Urban Fine Art Fave - "End of Road (Pt 3)"

PHOTOGRAPHY

End of Road (Pt 3) - Although we have come to the end of the road, still I can't let go.

Urban Fine Art by Joseph Dominick

Urban Fine Art Fave - "GOC: Worship Song Sheet"

On December 9, 2009, a group of individuals vandalized the Glory of Christ Church and then set it on fire. This is the Worship Team Song Sheet which survived that fire. Take note of the words in the middle which did not burn on this page.

Urban Fine Art by Joseph Dominick

Urban Fine Art Fave: "Glory of Christ Church: The Rebirth"

Although vandals set the Glory of Christ Church on fire on the morning of December 9, 2009 in the Bronx, four days later the church was back together at a location nearby praising the God who is their salvation.

This is the first altar call, panorama style, at that service. (December 13, 2009)

Urban Fine Art Fave - "End of Road (Pt 2)"

PHOTOGRAPHY

End of Road (Pt 2) - When you are so deep in love, betrayal leaves you dazed and confused.

Urban Fine Art Photography by Joseph Dominick

Urban Fine Art Fave - "In the Fields"

"In the Fields" - This triple textured portrait is of Jasmine in the fields of Central Park, NYC. Urban Fine Art Photography by Joseph Dominick

My Portfolio

Enjoy this slideshow of my photography portfolio.

- Joseph Dominick

"Lifestyle Photography For Extraordinary People"


Portfolio - Images by Joseph Dominick

Urban Fine Art Fave - "End of Road (Pt 1)"

PHOTOGRAPHY

End of Road (Pt 1) - Love sometimes makes you wonder. What happens when you get to the end of the road?

Urban Fine Art Photography by Joseph Dominick

Urban Fine Art Fave - "The Perez Sisters"

PHOTOGRAPHY

Portrait of Perez Sisters - After freefalling three stories from a cable in a team building leadership exercise, Damaris is comforted by her sister Tasha.

B&W outdoor portrait by Joseph Dominick

New Birthday, New Website

PERSONAL/PHOTOGRAPHY

Today I celebrated both my birthday and the launch of www.josephdominickphotography.com. I am very excited and am looking forward to this new year of life and creativity.

Check out the site and enjoy the visuals.

"Lifestyle Photography for Extraordinary People"

Fun Fun Wedding This Past Weekend

WEDDING

Nelly & Josue attend the same church I do in the Bronx called The Glory of Christ Church. So I had a wonderful and blessed time photographing their wedding.

The ceremony was at the church and the reception was at the Fiesta Banquets in New Jersey.

Here are some sample photos from the wedding:

Beautiful Bride Nelly





Flower Girl




You May Kiss The Bride




Here Comes The Bride




Now That's How You Limbo

City of Truth: Class #12 of 12

LEADERSHIP

At the beginning of this year, I was rocking my brain studying and preparing for a Leadership program I was calling "City of Truth" which I was creating from scratch for a group of young adults in the Bronx. Most of them attended the same church I did. Two of them didn't even attend a local church. Interestingly enough, this was not a church class, this was a Leadership class. My desire was to assist these 17 to 24 year olds in their transition from teenagehood into adulthood.

God was gracious and surrounded me with three adult friends who joined me in this endeavor. Big shout-out to Tasha, Terri & Damaris for their trust in me and all their hard work. Many times they had no clue what I was doing. Sometimes they even questioned whether they should be working with me. :)

But with a whole lotta faith, and a shear desire to please God with what He placed in my heart, I creted a curriculum and begun our first class on April 4th.

Classes continued basically once every three weeks. In the beginning I stayed pretty close to the curriculum. As time passed and the group of six to twelve young adults grew closer to each other, the curriculum began to change and grow. It was amazing.

I'm not going to make this post long, but I will say over the past eleven classes, teaching these young adults has blessed me tremendously. I really feel I have grown as man and a leader. Teaching about leadership brought leadership out of me.

So as I approach this last class this weekend, I pray City of Truth accomplished its goal of training and equipping young adults to be world leaders. A part of me is slightly melancholic at this point. COT has truly been a labor of love. Working with this group has changed my life.

I'm not sure when the next set of COT classes will begin. However I am sure that when God allows, the next group will be just as amazing as this one was.

Urban Fine Art Fave - "Golden"

PHOTOGRAPHY


Golden
Originally uploaded by JosephDominick

Genesis is definitely "Golden" in this portrait. I was going for a very specific texture on this one.

Urban Fine Art Photography by Joseph Dominick

[Click image for larger view]

Ana the Bride

WEDDING


Ana the Bride
Originally uploaded by JosephDominick

Ana was the first bride I officially photographed under the Joseph Dominick Photography banner.

I love her pose here as she gets ready in her Brooklyn home. In the midst of the pouring rain outside and constant phone calls to her cell phone, Ana was quite peaceful.

This is one of Ana's favorite portraits so I had to showcase it.

Bridal photography by Joseph Dominick

The NYC Collective

PHOTOGRAPHY

During this summer I became a part of the NYC Collective, a branch of the Puerto Rican Photographic Society, which is dedicated to photography and highlighting the work of Puerto Rican photographers. This year my work has been included in two of their exhibitions.

Recently Clarisel Gonzalez, also from the NYC Collective, curated a gallery of our work on Flickr. Click portraits and enjoy some of my work as well as work from other members of the Collective.

Christine's New Headshots

PHOTOGRAPHY

I would like to congratulate Christine Rosado on her new headshots. It was a pleasure photographing her in the studio and outdoors in the Chelsea area of Manhattan.

