Mayor Richard J. Gerbounka - Linden, NJ

Mayor Gerbounka has a distinguished history. He was a Vietnam veteran, being one of the first 2000 marines to set down in DaNang. He served 26 years in the Linden Police Department, retiring as Captain of Detectives. He entered his first elected position as 10^th Ward Councilman holding the position for 12 years. Afterward he ran as an independent and defeated former Mayor John Gregorio.

As Mayor, Mr. Gerbounka has run his office in hopes of doing what he feels is best for the town of Linden and its citizens. Due to former policies he has many internal political problems he must face, but even so he perseveres in his duty to help the town as much as possible. One of his biggest accomplishments was a settlement involving the abandoned General Motors plant located in Linden. GM tried to sue the city for $21 million, but just one month after taking office Mayor Gerbounka and several other city officials were able to come to a settlement. Without the courts or legal counselors the mayor and his team brokered a deal that brought the payment down to $2.8 million plus legal fees. The deal was completed in 6 months and the abandoned land now has a new owner, Duke Realty. Duke Realty will be building a retail supermall which will create more jobs for the city and bring in more taxes. A great accomplishment by Mayor Gerbounka and his team.

I chose to photograph Mayor Gerbounka inside City Hall. As mayor this is his element and I tried to get him in as natural environment as I could. I stuck with him for several hours taking pictures as he went about his daily activities. I would liked to have gotten a few shots outside city hall, however due to inclement weather this was not possible.

Rafael Hernandez Sr.

For this project I chose Rafael Hernandez Sr. as my subject. I came across my subject while in church, I known of him for years, but didn't really know him. He is an avid churchgoer and spends most of his time within the church even serving on the Board of Trustees for the church. Rafael was born and raised in Villalba, Puerto Rico. He is the youngest of 11 children. He came to Newark in 1963 with his wife and children and has resided here ever since. He began working for a window installation company and worked there for thirty years until his retirement. He currently spends his time running errands for the church and provides transportation for the elderly members of the church. He is also a key holder and grounds man for the church at the age of 69. I chose to photograph Rafael in his natural environment doing what he loves to do, drink coffee and share stories. He was very interesting to me due to the fact of the various tasks he does daily despite his age. He is also known for undying support to his religion. He visits the sick and elderly in the hospital on a weekly basis. He also helps donate food to the poor every third Saturday of the month. He is known around my community for his willingness to lend a hand to anyone and everyone.

Pamela Cytron

I found Pamela Cytron by chance. I was on the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Making Strides against Breast Cancer website to sign up for the October 18 Walk. Once I clicked on her profile, I immediately had a gut feeling that I would dedicate this project to her. Why did I pick Pam? Her story just exudes resiliency and exhibits realistic optimism. She was diagnosed with Breast Cancer just a few months ago in Spring 2009 and has already had a double mastectomy shortly after. She has no family history and had a mammogram done just one year before. She is only 42 years old and has two children. When I saw her ACS profile and read one of her favorite quotes, I could tell she was a very strong and unique individual: "In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life; it goes on.”

Her story stood out to me not only because of her fundraising efforts but because of her realistic optimism; that is, not just believing that everything happens for the best but instead, making the best of things that happen. I also admired her clear understanding and commitment to raising awareness – many people dismiss this part of battling Cancer while in reality, it can only help not harm, in the quest of a cure. This was why I picked her.
When I met Pam in person, it was so amazing. Being a psychology major, I’ve written so many term papers and case studies on people that exhibit resiliency but I’ve never truly looked into the eyes of a patient and that was the most rewarding part of this assignment. Pam is the CEO of Pendo Systems, an investment banking software company, here in Newark. She invited me into her office, and in this photo, she was showing me Newark from a much higher ground than I'd ever seen before. She followed up with me a few days after the shoot to send me another favourite inspirational quote of hers : "Between you and every goal that you wish to achieve, there is a series of obstacles, and the bigger the goal, the bigger the obstacles. Your decision to be, have and do something out of the ordinary entails facing difficulties and challenges that are out of the ordinary as well. Sometimes your greatest asset is simply your ability to stay with it longer than anyone else." -by Brian Tracy.

This photo, taken by her twentieth floor window, captures the essence of Pamela Cytron as a character: a hard-working mother, a loving wife, a successful businesswoman and best of all, a strong individual that gives back to the community and truly believes that everything in life is mind over matter.

Dan Occhiogrosso

Dan Occhiogrosso is a coach, teacher, and compassionate person. Coach Occh, as he is known, has taken his love for basketball and turned it into something good for others. His organization “Ball for Lives” focuses on helping children in need, mainly in Africa. He finished the New York City Marathon under five hours while dribbling a basketball, attempting to raise awareness and obtain donations for AIDS victims in Africa. He uses his dribbling to attract attention to his cause and in return receives more donations. Occhiogrosso attends schools around the area and hosts events where kids, as well as adults, can learn to dribble. The events and instructional dribbling videos (available on his website) encourage people to donate money for the organization, where all the proceeds are distributed to oprhanages and foundations that help combat malaria, or AIDS victims in Africa. He is also able to help the community on a local level. In Northern New Jersey, his motivational assemblies provide children with an activity Saturday afternoon, keeping them out of the streets. One day he wishes to travel to Africa and give the gift of basketball to an orphan.

Coach Occh is currently concentrating on expanding the reach of his organization. This year he will not participate in the NYC Marathon, but has a collegue representing the organization.

