Lookout Circle

It's Getting Pretty Theatrical

2012-01-27T10:15:00.002-05:00

It's theatre time over here. Pushing and pulling, pressing against the dimensions. Overwhelmed and wondering: where is my assistant with the seltzer water and sipping straw? I'm thirsty.

The bridemaid dress here, worn by the amazingly inventive Lindsay, is pulled from a sequence I'm combining into a little choreographed moment of movement. Titling the images was a verbfest: pushing, leaning, bending, reaching, sitting, curling.

Now I'm working on writing one word per image to lay down syncopation for the movement.

Fingers crossed, ladies and gentlemen. Fingers crossed.

Two for Tuesday: Warming Up

2012-01-24T08:37:00.002-05:00

It's been raining and January raw outside and this twosome of warming sneakers seems well suited for the week we've just had in North Carolina.

I found this twosome leaning up against the radiator one day in Amsterdam, huddled and touching at the tip. I felt instantly struck by the composition with its lovely geometry, painterly and pure. The patterning on the rubber soles only added to the shapeliness of line. I also love how large these sneakers are. Massive really- size 12, 13 maybe. The shoes belonged to some man walking around in socks who has some seriously big feet.

Closer to home, I live in a house with old-time radiators and love warming up my undies and socks in the morning as I shower and get ready for the day. Warmed up clothes feel delicious. Warm shoes, though, what a super yummy idea.

Open the Window

2012-01-23T08:55:00.000-05:00

Some words of Taoist wisdom for the start of the work week, with an interpretation by Bruce Lee.

You can never invite the wind, but you must leave the window open.

You can never force a great photograph to happen. You can only be ready to capture it.

If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.
Love Life – Go photograph now!

Blowing It Out

2012-01-21T09:52:00.002-05:00

Here's a photograph from yesterday's shoot that didn't work out but I still love.

This series has an alter ego which is super blurry and suggestive and merely hints at the details. I figure part of what makes me love this messy frame is that I know what's really going on. For others it's probably just a riddle.

Here's a clue: the light source is a sparkler.
Here's another: the story is about greeting the new millennium.

Hope everyone finds a little sparkle this weekend.

Getting Ready

2012-01-19T17:24:00.002-05:00

The act of getting ready, getting organized, getting my shit together is defining my days and nights. This morning I woke up at 2:30. I refused to leave my bed, but the thoughts churned around like a fan was blowing on them.

It's been hitting me just how much stuff I've made.

S O M U C H S T U F F

This image comes from a sequence I'm building based on getting dressed/undress, zipped/unzipped.

Check out the textured fabric; it's a dream, even in black and white.

Details, Details

2012-01-18T10:30:00.003-05:00

Vladimir Nabokov said to caress the details and that's exactly what I've been up to here this week.

Finding my way into the little bits and pieces, looking over my to-do list that's got so many items on it I woke up today at 4 in the morning.

Thanks to Julia for all she brought to the shoot and to the pixies who seem to have planted atmosphere and breath into this image. And thanks to Rebecca, who makes me think and think and begin to see how the pieces need to go together.

Two for Tuesday: Heading Somewhere

2012-01-17T12:18:00.005-05:00

Random twosomes are intriguing. Paired and related, but unconnected and singular. Here's a pair of people waiting for the train. Both standing on the platform, both about to board the same train; aside from those obvious similarities their unity divides.

She with the jazzy blue and pink suitcase is embarking on a different trip than the man to her right, who carries only his messenger bag. The man leans against the lamp post, legs crossed, calm and relaxed, ready to hop on the train destined, it seems, for the the same old same old. The woman, her head craning left, peers down the track, anticipating, eager or anxious to begin her trip to who can say where.

Maybe it's the metaphor of train tracks, but the journey always pulls me in, makes me wonder, raises questions about destinations and what's next. Personally, I like both stances - the easygoing familiar and the awakened new.

Twisted Wedding

2012-01-14T16:17:00.002-05:00

The tale of my wedding is a mighty twisted one

Tensions ran high

Some serious monkey business went on

Trees grew inside the house

Outside, crushed lightbulbs glittered in the green lawn

Fortunately, when I look back, my wedding is a murky remembrance

full of mood but few details, an experience way far away

a lot like this image appears back where the hand meets the wall

and the unbuttoned lace sleeve dangles in the shadow

(Didn't intend the prose poem. But the text started pouring in centered and I liked the look.)

Perform @ SECCA: A Dozen Dresses | Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art

2012-01-13T15:58:00.000-05:00

Okay, so here's the first official invite I'm posting. Come on out to SECCA, Thursday Feb. 9th.

