Charlie the Barber

89, going on 90, is the age of well-known Bellefonte barber Charlie Fletemake. Owning his barber shop "Charlie's Barber Shop," the walls are covered in newspaper articles from Pennsylvania and New York and feature stories throughout his career all about him and his achievements. While cutting his regular customer and friend Joe Furfaro, Charlie talked about how his shop used to look like in the 1920s. Originally his shop had about four billard tables and locals would use his shop as social hot spot. But with a installed wall cutting right in the middle of the shop, the billard tables were removed and only a single chair being the center of the shop. 

After listening to his life story, it made me depressed to think that this barber shop used to be full of young people just  hanging out having a good time but is now bland, white and cold. Charlie was more than happy to show us each and everyone of his photographs that his said photojournalists have traveled to shoot that were later published in newspapers and magazines. The only thought running through my mind was that this nice old man is all alone in this cold barber shop that is literally underground. He has so much history to offer and I feel like many people don't get to hear it. Out of all the people in Bellefonte that I met on today, Charlie was by far the most interesting one.

THON Weekend 2012

Even though I had certain schedules set up with Onward State, Webcast Volunteers and COMM 469 for 2012 THON weekend, I decided to go all out and spend my entire weekend at the Bryce Jordan Certain. For all 46 hours, plus 10 hours more of no sleep, I ran around the BJC for photographs and to record live feed for the THON webcast. Since it would be my last THON weekend as a Penn State student, I didn't want to miss a minute of it. But as a photojournalist putting herself through intense conditions while still producing work, it took its toll on me and my work.
I cheated when compared to what the dancers had to endure. I had a seat at Onward State's press row and had enough Red Bull to last me the weekend. But I was just as delusional as the dancers. I will admit that the lack of sleep effected my work by making me less alert and performed slower. I still was able to give myself boosts of energy and followed the dancers' method of keeping energy by constantly moving. I learned this lesson the hard way when recording live feed for the THON Webcast Saturday at 5 a.m. where I stood working a video camera on a tripod for six hours straight. At some points, I even carried the ten pound camera on my shoulder as I recorded interviews and food being served to dancers. The amount of pain in my heels to my back was unbearable.
As my shift came for my COMM 469 class, Sunday morning at 8 a.m., I was completely delusional. I was able to photograph mail call and the memorial tribute to Courtney O'Brien that were both emotional. I don't know if it was the lack of sleep or having friends dancing on the floor, but I was just as emotional as they were. I was very honored when I was told that one of my photos from the memorium was going to be published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette. It was a first time that any of my work has been published in a newspaper and when the total amount was reveal at the end, my photograph became extremely popular on the internet. This was my last THON weekend as a Penn State student and I didn't want to miss a moment of it. But in professional terms, I would never put myself through that position of sleep deprivation with multiple responsibilities again.