@home session
In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. Alex Haley
In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. Alex Haley
As I was headed onto a flight to NYC for a site visit on an event I''m working on, I had a call from this family to photograph their son's upcoming Bar Mitzvah that was taking place one week after I was returning from a week of work on another event with over 50,000 in attendance. (For those not in the know, my profession prior to photography was event management and I still pick up programs in tandem with photography clients). At any rate, they were very eager for the pre-Bar MItzvah home session and the only day we could manage between our schedules was the afternoon after my overnight flight across the country which landed at 6am. I was thankful to my husband for offering to drive; even though I'd had a nap, I was preserving everything I had to give to this family. On arrival I was greeted by warmth and conversation (and a welcome cup of coffee) and soon after, we began. I'm always so pleased when a family not only appreciates black and white photography, but knows how to dress for it (ie dark clothes tend to allow for a focus on hands and faces). We covered a range of activities that highlight their everyday time together - soccer, athletics, a silly family portrait they've taken since they had children, semi-formal portraits, fresh lemonade (as in the real lemons, sugar and water) - and then rehearsing for the Bar Mitzvah service. We ended our time together with an idea they had to look through old photo albums together. Their laughter, love, connection and joyfulness was a visible tonic. It was through them, and their beautiful spirits that I left lighter and brighter and refreshed.
Early Fall Bar Mitzvah | Marblehead
“September was a thirty-days long goodbye to summer, to the season that left everybody both happy and weary of the warm, humid weather and the exhausting but thrilling adventures.”
― Lea Malot
“September was a thirty-days long goodbye to summer, to the season that left everybody both happy and weary of the warm, humid weather and the exhausting but thrilling adventures.”
― Lea Malot
On a day when it felt more like late summer than early Fall with warm winds and a full moon high in the sky. A boy, basketball, his best friend, a sister he adores (though wouldn’t ever admit it) and parents who are in lock step with their children. That’s where we began with this family on a beautiful warm early Fall evening outside over a game of basketball. They shared stories and exchanged affectionate humor. There was a lot of laughing (and eye rolling in jest) and a studied “model” pose kind of face which I personally admired during portraits. When we headed back inside and they sat on the floor immersed in conversation, time felt like a beautiful pause. The story of this family continued on the morning of the ceremony surrounded by a swirl of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. After a short rehearsal and portraits, I left and returned for the first emotions transitioning to lunch. We ended that evening at a brilliant Party at an art gallery complete with a DJ, dancing & Hora. As the first in this family, this is a story of emotions and expressions of gratitude and pride, of traditions new and old bound up with laughter and love.
THE STORY IN A BOOK
A SELECTION OF FAVORITES
Service held at Temple Emanuel in Marblehead and Party at RAW Artworks in Lynn.
family documentary part one - the move
Any time I see an inquiry from my website, my heart skips I beat. Silly maybe, but I'm sincerely touched that there's a person out there in the world who took a moment to look through my work and felt moved enough to reach out.
Any time I see an inquiry from my website, my heart skips I beat. Silly maybe, but I'm sincerely touched that there's a person out there in the world who took a moment to look through my work and felt moved enough to reach out. So when this particular inquiry happened to be from a documentary filmmaker, I was pretty much silenced. (which doesn't happen that often!)
Of course I immediately went to look at her films ... and discovered a kindred spirit. Her films explore deep and difficult subjects told with dignity and heart. So learning she chose me to document her family because she feels the art in what I create actually made me cry.
As her family was in the midst of transition - moving from an apartment that's been in her husband's family for some time (as in many in his family have lived here at one time or another), the home they made together on their return from her time in Ireland where she's pursuing an MFA in film studies, the tiny space they're leaving to start a new life in their first home, she wanted this part included.
So I arrived the day of the move a few hours before they picked up the truck to document the chaos and the quiet spaces in between those. We covered a lot in a little bit of time - the last breakfast, a quiet moment on the couch, silliness and the last time in the pool, and a little when the truck arrived (which by that time, had affected the older of the two children).
