the women's march | boston
A sea of love colored by pink hats and warm smiles. Despite the darkness on screen and the shadows many of us have felt these past months, we rose and came together in a bonded band of unity and unshakable love.
A sea of love colored by pink hats and warm smiles. Despite the darkness on screen and the shadows many of us have felt these past months, we rose and came together in a bonded band of unity and unshakable love.
Together we stood for peace. For compassion. For hope. For strength. For a mandate on what our country is ... and for what it is not. All ages and races and genders bearing witness in peace. It was a much needed show of strength and visibility. A beacon that will light our pathway forward. While I was part of the photography team that covered this monumental event, I often felt overwhelmed and swallowed up by the love and affection and the pride of every person I met along the way that day. The kindness and togetherness summarized by this picture of a little girl who caught my eye ... and who sat up taller and smiled wide as she hugged her dolly ... this is who we are.
the workshop
Thoughts on remembering this day last year which was day two of a weekend workshop with Mary Ellen Mark at the Center for Photography in Woodstock.
Thoughts on remembering this day last year which was day two of a weekend workshop with Mary Ellen Mark at the Center for Photography in Woodstock.
I've reflected long and deep on the kaleidoscope of emotions ... moments of celebration and inspiration, others of anxiety and humility and a willingness to simply wilt and let the layers peel off inside for often times the wrath of less desired emotions permits a passage to the other side; it was these thoughts that surfaced during the ride through upstate New York heading to photograph at the Columbia County Fair. And the instant we arrived at the fairgrounds, my eye latched onto two little girls in cowboy hats and boots entering with their grandparents and a wish to bump into them that day to take their picture. In hindsight, it was this need to photograph that moved me forward.
After we'd entered and set up a home-base, Mary Ellen confirmed with each of us what we'd be focusing on for the day (for me this was portraits) and we were turned loose to create.
I started off in an area with a lineup of girls who were performing gymnastics and dance steps and was making my way to the midway; I'd just turned a corner when i came face to face with the two little girls i saw at the entrance who just happened to be getting off a ride next to a tent that featured the word 'America'. My heart lept with excitement and after an introduction and request from their grandparents, I took a few photographs of the two girls together, and then this one ...
america, august 2014
A picture which instantly became my favorite of the day, and one of the my most favorite photographs I've ever taken for the emotions of an elegant longing mixed with nostalgia and a subtle humor; an end result that Mary Ellen pointed out as my own little gift in the world. My experience at the fair was one of a deeply felt love of the people, the place, and the real gift of exchange; lost in the making of pictures that i felt in my heart and soul, learning from a woman who's conviction of being was a gift to us all.
While I had hoped to continue on in a workshop with Mary Ellen again this year, her sudden passing in late May (ironically at the beginning of summer) left me mute. And as the center for photography is honoring Mary Ellen with a remembrance on the weekend that she led workshops for so many years, I was asked to contribute a few words on what she gave me...what i took away from my brief little time with her. It was in the remembering that i revisited all those thoughts and emotions and feelings and impressions. She was a blessing and I'll treasure the experience I had with her for the rest of my life. I've included my remembrance below the picture she allowed me to take at the end of the day.
mary ellen mark, august 31, 2014
Mary Ellen’s impact on me in part was to expand my view with a strength of purpose and intent. She helped me see more of what I do naturally and how to push beyond my comfort zone. I was struck by the depth and breadth of her work and her discipline in the edit. In all, I took away the sincerity of her truths – a real love of the artform and a reverence for her subjects.
The photographs i took during my time at the fair have become etched into my DNA for all they represent to me - symbols of hope and persistence, of dusting oneself off and going forward or realizing that sometimes, you have to go through the agony within to see the beauty on the other side; to the people who trusted me and allowed me to glimpse into their presence of being, an exchange i felt so deeply I cried with gratitude on the long drive back home. For an experience that has taught me that photographing is in the exchange and the giving, here are the gifts i received.