Perform @ SECCA: A Dozen Dresses | Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art

Not Exactly

2012-01-11T17:09:00.000-05:00

Okay, so things don't always turn out the way you think they will. We know this by now, of course. But when things are malfunctioning and falling apart as they were last night during a shoot, I just quit while I was ahead and shifted gears. Gave up on plan A, threw one dress down, found another, turned on some lights, grabbed the secret element that produces the smoky look you see here and exhaled. Voila.

I don't love a lot of things about aging, but I do like that I now know how to surrender more quickly and move on.

Two for Tuesday: Duet Going Nowhere

2012-01-10T08:39:00.000-05:00

Here is a scene played out in countless cities - the street musicians parked by a busy train station. This twosome seated outside Amsterdam's central train station played Klezmer music, lively and buoyant and a complete contradiction to the vibe they put off, which seemed cold and defeated.

The older man, sitting by the poster for the torture museum (it's impossible to read here, I know) looks out at the indifferent passing crowd with a dastardly distain. Even if you wanted to put money in their small suitcase lined with a folded purple towel, the fox-like look on papa's face seems too menacing to step that close.

I've always been fascinated by people who work in jobs where everyone else is going somewhere - toll booth attendants, airport employees, train station concessionaires. All those hundreds and thousands of people on their way somewhere else and you, the person stuck in one place, watching everyone moving, leaving, heading out.

And Light Was Served

2012-01-09T14:27:00.002-05:00

Got back into playing around yesterday. The rough drafts started my blood flowing again.

The resolution for my new year: get looser and make more.

Cheers to experimenting more and embracing a happy go lucky, why worry approach to creating.

When I pulled together the elements for these images, I had no clue the sparkles would light up that way, and I sure didn't count on that circle of light imprinting a halo onto our scene pictured in the image below.

Always grateful for the light.

Back in the Closet

2012-01-06T15:30:00.001-05:00

Ahhhh, I'm feeling a tad shaky. This week I jumped back into the dresses and recollections, became preoccupied with something called a forthcoming engagement. For over a year now, I've had my head in the closet working on a new series and I'm about to come out.

Until now, I've written grants about The Recollection, my series of stories and images. I've collaborated with people and spaces, turning stories into theatrical snapshots. And I've privately shared bits and pieces at friendly gatherings and portfolio reviews. But to step fully out of the closet - that's a whole nother thing. Februrary 9th at SECCA I will share stories and photographs from this personal body of work.

Right now I'm fantasizing about sudden illnesses and/or wintry mixes.

The story of The Recollection started off innocently enough with a dance to the Pussycat Dolls' song Buttons. From there, it's been a ride and a half. The stories brought me back in time in ways that were funny and bitter-tasting, embarrassing, melancholic and beautiful.

The past is so big, you know. It opens a world. It provides linearity and order and yet stirs up a emotional wind that blows time on its ticking head.

I leave you with one parting thought.

This week I watched a TED talk with Brene Brown, a social worker, who spoke about vulnerability. She said people who have the courage to be imperfect, to be vulnerable, approach life in a more wholehearted way. "What made them vulnerable made them who they are," she said. "It made them beautiful. There was a willingness to do something with no sense of outcome."

Two for Tuesday: Floating First Days

2012-01-03T13:15:00.003-05:00

Found this arresting twosome in a window one night recently. Floating feet; two soles pressing against glass or water or fabric or, possibly, all three.

A pair of feet is so familiar, but not from this angle. And not in a store window at Christmas. Look at the way the ankle begins to move into the calf before disappearing, the way the whole body seems suggested. It pulls me into a trance of wonder. The gesture becomes a portrait of beginning steps moving into the new year.

As I start writing in my new moleskin calendar, still reeling from the intoxicating blur of December, I'm feeling a little floaty myself. I'm not sure where I am anymore, or where exactly I'm going next.

I'm suspended...but getting ready to move. Yesterday afternoon, I cleared 12,000 images from the three bulletin boards across from my desk. The slate is blank. Lift off has begun.

Happiness 2012

2012-01-02T16:37:00.001-05:00

I heard something on the radio New Year's day that is lingering in my mind. A man said that instead of concerning ourselves with "the pursuit of happiness" we should let happiness catch up with us.

Let happiness catch up with us.

I like the idea that happiness is there if we slow down enough to experience it. It reminds me of this volunteer garden jutting out of the wooden fence. Happy without a plan or purpose or pursuit.

