This is a recurring column by Daily Item Creative Director Spenser Hasak, featuring and discussing his favorite photos of the month.
It took a while for winter’s icy chill to settle in across the region, but that certainly happened in January. With the most snow we’ve seen since 2015, a Christmas tree bonfire that could warm even those with the worst circulation (me), and hundreds of other photos in between, here are my pics of the month:
1) Maybe I’m in the minority, but I LOVE a giant snowstorm. Nothing gets me more excited to grab my gear and head out into our communities than when there’s a forecast for a foot-plus of snow. Yes, it’s a pain to dig out my car, but the streets are devoid of traffic, and the world is transformed into an alien scene; there’s an image to be made everywhere I turn my camera. Monday after the storm was spent driving around as many communities as I could, documenting people shoveling, snowblowers chucking snow, and kids enjoying their snow day. But Tuesday was when reality sank in; this snow was going to be here a while. I came across Octavio Ponce as he powered through, digging out his SUV from the unplowed lot behind 85 Exchange St., in Lynn. I threw my arm high into the air to capture as many of the stranded vehicles as I could in a frame, while keeping him centered, highlighting the scope of the work he and many others faced if they wanted their cars back.
2) I was assigned to document the condition of the basketball court at Phillips Park in Swampscott, which the town was discussing rehabilitating. I was met with a bunch of puddles scattered across the court, and I love working with reflections in my shots. The puddles were the perfect way to highlight the uneven playing surface, but none of my wide shots really seemed to capture what I wanted. It was only after about 15 minutes of walking around the court (like a crazy person) that I saw this frame. The puddles on a green court easily could have been a tennis court, but being able to get the hoop in the reflection made the image for me.
3) Apart from the state championship games at the end of the season, there is nothing better than photographing a classic rivalry game. I found myself in a jam-packed field house at Swampscott High School as the Big Blue boys basketball team took on their arch rivals, Marblehead. Both teams played with intensity and offered some great moments to document, like this frame of Swampscott’s Sam Moscoso drawing a charge as Marblehead’s Rylan Golden flew toward the basket.
4) One of my favorite nighttime assignments of the year is always the Epiphany Tree Burning celebration at Riverhead Beach in Marblehead. The community gathers around a massive pile of dead Christmas trees and waits for the show to begin. Within seconds of the first tree being lit, there isn’t a cold person in the crowd. The intense heat always makes me admire the tenacity and bravery of the firefighters who stand mere feet away from the blaze, and it really adds a perspective to what they might experience when fighting a fire. For that reason, I always try to get a shot that highlights a firefighter, and this was my favorite from the take.
5) My final pic of the month goes to the In The Mak’n Step Squad as they performed during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. appreciation breakfast hosted by the Community Minority Cultural Council in Lynn. Honestly, there were so many other photos of them that I could have chosen. The squad, led by Lynn Tech football coach James Runner, never ceases to amaze me. There is so much talent on the squad, and they always make my life easy as a photographer, because there’s never a bad shot to make during one of their performances.
