodin Historic Photo
Working with this photograph has been a lot of fun for me because I’ve met so many people who have fond memories of “Ketchop’s,” as they refer to it. They recall the quality cuts of meat, produce, and particularly the beautiful lantanas hanging from the columns. Notice the Laurel and Hardy movie poster, showing at Town Hall, leaning against the tree on the left. One local woman, a Ketchopulos, pointed out to her friend while in the gallery: “There I am as a little girl!” The Ketchopulos Market closed in the early 1970’s, but the building remains on Broadway.
Printed from the original 5×7 inch film negative in my darkroom.
Fred Bodin
Bodin Historic Photo
82 Main Street
Gloucester, MA 01930

Granite Schooner, Lanes Cove

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Granite Schooner Flora Condon, Lanes Cove, 1909 John I. Coggeshall/©Bodin Historic Photo
The three masted schooner Flora Condon loading Cape Ann granite in Lanes Cove. Granite blocks were wheeled on a gallymander along a ramp and then lowered with block and tackle into the ship’s hold. The schooner was 123 feet long, and was built in 1872 in Belfast, Maine.  She was lost off Cape Cod in December of 1911. John Ingersoll Coggeshall  (1856 – 1927) was an accomplished sea-landscape painter and photographer, for whom Coggeshall Road in Lanesville is named.

Printed from the original 8×10 inch glass negative in my darkroom.
Fred Bodin
Bodin Historic Photo
82 Main Street
Gloucester, MA 01930