From Facebook To Hardcover, Photographer's Dream Comes True

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A couple days this week, Gregory Andrus will head out with his camera and his notebook and head to someplace along the shore.

It might be the boardwalk in Asbury Park. It might be the Ocean County Library in Toms River. It could be anywhere of a number of places from Sandy Hook to the tip of Cape May. Any place with people who might be willing to talk with him and share their stories, and let him capture their portraits with his trusty Nikon.

"It will be time to get back to work," Andrus said Saturday evening, a smile and a look of wonder on his face. His book, "Portraits of the Jersey Shore," had been officially launched, and the reception from family, friends and members of the Facebook group of the same name had gathered to show their support had left him in awe.

"This was beyond my wildest dreams," he said as he reflected on the evening at Redeemer Fellowship Church in Toms River, where the book launch was held. "Going back to where I was 20 years ago, I never could've imagined this."

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It wasn't just the response and the support for him that made him so happy; it was the response and support for some of his portrait subjects who spoke that held the most meaning for him.

"Seeing how the audience resonated with their stories, clapping and giving them standing ovations, that showed people were invested in their stories, too," Andrus said. "I am so honored and grateful."

This was not what you might expect for a book launch. There was coffee instead of cocktails, organic wraps and strawberry shortcake shooters instead of high-end hors d'oeuvres, featuring small local businesses.

But this is no ordinary book. It is 100 raw, unfiltered stories, selected from the 700 portraits Andrus has shared since he started his Facebook group in August 2015. They are stories he has gathered simply by approaching people and asking if he can talk to them and take their photos. They are stories of hope, of struggle, and kindness, of heartbreak and of redemption. Some of his subjects have broken down crying while talking to him; there is an approachability that invites you to open your heart.

Some entries are singular quotes that simply capture a moment in time. He never publishes the names of his subjects.

Each story is accompanied by a photo of the person. Not all show faces: there are weathered hands and photos taken in silhouette to protect identities, because some topics — homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness, and abortion — carry stigmas and can draw harsh judgments.

"What they have shared with me is sacred," Andrus told the audience of nearly 200 Saturday night. That is something he takes very seriously; he does not allow negative comments to be posted on his portraits. "Every story matters because every person matters."

"Everyone has a story," he said, "and if we listen, we can come to see we have far more in common than we think."

The audience listened Saturday night. They listened to Levi Peterson, a 7-year-old from Howell who decided he wanted to make sure some of the homeless had beds to sleep on. With help from his dad, John, Liam raised money and bought industrial strength cots for some of the homeless who live in the Howell encampment. They listened to a woman who has been estranged from her father for years as he has descended into drug addiction, and her wish for him to find his way out of addiction so they can reconcile. There was to a young man who rebuilding his life, after addiction led to a stint in jail that helped him get clean. A program that helps those with convictions find employment has saved his life, he said. "I am so grateful for this program," he said.

There were the Carling sisters, who raised money to send school supplies to children in Uganda, who have difficulty even trying to get an education in the war-torn country. Their father goes yearly to bring medical supplies and help care those who lack basic health care. There was another young man whose childhood was nothing but pain and loss, who is in recovery from heroin addiction and actively working to help others who are fighting to get clean and sober. "It can be done. There is hope," he said.

They listened to Sesky Paul of Toms River, who has known Andrus for about a dozen years, read his portrait in the book from about a year ago. He was grieving his 29-year-old daughter who had died of liver failure, and fighting to stay sober as he coped with the pain. He had decided one way to do that was to pursue an old dream of becoming a teacher.

As he stood in sanctuary at the church, he told the audience that he had achieved that goal: he is winding up his first full year as an 11th-grade English teacher working in the Trenton school district.

"It's exhausting," he said. But the work is fulfilling, and he feels it is something he was called to do, much like Andrus feels he was called to do Portraits of the Jersey Shore.

"He was searching for a long time," Paul said. "He wanted to do something that he loved."

It's a sentiment echoed by Andrus's mother, Kathleen Weeks, and his wife, Mary. Gregory and Mary have been married 17 years, and together 20; they met while Andrus was still in the hospital after being shot in the head in New Brunswick in 1998 by a police officer who was chasing a suspect. When he regained consciousness in the hospital, doctors told Andrus his survival was simply a miracle. As he recovered, he was left with the unshakable belief that there was a reason he was still alive. He was not yet 30 years old, and had spent much of his initial adult life loving day to day, working jobs and spending all of his money on booze as he tried to cope with the pain of an abusive childhood that landed him on the streets by the time he was 18. He was homeless at some points, sleeping on couches and finally connecting with a punk band that took him in for a time.

The shooting — and the doctor's words — were a turning point. "I realized I must have a purpose for being here," Gregory said. That purpose eluded him for a while. He studied for four years to become a pastor, because his faith became central to his life. But when his application to become a minister was turned down — "They told me I was too weird," he told the audience, eliciting laughter — he was back to square one. He found himself drawn instead to nature and to photography, capturing the beauty he saw with an iPhone. Friends who saw his photos encouraged him to do more and told him he had a gift. Apparently, someone believed that wholeheartedly, because one day a package arrived at his home containing a brand new Nikon D3200 DLSR.

Armed with his camera and his notepad and a voice recorder, he approaches people who strike him as interesting. Young or older, male, female. He has become friends with some, like the Asbury Park man who told Andrus he struggles with schizophrenia and has no friends as a result.

"He has a heart for people who are hurting," Mary Andrus said. "Seeing it all come together tonight was wonderful."

"He's always had a feeling he had a purpose," said Kathleen Weeks, who flew up from Texas for the launch. "To see it pull the community together and see everyone come out to support him makes me so happy for him."

The book was an idea that Andrus had been rolling around but came together very quickly when a friend introduced him to Amy Ridgeway, a Toms River resident who had just launched her own publishing company, Gateway House Publishing. They met shortly after New Year's and began working to publish the book.

The book launch party, arranged by Veronica Martinez, Andrus' sister — "She took care of all the details from Texas," he said, beaming at her — was the culmination of all of it, and in many ways underscored to Andrus that he had found his calling.

"Thank you for being a voice for those who do not have one." Martinez said. Andrus has a slightly different view of it.

"I'm not trying to tell you there's a God," he told the audience. "I'm telling you I have a God, and He sent me a camera. He showed me I have worth. I have value. We all have worth. We all have value."

"Everyone has that gem inside them," he said after he signed the last book of the night. "We just have to remember to look for it."

You can buy Portraits of the Jersey Shore here, and follow his Facebook page here. There additionally is an Instagram page that is managed by family friend Anna Metcalf.

Local businesses all offered their support, including Divi Tree Coffee, Ocean Organics cafe, Mon Alyssa restaurant, The Celtic Knot, and Shore Realty Exchange, along with Music Lessons by Amy and Bilimama photography.

Main photo: The cover of Gregory Andrus's book; Greg and his wife, Mary; Greg and his mother, Kathleen Weeks; Kathleen, Greg and his sister, Veronica Martinez; decorations at the book launch. Some of the speakers autograph each other's books. Photos by Karen Wall, Patch staff