Stranger Things Have Happened: Complete History of America

Elger has become the de facto photo and video journalist for the new theatre group in Groningen, Stranger Things Have Happened, starting with The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged and most recently documenting a newly created play about the Complete History of Science. These, however, are some of the better photos from their production of The Complete History of America Abridged, starring Tom Wilcox, Naomi de Ruiter, and Thomas Mook. These links at the top are to Elger's video projects about the making of this same production. Yeehaw!

Part 1

Part 2

America

These are almost exclusively "b-side" photos, or frames I've shot on assignments that were irrelevant or too odd to run with the stories they were supposed to run with, that capture what I think of America: patriotic, religious, excessive, goofy, affectionate, bizarre, colorful, wonderful.


A boy watches his yo yo swing around on the grounds of Gretna High School.

A man places his hand on his son's head during a convocation at the beginning of the Danville Community College Graduation at Carrington Pavilion.

Festival in the Park attendees navigate their wheelchairs past children and families on Saturday, May 16.

Becca Miley, 7, waves an American flag while wearing a sandwich board depicting a dollar bill and a tractor, reading "Want Back" at the Danville Tea Party Tax Day at Ballou Park on Saturday, July 4.

A shopper dangles her cigarette from her car while waiting in line to get out of the parking lot of Piedmont Mall during the Christmas shopping rush.

Underneath a glowing blue cross made out of Christmas lights, members of local ROTC groups march down Main Street in the Danville Christmas Parade.

Jeramy Freeman, a body builder, stands on Riverside Drive dressed as Mr. Incredible during a promotional events at Kids Have Style salon. Freeman was the physical model for the character Mr. Increidble in the Disney film.

One of Virgil Goode's supporters wears a John McCain mask while manning the merchandise booth at a fundariser for the former 5th district congressman.

John McCain, portrayed by Dusty Eckard, watches as his fellow students leave the Dan River Elementary School after a mock election.

Party goers at the Milton Women's Club Halloween party take a moment away from the festivities.

Prior to the announcement of the Dan River High School Homecoming King and Queen, one of the members of the homecoming court adjusts her dress in the endzone.

Chainsaw-wielding ghouls attempt to terrorize visitors at a haunted corn maze in Dry Fork on Halloween.

Doris Tosh watches cloggers dance to the sounds of a bluegrass band at the 2009 Sorghum Festival.

A family walks across the crowded rows of the Pittsylvania County Fairgrounds toward the brightly lit rides of the fair.

Jesse Jackson addresses a large crowd at the dedication of the Martin Luther King Memorial Bridge on September 18.

Army E-5 retired veteran Steve Walker carefully folds up a flag following the Memorial Day service at Danville National Cemetary.

From the skeet shooting window at Cedar Hill Gun Club, a volunteer is seen walking across the range.

The youngest son of journalist Charlie Hurt, the Washington Bureau Chief for the New York Post, shares his feelings about his father's speech to the Wednesday Club.

A man in a cowboy hat looks out from the top of a small climbing wall at the playground at Dan Daniel Park.

Pamela Wisto (right) and her husband David Theis speak to wedding guests following their wedding at Perfect Body Fitness and Sports Complex.

Several generations of African-American men watch the inauguration of Barack Obama inside Bibleway Church in Danville.

Sporty!

About half my time at the paper in Danville is dedicated to covering prep sports, and this county has excellent high school teams. Gretna's varsity football team won the state championship, Dan River High School made it to the championship basketball game for their conference (but sadly lost), and Chatham baseball and Tunstall softball will be competing in regional playoffs this weekend. By sheer volume of sports assignments, I have really come to enjoy sports I have never paid attention to before, and I enjoy the colorful nature of all sports, and the challenge of freezing such velocity. Most of my joints aren't as enthusiastic about it, but whatever :)

Dan River High School varsity basketball coach Jacob Gruse celebrates after the Wildcats sank two foul shots in a close game in the semifinals.

Jeff Gordon's no. 24 car peals out of his pit stop during the final laps of the Goody's QuikPak 500 race at Martinsville Speedway.

Aaron Burton (center), no. 5 for Patrick Henry High School, looks over his shoulder to try and avoid being tagged out by Travis Coates (right), no. 12 for George Washington High School, and James Feldmann, no. 11.

Kevin Harvick smiles as he is showered with colorful drinks after winning the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.