Christine is a lively and fun person. She's also a friend of mine.

Keep your eyes out for her in the new play, "In Due Season" by Elaine Glover, at Harvest Fields in the Bronx during the first weekend of December (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=154801606129&ref=mf)




Christine Rosado Headshots - Images by Joseph Dominick

Urban Fine Art Fave - "Miami, South Bronx"

PHOTOGRAPHY

I love the gritty texture here of Genesis with the clouds brooding in the background. It feels like the Miami heat is beating down on her in this South Bronx exterior.


Urban Fine Art

Urban Fine Art Fave - "Jasmine"

PHOTOGRAPHY


jasmine_portrait_jdp_IMG_2652
Originally uploaded by JosephDominick

Jasmine wanted some lovely portraits of herself, so we spent the morning walking in Central Park.

This is the first photo I began working on. I find the Black & White really highlights the beauty and the softness of Jasmine's character. Her eyes are strong, determined, and yet still searching.

- J

Olivia, our Hero

PERSONAL/PHOTOGRAPHY

In the fight against Leukemia, I would like to introduce you to my young friend Olivia via this brief photo slideshow.

Follow this link (http://bit.ly/37lEg4) Enter the Password: Hero

Weekend Photos

So I talked Genesis into taking photos with me in some remote areas of the Bronx. She lovingly obliged.

Here are two portraits from this Saturday's shoot:

The Non-Headshot Selections

So I had a great time last month working with Chrissy Rosado. She needed actor headshots so we took photos in my studio as well as outdoors in the Chelsea area of Manhattan.

Below are two portraits which did not make it into the final selection of headshots. So of course I pimped them out.

I categorize these under Lifestyle Photography.

The first one below is what I call "Strictly Gangsta":




The next one I call "Grunge/Rock Star":

Go Diego Go

I'm finding my inner Diego coming out while behind the camera. Check out these photos from today's adventure taken with my jPhone:

Picture This

A couple of years ago I realized I had very few photos of myself. Mostly that was because I was either holding the camera or the people who took photos of me took blurry or not pleasing photos. So I challenged myself to ask people to take pics hoping with more pics the odds would be higher for me to get a decent photo of myself. But that actually didn't work either.

So I resorted to doing self-portraits. Inspired by the phenomenon of my MySpace friends at the time, I photographed myself. I actually got some great portraits. One of my favorite self-portraits I even designed into a business card. Who would have thought?

It would have been so much easier if I knew someone who took good photos. So the moral of the story is find a good photographer who knows how to make you look good. And if that doesn't work, photograph yourself. Just please, no more bathroom mirror self-portraits. There are too many of them out there online. :0)


-- Post From My jPhone

"Like A Star" with Sheena Lee

Caveat: These are not my pictures.

I "borrowed" them. :o)

Creativity can strike at any time. You see, I had this idea of doing a slideshow to the song "Like A Star" by Taio Cruz. Immediately I thought of my friend Sheena Shyninstar Lee. So, I basically went to her MySpace and FB and took all the "star" pics and put this work of art together.

And...Sheena loved it. So now I share it with you. Another funky creation from Joseph Dominick.

Enjoy,
J

Sheena Like A Star from Joseph D. Martinez on Vimeo.

Photos from Sheena

Slideshow production by Joseph Dominick

Entrepreneurial

Starting a photography business has been really interesting. One of the many conversations in my head is how do I articulate my style of photography. There are so many styles and I enjoy many of them. I like Street Photography, Event Photography, Portrait Photography, Wedding Photography, and Actor/Model Headshot Photography. The one constant in all of these is...people. So from now on I'm just gonna say I do People Photography. :0)

I also see I enjoy using the urban landscape as my backdrop. Growing up in New York City, in the Bronx, has really given me an appreciation for the rich texture of the urban setting. Most of my writing is in an urban context so it comes as no surprise that my visual writing in photography is the same.

Photographers in New York are everywhere. I thank God for making room for me in this biz.

More chronicles of an entrepreneur to come. Stay tuned.

City of Truth Leadership Academy

LEADERSHIP

I had so much fun shooting these photos and organizing this slideshow.

City of Truth Leadership Academy from Joseph D. Martinez on Vimeo.

The photos in this slideshow were taken at the Lord Stirling Outdoor Education Center in NJ by Joseph Dominick Photography.

The Headshot

It was bound to happen. I posted enough pictures on Facebook for a friend of mine to ask me to shoot her headshots.

So Joseph Dominick Photography was hired. :0)

It seems she was not thrilled at all with the headshots she had recently taken. Her makeup looked caked on in the photos. The photographer's light also seemed to accentaute the thick makeup.

Unfortunately her other colleagues also took pictures with the same professional photographer and were not satisfied with the results either.

After reviewing what the photographer did with her and her colleagues headshots, we proceeded to review various headshots online by other photographers. This exercise in research was done to get a clear understanding of the visual palette and what this actress found pleasing in headshots. We were able to select a color scheme based directly off of the headshots she found pleasing. In our consultation I was also able to get a clear idea of how she was choosing to market herself in the acting world.

Well our photo shoot went very well. We did both in studio work and outdoor shooting.

I spoke with her this weekend and she loves the headshots I took. She loves them so much she's having a hard time selecting which ones to use. :0)

So once she makes her selection, I will post them here for your viewing.

Leadership Oasis

Are you thirsty? Are you in a desert? Sometimes the heat of leadership can leave you dry. What you need is to be refreshed.