While it is always a privilege to be chosen by what is a crowded field of talent in the world today, I guess being selected by one with a learned eye and an artists heart gave me a much needed lift. So here is a selection that tells the story of moving.
L'avenir, comme tout le reste, est pas ce qu'il était
The future, like everything else, is not what it used to be. ~ Paul Valery
The future, like everything else, is not what it used to be. ~ Paul Valery
The French Riviera, Nice
And so I watched the television screen replay the video while tears fell from my eyes and my heart cracked into a different kind of grief broken only by pauses of silent shock as it was a little less than one year ago today that I had a chance to spend three weeks in a paradise of blue and white light that bounces and reflects a warm radiance. A mythical city where each impression was a lyrical sensation - the language, the food, the people, the art, the antiquity in the modernity. I was struck by the care given to something as humble as a baguette and coffee, for the simple pleasure of sitting under the awning of a cafe lingering in timelessness - no particular place to be at any particular time sans agenda.
While my time in Nice wasn't particularly an easy one given the task I was there to fulfill, I was warmed by a beautiful group of people who embraced me in a way I hadn't expected. I was surprised by a rise of internal independence and a voice that had long gone silent finding it's way out into the world. On fragile wings I navigated this beautiful city in an ordinary way: walking the streets, sitting in outdoor cafes, strolling on the Promenade de Anglais, afternoon time at the beach to immerse in the sea and delighting in the simple pleasure of a meal. I had no phone to preoccupy me, no book or newspaper nor could I speak the language. I only had my senses to work with and my camera and pen/paper to relay and preserve my impressions.
So what has happened in Nice ripped through me in a way I cannot describe. And after ensuring the safety of those I adore who live in the city, I went to the photographs which I've never shown as a whole. As a way of extending love and my own little flower on an altar of prayer, I felt a need to share images from my time both in color and black and white. For this is the city I had the great fortune to spend time in and a place I will return to again.
This is the city of Nice. A jewel that shines in the heart of the French Riviera.
In color
and black and white
long weekend in maine
I had just come off of a rather stressful event project the first time I visited Maine and I will never forget the ride to there from Boston.
I had just come off of a rather stressful event the first time I visited Maine and I will never forget the ride to there from Boston. As the miles ticked by, so did all the burden's I'd carried over many months. And by the time I arrived, I felt I'd escaped into neverland.
Solstice Full Moon, York Maine - 2016
The ten days in Southern Maine actually led to the decision to move. A decision that arose after a day on Ogunquit Beach . As I sat on a patio having a snack, lingering over the last bits of sunshine, a ladybug flew onto my hand and being their significance in our world, I took it as a sign of all that had been blowing through my brain. I'm not sure what it is about Maine, or the Southern part we frequent, but there is something decidedly different. The pace is a little slower, my heart is a bit more open and appreciative, and everything just feels a little simpler and softer. So took advantage of an offer to spend a long weekend and left the world for four long beautiful days. Awakening early each morning with coffee on a deck surrounded by tall trees, time on an empty beach as it wasn't yet high season, and walks along the ocean does something to a person's soul in a good way. That our short visit happened to coincide with a solstice sun and full moon was icing on the cake. I guess there's a reason for the sign as we cross over the border from New Hampshire: Maine - The Way Life Should Be.
a summer bar mitzvah
"I found a fruitful world, because my ancestors planted it for me. Likewise I am planting for my children." ~ Talmud, Taanit 23a
"I found a fruitful world, because my ancestors planted it for me. Likewise I am planting for my children." ~ Talmud, Taanit 23a
The potato plant.
On the session at home a few weeks before the event, I learned that the Bar Mitzvah boy to be had planted a potato and from it, sprouted a plant. And as were but in the first weeks of summer before Solstice), I felt a profound symbolism in this little plant.
His story is one of family ... and friends he's known since he was a little; it is a collage of sports and music and science and community. A personality that is at once both public and private striking the right balance between outer and inner.
