It’s an important event for me, it’s part of my photographic cycle and it’s a chance to honor someone who gave so much to his community, and for his community to give back to him.
It’s the Louis Saunders Memorial Basketball Tournament in Boston.
The tournament features some of the best basketball talent, all battling for a $10,000 grand prize. The tournament has featured NBA players in the past, including Glen “Big Baby” Davis, Kemba Walker and J.R. Giddings. Several stars from the Premier Basketball League and from NBL Canada have battled for the big prize, and I’ve even seen a few former Albany Patroons play for the big money.
Me? I couldn’t hit a layup with an assist from a footstool. But I can get a great picture of a layup, for sure.
Four years ago, one of the competing teams hired me to come out and photograph them at the tournament. While I was there, I made a connection with James Hall, the organizer of the event, and provided photographs to him as well. The next year, James hired me directly to photograph the tournament.
This is an important trip. It gives me a chance to experiment with my camera lenses and with different angles of shot. Madison Park has a standard New England gymnasium, but it does have some funky angles that make telephoto shooting completely swank.
The trip to Boston will also provide me with some “Chuck” time, where I can reconnect with my past. As a child, I lived in West Roxbury in summers, spending time with my Grandma Betty in her cape-style house in West Roxbury. I still miss her today. I might also pay a visit to my old neighborhood in Abington, where my father moved and lived for a time. Yeah, that was the place of the Chestnut Prison. Trust me. I haven’t forgotten.
A lot of whatever I do that weekend is to pay tribute. Both to Louis Saunders, who helped get kids from looking for a handout to looking for a way out; and to my grandmother, who protected me when the entire world was crashing around me. This is important. Honor those who cleared the path, so that you may walk without stumbling.
So whether it’s a trip to honor Louis Saunders, who never gave up on his students and helped them get from a life of desperation into a life of determination… or whether it’s for my Grandma Betty, who always believed in me and never gave up on me, no matter what… this trip will be both beneficial and spiritual for me.
And I promise to share photos of the event here on the blog as soon as I get them downloaded.
Chuck The Writer 