Party of One, and Then Some
Rick Gerrity’s Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 captures the community gathered to honor the sole resident of a tiny Nebraska town.
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By Jenn Gidman
Images by Rick Gerrity
In the vast expanse of the American Midwest, where small villages dot the landscape, there exists the mostly abandoned town of Monowi, Nebraska. There’s just one resident in Monowi—Elsie Eiler, whose family has run the Monowi Tavern, the town’s only remaining business, since 1971. Photographer Rick Gerrity met Elsie years ago while traveling through the area, and he’s stayed in touch ever since. When he found out she’d be celebrating her 90th birthday in October, with his photojournalism style photography, Rick knew he had to be there to document the festivities.
“I called Elsie on the phone for her birthday and she said, ‘You’d better be on your way here for my party,’” he recalls. “I told her, ‘I’m packing my car now and will be there by Saturday.’ She’s a sweetheart, and so interesting and fun to talk to.”
Rick’s resulting photojournalism-style photography essay of the Monowi party was captured using his Tamron 35-150mm F/2-2.8 Di III VXD zoom lens, which also helped him paint a vivid picture of the town’s rustic charm and Elsie’s resilient spirit. “The focal range of this lens allows for a dynamic storytelling approach, letting me effortlessly switch between wide-angle perspectives and close-up portraits, without the need for a lens change,” he says. “I was able to go wide to take a photo of the House of Renewal, an old Catholic hospital that served as my lodgings during my visit, then zoom in to take a portrait of someone sitting at a table at the party.”
35-150mm (35mm), F6.3, 1/400 sec., ISO 1000
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The 35-150mm’s best-in-class F2-2.8 aperture helped Rick wrangle tough lighting situations, and he testifies to its durability while he was on the road. “I’ve fallen down with this lens twice, including in a grain elevator near Monowi, and the Tamron lens held up beautifully,” he says.
Rick first got to test out the 35-150mm on the tavern’s exterior, framing the building to show off its weathered beauty. “The bar has been in Elsie’s family for decades,” he says. “She’s had it under her purview for at least 50 years. It’s a cool-looking place in the day, but at night, there’s a whole different mood that emanates. I shot this image on the wide end of the lens and underexposed it a bit to bring out that moody feeling.”
35-150mm (35mm), F2.5, 1/60 sec., ISO 3200
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Capturing the details of the interior of Elsie's bar, including the 1800s-era cash register, was a piece of (birthday) cake for Rick with the Tamron 35-150mm. “That ‘cash only, no debit cards’ sign over the register lends a feeling of nostalgia,” he says. “Plus, Elsie knows so many people from around the world—she always says, ‘The last thing I am is lonely’—and they’re always sending her knickknacks and pictures of their families, all of which Elsie displays around the bar. I wanted to highlight that, or as much of it as I could.”
35-150mm (66mm), F7.1, 1/640 sec., ISO 3200
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As for the flow of people who came to wish Elsie a happy birthday—including state Sen. Barry DeKay, a regular visitor—Rick strove to capture that feeling of communal atmosphere that Elsie fosters, from showing her perusing one of her birthday cards to depicting partygoers juxtaposed with the many bouquets of flowers bestowed on her by her guests. “The bar was packed at one point, which is testament to how beloved Elsie is,” Rick says.
35-150mm (92mm), F5, 1/320 sec., ISO 3200
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35-150mm (150mm), F3.5, 1/250 sec., ISO 3200
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Shooting inside the old-time bar posed some challenges for Rick, particularly when it came to lighting. “The lighting was pretty horrendous, complete with an illuminated hanging Budweiser sign, but I didn’t want to kill the mood with flash,” Rick says. “I like to keep my images as ‘real life’ as possible. And to be honest, I love photographic challenges like that. If you’re creative with your photojournalism style photography, you can pull off a shot under just one light bulb, if you play around with your positioning and your subject’s positioning.”
35-150mm (86mm), F3.2, 1/160 sec., ISO 3200
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For Rick, of the most important goals of photographing Elsie's 90th birthday party was capturing authentic moments imbued with emotion, like his one poignant photo of two of the attendees holding hands and leaning into each other. “This wasn’t a staged shot, and it vanished within seconds,” he says. “I was simply scanning the room when I spotted them and was able to quickly react, zoom in with the 35-150mm, and take the photo. It goes back to that ‘real life’ I was talking about earlier. When you capture a moment like that and look at the photo later, it brings you back to that exact moment, and the feeling you had in that moment.”
35-150mm (70mm), F3.2, 1/125 sec., ISO 3200
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To see more of Rick Gerrity’s work, check out his website and Instagram.
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