This need for refreshing is a main thrust for a FREE Leadership Conference taking place on September 26th at the Glory of Christ Church in the Bronx, NY.

Save the date and come find a Leadership Oasis at the "Setting the Gold Standard" conference.

Rikers Island (Part 3)

L & M.S. didn't really share much else. But S did. S is a 23 yr old black woman with tats on her arm and on the top of both her hands. She had a red combing brush in her hand. Because her release was approaching in two weeks, I asked her, "When you get out of here, what are you going to do?". She talked about having two young children and needing to get a legit job so ACS would leave her alone. She said, "After I get my short money job...". She paused. "To tell you the truth, I'm gonna be a stripper." She explained that having a felony on her record would prevent her from getting a real job and making real money.

One of the volunteers began to speak with her about stripping not being the best choice. S acknowledged she had low self-esteem and didn't want really to show her body but she needed a way to make good money. She shared how she would never prostitute herself like some other women at the facility have done. M.S. joined in, "Once you get accustomed to making fast money, slow money is not an option."

After some time I jumped in and began encouraging S on the possibility of braiding hair on the outside. She shared how she enjoyed it and how at least half a dozen ladies in the yard were sporting her work.

At this time the music started and we slowly maneuvered our chairs towards the front. Just like the morning session, we sang some praise songs, listened to a female pastor share her life story, followed by another female pastor preach the Gospel message of Jesus' love.

My heart was delighted as M, M.S., S, L & Z all made a confession of sin and asked Jesus Christ to be both Lord and Savior of their lives. I assisted them with their paperwork and had time to pray individually with Z. Z told me she knew nothing about the Bible or church. I encouraged her and we prayed.

Afterward I found M, MS & S talking with one of the retired COs. He was advising them on life on Rikers with Jesus Christ in their lives. All 5 of us prayed. I saw the hope in their eyes. It was different. They were different. It was as if the "On" switch was flipped. I could see it in their eyes.

When we finished praying, they were called to line up. They had to go back inside. We watched. Some volunteers waved. Some blew kisses. I looked down at the response cards which were filled out. One read, "Thank you for coming today." Another read, "Now I know God loves me."

I sat on the bench just trying to process what transpired. God showed up in a powerful way. I really understood God's love for me by saving me from the destructive path that I was previously on. God used seven lovely women to show me His love.

As I am writing this part 3, it has been seven days since this Hope Festival happened. I still think and pray for these women and the many others on Rikers. Every time 11pm beeps on my watch I think "Lights out!". I know when 5am blinks they are waking up to get ready for breakfast.

There is no other way to say it. My world was rocked @ Rikers Island during the Hope Festival.

If you have never visited a jail or a prison, I highly recommend you do so with your church or some community organization. Be encouraged by the words of Jesus:

"I was in prison & you came to visit me...when you visited one of the least of these, you visited me." (Matt. 25:36,40 paraphrased)

Rikers Island (Part 2)

So E & C and the rest of the morning session went back inside for lunch. I and the other 40 volunteers sat around a little before we were served lunch by Officers for Christ (Correction Officers ministry).

Truly I was so thrown I did not have any words. E & C really caught my heart. I needed time to process what had just happened. It went by so fast. I love conversing so in a short time I was asking pretty specific questions and getting really raw answers.

We were not allowed to take pictures. So I am attempting to show you pictures with my words in these blogs.

Lunch proved a great distraction. I talked a lil with one of the other volunteers. While eating I witnessed a 19 yr old-looking inmate pass by a door and call out to her former youth pastor who was in our group. This girl was rocking a white t and light colored pants and blue prison slip-on shoes. With permission from a guard the former youth pastor talked with the girl. From what I overheard, she used to attend the youth ministry of one of the BX churches represented there. At some point she fell away from God and now she was in Rikers. Some of the ladies prayed with her. I could see the youth pastor broke up inside. He had heard about her incarceration when she wrote a letter to the church. I just sat there and watched the whole thing unfold.

After that I went to another part of the yard and just sat on a bench. I saw the big blue sky with beautiful white clouds floating around. I saw the two full court basketball courts in front of me inside the yard. We might as well have been in the projects because only two of the four rims were actually there. And the two there had rusty/grimy backboards. To the right of the courts were two poles connected by a long wire high enough to be a volleyball net. Just one piece of string going across. I imagine a net would probably be a safety hazard.

And way back in the corner was the only piece of life in the yard, a huge vibrant green tree. When I say huge I mean like Rockefeller Center looking like tree. It was a full tree, full of life. And such a vibrant color green. It was such a huge contrast from the off white and dull off-pink colors represented on the walls of the yard.

Occasionally you would hear the sound of seagulls doing their squawking thang as they passed by from roof to roof.

After lunch the afternoon session started. A number of other "houses" came down to the yard. I believe there are 19 houses where the ladies reside in this one facility. This session also included teenagers. Some of these adolescents were young enough to be my child. That was not a cute sight at all.

This time I sat down with another volunteer and some of the ladies sat with us. In our circle we had 3 volunteers and 5 ladies. Of the 5, the youngest was 21 and the oldest was 36.

The first question came from M, a cute, short Dominican girl. She was a little chunky and was wearing a shirt from the college where she graduated. This 21 yr old CPA said, "So why are you here?" The volunteer answered, "We are here today to give you hope". M.S., a thin pale skinned 22 yr old with a tat on the right side of her neck responded, "We could use that here" in a joking manner. The volunteer went on to share a little about the love of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

M shared about having attended church on and off. How she was a good girl who got caught with the wrong crowd that one day. She was arrested when she entered a car to hang with her friend and two guys. A few blocks later the cops pulled them over and she found herself arrested.

