David Degner

Boston Photographer and Photojournalist

Portrait of Larry Summers

Portraits for a story about Lawrence H. Summers in the New York Times.

Larry Summers has split his pandemic time between houses in Massachusetts and Arizona. He also seems to live inside the collective mind of the Washington economic establishment.

When the 66-year-old veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations talks, Washington’s policy apparatus — journalists and think-tank types, economists and communications people, administration researchers and Capitol Hill staff — stops to listen. It disputes, debates and ultimately disseminates his ideas. Sometimes, it does so almost in spite of itself. Deploring the way he dominates the narrative is its own catalyst to his dominance, though his critics often miss the paradox.

– Jeanna Smialek

Boston Business Struggles in Pandemic

Photography of Boston's iconic restaurant...a Dunkin' Donuts.

Downtown Boston, the heart of New England’s largest city typically pulses with office workers, tourists and shoppers. Since the coronavirus pandemic struck–canceling vacations and clearing out office towers–once-bustling weekdays feel more like sleepy Sundays.

“Most buildings are not able to crack 7%” occupancy, said Rosemarie Sansone, chief executive of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, or BID, a 34-block area in Boston’s core normally teeming with office workers.

-Published in the Wall Street Journal

Portrait of Ferguson Herivaux in his store "One Gig"

One Gig Chief Executive Ferguson Herivaux in the skateboard and streetwear shop. Sales have been strong at One Gig, which reopened in early June.

One Gig, a streetwear and skateboard shop, opened its new two-story, 4,000-square-foot location on March 2, after five years in a much smaller basement space around the corner. It temporarily shut operations 20 days later in response to state orders, then reopened in early June, initially for pickups and appointments only.

One of a series of portraits for this story.

A portrait of Levent Berksan in his shuttered Cafe De Boston on December in Boston, Massachusetts.

Levent Berksan has kept his Café de Boston restaurant closed since the pandemic hit because he relies so heavily on downtown workers. The marketplace eatery occupies a large space on the ground floor of two connected office buildings that are now mostly empty, he said.

“Our biggest strength is our biggest weakness right now,” Mr. Berksan said, of his office-based customers. “We put all our eggs in one basket, and we lost all of the eggs.”

The restaurant grossed $2.7 million last year on about 1,000 customers a day, plus an office-catering business that has also dried up. The cafe can’t break even when business drops more than 25%, he said, noting that a break on rent has allowed him to stay in hibernation until customers return.

Buildings of downtown Boston are reflected in the Millennium Tower in Boston, Massachusetts.
Brattle Book Shop

Kenneth Gloss, co-owner with his wife, Joyce Kosofsky, of Brattle Book Shop, reopened in early June, as soon as he could. His family has owned the three-story antiquarian bookstore for 71 of its 195 years. “Our goal this year is not to lose too much money,” he said.

Normally, the bookshop would be bustling in December, with holiday shoppers and families taking in “The Nutcracker” and other special events. But sales, already down 40% for much of the year, fell further this holiday season in comparison with previous years. “A lot of the regulars just aren’t here,” Mr. Gloss said.

Stephanie Horn of Boston Diamond Company

When the pandemic temporarily shut down the Boston Diamond Company, Stephanie Horn’s business on Washington Street, she worried it could be a fatal blow. “The rent is really expensive in Downtown Crossing,” she said.

The 400-square-foot jewelry shop has managed to hang in there, even without pop-in visits from local office workers and tourists. Ms. Horn has been buoyed by referrals while taking customers to the small shop on an appointment-only basis to avoid crowding.

Emerson Paramount Center

Outside my Camera Bag

Inspired by Amanda Mustard’s list of helpful tools, I compiled my list of things that make my life easier as a freelance photojournalist.

I found referral links for some items that you can use to get discounts and send rewards to me.

200 SIM Card tray eject pins – If Marie Kondo asked me what brings me the most happiness this year, it would be this box. When I get to a border, I often need to switch sim cards, and I always lose these SIM eject pins. So now I have spread these pins everywhere around my luggage and keychain, and I will always be able to find one.

TransferWise (referral link) – I get paid and pay in many currencies. With TransferWise, I don’t have fees when clients transfer to my account. I also get a reasonable rate and easily convert money between USD, GBP, EUR, and more obscure currencies. 

Things – An app for Mac and iPhone that allows me to quickly record ToDos, brainstorm larger projects, and plan out my day before everything goes pearshaped. It’s designed to be part of the Getting Things Done ecosystem and appears to be working for me.

Visible – The cheapest data in the US. It costs $25 a month for unlimited internet that can be tethered for transmitting photos on the road. When traveling abroad a lot, I used Google Fi but they have been canceling international travelers. Often it is cheaper to buy a local SIM for long-term data. And there are other eSIM data providers that you can use for those times you are stuck in the airport or cell stores haven’t opened yet.

Novo Bank – A small business-focused bank helps keep the paperwork simple. Novo has a built-in invoice system, debit card, and easy ways for clients to pay. And it’s free. I tried Lillie bank before, but they don’t have a web interface; using just their phone app can be painful.

Hiveage – We all need a system for creating and tracking invoices. Mine used to be a Google Docs template and a spreadsheet; it worked. But I find that once Hiveage is set up, it takes a lot less time, and with their iPhone app, I can quickly send an invoice while in a cab. But, unfortunately, they raised their rates recently.

Capture One – I have lived in Photoshop since version 5, but I just canceled my Adobe membership and switched to Capture One because the retouching looks more subtle when I use it. I can’t explain why but I prefer the colors and how it hides the halos produced by dodging and burning.

Wacom Intuos – Toning photos becomes physically painful, especially dodging and burning on a trackpad.  A Wacom makes it slightly less painful and has become an extension of my hand after a few weeks of fiddling.  Get the BlueTooth version so you can lean back.

Backblaze (referral link)- I finally have an offsite backup system for my 15TB archive for $50 a year.  It took a year to upload everything, but now it is easy to keep it all up to date.  Get the year extension, so you don’t have to plug-in hard drives every month or turn off backups while traveling away from your archive.

Linode (referral link)- I’ve hosted websites on DreamHost for a long time but switched to Linode with OpenLiteSpeed installed and WordPress as my CMS. It took a significant amount of time to set up and tweak, but my website is faster.