This time last year, I was engulfed by the Polar Vortex in Chicago, but this year I am in the Boston area for its record snowfall. The region has received nearly 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow in the last few weeks, and additional precipitation is forecast.

Even more than 2013, I spent 2014 working on projects, including the films Almost There and The Area, and photography series about subsidized housing in New York City and Japan's Tōhoku region.

I recently visited Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to present at the International Visual Sociology Association's annual meeting and explore the region. I particularly enjoy working in Pittsburgh, but my time photographing the end of an era in Johnstown instilled an interest in the region's smaller towns. When I visited Pittsburgh in 2011, I made sure to spend a little time in neighboring borough of Braddock, but I wanted to go farther afield this time. In part motivated to see the borough of Donora, whose 1948 environmental catastrophe raised awareness of the need for clean air regulations, I visited more than a dozen towns in the Monongahela River valley, and then several more along the Ohio River.

The most challenging portion of my trip to Japan was the time in Tōhoku's recovering disaster areas, but I spent the majority of my visit in urban Japan. The first half of my trip was structured around Kobe, where I was exhibiting my Isolated Building Studies, and Tokyo served as the base for the second half of the excursion.

I am excited to announce that the Japanese photography book producer Utakatado has just published Isolated Building Studies, the first book dedicated to my Isolated Building Studies project. The 56-page softcover book is 7.5" x 11.5" and features 36 of my favorite photographs from the series.

Last week I traveled with Japanese advertising director and photographer Yohei Morita through Tōhoku, the Japanese region critically affected by the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear disaster.

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• An exhibition of my Belfast, Northern Ireland photographs opens on March 5 at Art Works Projects in Chicago.
• Almost There, the Kartemquin/ITVS documentary film for which David contributed environmental cinematography, is getting great reviews.
• David will be discussing The Area at an event cosponsored by the Society of Architectural Historians and MAS Context on December 2.
• Selections from Isolated Building Studies will appear in the four-person show, This Particular Patch, opening December 6 at Perspective Gallery in Evanston, Illinois.
• Almost There will be making its world premiere at DOC NYC on November 15. See examples of David's work as the film's Environmental Cinematographer on the blog.
• David will be presenting at the Washington Park Arts Incubator in Chicago on August 7. DNAinfo interviewed David about the event.
• Japan Today interviewed David about his work in Japan's Tōhoku region.
• The City of Chicago awarded David a grant to support his feature-length documentary film project, The Area.
• The Graham Foundation awarded David a grant to support his feature-length documentary film project, The Area.
• David's documentary short film, "The Area," won a Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club.
• The Museum of Contemporary Photography included David's Belfast, Northern Ireland project in its Midwest Photographers Project collection.
• NEW BOOK: Isolated Building Studies, a 56-page softcover book detailing David's series was just printed by the Japanese photography book publisher Utakatado. Find out more or place an order on the blog.
• David's Isolated Building Studies book was recently featured by Dwell, Chicago magazine and Gizmodo.
• David will be presenting at Chicago Filmmakers' "Interactive Storytelling: Models for Film and Media Makers" event on March 8 and at the Chicago Ethnography Conference on March 15.
• David authored an article and photo essay for The Society Pages about Detroit's debt, streetlight problems, and community health.
• Isolated Buildings, David's exhibition at Gallery TANTO TEMPO in Kobe, Japan opens on January 11, 2014. His gallery talk will follow on January 18.
• David organized two panels for the National Preservation Conference in Indianapolis and will be presenting with Danielle Wallace at the American Society of Criminology's annual meeting in Atlanta.
• A selection from David's Isolated Building Studies is included in the DePaul Art Museum's Histories/Photographies exhibition, opening October 11.
• David's Isolated Building Studies exhibition will open in the Belfast Photo Festival on August 4 and remain public through autumn 2014.