The other ladies pressed the issue looking for more details. M came across as the college girl educated type. She didn't seem like she was doing her dirt.

This was a contrast to Z. Z was straight up. She's from South America and was doing her dirt for a while. DTs were watching her & her peoples for almost a year. They got her for numerous counts of drug possession. She knows she's going to have to do somewhere between 3 and 7 years. She was happy they let her give birth to her baby before they arrested her. Her newborn is one month old.

Z's life had not been easy. She was on and off drugs for a while. At one point she was in a coma for 62 days. In light of all the things she was sharing, I pointed out the fact she was still alive. I stopped her just enough to consider how God kept her safe, alive, and her newborn was safe and alive too.


(End of Part 2)

Read Part 3

Rikers Island (Part 1)

Today was the first time I ever went to jail. No, I did not do a crime. I actually attended the "Hope Festival" sponsored by various churches in the NYC area. This was done in conjunction with Prison Fellowship.

I was in the parking lot of Rikers Island @ 7:30am. Although I drove by myself, I was comforted that I recognized other volunteers in the parking lot. For most of the time I was quiet. I really had no expectations of what it would be like on the inside.

The day was split up into a morning and an afternoon session. As one of the handful of male volunteers in this all female facility, I was unsure how my presence would be received.

Before I knew it, we were in the yard. We went through security, the hand stamping, the gates, and then this door which led to the yard. I was transporting music equipment so I let myself get occupied with that.

When we arrived in the yard, some women were already there seated in chairs. I helped set up the equipment. Thank God I had something to keep me busy. :)

After some time, I made my way to a group of 5 women in chairs, 3 of which were volunteers. One of the inmates was sharing how God had touched and transformed her life. Her name is C. She's a short light skinned Latina in her 20s. She's a passionate woman who loves to talk with her whole body. It didn't sound like she knew God for that long but you can tell God has been working in her life. She shared some experiences inside and how she looks forward to her time of departure which is coming real soon.

Most of the rest of the conversation centered around a short caramel colored 30 year-old lady named E. Yeah, E has a heroin addiction. Her history is not the most encouraging, yet it is very familiar. Her dad was incarcerated so she never grew up with him. She has a step-dad who abused her in various ways from the age of 12 to 17. By 17 she bounced from home and went to live with her boyfriend for the next 14 years. The boyfriend provided safety and stability. He took care of the bills and provided for her. 9 years ago E had her first child, a boy. After her son was about 2, she started messing with drugs, especially heroin. Over the last 7 years, the longest she has been clean was 2 weeks. Fortunate for her she has a brother who prays. He's a minister. Also fortunate for her is she had to detox when she got to Rikers. We prayed for C & E and their families. Life ain't all roses, and these women have hurts and pains that were very real.

After the other 3 volunteers and C stepped away, I got to share more with E regarding a scripture that is dear to my heart. Psalm 34:18 says, "God is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who are crushed in their spirit." I encouraged E that the truth that "God is near to those who have a broken heart" is for everyone. I'm happy to tell you that after we sang some praise songs, and after the powerful testimony by one of the pastors, and after a powerful preaching by another pastor, E gave her life to Jesus Christ.

E's face is stitched in my memory. Her scar on the middle of her forehead. The eyebrows which needed to be threaded. Her small frame sitting in her green jumpsuit with the black socks with small white stripes. E is not a dumb lady. But she has made poor choices. Her boyfriend died from an asthma attack three months ago. I could tell that really bothered her. She blames herself for not being there. While she was getting high somewhere else, he had a little party in his home with a bunch of customers...I mean junkies (He sold dope). He caught a bad asthma attack which led to death. After the junkies took his money and dope, they then called the cops. When E found out, she never went back home.

Two months later (this past June) she was en route to meet her son after his little league baseball game. She stopped off in to a store and got arrested for petit larceny. The saddest part is she had the money in her pocket. Why she stole the items she never mentioned? What she did mention is she will be processed to another facility in a few weeks. Please keep E & C in your prayers.

(end of Part 1)

Read Part 2

Private Galleries

Wow, I love the capabilities Photoshelter has. Photoshelter is what I am using for my photography website, which is scheduled to launch at the end of July.

Last month I did a photo-shoot in Orlando, Florida with a friend. While back in New York, I was able to post her portraits in a private gallery on my Photoshelter site where only she can view them.

The best part is she can rate each portrait using a 5 star system, as well as post comments on individual portraits. I can post my star ratings independent of hers. The Matrix Rating button allows us to compare both of our ratings for each portrait side by side.

This feature, along with many others, makes Photoshelter a great site for photographers.

Bronx Photo Exhibit & Joseph Dominick Photography

So your boy got a few of his photos into a Bronx photo exhibit which will be taking place tomorrow, June 18th.

Check out the Artist Statement below and get information about the event here .

- J


About the “Shooting the Bronx” photo exhibit


For Bronx Week, Puerto Rico Sun Communications, which publishes the Bronx Latino lifestyle blog at www.bronxlatino.blogspot.com, joined forces with the NetWorks Organization to curate a Bronx-themed photo exhibit, showcasing the work of photographers with Bronx ties.


Participating photographers are:


David Greene

Elena "Mamarazzi" Marrero

Ken Carozza

Mario Burger

Joseph Dominick

Eileen McNamee

Jonathan C. Perea

Clarisel Gonzalez (curator)


Participating photographers are members of the Bronx Latino photo group, the Bronx photo group or the NYC Collective of the Puerto Rican Photographic Society.