For more information go to www.BallforLives.com

Imam Abdul Aziz

Imam Abdul-Aziz,originally coming from Burkina Faso, immigrates to the United States at his very early age. However he has succeeded to keep close his tradition and his virtue of the community. At his early twenties has attained a very valuable and profound knowledge of the Quran by studying in the Islamic academic of new Port after his bachelor degree. Consequently, he starts to acquire a good popularity among the Muslim community in several association and organization. At the age of thirty five, when Abdul Aziz returns to New Jersey, he was placed imam of the Mosque Masjid Yateem which has gained more important since then. Imam Abdul Aziz, since he came ahead of the mosque, has succeeded to become not only a religious represent in the community but he has also become a symbol of leadership. He has succeed to bring close the society of African Muslim and he has known how to revalorized his community, his tradition and his religion in several aspects.

Natasha Wieschenberg has been a cancer survivor for 5 years now. She gracefully accepeted my invitation to interview her and I must say it was an honor. She got diagnosed in 2004 at the age of 40. She went through 5 long and painful months of chemotherapy. She tells me that cancer as bad of a disease as it is brought her a lot of good things in her life. She didn't stress over little stuff anymore. She came to realize who were her true friends. Her biggest fear was losing her hair, but after she did she came to love her new look. The previous year before her diagnosis, her father was walking down the street, fell and dies instantly. She therefore became her mother's caretaker adding a lot of stress. A few months later, her father's mother died because she got extremely depressed over her son's death. A few months after that, Natasha had to put her dog Samantha to sleep. To add more bad news, Natasha finds out that she has cancer. So after all these tragedies, she decides that this disease would not beat her. After she recuperated from the nerve damage the chemo had caused, she started cycling. Now she cycles to save lives. She volunteers to help others who are going through the same thing she went through. She won many medals and awards, but the most important one she's getting is the Luster for Life award. This award is being given to her by the American Cancer Society and it honors survivors of this devastating disease. When I was taking her pictures outside, all she kept on saying to me was "I hope my neighbors don't think I'm crazy." Natasha is a wonderful person and I was so honored to have met her. She's an inspiration to me because we become so overwhelmed with life sometimes that we forget it could be worse. I'm grateful for everything good and bad and when you meet a person with such enthusiasm and positive outlook for life, you realize that we only have one life to live and we must live. Tomorrow is never guaranteed so I try to live today and complain less. Thank you Natasha!

Mr. Robert Lum

Mr. Robert Lum served in the NYPD for twenty five (25) years before retiring. He is a Chinese descend. He and his parents migrated to the United States when he was five (5) years old. In united States, there resided in Bronx, NY and earn their meat through a small restaurant. According to Mr. Lum, the restaurant was successful for some time until two other restaurants were opened in their neighborhood and killed their market. From there he was compelled to work in the kitchen for somebody. He said he used to work sixty hours a week for a pay that cannot buy him reasonable cloths. From there he decided to go to college. His career with police department started with lack of job after graduating from college. He took the entrance exams and passed but the police department refused to hire him because of his height. He was a quarter short from their specified minimal required height. He sued the department and won and was hired in addition.
He is now a partime real estate agent and well respected by the people in the community for his kindness and the services his is rendering to them.

Mr. Lum is married with two kids (boy and Girl). The boy is a graduate of New York University and the girl is in her third year in college. The family owned two houses in New York and three cars. One of the houses is completely paid for and the other is three-quarters paid for. The house they reside on is estimated to worth about two million. He said he has been paying more than fourteen thousand dollars in property taxes for that particular house they reside in every year. And I think his life is fascinating.

Man behind the Organ

Thomas Delessio began playing the organ at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in New Jersey eight and a half years ago and is very well known as a choral director and music accompanist in the Diocese of Metuchen. Currently, under his supervision, he maintains the Kids of the Kingdom choir, Youth choir, and Adult Choir for the Cathedral. There is also a select number of singers for the whole Diocese of Metuchen he directs every now and again, making pilgrimages to National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception inWashington DC . Not only does he direct these choirs, but he's been gradually building a solid group of teenagers in his self-directed HandBell Choir usually after choir rehearsals for members who are interested. Of course, he does weddings too.

Currently, he's putting together pamphlets to guide musicians like himself who are interested in understanding what their position is within the parish -- like what it means to be a musician in the Catholic faith and what type of mindset one needs to accomplish it. He plans on publishing one for cantors as well in the near future. These pamphlets, he states, would be distributed to every church under the Diocese of Metuchen so that all may come to understand music in the church.

He is very much adored in the community; loved by the choir members and parish, though he gets little acclamation other than a fleeting "thank you" or applause after a mass. This humble musician is quite content at his position in the parish, though many laymen would probably not understand the amount of work he puts in for something he loves so dearly. And he does this all with a smile.

Alison Lazaro

Alison began to care for her community at an early age. After witnessing the desperate situation of a homeless family at a soup kitchen in Elizabeth, NJ, she decided to take action and do everything in her power to stop this kind of situations from ever repeating themselves. She has since dedicated her life to the service of the community by listening to people’s stories, respecting them, and trying to raise them out of poverty through their own will and determination.

She has worked and volunteered with Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth, Plaza nursing Home in Elizabeth, the YMCA in Elizabeth, Get Out the Vote 2004/Kerry Campaign in New Brunswick, Get Out the Vote 2008/Obama Campaign in Elizabeth, WGBGO Jazz 88.3 FM in Newark and more.

Having grown in Elizabeth, the home to the largest immigration detention center on the east coast of the United States, she got involved in global issues. She has worked and volunteered with international organizations such as Amnesty International, the National STAND Coalition, the United Nations Association USA, Service Civil International in Belgium and Germany, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University and others.

She now works with the American Cancer Society and plans to travel overseas to teach English for a year or two in Egypt, Jordan or Morocco, starting sometime in 2010.

Picture by: Didier Murillo.