We wove a few of the day-to-day goings on in at home and a few weeks later, came together again on the Bar Mitzvah day for portraits at the Temple, family portraits at the venue and a few details of the setting. I have no words to describe my experience inside Temple Ohabei Shalom ....along the lines of what it translates to - Lovers of Peace. Being surrounded by extended family who gathered to celebrate this milestone ... the laughter, the love, the traditions. Our time together ended two days later at the brunch - a gathering that told the story of how exhausting a rich experience can be. I chose a sample of images to share with the collection of them being custom designed into a larger book that tells the story of the people, the places, the moments, the experience and the boy that was and is now a man.
I am always moved by those who choose me to cover this particular event for I am deeply moved by the emotions and nuances, the preservation of customs, and the profound symbolism this day marks.
The sample of images shown will be folded into the collection and presented in a custom designed book
belongings & belonging
This year's annual project with two schools and the local art museum titled Belongings and Belonging.
This year's project with students from Cohen Hillel Academy & Salem Academy Charter School in partnership with the Peabody Essex Museum concluded in wrapping up a year long examination considering how our belongings connect to our identities, our cultures and our values.
What do our belongings reveal about who we are, what we do, and what we value? How are our belongings similar to those of others? How do our belongings differ than the ones owned by young people across town or a century ago?
Guided by these questions and PEM’s Connecting Community philosophy to “present and interpret works of art and culture in ways that connect art to the world,” this project linked two communities of learners who would not otherwise have a way to meet one another and get to know each other’s stories.
My role was similar to prior years (2015, 2014) in that I photographed each session to show the interaction between the student's and the lessons while highlighting the connections between them and the community that evolved. For this year's program, the student's were asked to bring in special belongings that gave insights to their identity, and I photographed in a few ways - one of their object and a portrait of them with their object. All portraits of their objects were taken at a downward angle as I wanted to show their feet as shoes reveal another aspect of identity. For the portrait of them with their object, they were free to pose in any way they wanted to express their personality. Lastly I took a simple portrait of each student and only asked that they cross their arms and lean against a wall.
The collection of photographs was once again designed into a book alongside insights and thoughts from the students and the photographs were displayed at a final class session held at the Peabody Essex Museum.
first year of life story | salem, ma
Born at a time of year when everything muted suddenly fills with color, her entrance was a breath of spring air ...
Born at a time of year when everything muted suddenly fills with color, her entrance was a breath of spring air and the opening of a peony - fragrant and delicate, soft and wrapped in layers of joy. This is the first year story of a beautiful star child filled with an eternal smile, the soul of a sage and a heart that bursts with the radiance of a tiny laughing Buddha.
Signature 12x12 inch Book printed with a beautiful linen cover.
surprise birthday | brookline, ma
One of the best parts in working with others is remaining connected and after documenting their wedding years ago, ...
One of the best parts in working with others is remaining connected and after documenting their wedding years ago, I was happy to accept the opportunity to document yet another milestone - that of Michael's 40th birthday. Planned by Claudia as a surprise that included parents and family from across the country and surrounded by local friends, it landed with complete disbelief and a warm embrace.
Held in an exquisite home of a talented artist who's beautiful work graced the walls alongside inspirational elements that were simply fascinating. As a bonus, we were all able to see the Claudia's design for an extension of the kitchen onto a back yard deck. But the true highlight of it all outside of seeing his parents and family, were the expressions and embraces, the connection of family and friends, and the memory of this beautiful afternoon.
at two
They say there's always a first and after spending time with this little over the first year of her life, I was sad to see this little bit of shyness with the camera that turned into more of a terror.
They say there's always a first and after spending time with this little over the first year of her life, I was sad to see this little bit of shyness with the camera that turned into more of a terror.
But once she understood it was her I was looking at (and that she could see herself), things settled down. These were taken as a make up of sorts in a special vintage dress for her Baptism; a dress and coat that was given to her Mother by a friend who wore this same outfit at her Baptism in 1950. The tailoring and well made craftsmanship of this dress with its large bow on the back, puffy sleeves and full skirt speaks to another age and time. We opted to forego anything seriously formal as these best fit her personality. For one who brings such lightness and love into the world, I can only wish her the happiest of birthdays - this year, at two.
at home on a pond near the woods
The day-to-day in mid-summer with a three year old might look something like this ... a deck filled with toys, a silly question and the dog simply worn out.