Most of the participating photographers regularly document the Bronx, capturing the diversity of our borough from our people to our places to our events. The Bronx plays a role in their art of photography. The Bronx is a subject, setting, backdrop, or even an inspiration.


Puerto Rico Sun Communications is a community-minded independent multimedia social entrepreneurship aimed at informing, empowering and building community. Bronx Latino is a project of Puerto Rico Sun Communications.

--
Clarisel Gonzalez
editor and publisher
Puerto Rico Sun Communications
318 E. 149 St. #106
Bronx, NY 10451

Puerto Rico Sun: www.prsun.blogspot.com
Bronx Latino: www.bronxlatino.blogspot.com

New Portraits

I really love close-ups and portraits. I never imagined I would do Portrait Photography but I find it so enjoyable and fun, especially when taking them outdoors.

My photography website is still under construction. However, in the meantime, you can enjoy some new portraits on Flickr here.

City of Truth - "Poverty" with Cynthia Irizarry

Here is another beautiful writing from one of the participants in the City of Truth Leadership Academy. This is a reflection on the class, "What is Poverty?"

Introducing our guest blogger, Cynthia Irizarry:


The walls of my reality slowly crumble as i look upon their faces

the suffering crying silently through their eyes.

Mother, Brother, Sister, Father...

Person.

Made in the image of god just like me each one made

with a purpose just like me.

My inner being torn to shreds as my spirit weeps for theirs.

As i look at the faces of all the almost me's i see my blessings.

I see all the places and all the faces i could have been and i am angry with myself

how could i have ever let them fade into the background.

I remember that they are put here for a purpose and i wonder if their purpose is to suffer

and for a moment i am angry with god why would he choose these people to suffer?

Then quickly i realize it is so that he can be known because in our weakness he is glorified.

I close my eyes and as the images are imprinted in my memory i say a prayer......

My lord may i never take another blessing for granted, comfort the hearts of your children and may they know that they are your glory

In Jesus name i pray

Amen.

- Cynthia Irizarry

Blue Eyes

IMG_3087-1jr
Originally uploaded by JosephDominick

This is a sample portrait from a photo shoot I did last month. I am testing how images can be embedded from my Flickr account here into my blog.

Coming soon will be a website for Joseph Dominick Photography.

City of Truth - "Poverty" with Melissa Cruz

Two weeks ago "City of Truth" had a great class where we discussed "What is Poverty?" I had the privilege to teach the class to some wonderful young adults. We were challenged visually, orally, and emotionally to really consider what is poverty globally, nationally, and locally. How should we respond? And how does this connect to our faith?

I asked one of the participants to share her experience via poetry. Below is our special guest blogger, Melissa Milagros Cruz:



In the center of Poverty I sat and I stared
At the Hunger and pain that goes on out there
The tears fill my eyes as I looked to my left
And seen a baby feeding on his mothers breast
A malnourished human feeding on another who's the same
In a world with a great God, who gets the blame?
The strongest men couldn't stand the sight of their pain
The pictures have embedded themselves in my brain.
Immediately I remembered all the food I put to waste
Never Have I stopped to put myself in their place.
What If I didn't have enough food to eat?
Or enough water to keep hydrated?
Or a decent place to sleep?
What if I didn't have the chance to bathe everyday?
Or make the money that I basically throw away..
With each picture I saw, My heart ripped to shreds,
Each person not knowing the next time they'll be fed.
My mind wandered to the Lord and I asked him why?
Whats his purpose for creating a beautiful birth
in a world where he is destined to die?
No chance of survival in a world with less...
What a Beautiful, Horrible Life they were blessed..
Horrible in sight, materials and health..
Beautiful cause these people actually have wealth...
Not wealth with money or food or favors
But the wealth of knowledge of The Lord Our savior.
Though its hard to paint a pretty picture out of that place
But what they lack in food.. they make up for with FAITH

Melissa Milagros Cruz

Healing

Healing begins with a conversation.

Joseph Dominick Photography

The photo shoot in Central Park (New York City) went very well. The models were lovely and I have over 1,200 pictures of great portrait and wedding images.

The lovely assignment is now sifting through all those pictures to find the best of the best of the best (a la Will Smith in "Men in Black").

Photoshop Lightroom is a great software program which I highly recommend. I recently purchased it and it provides so much latitude in tweaking images as well as establishing metadata and keywords in the photography.

The portrait and wedding images from that shoot are amazing. Check out the sample portrait at my Flickr account here.

- Joseph Dominick

Mr. Robeson

"The problem of talent is the problem of opportunity." - Paul Robeson

"Maxed Out"

This "Maxed Out" video is a sobering look at the personal side of our economic crisis.

Enjoy the video here.

- Joseph Dominick

Twittering in Academia

This is a really good video of how a professor experiments with bringing Twitter into the classroom at UT Dallas:

"UT Dallas History Professor Dr. Monica Rankin, @monicarankin, wanted to know how she could reach and include more students in the class discussion. She had heard of Twitter... The following is a short video describing her "Twitter Experiment" in the classroom with comments from students about the pros and cons of Twitter in a traditional learning environment."

Enjoy video here.