Ringing in 2012

2011-12-31T17:42:00.003-05:00

Wishing one and all a happy new year...hope it brings shiny interesting sounds into all our lives.

Portfolio Postscript, 2011, Part I

2011-12-29T19:30:00.003-05:00

In the weeds is the title that came to me here. It's a weird shot that might work. Creating the series (now called The Recollection) I've been messing up the foreground a little. My photos can be a tad too tidy. This image was made the day Hurricane Irene blew into town. Lots of wind and excitement. The long weeds waved and moved like currents in water.

The Portfolio Review in New Orleans ran round the clock from Friday morning until late Sunday afternoon. There's a lot to digest. The event felt BIG and WHIRLLY and included everything from an accidental karmic trip to the haute fashion show at the Ogden Museum to gumbo to a book art lecture to the main event - images.

Three quick lists -- what I got, what I didn't get, and what got that I didn't expect to get.

Got: subjective and confusing readings of my work. One liked this, the other that. Underneath the subjective stuff, I got that my work is divided into two expressions - more crisply focused documentary work and surreal dreamscapes. I am revising. I plan to lean hard into the dreamscapes.

Didn't Get: Clarity, contracts, fame, a mentor or a clear signal that pushing the work is worth so much hoo-hah. The outer world -- it can mess up these inner creations.

Got that I Didn't Expect to Get: A deadline extension. A patron in Pensacola, Florida. Several very talented and cool friends. And a look inside a woman's mouth to see the word LAUGH tattooed along her lower gum. She folded down her lip, unfurling her message that made us both laugh.

Final thought: be serious about the work, but don't take things too seriously. Laugh.

Two for Tuesday: Cutie Booty

2011-12-27T08:18:00.003-05:00

Two nameless beauties arrived at the house and met for the first time. They totally bonded when they discovered that just that day, just that morning in fact, they'd each found a vintage belt in a relative's closet.

The colorful, slightly Latin belt on the left, came from a grandma's stash. The one on the right, a western leather classic with name, came from a dad's holdovers.

Not all women will turn around and let you shoot their booty, but this twosome supports me through and through, and, let's be real -- they have nothing to hide front or back!!

The Vision x Two

2011-12-26T16:08:00.003-05:00

Watch out, ladies and gentleman, here comes the IT woman.
She's coasting down the cobblestone on a bike freshly painted green. Flowers flopping out of the basket. Boots up for anything. A pair of reading glasses, wrapped around her black fur collar, dangling with the unlikely elegance of a necklace.

The woman is aging with her groove still in tact. This is my dream too. I just love having her as a model, a mirror, a muse.

At the time I took the photograph, I didn't expect to see my inner dream realized. All I was hoping for was a classic Dutch bike rider gliding down one of Amsterdam's classic bridges. I'd waited at the base of the bridge, waiting for car traffic to clear and a biker to show up.

The sculpture on the left isn't anything I noticed at the time. But once I did, I fell in love with the man with the wooly mustache named Multatuli. The name is Indonesian and fun to say (try).

I thought, maybe, like the lady on the bike, this man who appeared in the frame might also have something to teach me. I googled him. Turns out, Multatuli was a wit, a poet, and a visionary. Here's a quote that kind of says it all: There isonly one evil, one crime, one sin: lack of heart.

Two for Tuesday: Thing One & Thing Two

2011-12-20T08:17:00.002-05:00

Here's a twosome that stopped me in my tracks while window shopping at an outdoor mall in Holland last week. I mean, really. Those blondish white Afros so big and puffy they shade the mannequins' eyes. The irritated lips. All that scrawling text with no spaces and no easy way to comprehend what's being written across their wiry, athletic bodies.

They reminded me of a 21st century, tricked out version of the dynamic duo from Dr. Seuss, Thing One and Thing Two.

Ho, Ho, Ho in Dutch

2011-12-19T16:36:00.005-05:00

So here's a seriously jolly scene from Amsterdam. Mister Ho Ho Ho himself standing by hunks of cheese, legs apart, smiling out the window at the passersby such as yours truly. Check out the quality of his shirt - that weave and lace hemline- and his silky beard.

More images and stories from my time away in The Netherlands, a country that sounds like a novel.

Tricky Move

2011-12-08T19:51:00.001-05:00

Had to share this cool moment teaching at Forest Park Elementary School.

This was the beginning of a move in which the ball rolled from hand to hand with a sweep around the shoulders along the way. Very cool. And just about as cool....a fourth grade student made this photograph.

Love the chance to teach and see what happens.

