The Manteo Project
Lighthouses
Hang gliding
Pottery
Fishing
Barber
Landscapes
PHOTO BY EVAN SEMON
The people
The detail
The project
IN SCHOOL • Pat Murphy, the aquarium’s dive safety officer, explores the indoor underwater environment. Aquarium staff regularly work with injured loggerhead sea turtles, dolphins and whales as well as fish.
S
pring break is supposed to be a time to get away from the rigors of the classroom. But for 12 photojournalists on “vacation,” the Outer Banks of North Carolina became a classroom for a week. A SPRING BREAK ENDEAVOR • MARCH 14-19, 2003 • MANTEO, N.C.
Burning & Turning
“I took a night pottery class about 21 years ago and have been hooked ever since.” • Bonnie Morrill
SMILE • Bonnie Morrill, owner of Wanchese Pottery, laughs with a customer while making a pot in her studio. Morrill said she put her potter’s wheel in front of the window so the light on her work is better and the customers can get a better look at what she’s doing. Morrill never did any pottery in high school or college and was a third grade teacher. “I took a night pottery class about 21 years ago and have been hooked ever since.” Her cat, King Potts, watches everyone who enters the store. PHONE • Evidence that you’re in a pottery store is all around visitors to the tiny shop, including on the phone, which is covered with dried clay. Pottery is called “Turning and Burning” in the South and is called “Throw and Fire” in the north. The kiln reaches temperatures as high as 2,300 degrees.
PHOTOS BY MATT STAMEY
SPIN • Bonnie Morrill spins a clay bowl on her potters wheel at her shop on the water front in Manteo, N.C. Morrill and her husband Bob, have been doing pottery for 21 years and have been in Manteo since 1991. The clay they use for their art is from Asheville and is used for dinner wear, meaning it can be used in the microwave, oven and dishwasher. DRY • Candle holders that have dried line the back of the Morrill’s truck to be taken to the kiln to be fired. Candle holders are Wanchese Potteries bestseller. “They’re cheap and easy to make,” Morrill said. “We sell a lot of them and they don’t take up much shelf space.”
Barber Shop Small-town barber provides just the right cut
PHOTOS BY JEANEL DRAKE
FLAT TOP • Nine-year-old Ryan Lewis gets his usual haircut from C.L. Reynolds at Reynolds Barber Shop in downtown Manteo, N.C. Reynolds has been barbering since 1958 and is celebrating 25 years at 303 Old Tom St. “Every time you’re doing a service where you benefit somebody you feel kind of good,” Reynolds said. CHEAP TREAT • A rare one-cent gum ball machine sits in Reynold’s Barber Shop. After Reynolds finished Lewis’ haircut he gave him a few pennies and told him to get a few pieces to take home to his sister. “That gum ball machine is probably the only thing you can spend a penny on anymore,” Reynolds said.
MORNING SHAVE • Manteo resident David Parker gets a haircut and shave for $9 at Reynolds Barber Shop. When Reynolds started barbering, a haircut cost 75 cents. “People used to have more time to sit and talk, but now they’ve become too busy,” Reynolds said.
PHOTO BY KELLY GLASSCOCK
CATCH • After a boat came in to the dock, Marshal Sanderlin throws the day’s catch onto a conveyor belt for the fish to be packed in ice. PHOTO BY KELLY GLASSCOCK
READY TO GO • Fish are thrown in a cardboard box labeled fresh fish and packed with ice. They are kept in a freezer until they are ready to be shipped.
PHOTO BY MATT ELLIOTT
ALL IN THE FAMILY • Johnathan Lowrey takes a photo of his son Bob as Bob reels in his first striper during their fishing trip on the Sea Hunter 2. The family members caught their limit of 16 fish. Thomas, 8 years old, caught the biggest fish – more than 19” long.
PHOTO BY MATT ELLIOTT
SLICE • Mate Jeff Floyd, of Nagshead, finishes cleaning the last of the 16 fish caught by the Lowrey family. “I’ve been doing this for a little over a year now, and I love it. Fishing is just something that gets in your blood,” Floyd said.