aaron loves mommy
“But kids don't stay with you if you do it right. It's the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won't be needed in the long run.” ― Barbara Kingsolver, Pigs in Heaven
“But kids don't stay with you if you do it right. It's the one job where, the better you are, the more surely you won't be needed in the long run.” ― Barbara Kingsolver, Pigs in Heaven
aaron loves mommy | boston, 2015
The early days are a swirl of sleepless nights and a never ending blur ... wiping faces and bums, bottles and peek-a-boo, picking up, lying down and rocking. In between them are the joys of all the firsts from the crawl to the walk to the run, and tiny teeth and little sounds that form into words ... that all to quickly turn to inquiries that give way to definitive declarations of independence. Then it all shifts into a blissful little time of the tween ... five years of blessed balance of being wanted (and needed) in ways that are less tangled and messy before life turns into pre-teen and teen ... a time when conversations become an exchange of thoughts and ideas and a reality of letting the butterfly you raised fly free into the world. I chose that quote of a job done exceptionally well translates to a need in a different kind of way. So to all the mother's i've known and take deep into my heart....hang onto these moments right now and remember the depth of their grace. Happiest of mama's day to you.
projects & series - 2014
"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
And so it has been. A year and a time when I felt/feel almost dizzy with the series of work ... some I've been at for some time like American Summer and the Little Witches; others which emerged this past year - Fair & Farms, Portraits and a welcome return to birds and trees (and clouds) ... a different kind of Avalon.
I also continued to work with organizations and causes I support and give to ... Creating Community and Drums for Funds were two from this past year. And then whenever I can ... I photograph in public. Not always successfully or willingly or without trepidation, but the more I do, the more I grow; the easier it is to go.
columbia county fair - the portraits
Henri Cartier-Bresson once said, ""The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt." And so it is a tricky matter - for a successful portrait for me is all about trust, openness and a reverent connection.
Girl Spinning Wool | 2014 Columbia County Fair
it's an indescribable give and take of exchange and when i say i'm moved, i'm not exaggerating - i'm shaken to the core in a good way, in a grateful way; a heart swollen with tears that find their way to the surface. as i'm sensitive, i feel what's given and each experience changes me. so at the fair, what i looked for more than anything else were portraits of people that interested me. here's a sampling of those i found compelling.
twelve portraits - september
as i look through the portraits i've shared each month to date, i am starting to see where i dig deep, and where i don't. where i take my time to really look and connect, and where i waver or shut myself off because i feel afraid of being vulnerable for the simple truth i'm aware of is this: portraits require the photographer to be more vulnerable than the person being photographed.
jill previti, owner/artist of true north gallery | kennybunkport, 2014
while there's still a long road ahead, i'm thankful that many of the internal blocks and barriers that have hindered my efforts in the past are melting in seizing a moment. with that, i give you this month's portrait which is definitely not a theme of 'sunflare' (this month's theme).
so i'll look forward to seeing others photographs this month as it's an element i personally favor in commissioned work starting with Linsey Stuckey.
the fair
i had the opportunity to photograph at a county fair in upstate new york a few weeks ago and the experience is one that remains in my heart. the warmth, the openness, the trust, the gentle reciprocation. photography is not a one way street - particularly with portraits.
Boy with Spiderman Inflatable | 2014 Columbia County Fair
a portrait takes a certain kind of exchange - sometimes it's a lingering exchange, at other times like the one above, it occurs in a flash. i liked the connection here and the clean simple background of the tent fabric along with the little ruffle bits off to the right. here are three others i felt were successful.
lemonade
of late, life's felt like one big punch in the face - another in the gut - then a whallop over the head for good measure. what most people might experience over a longer stretch of time has landed all at once: a reduced income, a home situation nearing the finality of clarification, and a car totaled by a driver who was on their phone and of course, it was the five year old car with less than 20,000 miles on it, not the car that's in the shop again with 90,000 miles on it. all this in the middle of summer - the time of year i long for. a time when i'm usually out and about - not inside hiding my eyes and crying finally opening them for a few days of blessed ocean peace only to crash into the next wave.
morgan | 2014
about a month ago, the day of the freakish tornado, one of the larger branches on a tree next to our house sort of cascaded off and remained nestled/stuck inside the other wild branches. this was a tree that was full and bushy and filled with little birds. it offered a sense of privacy and enclosure and felt enchanted - like a little part of the woods in our back yard. that was until the branch was stuck and the city came out to cut the branches out.
what i was not prepared for, was the hack job that ensued - one that left a beauty of a tree looking ravaged and scarred and dangerously lopsided. so when it rained heavily a few days ago and the leaves got wet, the tree had not choice but to let go of the other half of it's branches ....which also took out the entire fence line on our yard. no more privacy or shelter or woods in back yard. the hold left behind in the tree now only means more than likely the city will now cut it down.