- Joseph Dominick

Glory of Christ

"Every culture is dominated by idols that is not dominated by the glory of Christ" - Tim Keller

The Secularist

"The secularist may genuinely believe that he loves his neighbor, but in the end he may love him so much that he decides to put him out of his misery (assisted suicide, infanticide, abortion, death chamber, etc). Without a biblically based set of ethics rooted in the sanctity of life, without the established natural order clearly expressed in law & practice, we are left to the tender mercies of those in authority." - Chuck Colson in The Faith

Reproduction

"We can teach what we know, but we reproduce who we are." - T. Winston

Twittering @ Church?

Do you twitter while in Church?

Personally I don't. But I read an article, "4 Reasons to Stop Twittering in Church". The author's arguments are not the strongest but it is a great read to stimulate conversation. :)

- Joseph Dominick

Mainstream Gen Y isn't Buying Into Web 2.0

It seems "Mainstream Gen Y isn't Buying Into Web 2.0":

"According to Comscore, the majority of Twitter users worldwide are 35 or older. Young adults 18-24 only make up 10.6% of the Twitter population in the US and are less likely than the average user to tweet. 45-54 year olds are actually 36 percent more likely than average to visit Twitter.

The traditional social media early adopters are 18 -24 and Twitter is the new social media darling. Why isn't Gen Y biting?"

Read the full article here.

- Joseph Dominick

Love During Recession

Pope Benefict in Deus Caritas Est: "The state that would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself would ultimately become a bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing the suffering person needs, loving personal concern."

Keeping it Real

"If the church you attend disappears tomorrow, will the neighborhood even miss it? If not, perhaps the church is not really doing God's work." - LLC @ ACTS

Glory

I'm 36,000 feet in the sky. While looking out the window at the cotton field of clouds, the words that come to my mind are: "The heavens declare God's glory."


-- Post From My jPhone

Mr. Robeson

"The problem of talent is the problem of opportunity" - Paul Robeson


-- Post From My jPhone

Peace

"Don't be the centerpiece. Rather be the center of peace." - Joseph D. Martinez

HOW DOES THE CYCLE GET BROKEN?

Below is a repost from a blog I had on my Myspace from Dec 2007. I think the conversation is worth entertaining still...


HOW DOES THE CYCLE GET BROKEN?

I read a friend's comment on a blog recently that said:

"That's a cycle in which needs to be broken. Mothers and fathers are much younger today. Couples are waiting til their mid or late 30s to have children and grandparents are raising their grandchildren. Meaning......Parents are too young to teach and grandparents are too tired to handle them. Day Care and Afterschool programs are being shut down everyday. Parents are working two jobs to make ends meet while the kids are doing what they want. Therefore, these teens are roaming the streets with nothing to do but, sex, drugs, and hustle.
How does the cycle get broken?"


I thought about this last question and decided I would respond. I wrote so much I thought it was lengthy enough to include it as a blog. So here's my response:


Answering that question is a whole blog. Here are some of my basic thoughts:

Stopping the cycle is a multi-faceted process – Home, Education, Community, Society, Church.

The first place is the Home. We need more fathers there. We need fathers to take responsibility and not just HAVE children, but RAISE children. A recent statistic I found states that 44% of Latino parents in the Bronx are single parents. We need fathers or the cycle will not be broken.

Which leads us to the second place called Education. Both in the home and at school, are we failing our kids? Do we even care what they learn? What are we teaching them – academically, socially, morally? Is the message consistent or are we saying one thing and doing another? Are we double-minded people teaching mixed messages? Do these kids know they are not mistakes or some cosmic accident? Do they know they have value and purpose? Do they know they are loved? Without consistent holistic Education for the mind, body and spirit of the child, the cycle will not be broken.

With the growth of single parent households as well as grandparents raising grandchildren, how is the Community involved in the process? This is the third element. A generation or two ago, you could have been spanked by the teacher, the neighbor, and your parents. Not anymore. In this individualistic society we so highly esteem, the greater Community has very little involvement in the rearing up of children. Teachers are basically handcuffed with what they can do in the classroom and parents are too prideful to let the neighbor correct their child. We need more Afterschool, Daycare and Boys & Girls clubs in all of our communities. We need older men to mentor these young fathers (many who have grown up in single-parent households - a whole other topic). Without the Community involvement, the cycle will not be broken.

If we look to our Society for help, we see a post-modern, secular, materialistic worldview that preaches rebellion and self-idolatry. All day long we hear sermons of irresponsibility & immorality through our music, our laws, our politics, and our entertainment. We help RAISE irresponsible young men and women and support our argument based on findings of psychiatrists and science. Having a child write 100 times on a piece of paper, "I will not throw a chair at my teacher" is now considered Corporal Punishment. Disciplining a child can get u thrown in jail. Saying Merry Christmas or using the word God in the public square is considered religious rhetoric. If we ever wanted to see a present day representation of Babylon, we can find it in the United States, especially in New York. At its core, if our society is not transformed, many cycles will not be broken.

And so, we desperately need the Church if the cycle is to be broken. The teachings and miracles of Jesus Christ must be exhibited in this world if it is to be transformed. The Good News of the Gospel provides hope for a world that is dying of hopelessness and dissatisfaction. God has designed our hearts with a little hole in it that only He can fill. Many of the reasons we have these problematic cycles is because people are looking to fill that hole with anything and everything else but God.

Jesus gives a Peace that is unlike anything this world could give and I can personally attest to it in my own life. But the Church must LIVE the teachings of Jesus. Then the world will know that God is real and that He designed human beings to be in community with Him and with one another. A real, personal God, who understands our weaknesses and sympathizes, and loves us into wholeness. That is the reason God made Himself low and came down in the form of a man, so that He could lift up the lowly, and break these chains which are holding us, our people and our communities down.

