If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a memory worth?
Scott Friedman, a freelance photographer who worked for Greater Media Newspapers and Newspaper Media Group, covering a large portion of Middlesex, Monmouth and Mercer counties with his assignments, passed away on Aug. 23 at age 58.
I’ve worked with Scott closely, professionally, since almost the beginning of my career. Although we had a very talented staff of photographers early on, there was always something reassuring knowing Scott was on the scene. Not only did he excel in terms of talent, but his personality was unmatched.
Scott had an incredible passion for his photography, going to great lengths to achieve the perfect shot. My favorite memory is of him wearing knee pads while photographing a chef who was doing a cooking demonstration so he could crawl under the table and shoot upward while she spoke.
More important was his altruistic nature. A social worker by day, Scott voluntarily organized a project involving children with special needs in East Brunswick in 2014. He visited the Daisy Recreation Program so the participants could color mandalas designed with hearts in a circular pattern. He then scanned the mandalas and printed them on heavy cardstock to make pinwheels.
The Best Buddies program, which partnered the East Brunswick Youth Council with children with intellectual or developmental disabilities, cut and assembled the pinwheels for a display at the East Brunswick Fine Arts Festival. Scott then asked passersby at the festival to take part in a community collage project, which was exhibited at the Middlesex County Fair.
He created a similar project for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia years prior at the COPSA (Comprehensive Services on Aging) art show and food drive at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Scott was kind enough to invite me to the art show, where I watched families smiling and crying while observing their loved ones looking at their artwork on display – some of whom may not have remembered creating it, which was such a poignant and special moment. Scott lived to create those moments. “From the heart to the head to the hand” he explained, so fitting of the day, of the project, and of his life.
Scott’s last official assignment for Newspaper Media Group was the Rugged Maniac obstacle course at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. He was elated when I was able to secure media consent for him to attend. Although he was not feeling well, he still took the most amazing, detail-oriented, beautiful pictures of the runners racing through the mud.
Scott was a good friend of mine. He showed me the lilacs and bamboo at Rutgers Gardens for the first time. He invited me to share a Passover seder with his wife, Lanny, son, Miles, and some good friends. He was at the Memorial Day ceremony when a plaque for my grandfather was unveiled at North Brunswick Veterans Park; Scott had run the 5K race, as he was an avid runner, and stayed for the ceremony.
I will think of Scott every time I pick up a camera. Within the past few weeks, I had to photograph the Middlesex County Fair, the butterfly release at Elmwood Cemetery and the EARTH Center’s Garden and Music Festival – all assignments Scott covered with grace and perfection over the years.
The day after he passed I was coincidentally down the street from his residence, and found myself taking photos of beautiful butterflies as they flew to the sky, and I couldn’t help but think of him.
My last text to him reading, “How are you feeling my friend?” hangs in the balance, an answer I will never receive, but one that I pray the response to is, “at peace.”
He always referred to me as “TB” for “The Best,” a text I already miss seeing. But the truth is that Scott was the best. I can picture him smiling, as he often did, and I can hear him laughing, as he always did. I miss him dearly.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a memory is worth an infinite amount …
Jennifer Amato is a managing editor with Newspaper Media Group.
