Delaware Close to Home

"Close to home" describes both this book and me. Im a Wilmington native and life resident and with the exception of a few pictures all of the photographs on these pages depict people and places within a 50-mile-radius of Delawares largest city. Wilmington and its surroundings have always provided a wealth of subjects. Ive been able to photograph the famous and the not-so-famous at places like the Spectrum JFK Stadium the Italian Festival and in the streets and backyards of my hometown. The challenge in my picture-taking efforts has always been to see my subject from a different perspective. Those of you who know my photography will recognize that in my pictures taken from different angles. Photographs taken at the top of the Delaware Memorial tower or high in a skeleton of a building under construction may give my editors vertigo but they also give readers of the News-Journal papers a very different view of an everyday sight. Ive also tried over the years to photograph people in surroundings or circumstances which are real but unusual -- Pete Rose pitching at a local softball game or Tetu Robinson walking her pet Iguana on a city street. The photographs in this collection are particular favorites of mine. Most of the photographs were taken on assignment. As a photojournalist I am like other people; I may think about my job a lot but I do most of my work when Im at the office. Fred Comegys Wilmington Delaware.