Neal was born in Martinsville, Virginia in 1948, near his father’s relatives, then moved to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1950, near his mother’s. Then all three moved again and found themselves at the southern crescent end of the Santa Monica Bay in Redondo Beach, California by the fall of 1953; here he stayed until 1979.
Chicago Quarterly Review Despite current upheavals, it seems vital to keep thanking those who help so much. Two new prose appearances now available, first the beautiful Chicago Quarterly Review running “1969, a numbered account” in its current issue – thanks indeed to editor Elizabeth McKenzie. A good friend called the style of this piece “gonzo,”…
Thanks to Catamaran Literary Review for featuring three of my photos from the Camp Fire in their Spring/Summer issue, available now at https://www.bing.com/search?FORM=INCOH1&pc=IC08&ptag=ICO-c65e44c7d670fc77&q=catamaran%20literary%20reader
Some of the best advice I ever received about both photography and writing came from photo master and colleague Dennis Wickes, who told me, “Revisit your old photos from time to time.” I find it definitely helps the artistic quest to go back to earlier work. Of course it takes some compassion so we don’t…
To celebrate some new writing that’s about to emerge, I wanted to present a small portfolio of images from the state of Virginia, that beautiful and mysterious place that was my dad’s home, my birthplace, and throughout my life a strongly mythic locale. In the spring of 2003 I went back to photograph this beautiful…
Here’s our last selection of photos from Patterson/South School, with a few in color. For those interested, the book this website supports, Vista Del Mar, a memoir of the ordinary, written by me and published by Counterpoint Press in 2016, has many more images of south Redondo as well as reflections on growing up in this…
Heading south next weekend to see the old elementary school before it’s demolished. It seems fitting to post a collection of images of places that, like the school will soon be, are razed, “no longer seen” – vanished intimate locales on which were once lavished a million unconscious glances but now, as the deconstructionists…
Exciting to have some color photos to show, as all my formal images up till now have been in black and white. Here are a few from Virginia, a working title on top, and accompanied by a sentence or two from Vista Del Mar that seem to me like suitable travel companions with these photographs.…
Had a wonderful time in Virginia – thanks to all who hosted me – you know who you are! Also thanks to the staff of the Virginia Festival of the Book, to our panel host Jon Lohman, and fellow presenters Jon Kay, Theresa Kubasak and Gabe Huck, excellent authors all. As always, the “mother of presidents”…
Here are some new photos in the Vista Del Mar spirit of South Bay and Southern California as your correspondent begins to move a bit beyond the current book and environs. This one in Redondo Beach, “After the Reunion,” having retrieved camera and tripod from rental car just moments after a sidewalk conversation with fellow…