The state and national flags are presented by an honor guard at Martinsville Speedway.

Brent Shelton, no. 9 for Chatham High School, slides home during the playoff game against Northumberland High School on Tuesday, June 2.

Most of the time, I feel like I am too busy to really contemplate my assignments as deeply as they deserve in order to cover them well. Being the only staff photographer, most days I have to shoot at minimum four assignments in a coverage area the size of Rhode Island. My typical day has me coming into work around 1 in the afternoon with perhaps one assignment already scheduled on my calendar, with an inevitable flurry of requests upon walking in the door, and throughout the afternoon updates about what sports I'll be responsible for covering. I rush out the door and head off to tackle these widely varied tasks, usually without the reporter even fully informing me about what the story is about and what the name of the subject I will be photographing is. I inquire when I have the time, and I always try to make the time, but often I am just left with an address and a skeletal description of what I need to do. When I arrive at each, I have an extremely fast burst of attentiveness and try to size up the situation as well as I can with what little information I have in advance, and rarely am I able to spend more than an hour on anything. I want to understand why I am taking a picture of this person, what their story is, what their personality is, what their goals are. I have endeavored to develop a sixth sense about these things and pick up on all these unsaid things and read them into the photos. For better or worse, most of the time the stories are so superficial that there is little subtext to be found, since until recently our editor had enforced a 20 inch limit on stories. I want to bask in these assignments, and flesh them out, care for them through repeated visits and get to know them for more than a a speed date. I want a committed relationship with my assignments in a journalistic world of one-night stands! Thankfully, we have just successfully increased the number of reporters we have by %100, now at a grand total of 4, and I hope that will increase everyone's attention spans to work on more meaningful stories, but that could result in me being flung even further and more frequently, and abandoning the hope of long term stories... but, even in these short term contacts with people and places, I still try to make some telling and worthy images.

Parents of graduating Headstart preschoolers encourage their kids to smile for their cameras.

Bill Burke, Navy E-6 retired, watches as flags are straightened around him while he holds an American flag during the Memorial Day ceremony at Lee Street cemetery on Sunday, May 24.

Jaquanta Walton, 12, strides across the dance floor at Glenwood Community Center during the 5th Grade Prom, on Friday, May 29.

Elijah Nenichka, 11, holds his breath in the shallow end of the YWCA pool during the open swim celebrating the pool's opening.

Graduates of Chatham Hall, an Episcopal women's boarding school in Chatham, embrace after their commencement ceremony conclusion.

Niariah Davis (center) covers her face with her hands in excitement as her class of the Head Start Child Development preschool program graduates.

This was just a photo I took for myself, since it was too creepy to run in a feel good Easter story, but I love it.

Tyler Younger (left), no. 3 for Chatham High School's varsity baseball team, receives a congratulatory kiss from his girlfriend, Katelyn Dockery, 17, following Chatham's victory against Northumberland High School.

Armed with flashlights and pastel-colored baskets, children took to the fields around Coates Recreation Center searching for Easter eggs during a flashlight egg hunt.

Danville has its moments

(Students move in front of a billboard decorated for Dr. Martin Luther King Day at Woodrow Wilson Magnet School in Danville. The school has been recognized for its high performance by Governor Tim Kaine for the past two years.)

Since September of 2008, Traci has been working as the only staff photographer for the Danville Register and Bee, a 20,000 circulation daily newspaper in southern Virginia. The chances to be creative every day are a valuable opportunity to try new things as a photographer, so this is what that looks like :)

A student runs through a patch of light inside the gym at Woodrow Wilson Magnet School.

Fans leave the George Washington High School basketball game and head into a foggy night.

Senator Joe Biden addresses a large crowd at the Community Market in Danville during a campaign stop in October.

At the Cruise-In on Main Street, Kaleb Marsh, 7, checks out the engine of a classic Mercury with a bright green paint job on Saturday, October 4. Marsh said he thought all the old cars were good, but was especially interested in the Mercury.

Jayme Barksdale, no. 12 for Gretna High School, shows off his state championship ring while posing for a portrait as co-player of the year.

Harry Meade, no. 14 for George Washington High School, watches the game against William Fleming High School on Friday, Jan. 30.

A conductor helps passengers off the New Orelans-boud 11:15 Amtrak train at the Danville stop.