What an honor it was to be a photographer for the Vermont Community Foundation’s Annual Report again this year. Along with the cover image (second row, left square) of my son and his grandfather at the 2019 Vergennes Memorial Day Parade, Vermont Community Foundation used several other shots of mine inside their magazine (tennis photo, hope heart) and had me capture a portrait of Gardener’s Supply co-founder Will Raap with Lynette Raap.
I wrote a story this week on the Central Vermont Humane Society in East Montpelier, VT, for The Bridge newspaper’s Pets & Wildlife issue. I learned so much while writing this. I had no idea that a healthy indoor cat could have up to four litters per year and that a kitten can get pregnant at just four-months-old. It sheds some light on how one family accidentally found themselves with 20 cats in just 18 months. I loved the story of the Executive Director’s ‘heart dog,’ Mr. Bumpus, and how he is to thank for her entire career change. Here’s the opening if you want to keep reading, it continues on the tear sheet below.
by Cat Cutillo
Laurie Garrison knows first-hand the paw-print an animal can leave on one’s life. Hanging above her desk is a framed portrait of her late dog, Mr. Bumpus, whom she rescued in 2005 from a shelter in New Jersey, where she was living and working as an AT&T research scientist.
“I call him my heart dog,” says Garrison. “He was really, really a special dog. Obviously, a special dog because he made me change my career,” she says.
After adopting Mr. Bumpus, she started volunteering out of gratitude at the shelter, joined the board, and eventually fully submerged herself into a new career as executive director. Now, she holds that position with the Central Vermont Humane Society (CVHS) in East Montpelier, a job that regularly makes her cry.
“Its emotional work. Ninety percent of the time it’s good emotion,” says Garrison. (continues below…)
I am honored to be asked to exhibit my photography in this Addison County Career Artists exhibition at the Vermont State House. Below are my two photos currently on display at the exhibit. The show will run through March 28th.
Artists on exhibit at this show include:
Warren Kimble, Rebecca Purdum, Woody Jackson, Kirsten Hoving, Kate Gridley, Lily Hinrichsen, John West Townsend, Hannah Sessions, Greg Burnhardt, Cat Cutillo, Ross Sheehan and Anneke Jewett
Curated by Jean Cherouny
“Uncle John” 2014
Middlebury native, John Reynolds, is my Uncle-in-law, who now lives in Brandon. He is a Veteran, a collector and a giver. He swings by our house periodically in his truck. I always know his knock—loud and deliberate. Aside from his physical collections, he’s got a collection of great stories. His visits are short—under 15 minutes, but well executed—he’ll pull out a cigarette, tell you a wild story and leave you with a trinket before he heads back out on the road. Photographed in the heart of a frigid Vermont winter, his beard and cigarette blended perfectly into the overcast lighting. And of course after the shoot, Uncle John flashed his secret smile and handed over a Mannequin head with green earrings as a sentiment for coming by.
“Windmill” 2011
This is the moment before a fall storm hits. I was taken by the rusty metal of the windmill juxtaposed by the dry golden grass and back-dropped by that beautiful churning blue. I drove by this windmill everyday in Addison, VT, but it suddenly looked alive with the dramatic lighting and the inevitable rage of rain to come.
I had the privilege of photographing the Memorial Service and Reception of Burton Sobel, M.D. last month, one of the most powerful and influential cardiologists and scientists of our time.
Doctor Sobel passed away in May and the University of Vermont hosted a Memorial Service and Reception in October celebrating his life and honoring his legacy at the Ira Allen Chapel and Billings Library. You can read more about his remarkable life and legacy in this Forbes article here.
It was truly an honor to be asked to document the celebration of such an extraordinary man.
It was such an honor to be asked to be one of the judges for the photography competition this year at Addison County Fair & Field Days. There were some really fantastic entries in both youth and adult. Go check out the photography and art exhibit this year at the Home & Garden building.
