Thanks for visiting my EWO gallery. If you enjoy this gallery, please see my Operation Ceasefire concert gallery, too. I would like to thank Women In Black, and the Peace Puppets as well as the EWO volunteers, Friends and friends for making me feel welcome and for the coffee on Friday morning. A special thanks to Gary Gillespie of AFSC for providing additional caption information. The photo of the painting is of the beautiful watercolor of Barbara R. Treasure. Thanks to Barbara and to everyone who is emailing and leaving comments.

This photo essay is a progression from Friday, September 9th to Sunday, September 11th.

First, is the setup with Marq Anderson, National Tour Director of EWO for AFSC. After unloading and moving boxes of boots and bags of shoes into place to begin setting up the exhibit, the cases of boots were opened, revealing one thousand eight hundred ninety five pairs of boots of American soldiers that died in Iraq. Some boots were unidentified, others had tags stating that the name was withheld by family. I heard one volunteer say, "This is when it gets hard". He was so right. People were happy to be helping but there was a reverent tone to the entire process. I returned home to rest and refresh my cards and returned again that same morning. Then I spent time with the various boots of the deceased American soldiers, and with the shoes, 100s of pairs laid out in mazes, representing only a fraction of the citizens of Iraq that have perished from this war.

I was with the Women In Black vigil in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, as you will see in the candlelight and streetlight photos. Saturday there were a few more people, but what became increasingly obvious was the students at Hopkins were tending to stay away from the exhibit. Not all, but many would stay in the bus que or walk right by on the sidewalk, looking a bit... but as if it were any other day. Everyone deals with things differently at different times, I suppose.

As the names of Americans and Iraqis that have died in this war were read aloud with a gong toll sounded for each soul; after having made 100s of images and getting little pangs of uneasiness, I sat in the midst of these empty boots and the sadness was overwhelming. Its good to put the camera down sometimes and just look and listen.

On Sunday morning, I was with the Peace Puppets as they prepared for their ride along Charles Street. And then, followed the Path with my friend Jeff Holland at the wheel...thanks Jeff! Almost all of the Peace Path photos were taken from the passenger seat, while driving at speeds of 20 to 30 MPH. Then I returned to EWO for the final hours. http://www.afsc.org/eyes/locations/050911-baltimore.php