- Joseph Dominick

Women diagnosed with Brain Tumor, but instead had a worm

A healthy mother was diagnosed with a Brain Tumor. During brain surgery, the doctor finds out the tumor was actually a Worm.

Watch the news story and see the actual part of the brain surgery where the worm is pulled out. Video here.

- Joseph Dominick

School faces lawsuit for dismissing student who refused to condone homosexuality

Would someone please tell me what a "remediation" program is?

- J

- - - - - - -
Charlie Butts and Marty Cooper - OneNewsNow - 4/9/2009

"Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) senior counsel Jeremy Tedesco explains that Julea Ward encountered resistance from Eastern Michigan University when she refused to affirm a counseling client's homosexual behavior.

"What we have here is a Christian who is a student in a master's counseling degree program who was dismissed, kicked out of the school, simply because she was unwilling to violate her own religious beliefs in not advocating for homosexual behavior within the context of the counseling relationship," he points out.

When Ward's supervising professor suggested she refer the client to another counselor who did not take issue with homosexual behavior, she followed the advice. However, the school said she could stay in the counseling program if she would undergo a "remediation" program to reconstruct her belief system and help her "see the error of her ways." Ward refused."

I found a longer article in The Catholic News. Read it here.

Out-of-wedlock births hit record high

"Nearly 40 percent of babies born in the United States in 2007 were delivered by unwed mothers, according to data released last month by the National Center for Health Statistics. The 1.7 million out-of-wedlock births, of 4.3 million total births, marked a more than 25 percent jump from five years before.

While 28 percent of white women gave birth out of wedlock in 2007, nearly 72 percent of black women and more than 51 percent of Latinas did."

Read the entire CNN article here:

Better than Twitter

What's better than Twitter? The answer is Flutter.
Check out the new phenomenon of nanoblogging:

Flutter video

- Joseph Dominick

Motivation

Yeah, Just Do It!

Twouble with Twitters

On Facebook I find some "Status Updates" to be silly, ridiculous, or TMI (TOO MUCH INFORMATION). The microblogging application Twitter takes this to a whole other level.

Check out this hilarious animated video which parodies the whole microblogging phenom called Twitter.

Worldofmoney.org

I want to give a big shout-out to worldofmoney.org and Sabrina Lamb. They have a Financial Literacy program for teenagers during the summer. This is their fifth summer doing this program. I visited an orientation last night with one of my goddaughters. It is off the hook.

Please hit up the website and support them. They are all about empowering teens with financial knowledge, especially those in the Black & Latino communities.

- Joseph Dominick

Christina Lee in Concert

Okay, so I now have a Vimeo account. My videos look so much better there than they do on YouTube. :o)

Please check out this short clip of Christina Lee who in the middle of her concert flips the script and sings a ballad in Korean. It is so beautiful.

G-City Films video is here.

- Joseph Dominick

The School to Prison Pipeline

"The School to Prison Pipeline is a nationwide system of local, state and federal education and public safety policies that pushes students out of school and into the criminal justice system. This system disproportionately targets youth of color and youth with disabilities. Inequities in areas such as school discipline, policing practices, high-stakes testing and the prison industry contribute to the pipeline."

Please stop the injustice. Check out this short but powerful video here.

Doctrine On Point

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a strong and beautiful foundation. But do you know what you believe? And can you support it as truth?

Chuck Colson writes a really good article, "Doctrine Bears Repeating", imploring all followers of Christ to make sure they know their doctrine. Check out the article here.

CITY OF TRUTH

This Saturday is the first City of Truth Leadership class. Wow, time has flown by so quickly. We are about to go from Pre-production to Implementation. :o)

Based on the response from the pre-orientation and the orientation, we have about 12-15 young adults slated for the program. I am really excited.

Well, let me get out of here so I can work on this Saturday's lesson plan. I will post back to tell you how it went.

Laters!

Joseph Dominick Photography

Okay, so I am really enjoying photography. Soon you will see me doing it on a whole other level via Joseph Dominick Photography. Very few people know, but later this month I will be photographing a whole day wedding and portrait photography shoot in New York City. I will post a few sneak pics in May.

In the meantime, check out this great pic I took of Lebron James and Jay Z at a recent Nets basketball game.

My Flickr - www.flickr.com/photos/josephdominick

Teacher Cutting Class for Part-Time Prostitution

I know we are in a recession, but this is just on a whole other level when it comes to part time work:

"Authorities say an Ohio fourth-grade teacher had a side job as a prostitute, and even skipped class after using a school computer to arrange an afternoon tryst at a motel.

Logan County sheriff's officials say 35-year-old Amber Carter was arrested Tuesday at a motel parking lot in Bellefontaine (behl-FOWN'-tin) in central Ohio. She's charged with misdemeanor prostitution and a felony, unauthorized use of property, regarding the computer."

Associate Press article here.

Class Act

I got the word yesterday the Acting class I will be teaching is officially going to take place at Harvest Studios (via G-City Films). They will be getting back to me regarding the exact starting date.

This is very good news. Now I can begin my research. I always enjoy reading a great deal on a topic before I teach it. I want to refresh my mind, consider some new things for class instruction, as well as organize some good reading assignments for the students.

I haven't taught a series of acting classes in about two and a half years. Mostly I have been brought in as a consultant to do a workshop or to give notes during tech/dress rehearsals of plays. I am looking forward to teaching an 8 class course to Teenagers and a 12 class course to Adults.

