This year’s card has already been delivered to an extensive mailing list. One may already be in your mailbox! In keeping with a long standing tradition, I was able to photograph a scene right here in the neighborhood last Saturday morning while working on the cards. (I was actually way behind in the production of this year’s version and was all set to use a file photo from a previous year during the design and layout phase.) At the time I heard the blasts echoing from the fire department’s engines moving slowly through the neighborhood and hustled to leave my desk and make a few images of this Santa Claus greeting children and adults alike, handing out candy, small toys, and posing for photographs. I knew I had to come up with something at this live scene, otherwise this year’s card might’ve been a bust in using a canned image from a previous year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all and all who follow my work here on the blog and sister website… ~ cg.
(Inside text): “Fire Department Santa…” Saturday December 20, 2014 11:34AM
(Back of Card text): Bob Whytock as Santa made an appearance with other volunteer firefighters in Greenwood Lake, NY on Saturday, December 20, 2014. Whytock is the captain of the village’s Fire – Police.
Chet Gordon resides in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. A photojournalist for more than 25 years, he recently worked as Westchester Magazine's first photo editor, and previously was a staff photographer at four NYC metro area newspapers. He was also a photo editor at the NY Daily News for 5 years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, International Herald-Tribune, USA Today, MailOnline (UK), Army Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Popular Photography magazines, among others. He is a career member of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and a former board member of the NY Press Photographer’s Association (NYPPA). He served honorably as a U.S. Marine in the mid-1980's, including 2+ years stationed on Okinawa, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. A longtime volunteer and travel enthusiast, he accompanies several humanitarian aid clients on their international disaster relief and medical missions. Since 1997, he's worked in several African countries, the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Russian Federation, and Thailand. He routinely mentors young photographers looking to break into the industry and vacations in Bermuda and Kenya.