Here She Goes

2011-12-07T19:01:00.001-05:00

Heading to my first portfolio review in less than 72 hours.
Taking off, but not quite there.
Maybe I'm projecting slightly, but there's an anticipation in the shoulders here suggesting that what's expected could go either way.
I can relate to the frozen inhaled breath.
There's no sure thing, but giving into hope seems a good way to look ahead.

Here's to The Recollection.

Two for Tuesday: Boa Love

2011-12-06T16:11:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving day my special friend Hermione and her family came visiting. At some point I began digging in the dress ups and found some festive holiday ware. We are a twosome lost in the glam and tickle of feathers, feeling ever so fluffy and delicious. Girls will be girls, you know.

The Details

2011-12-03T19:42:00.001-05:00

Thinking and rethinking and revising and revisiting. It's a wonderful process of discovery. You pick the place, get there, unpack your bags, walk the sidewalks, hike the trails, smell the smells, eat the food, and then discover what's underneath the first impression.

This image is a piece plucked from an edit. It may work. Not sure about that, but I do like the leg and the elbow and the left right wave of fabric.

Francis Ford Coppola said a writer should write without editorial consideration. Don't even look at the words for 30 days, he said. Just drive the highway headlights on, no rearview in sight. Write and wait. I'm extrapolating here, embellishing a tad. But still, good advice. Coppola also said something I agreed with so much, I grabbed a pen to scribble it down: "Rewriting is just the middle name of writing."

Thanks to Blake and Ronnie for today and the moment that led to this discovery.

Two for Tuesday: Lean on Me

2011-11-29T17:09:00.001-05:00

This father and son twosome has a comfort level I want to breathe into me. I want to inhale that easy closeness, that restful love.

It looks like this pair has taken a break by the side of the road a hundred million times and always ended up this way: father leaning onto the handlebars, son leaning onto his father's warm back with arms, face, belly and smile.

Am I crazy or does it look like the boy is smiling with all parts of his body, even his ears?

I will close by sending love to my son on his birthday. From afar, I celebrate the affection that seems to run through him as naturally as air. Sweet boys are a gift to all.

Behind the Curtain, Part Two

2011-11-27T14:25:00.001-05:00

Another version of the curtain shot. There's something Shakespearean in this three part play that moves left to right, from beginning to middle to end.

In the story about my maternity dress, I conclude rather sweetly after an otherwise bawdy, unsentimental remembrance of pregnancy and one Out of Africa regrettable linen smock. The words came as a surprise when I wrote them, but they seemed exactly right when I read them.

My current body is no longer that body, but the dress contains the shape of my life's most surprising and satisfying creations. My children. This pleated maternity dress is a curtain that opened the stage to my blessings, my daughter and my son.

Behind the Curtain, Part One

2011-11-27T14:13:00.001-05:00

Okay, so here's a lovely black and white with an appealing wholeness, an organized looseness, a sequence of folding fabrics moving across the horizon in thirds, moving like a woman's pregnancy.

The deep black contrast wrapping her shape feels like a force to me. On this day, at this moment, I'm in love with the portrait. It's neat and natural and full of shapes.

Obsessing

2011-11-26T08:39:00.001-05:00

It's obsession time with this series of photographs. I am getting completely lost in deciding which image is the strongest, most compelling, inviting and suggestive and not too literal as to shut down the horizon of imagination. Even that last sentence with its check-listy sound reveals the depths of my excessive expectations.

Could be a good thing.

In a two weeks, a bunch of "experts" will be looking over this collection of photographs. I'm heading to my first portfolio review. Going to let these items from the closet step outside into the world. Going to see what others see. Going to need a strong center.

Thanks, once again, to the ever delightful and growing Jamie L. for helping with my revision and believing in the project. Her son doesn't yet know how amazing his mom is. He's one lucky guy!

Two for Tuesday: Hitting the Road

2011-11-22T07:16:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is on the mind this week, and I'm feeling mighty grateful. And, yes, I'm grateful for twosomes, duality, pairs, couples, and all things twinned. Spotting this hilarious duo pulled over on the LA highway is a moment that fills my simple little heart with gratitude.

The helmets, the glasses, the muscles, the opened mouth, the eyes trained on the road in front, that leftward stare. For looking so serious, this twosome is comedy on wheels.

Hope you all have a good holiday and remember: keep your eye on the road - you might find something surprising and wondrous.

Loving Damask

2011-11-17T17:39:00.001-05:00

I missed this little moment shuffling through the images. Glad I took a second look.

Here's a quote that's floating through me lately. It's from novelist Colm Toibin.

