Category Archives: Photojournalism

Art Deco Masterpiece

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My daughter asked me to find a suitable image for a site she is working on involving the city of Chicago. I sent her some images and once again was struck with the beauty of this building which is symbolic of the Second City.

When ground was broken for the Wrigley Building in 1920, there were no major office buildings north of the Chicago River. The Michigan Avenue Bridge was still under construction. Today this magnificent architectural structure is a symbol of the great city of Chicago and a National Landmark. It is a true art deco masterpiece and rivals the Empire State Building in New York as a symbol of that style.

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Art Deco Masterpiece

All Gave Some…Some Gave All

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I realize that wars are necessary sometimes. However it now seems that we are engaged in forever wars and the military industrial complex prefers to have conditions of permanent warfare, something I do not support. However the people that do battle for our country deserve nothing less that our full support and respect.

Memorial Day is a day when we pay tribute to all that went to battle on our behalf. Thanks for your service and to the families that have lost loved ones, thanks for your sacrifice.

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West Point

Zombie French Edition Boxed Set

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I recently licensed 10 of my images to be included with the new French edition of Dawn of The Dead. It was known in Europe as Zombie. The people who put together the box set included the images as separate prints that are suitable for framing or in a scrapbook. I thought this was every clever. All the images and over 40 more are included in my book, Zombie Nights: My two Nights with The Living Dead.

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Anne Fankhuis Removed By RedBubble

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I was notified this week by RedBubble which I used to house my commercial storefront that they had adopted a new policy on sensitive events like the Holocaust and had removed one of my works. I thought at first that they had removed my image of The Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. It turns out while I have used that image a few times on this blog I had never uploaded it to the commercial site.

They chose to remove this image taken inside the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. It’s not a high quality image. It was taken quickly with a 2 megapixel Canon Camera in 1999. I was still shooting film back then and didn’t take out my gear inside the Anne Frank Museum.

I like it because it was the window she used to stare out of and there are children going to school outside. It made me empathetic with how she must have felt. I appreciate RedBubble’s heightened sense of responsibility because of rising anti semitism in the world but believe they overreached in this case. Please let me know what you think!

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Anne Fankhuis Amsterdam NL

The Zappa Family Trust

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Sometimes I get really pissed at the Zappa Family Trust. They forced me to remove my images from my commercial site. Of course they can’t force me to take down any images from here because I own the copyright and the images were taken legally and I am not charging for them. Please feel free to search this site and download all the images of Frank Zappa.

I really have no right to be pissed though. The same militant trust has stopped Dweezil Zappa, Frank Zappa’s own son from using the name Zappa Plays Zappa! I think they even sued to have him return his father’s guitars. I guess Zappa’s wife was a stone cold bitch.

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Dweezil Zappa at the Beacon 2011

What Would Frank Say Today?

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I took this picture of Frank Zappa at The Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh in 1974. He was a musical genius but by the time he died in 1993 was also a political activist. Throughout 1988 he had voter registration booths at his concerts.He even considered running for president of the United States as an independent.

I can’t help but wonder what he would say about today’s climate of partisan politics and religious fervor. As an activist and atheist his voice is missed in the national debate but his music lives on.

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© Richard Burke 1973-2012

Frank Zappa Pittsburgh Civic Area

Pittsburgh Air: Beautiful but Deadly

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When I was a child I was tested for allergies. I was positive for tree pollen, dust, dander, ozone ragweed and mold. I didn’t realize it at the time but it meant I was generally fucked for the rest of my life.

Due to the warming of the planet, every year becomes worse for allergy and asthma sufferers. Recently there was a video of a pollen bomb in South Carolina. Maybe we haven’t had a pollen bomb in Pittsburgh but we certainly have a lot of pollen hand grenades like this one in my neighborhood.

Yesterday The Pittsburgh Post Gazzette published that Pittsburgh once again received an or F from The American Lung Association.
I love the Spring but am happy when the tree pollen is over.

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Pollen Storm

Walking the Dog in Regent Square

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A couple of years ago we got a new dog, the seventh in our life as a couple. We thought it would help us as seniors to make sure we walked every day. Our dog Trey, is a joy but has more energy than any dog I have ever had. Unfortunately as a rescue she is not fully socialized yet to other dogs but improving. so the dog park is out for now.

We found her sweet spot to be between four or five miles a day. Fortunately we live in one of Pittsburgh’s great neighborhoods and we border Frick Park so our walks can be a strenuous or easy as we like. I have started to use my phone to capture images from our morning walks. Took this one today and it made me smile and thought it was worth sharing.

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Planter Bike

The Spring Flower Show

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This is the final in a series about the Spring Flower Show at The Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh. It’s always worth the trip and a Pittsburgh Treasure. Here are a few more stars of the show.

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The Spring Flower Show

The Spring Flower Show

The Spring Flower Show

Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Time

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In 1979 I went on one of my last photographic assignments for Pittsburgh Magzine. You can read all about it in Zombie Nights: My Two Nights with the Living Dead.
The behind the scenes images of this cult film have been well appreciated by fans of the movie, Dawn of The Dead. They are now about to get a broader audience. I have licensed some of the images to be used in the upcoming Showtime mini series, Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All Times.

I have seen the teaser reel and it contains great interviews with Pam Grier, Jeff Bridges, Sean Young, Rob Zombie and hundreds of others. The episodes are finished and they are working of a distribution deal. This is one of the images they will use.

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Tom Savini