Infidelity for This American Life

Last week I had another assignment from NPR's This American Life. To create an illustration for this week's episode: Infidelity — stories of cheating, cheaters and the cheated.

I immediately recalled a book of cartoons my parents had when I was growing up: Sam, the Ceiling Needs Painting, by Woody Gelman. The cover gives a good idea of the content:Great way to imply sex with virtually no bare skin. So I set out to find six feet willing to pose for a photo. (See the final shot with all six feet here.)

This week's photo contest:

Free 5 x 7 print of this photo to the first person who correctly identifies the brand of jeans worn in this photo. Send your guesses to: blog@mfrphoto.com

Deadline: Nov. 8, 2009.

red maple leaves

Red maple leaves shine through the ripples at the edge of Wilber Lake, Otsego County, New York, on a sunny fall day.

Sometimes it's nice to just get out and make some pretty pictures.

drugs for This American Life

Last week I shot another assignment for NPR's This American Life. They asked me to come up with an illustration for this week's episode — Someone Else’s Money: a look inside the health insurance industry. Aired this past weekend.

After pondering it for a few days, I was hit with a stroke of brilliance (or lunacy) one night. I got up at midnight to fashion this stretcher out of a dollar bill and q-tips.

Last week's photo contest got such great responses I'll try it again.

Free 5 x 7 print of this photo to the first person who can correctly identify the secret ingredient I used to attach the stretcher to the pill bottles. Send your guesses to: blog@mfrphoto.com

Atomic Lake

Lake Balapan was created when an underground nuclear test in Kazakhstan blew the top off of a mountain.

Sixty years ago, the Soviet Union began testing nuclear bombs on the steppe in northern Kazakhstan. In the Semipalatinsk Polygon, researchers detonated nearly 460 nuclear explosions above and below ground over a 40-year period, ending in 1989.

Today, October 19, 2009, marks the twentieth anniversary of Kazakhstan’s nuclear testing moratorium, the result of a rare Soviet grassroots environmental campaign. Kazakhstan once had the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal. It has since become the first country to become nuclear-free.

Lake Balapan, also known as Atomic Lake, was created when an underground nuclear test blew the top off of a mountain. The resulting crater filled with water and is one of the most radioactive sites within the 6,950-square-mile Polygon. Recently, local shepherds have watered their sheep at the lake, not believing scientific warnings about the dangers of doing so.

Nurlan Khamiev is the director of the Shorskoye Mine, one of two mines still operating within the contaminated Polygon.

See another Polygon photo here.

drowning for This American Life

I'm a photojournalist. I don't get into the studio that often. So it was a fun change of pace last week to shoot this photo for NPR's This American Life. I was asked to create photos to illustrate the theme of this week's show, More is Less: the rising costs of health care.

Wait, you say, isn't TAL a radio show? Yes, but nowadays even radio shows need good photos.

Free 5 x 7 print of this photo to the first person who can correctly identify either the doll or one of the pills used in this photo. Send your guesses to: blog@mfrphoto.com

homecoming in a new home

With all my years of experience as a staff photographer for the University of Wisconsin, I decided I should start seeking new clients at the many colleges and universities here in New York.

So last weekend I photographed Homecoming at Hartwick College, just across the valley from our new home.

The Hartwick College football team runs out on the field at the start of their homecoming game against Ithaca College.

Alumnae Judy Lindberg and Kathleen Carver-Cheney and many other alums covered the hillside above Wright stadium.

No matter how many times I photograph cheerleaders, I always get a kick out of them. It was a lovely day, even though Hartwick lost to Ithaca 24-20.

radio show on WORT

I'll be doing a one-hour interview about Chernobyl and my After Chernobyl exhibit on A Public Affair, the noontime talk show on WORT (89.9 FM in Madison). Those of you far from Madison can stream the show here: www.wort-fm.org/listen.php

That's Wed. Sept. 16, 12-1 pm CST, or 1-2 pm for you east coasters.

UPDATE:
If you missed the interview, catch it here. (The show starts 5:40 into the hour, after the news.)

Streaming: http://archive.wort-fm.org/pls.php?mp3fil=35450
Download: http://archive.wort-fm.org/mp3/wort_090916_120402apawed.mp3

New Madison photo exhibit

My new Chernobyl photo exhibit is up in Madison, Wisconsin! A big thanks to Rob, Dick and Jon who hung the exhibit! Come check it out.

Madison Municipal Building ARTspace gallery
215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, 1st floor
September 3 to October 30, 2009
Hours: Mon-Fri 7-5, Sat 8-12
(Eves and weekends you can still get in - enter the building via the Doty St. entrance.)

After Chernobyl: photo exhibit

Press Release - September 4, 2009 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

After Chernobyl: Photo Exhibit by Michael Forster Rothbart

If you lived near Chernobyl, would you stay?

Madison photographer Michael Forster Rothbart has just returned from a year in Chernobyl. He received a U.S. Fulbright Scholarship to photograph and interview Ukrainians who remain in villages near Chernobyl a generation after the 1986 accident.

After Chernobyl, an exhibit of Forster Rothbart’s documentary photographs, will be displayed for two months...

Read full press release.
Download the press release.

Polygon Nuke Test Site

Shepherd Vlodya Lionchev works on a sheep ranch in Kazakhstan at the edge of the Semipalatinsk Polygon, the Soviet-era nuclear weapons testing site.

Sixty years ago today, the Soviet Union began testing nuclear bombs on the steppe in northern Kazakhstan. Researchers detonated nearly 460 nuclear explosions above and below ground over a 40 year period, ending in 1989. The testing range was officially closed 18 years ago today, August 29, 1991.

The ranch where Lionchev works is across a small valley from Lake Balapan, also known as Atomic Lake, created when a nuclear test blew the top off of a mountain. The resulting crater filled with water and is one of the most radioactive sites within the Polygon. Recently, local shepherds have watered their sheep at the lake, not believing scientific warnings about the dangers of doing so.

I first visited the Polygon nine years ago (hard to believe!) to shoot a story for AP. I was fascinated and long wanted to return. This week I'm finishing editing a story I shot there about the people who live in and around the Polygon.