The Perfect Catch
Fresh from your local ocean to the supermarket, day’s catch nets thousands – or just a few for tourists
PHOTO BY KELLY GLASSCOCK
FRESH • Fish caught earlier in the day ride down a conveyor belt to be back in ice and shipped as fresh seafood. A boat this usually catches around 10,000 pounds but only caught 1,000 pounds today.
PHOTOS BY MATT ELLIOTT
CATCH • Striped Bass, Rockfish, are common along the Outer Banks. Catches up to more than 30 pounds are common.
PHOTO BY BLAKE PEMBERTON
LOOK OUT • At 208 feet, Cape Hatteras is the tallest lighthouse in the nation. It was moved 2,900 feet inland in 1999 as part of a $12 million project to preserve the lighthouse.
PHOTO BY MATT ELLIOTT
FIERCE CLOUDS • The Bodie Island
lighthouse was built in 1872 to shine over the Oregon Inlet which has, over time, migrated nearly two miles away.
PHOTO BY AARON JENNINGS
SUNSHINE • Settlements back as far as the mid1500s took advantage of the mild climate yeararound. About 6 million people visit the Outer Banks each year. PHOTOS BY BLAKE PEMBERTON
INTO THE WOODS • Nags Head Woods, a 1,400acre preserve, is home to more than 200 species of plants and 50 species of birds.
The Outer Banks A look at the environment of the islands off North Carolina’s coast
PHOTO BY KELLY GLASSCOCK
WASH UP • After working in the gardens, Zachary and his mother wash the mud off their hands with the garden hose.
PHOTO BY JEANEL DRAKE
TAKE OFF • Before they can go off cliffs, hang gliders have to get certified beyond the basic level. Instructors in Manteo teach beginning and advanced classes. PHOTO BY JEANEL DRAKE
FLY HIGH • Jennifer Purtee, an advanced beginner from Italy, learns more hang gliding skills from instructor Andy Torrington. Conditions on the ridge allow gliders to travel more than 100 yards at 5 to 15 feet above the sand.
Who we are ROB BRADLEY • a freshman at N.C. State University and assistant photo editor of the Technician NICOLE DONNERT • a sophomore at Kansas State University and photo editor of the Collegian; colerene@ksu.edu JEANEL DRAKE • a junior at Kansas State University; jeanel@ksu.edu MATT ELLIOTT • A junior at Kansas State University. elliott@ksu.edu KELLY GLASSCOCK • A senior at Kansas State University and digital photo editor of the Royal Purple yearbook. klg3544@ksu.edu CARL HUDSON • a junior at N.C. State University; cnhudson@unity.ncsu.edu AARON JENNINGS • A freshman at N.C. State University and graduate of Manteo High School. abjennin@ncsu.edu BLAKE PEMBERTON • A senior at Enloe High School in Raleigh. auxiliary16@hotmail.com EVAN SEMON • A junior at Kansas State University. eps9895@ksu.edu BRAD SMITH • a free-lance photographer in Washington, D.C. and graduate of the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill; hunter8808@aol.com MATT STAMEY • a graduating senior at Kansas State University and photo editor of the Royal Purple yearbook; stamey@ksu.edu BRADLEY WILSON • coordinator of student media at N.C. State University and organizer of this little adventure; bradley_ wilson@ncsu.edu
THANKS TO
SUZANNE GODLEY of Roanoke Island Festival Park for helping us find a great place to stay DARYL LAW of the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island for showing us around the aquarium ROBIN SAWYER of Manteo High School for letting us use the computers and scanners at the high school – at any hour NABIL SHAHEEN of Kansas State University for copy editing
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Most of the pictures contained in The Manteo Project were shot on high-end digital cameras such as the Nikon D1. Some were shot on film and scanned using Nikon film scanners. The publication was designed in Adobe InDesign 2.02. Photos were edited using Adobe Photoshop 7.0. The publication, designed by Bradley Wilson and the photographers on the expedition, was printed by J&S Printing using an 133-line screen. ©2003
THE GROUP Kelly Glasscock, Blake Pemberton, Rob Bradley, Bradley Wilson, Nicole Donnert, Matt Stamey, Jeanel Drake, Evan Semon, Matt Elliott, Carl Hudson, Brad Smith