The day-to-day in mid-summer with a three year old might look something like this ... a deck filled with toys, a silly question and the dog simply worn out.
A friend with a kind heart and a girl with a beautiful spirit, I wanted to share the joy these two share together in the everyday at home. We took advantage of their location overlooking a pond and the proximity of the woods nearby. While the portraits were a little trickier in holding one this little still, we got a natural exchange that involved a kiss on the cheek. Here was our day together.
living in color | new mexico
The path to this week-long story of photographs started the year before in creating a lifestyle website for Michelle and an ensuing need for photographs ...
The path to this week-long story of photographs started the year before in creating a lifestyle website for Michelle and an ensuing need for photographs - in particular, portraits of her surfing. And as she'd learned how to surf in on the seacoast of New Hampshire, she decided to travel to New England. One year later, and a need for new photographs, a refreshed website and a new food and wisdom website which she was launching the following year, Michelle decided it was time for me to travel to her home in Albuquerque for a week-long documentary featuring all the elements of her life - her dogs, entertaining, food, writing, cooking, restaurants, grocery shopping, her faith and her love of sports - golf, tennis and swimming. Additionally, we wove in a fair number of portraits and stock images of her home and surroundings. While I've opted to pull just a few of the many presented, I can only say I hope this opportunity presents itself again. Traveling to a new area, being inspired by different surroundings ... and for me, working primarily in color - it's a project I'd take again in a heartbeat.
springtime in february
While a gift to have a 70 degree day on the first of February (particularly given the series of storms last year at this time), it is a most likely the result of the changing climate with confused seasons and an unpredictable forecast.
While a gift to have a 70 degree day on the first of February (particularly given the series of storms last year at this time), it is a most likely the result of the changing climate with confused seasons and an unpredictable forecast. To say it was impossible to remain indoors was an understatement, particularly when there's a deep awareness that this isn't going to last.
boat and lines | marblehead, ma, 2016
paradise 2016
Being as I'm not a winter person, I'm fortunate that one of my most revered persons in the world happens to live in Southwest Florida.
Being as I'm not a winter person, I'm fortunate that one of my most revered persons in the world happens to live in Southwest Florida. Like birds that migrate, I would head there December first and return to New England for spring. As it is, I am lucky to visit for week to ten days.
Self Portrait in Bonita Springs, Florida - 2016
As this visit seems to free my photographer's spirit, I came away with images that stirred up the inspiration I long for in the dead of winter. I returned to shadows and tried to create images I felt. I explored with different techniques with an easy pace. I'm rather pleased with the range of expressions (and a few shadow silhouettes for my portfolio). As a bonus, I was able to visit with a photographer friend this year; and tho I tend to get a bit anxious each time I meet with a fellow creative, we packed a lot of miles into our conversation despite the short visit. So here are my impressions from my time in paradise.
impressions of art
When you're working on a film, it's almost like photographing paintings at a museum. ...
When you're working on a film, it's almost like photographing paintings at a museum. You're photographing somebody else's world. I just try and interpret it and make it real, and make it what the actors are about, what the director is about, and what the film is about.
Mary Ellen Mark
dancing pony | fred jones museum of art, norman ok
I wasn't raised with art nor was it an area discussed or taught in school. I actually had the sense that artists were viewed with suspicion; perceived with a condescending sneer or irrelevance; opinions most likely shaped by fear and discomfort with a pinch of underlying envy. There was a pervading (resigned) definition of “work” and art certainly wasn't in that category. It was something that lived on the fringes – something you might see in New York City; something others did, but in our little hive, it just simply wasn’t part of the pervading culture.
