Morocco Flowers' exhibit at Springfield Technical Community College celebrates resilience of tornado victims and those who helped

I wanted to show something positive.

SPRINGFIELD - There are so many pictures of the tornado that destroyed dozens of buildings in Western Massachusetts and most focus on the devastation and destruction left behind by this natural disaster that debilitated communities in June of 2011.

Morocco Flowers, a professional photographer for more than 30 years, did not want to shoot those kinds of photos. Flowers currently has an exhibit at Springfield Technical Community College in the Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery titled ? Their Stories: Portraits of Individuals Affected by the June 2011 Tornado?

"We have seen so many images of the destruction caused by the tornado. I wanted to show something more positive. I wanted to show the resilience of the human spirit, "he said.

There are 19 images in the gallery, all in black and white. There are pictures of people who lost their homes after the tornado and other people who helped after the event. They are women, men, youth and elders affected by the natural disaster.

"To me it was very important to let them tell their own stories," Flowers said. "I did not give them much direction. I just told them to act in a natural way. "

Flowers said that one of his favorite images is of Jesszmeraldy Lopez, a teen who was riding her bicycle when the tornado hit Springfield.

Photgrapher Morocco Flowers has an exhibit in the Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery at Springfield Technical Community College of photographs of people affected by the tornado that ripped through Springfield and surrounding towns. This is a portrait of the Rev. Bruce Shaw , pastor of New Hope Pentecostal Church in Springfield, from the exhibit.
Don Treeger, The Republican

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"She had hold on to a fence so the wind would not take her. Her home was destroyed by the tornado, "he said.

In the photo Jesszmeraldy stands in front of a fence with the sun shining down on her.

"I like it because there's an innocence to it, but it also shows someone who has faced difficult things in her young life,? he said.

Another image is of an elderly man who has survived two tornadoes in his lifetime, Jerome Winegar, of Springfield.

"He went through a tornado in 1957 when he lived in the Midwest and again here in 2011. I like him because he is a man with a lot of character and personality in his face," Flowers said.

Another photo shows Russ Bressette, a Monson resident and retired military man, whose entire house was blown away.

Flowers took a photo of him standing in front of his newly built home with the American flag waiving in the background as he looks out at all the trees damaged by the tornado.

If you go

Event: "Their Stories" Portraits of Individuals Affected by June 2011 Tornado
When: Now through March 1; Open Tuesday-Friday from 12:30 to 4:30 pm and Saturday from 10 a.m.to 2 p.m.
Where: Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery, building 28, at Springfield Technical Community College
Cost: Free
For more information: Visit www.stcc.edu/arts

He also has photos of those who helped on that day including Jeffrey Halper and Bill Bubianski, emergency medical technicians.

?They were right in the middle of it all,? he said.

Flowers said it took about a year to take all the photos.

"I wanted a variety of people in order to show that we were all affected not only the rich or the poor, whites or blacks," he said.

Source: http://www.masslive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/02/stcc_art_exhibit_features_affected_by_the_tornado_in_springfield_monson.html

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