What an honor it was meeting, photographing and hearing Cardinal Dolan speak at Concordia College in Bronxville, NY on June 2nd at 7pm during the 2014 Jacobson Global Lecture at the Meyer Athletic Center. I was looking forward to this day for months since it was rescheduled due to a snowstorm this past winter. It was an experience that I will cherish and remember forever and I feel so lucky to have these photographs to spark these emotions when looking back at my work. 

Thanks to Concordia College and the many individuals involved in bringing Cardinal Dolan to speak at the college I was invited to photograph the entire event starting with the OSilas Gallery Reception. Here are some photos from the gallery cocktail hour before Cardinal Dolan arrived:

Around 6:30pm we headed towards the Meyer Athletic Center to await Cardinal Dolan's arrival by the entrance. I was fortunate enough to have my husband, Trent, as my 2nd photographer who was inside the gym capturing shots of guests as they entered and many different perspectives and angles I wasn't able to capture during the speech and Q&A. He used our Nikon D7000 with the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 while I carried my D800e with the Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 (we switched lenses many times, mostly between the 24-70 and 70-200). The first thing I noticed about Cardinal Dolan was his fun-loving personality, sense of humor and charm. He was more than happy to meet and greet guests and for every person he met, he asked for their name when greeting them. Here are the photos before President of Concordia College, Viji George, took the stage to introduce Dolan (click the arrows to view the rest of the gallery).

President Viji George gave a remarkable introduction and presented Cardinal Dolan with a Yankee hat (photo in gallery below). As a native New Yorker and Yankee fan, I really wanted to capture the best shot of Dolan wearing the cap! Dolan then took the stage and introduced the subject of his speech, "Soul, Mind, and Heart" in relation to the last three Popes, St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis. As I was shooting to get an accurate timeline of events and candids, I was listening to his wise words and learned a lot that I didn't know especially about St. John Paul II since it was way before my time. Dolan's sense of humor shined during the lecture and question and answer portion which kept the audience engaged throughout. Check out the photos below from the lecture and audience from beginning to end (click the arrows or thumbnail images to view the rest of the gallery).

If you'd like to order any of these prints, kindly email me at natasha@tashography.com or contact me here and we can discuss the sizes and costs. All proceeds from any print orders will be donated to the Concordia College Scholarship Fund.

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