at first i laughed. actually had a rather good laugh - and then that familiar feeling of despair descended; particularly when i looked at the tree realizing i felt how it looked - torn apart, opened up, severed. it hasn't helped that all the little birds that used to live inside the tree have been gathering on the tilted fence looking up - like wtf happened here? where's our little place to play. more than anything else, i feel really exposed; an emotion that can quickly descend to shame if permitted access.
this time around though, instead of hiding, i'm seeing there's a different route one can take which is the point:
life isn't so much what happens to me, to you or to any of us. it's what we do with it.
right now, at this moment, i'm considering options and alternatives - a different head space that feels a little more peaceful. while i believe that tears are there for a reason (and sometimes i need to cry them all out), while i may not always like the lemons life throws my way, i do have a choice with what to do with them. and today, i can add a little sugar to sweeten and a little water to lighten.
twelve portraits - may
i wasn't sure which photograph to choose for the month as i've been pushing myself further than i thought possible with this project and this month i actually had a variety to choose from. seeing a face that interests me is getting harder to just walk by. sometimes i ask first, sometimes i don't but in both, i try to spend a little time with the person after if it's possible.
so - this is kenny. at the salem visitor's center. i was there looking at the space for another project, when this interesting man walked by inside. everyone there seemed to know him and with the gloves on his hands, i thought perhaps he worked there. when i saw the shirt he had on, i knew i wanted to photograph him & was thankful to see him standing outside on our way out. i asked if i might take his portrait and he thankfully graciously agreed. so for this month, i give you keen in a salemized rolling stones t-shirt.
kenny | salem, ma 2014
i'm happy to welcome new members to our soiree this month starting with a good friend in new england - Phyllis Meredith.
twelve portraits ~ april
"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." ~ Pablo Picasso
george | okc 2014
and so it has been. a month which has allowed me to shake out the cobwebs. a month i long for not only for the turn in weather, but for an annual trip with two stops...the second taken with the purpose of an art immersion. a carefully string of days that run together end to end IN art...museums, galleries, studios, discussions, reviews. there are more than a few moments where i see something that fills me inside out. and i leave refreshed and inspired. until i travel. and then, somewhere high in the sky, i'm sucked into an in between kind of vortex. and i arrive home overwhelmed and in ways agitated. i think because i can't bottle up all that i understood. that somewhere between there and here, i lost that sense of playful unknowing.
and that is just sort of how it rolls. the real truth. if there's one thing i'm starting to get, art making is just that - it's about the unknown part of creating.
so with that, i thought it'd be fitting to offer a portrait of a painter in his studio in front of two newer paintings. for this pose, i intentionally photographed it with awareness of leaving out part of the painting on his left for a few reasons - first, i liked his placement between the two women and their collective eye contact with a viewer. i also liked how his stance mirrors the pose of the man in the painting. with the subject matter here, there's a story underneath the layers and i felt photographing it this way honed in on that.
so...next in our tiny but interesting little group is Linda Prows, Memphis, TN Portrait Photographer.
twelve portraits ~ march
i had a dandy of a portrait...perfectly unplanned & totally brilliant. one that told a story of a day and a place and a time of year. the only problem? i didn't take it. and realized the mistake in hindsight. so i spent the next few weeks kicking myself in the ass for a missed opportunity while presumably missing more of them and then i lost my nerve. i kept hoping i'd feel it or find it or DO something but i didn't. which is ok cause i learned a lot from the experience. i was pretty close to bailing but ... as i had this session planned, and as i'd scouted for this area which was perfect for this person in telling their story...i opted to share this.
karina at the pem
while this is not a pure use of negative space, it tells the story. and now...onto the next - the ever enchanting ginger haddock in casper wyoming.
twelve portraits ~ february
my portrait this month is one i’ve longed to create since i first saw this dazzling display of dreadlocks & i’ve been patient in waiting for the right time to ask … for a time when i felt strong and courageous – when that spirit inside couldn’t be contained. so today, it was a feather lovingly placed in a beautiful nest of long locks twisted around in loops of half shape hearts that spoke and i answered. and with that, the grace of meeting hillary … a dancer who creates with fire. (no joke – she’s a fire dancer). so for this month, i decided to pair her portrait with hearts strung on a window looking out on snowflakes. sort of a metaphor of dreams…for in another time & place and with another head of hair… i’d have layers like hers to create with.
next….always a beautiful surprise with Ginger Haddock in Casper, WY.
Wells Blog
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