documentary – Robin Amer

A Story With Meat On Its Bones

Brendan's Uncle Carl — Uncle Carl by Brendan Lekan

I’m considering an intriguing collaboration.

Brendan Lekan is a really talented food photographer. His work appears in Time Out Chicago and other publications. You’ve probably seen his work without knowing it was his. He also happens to be a third generation butcher, whose grandfather founded the Paulina Meat Market at Lincoln at Addison.

We’re talking about maybe partnering up to make some kind of audio or multimedia slide show about the butcher shop. (Or about butchering, or farm to table, or something…not really sure what the story would be yet.) I think the subject matter has a lot of potential. For one it’s extremely visual, and visceral. All the bright colors of the meat in the deli case, the striking process of breaking down the animals. And, it has really interesting sound possibilities. The various saws and chopping block sounds, for example, or the back room butcher shop banter. Our conversation last night made me wonder if a pork chop sounds different from a t-bone steak. Finally, according to Brendan, all the butchers are real characters. I don’t doubt it. He let slip in conversation that when he was a teenager, his father told him that if he ever got a tattoo, he would take him to the shop and cut it right off! How many fathers can really threaten that?*

Also, while Brendan is a third generation butcher, I’m a committed vegetarian! A collaboration between the two of us could be an interesting story in and of itself. One of the things I have to figure out is whether I could stand to watch the butchers in action. I don’t even really like walking past the refrigerated meat section at the grocery store, or watching my mom open up a package of raw chicken; could I deal with watching someone saw a cow carcass in half?

Obviously the experience of documenting this space and these people would be very different for me as an outsider (and a vegetarian outsider at that) than it would be for Brendan, who grew up in the shop and has powerful emotional ties to it. That could be exciting, but also tricky. We’re both professionals, but we’d be coming from such different places I wonder what the results would be.

Anyway, these are just some of the things I’m thinking about after our conversation last night. It’s also making me think about other collaborations I’d like to pursue. Among them, something with the lovely and talented Jesse Seay. (Hi Jesse!) We’ve been talking about working together again, but nothing has come together yet. I was also talking to my good buddy Brendan Greeley about collaborating on this fantastic idea he had for Megapolis, but unfortunately with twin baby girls, he doesn’t have a lot of surplus time right now.

In the meantime, I’d be curious to hear peoples thoughts on the meat market idea. What would you or do you find most interesting about that kind of space? Or about the way meat makes it to your table, or doesn’t?

*It was a threat he never made good on. Brendan has, among other tattoos, a big bicep piece of his American bulldog, Ralphie.

Eugene’s Gary

A portrait of one Gary neighborhood through the eyes of one resident.

Part 1, 7:50

Part 2, 5:05

Part 3, 6:02

Eugene’s Gary is a portrait of one Gary, Indiana neighborhood through the eyes of Eugene Pawlak. Pawlak, who fixes up houses and is a life-long Gary resident, is the kind of guy you want as your neighbor. He looks out for kids riding bikes in the middle of the street, helps octogenarians carry in their groceries and knows everyone on the block.

But Pawlak’s happy-go-lucky disposition belies a starker past. As he joshes with his neighbors, slowly a portrait of Eugene himself emerges. A freak, on-the-job accident at U.S. Steel left him physically and emotionally broken; only by channeling his energy through his children was he able to find his footing again.

Produced in the style of cinema verite using complex but subtle on-site field recordings, (local birds, bicycle bells, the slow rumble of a passing train) the sparse but purposeful use of sound in Eugene’s Gary highlights and supports the unique timbre of each character’s voice.

This series was originally recorded and aired on Vocalo.org during several live broadcasts in August of 2007.

Eugene’s Gary won 3rd place in the category of Best Use of Sound from the Indiana Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists.

Lease Eugene’s Gary for broadcast through the Public Radio Exchange (PRX).

Ghosts of Gary

The story of one abandoned movie theater is the story of this very post-industrial city. People haunt places, and places haunt people.

19:14

Ghosts of Gary is an exploration of Gary, Indiana’s semi-abandoned downtown and historic past. Dorothy, a non-Indiana native, stumbles into Gary on a road trip and sees the remnants of its once vibrant downtown. Among the shuttered buildings is the stately Palace movie theater, long-closed. But how long closed? Has it been closed since the Jackson Five, still advertised on the theater’s marquee, were last together? Has Gary’s downtown been a ghost town that long?

With the help of some life-long Gary residents, an urban explorer, and an investigative journalist, Ghosts of Gary unravels the mystery of the Palace Theater and how long it has been closed. On the way the story touches upon John Dillinger’s escape from the Crown Point jail, the subbasements of Broadway Avenue and the economic exploits of Donald Trump.

The individual stories and interviews in this series originally aired on Vocalo.org as part of several different live broadcasts between June and October of 2007. Production by Robin Amer. Additional production of title segment by Adam Yoffe and Tom Herman. Music by Mudboy and Black Forest/Black Sea. Voices, in order are: Dorothy Fennell, Laura Jones, Mr. Matthews, Eugene Pawlak, “Syd,” and Steve Walsh. Above photo by Dorothy Fennell.

Ghosts of Gary won Best Radio Documentary 2007 from the Indiana chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. It was also nominated for a Peter Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club in the Radio Documentary category.

Lease Ghosts of Gary for broadcast through the Public Radio Exchange (PRX).