As far as the Leadership class I will be teaching for the Young Adults (City of Truth), we still have one more meeting left with the administration. We need to clear up some issues regarding dates and location.

I have spent the last few months doing research on Leadership and Mentorship. It will be nice to begin working on the lesson plans for this when I return from vacation.

Tsvangirai sworn in as Zimbabwe PM

I am very happy to see some kind of progress in Zimbabwe. For the past 4 or 5 years I have been following the demise of this beautiful African country. I pray the new unity government actually helps the people and the land.



"Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister of Zimbabwe Wednesday as part of a new unity government that Zimbabweans hope will signal an end to the political and economic crises that have gripped the nation for months.

Zimbabweans and outsiders alike are hopeful the new government will help heal the country's crippling economic crisis and eroding humanitarian situation, both seen as the worst since the once-prosperous nation gained its independence from Great Britain in 1980."

Read more here.

Introverts Influence 10,000

I read an interesting note regarding leadership and mentorship:

"Sociologists tell us that the most introverted of persons will influence an average of 10,000 other people during his/her lifetime."

10,000 people? Influenced by the most introverted of persons? Wow!

We really do touch people's lives. We really can/do influence others.


Hypothetical example = 50 years of influencing lifetime

10,000 people divided by 50 years = 200 new people per year

200 people/yr divided by 365 days = 0.5 new people per day

So it is possible the most introverted of persons over the span of his/her life could influence 1 new person every two days.


Dare we do more?

What could that number look like if we were active/intentional about positively influencing the lives of new people every day?

Perhaps it may be our niece or nephew, our cousin or our next door neighbor, or maybe our own child or student.

The first challenge I propose to you is: Would you be willing to positively influence at least one new person every day?

...

The second challenge I propose is a little more intense: Would you be willing this year to intentionally pour your life into five people in a mentorship capacity?

...

Positively influencing one new person every day is a simple enough task.

As for mentorship, it could be once a week, twice a month, or once a month. Whatever your choice give back to those who are coming up, especially youth and young adults.

In 2009, I am intentionally mentoring one youth, three young adults, and three adults. There are others I am intentionally influencing, but these seven I am spending one on one time in order to pass on some of the things I know and/or have learned. It is a part of establishing a legacy. It is also being more like Jesus Christ.

Are you ready for the challenges?

What say you?

1 in 10 Americans on Food Stamps

In light of the current economic crisis in the United States, it is estimated more than 1 in 10 Americans are part of the federal food assistance programs.

Read the article here.

Homework = Slavery...so says a Fifth Grader

In today's New York Daily News I read an article where a Fifth grader makes his case why students do not need homework. I love how he states he is assigned homework "without his permission."

This Millennial Generation is too preoccupied with self. They truly need us for guidance and focus. Otherwise what will happen with them when they have to do course work in High School and College.

Check out the article here.

Super Bowl Ad

It seems like NBC has rejected a pro-life ad for the Super Bowl, citing its policy not to run ads involving "political advocacy or issues."

The 30-second television spot is a project of CatholicVote.org.

What say you?

View the clip here.

- Joseph Dominick

Designer Genes

I love to design concepts and ideas. It's the creativity in me.

So I am presently designing two programs. One is an Acting program (12 week course for adults and an 8 week course for teens). Class will be once a week. My goal is to design this like a college course, including reading assignments and course work. I believe this will be highly beneficial for the students. I am really excited to be working on this

The organization who invited me to teach this acting class is a church in the Bronx, NY, called Harvest Fields Community Church. They are big supporters of the arts and have music and theatrical presentations throughout the year. This Acting Institute will be open to the local church, churches in the area, as well as to the local community. It should be interesting to see the first class which is slated for April.

The second program I am developing is a Leadership Development Initiative for those aged 17 - 24. This is that critical age where they go from teenagehood to adulthood. And who is walking with them along the way to help them to see the world they are being thrust into. The purpose of the curriculum being designed is to develop/encourage/empower young emerging leaders so that they may become global leaders and world changers. This is a 12 class course as well.

I have spent the last three months doing research and partial design on the Leadership Academy. Next month I will switch and focus on the Acting Institute which I have basically sketched out.

What I always find interesting is when I have to leave the Design stage and move in to the Implementation stage. Wow, anxiety kicks in a little. This has been my experience over the past 5 years with various projects/programs I have designed. The anxiety kicks in like, "O wow, you are actually going to do this." In time, the anxiety subsides and I flow in to work mode.

I look forward to teaching this year. It is a gifting God has graced me with. It truly is a privilege to work with people and help prepare and develop them. I find the labor very satisfying.

Day One

I am calling this blog PARALLELS. In my life I see many parallels between something going on in one part of my life and how there is a consistency in another part. This observation has proven quite helpful when talking and sharing with other people. Often times, a mundane task like me watching someone drive a car allows me to see a Parallel on how they may be in other areas of their life. I wish I was joking but this Christmas I drew a Parallel between how a friend was driving in certain conditions and what their relationship life was like. Within two weeks, exactly what I said in the Parallel came to pass. It is quite strange that who we are shows up in our behavior whether we are aware of it or not.

So I say all that to introduce you to my life, my journey, my walk. God has been very good to me and I look forward to what lies ahead.

From time to time I will be blogging about some upcoming projects, most namely a Leadership Development Curriculum (City of Truth) and an Acting Class Curriculum I am developing (through G-City Films). This year I will be doing more Leading and Teaching. I will also be doing some Mentoring of some young men.

Please feel free to leave your comments. Until then, I will chat with you laters.

- Joseph Dominick