All these thoughts flashed through my head in my first Art History class. I remember feeling desperately uncomfortable and out of place. Yet once the lights were turned off and the first slide presented, the conflict that raged inside dissipated. I remember being carried onto a current of insatiable curiosity - enamored and possessed. I was so taken with Egyptian art that I painted hieroglyphs on pretty much everything - clothing, walls, canvas. When I couldn't visually understand the early Christian Cathedrals, I drew the floorplans; carefully mirroring each detail and curve to see the underlying structure. And when we arrived at early Flemish and then Dutch art, I found a peaceful intuitive understanding; like when you meet a person you feel you’ve known your entire life. I spent long days and nights in the Old Stacks sections of the library and in the Art Library on the floor looking at art. Pouring over paintings, etchings, woodcuts, sculpture and photographs. I couldn’t get enough of it and within a few years, I took a deep breath and changed my major to photography and art history.
I mention this all as my coming into art was like the first blossoms of spring which bring a burst of color into a dreary grayness. Art opened my eyes to the long view and while criticism abounds on the housing of art in museums and those who decide what is and isn’t worth showing, the feeling I have in a museum is no different than that first day in art history. I feel transported to another time and place of being and seeing and knowing. The narrowness of the day-to-day slides into a cosmic vastness for art is much more than an object; it is about life and living and stories of a particular place and time; at its core, it is a self-portrait. Over the years I've traveled to and visited museums whenever and wherever. I've been to the large ones and small ones and with each experience, I have felt swept into a time tunnel; a beautiful vortex that leaves me clear and inspired.
Though I didn’t’ feel the pull to photograph my wanderings through art museums until about five years ago, I've been quietly tucking them away enjoying them on my own. Recently, I took an afternoon and looked at them together. I began with words from Mary Ellen Mark in how she approached photographing on a film set because that's how these have surfaced. What I see in the photographs are quiet meditations of an enchanting solace - still, silent impressions of timelessness. I've chosen to share a few from a larger series I hope to present later this year.
Winter Bar Mitzvah | Newton, MA
From a session at home a few weeks before and a rehearsal a few days before to the party and the brunch.
I'm not a boy now. I'm a man, I hope. I hope I've had my artistic bar mitzvah somewhere.
Jeremy Piven
When asked by this Mom if I’d document her son’s Bar Mitzvah, I was speechless - I’m not Jewish and hadn’t ever photographed a Bar Mitzvah before, and I hold her work and our past collaborations together in high regard. But after thinking about it a little more, the story I envisioned was rather beautiful - one that wove the threads of what life is right now stitched together with the formal and celebratory aspects; pictures that expressed a story of the transition. I was fortunate to be met with an open enthusiastic ear and together we collaborated on a plan.
This story began late afternoon on a beautiful winter light day to document life at home weaving activities, hobbies, interests and day-to-day interactions. Given the centrality of hockey in their lives, we began with street hockey, took a break with smoothies and then documented a long awaited family tradition - creating the ice rink in the back yard. We followed with casual portraits of everyone together and then of the boy in his own world and ended the day with the more formal elements or rehearsing and a Bar Mitzvah portrait.
I returned a week or so later to photograph the practice rehearsal and while I'd planned to document the party, mother nature decided to drop a nor'easter which impeded my ability to actually get to the location (and yes, I was horrified). While I was able to use guest photos of the Hora in the book, I photographed the gathering the following morning at the Brunch in a relaxed gathering of warmth and love - and the first time of hockey in their cousins back yard.
Since this initial Bar Mitzvah, I've been thankful to receive a steady stream of commissions. In each I feel a deeper connection to the grace of spiritual values, the magic of this special rite of passage, and the importance in documenting the story.
THE BOOK
A SELECTION OF FAVORITES
mfa + boston
I believe art is like exercise and diet - once you stop moving, the old habits surface and in too short of a time, all the forward progress retreats at an alarmingly fast rate.
I believe art is like exercise and diet - once you stop moving, the old habits surface and in too short of a time, all the forward progress retreats at an alarmingly fast rate. It's much easier to grasp this in terms of dance or athletics for without daily stretching, the muscles tighten and the drive to push past a known limit dissolves. It's a metaphor I see with photographing. While sometimes the spaces in between can offer rest and inspiring insights, too much time away often leaves me unable to be present for I'm more eager to find something spectacular rather than enjoying the moment. While all this surfaced during a visit into Boston to see the Class Distinctions exhibit at the MFA, this time, I was willing to stand in the undertow of with compassion and rejoice in the moments that appeared.
hope | mfa, 2016
the art lesson | mfa boston, 2016
digital jukebox, conversation with imaginary friend | boston, 2016
the sketch
I am without words to aptly put the year behind into some kind of focus ... let alone a context to all the life that's been lived.
I am without words to aptly put the year behind into some kind of focus ... let alone a context to all the life that's been lived. Given the tendency at this time of year to make sense of what’s past, I think we are naturally inclined to understand our truths; to thoughtfully reflect on what felt like triumphs; to make sense of those times when the shadows were a little darker and days felt a little heavy. That by doing so, perhaps we can infuse what lies ahead into a mirage we cling to in our minds - that bit of nirvana we hope and pray for in our day to day. But when I think back to the bits I remember of last year at this time in thinking about the year ahead, I can only recall a desire to sense an impression - to sketch an outline instead of a shape. Yes I had hopes and wishes and goals yet they were trivialities in the grand scope of the review mirror for I could not have even in my wildest imagined all I've experienced. So on the second to last day of this year, I am reviewing all that was; retracing the steps, recalling the sights and sounds, the faces and places and spaces ... the seeds of last year's grains cast to the wind for the year ahead.
the little tree
It was the first week of December and i still hadn't figured out what to do for a holiday card.
It was the first week of December and i still hadn't figured out what to do for a holiday card. Tho I've accepted a need to be in the month to feel that special something in the air, i am still learning to let go and trust in the process. And yet on the day i planned to take a drive along the coast with a friend (with a hope of finding an image in the back of my mind), the great muse in the sky saw fit to fill this particular day with a mystical fog and mist; two elements that inspire my art seeking soul, and I knew there was a very special picture out there for me that day. I'd actually planned to take one from the Beverly seashore with a view back to Salem and it was here that i saw this little tree perched on the fence overlooking a calm harbor with the stacks from the power plant (which three years later are dismantled) barely visible in the background. Yes, this was the picture which pleased my heart. It was the one for the card, but more than that, it's one that lingered well after the month had passed and sparked an interest in finding little trees each year.
Little Tree & Salem Power Plant taken from Beverly, MA | 2012
As we were in Florida early to mid December the following year, I saw these three little trees nestled among the palms. Though a little too busy for a card, and not as "little" a tree as I'd hoped for, it was the image for the year for by the time we returned and acclimated, the spirit of the season had somewhat transitioned into the new year vibe.
Three trees at the Edison House Fort Meyers, FL | 2013
Last year's image surfaced in the most unremarkable location by day; by night, its presence was sweetly magical.
Spiraling Tree with Star, Salem, MA | 2014
This year, I saw one that like last years, had the right vibe at night. While it worked for the card, I'm still in an inspired search. And in that, I thought of seeing what i could do with staging my own little tree.
Little tree & Spotlight, Marblehead, MA | 2015
So I selected a sweet little fir in a red stand and gave it a try. It provided an afternoon of enjoyment, sparked inquiry from a child on the beach and others walking on the trail and may offer a few more afternoons of interest. But I can't deny a sense of feeling like i'm cheating ... or perhaps that this is a side series. For part of the allure of the Little Tree is the discovery .... it is the experience of a process, the time and persistence, and in that (for me) is the gift.
Little (Staged) Tree at Winter Island, Salem MA | 2015
for love
After many years of hearing stories about this particular family of a close friend, I finally had the opportunity to meet them.
After many years of hearing stories about this particular family of a close friend, I finally had the opportunity to meet them. Though it was bittersweet for this trip was supposed to include their "ma" who wanted to gather her children in Dublin to visit Boston and the one who lives here though sadly, she suddenly left our world too soon last summer. The family still came together for a long weekend together here in the city. And I was able to get this one little portrait of a few of them together.
Wells Blog
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