"It seems that the essential impulse in working at all is to rehaunt your own house, or to allow what haunts you to have a voice, to chart what is deeply private and etched on the soul, and find form and structure for it."

Two for Tuesday: Sharing the Road

2011-11-15T16:27:00.001-05:00

On this balmy, weirdly, delightfully warm Tuesday in November, I took a long walk with a friend I hadn't seen in quite a while. We caught up, exercised, and took a short detour to stand under the Ginko tree on Runnymeade Road, which exploded with yellow leaves about three days ago. When you look up at that masterpiece of a tree, you see its intricate geometry, the patterning of its branches. It's a little Asian art in North Carolina.

But what am I going on about that for? It's Two for Tuesday.

I suppose it was walking with a friend that made me select this image today. I spotted these boys, about fifteen or sixteen years old, as they strolled at a leisurely pace at a national park this summer, not a car in sight. I walked a few paces behind.

My guess -- this twosome was probably unaware that they are wearing a uniform of friendship -- red tee shirt, black athletic shorts, flip flops.

Almost a Nun

2011-11-12T18:45:00.001-05:00

Except for one big thing, I could have been a nun in this outfit. The white pastoral collar, Sister Peter Pan.

Thanks to the game and playful Jamie L. She's just too good sitting in her perch at the top of the yellow slide, anticipating, about to begin down a chute leading to the world of children.

The world of children.

So happy that I slipped into that world.

Cinema

2011-11-10T15:19:00.001-05:00

What can I say other than this: I feel a French film coming on.

Two for Tuesday: Looking Together

2011-11-08T08:38:00.005-05:00

Like this twosome, I found the graphic sculpture to be a piece of art both absorbing and beautiful. The bubbly glass, the spinning circles, that delicious yellowy copper nucleus with the face inside. There was a lot to see. But then, after a spell, I found this silhouetted couple looking at the art just as intriguing as the work itself.

Several photographers, including North Carolinian John Rosenthal, have created series based on people looking at art in museums. I suppose all art is predicated on the third dimension - the viewer - and to see the art interacting with that force brings it to life in a new way.

Deep in the Woods

2011-11-06T12:29:00.001-05:00

Went to the bamboo fields this rainy Friday afternoon to conclude part two of my happy collaboration with Mizz L S maybe A for Ava.

Love this place, always have. Bamboo is a delicate beast, hollow and lean, the material used in making scaffolds, which, if you think about it a second, is a piece of equipment with no room for error.

Anyway, there's a lot to say about this shot, but for now just two things: it's always great to end work on a high note. There's a reason writers are advised to stop their day at the desk in the middle of a strong paragraph.

And, two, when we started photographing, I considered the fallen shoots something to avoid. I thought they made the forest less inviting since they crossed a bit chaotically. But the diagonal cut of this jungle is what invites us directly into the journey.

Okay, I lied. I have one more thing to say: the dress is a kiss blown into the air.

Plus/Minus

2011-11-03T15:08:00.004-04:00

The plus is that I met and married Mark, a man I loved then and love even more richly and completely today.
The minus is that the wedding dress I borrowed from my mother became a veil of conflict draped over me. It took me my surprise then. It still does.

I read in Twyla Tharp's fantastic manual for being an artist, The Creative Habit, the following thought that made me feel a little less nuts for diving so deeply into my past. "...the real secret of creativity is to go back and remember."

Many thanks to the divine Ms. L. and the subtle and fine R.W.

Two for Tuesday: Supplies

2011-11-01T11:25:00.003-04:00

This pair of mugs stuffed full of paint brushes looks like an inviting twosome. Together they seem to be happy dancers waiting for the music to start. I also like how the windowpane reflects the bristles and how those bristles blend in with the trees in the background.

When no one is looking, I've been known to run an unused paintbrush along my face. This may sound a tad strange to a guy, but for us ladies, it's not unlike applying a little blush along the cheekbones. I don't know about you, but adding that "touch" of color always feels good to me.

The Present Is a Screen

2011-10-28T12:42:00.001-04:00

I've been thinking about time all the time lately.
The blur of time. The bleed and blush of memories, the fade and focus, the porousness of time.
This image, which is just what I saw no fancy computer layering or pyrotechnics, sums up way time appears as I'm wrestling around with the past dresses in my closet. I'm making new images in the now using the prism of the then.

This week I discovered the remarkable South African photographer, Jo Ractliff. Love what she says about photography and time.

"It's like the present is a screen for something else, and that's what I'm trying to get in my pictures."

"I think documentary photography is not simply the freezing of a time of an event, but rather has the quality of being unceasingly involved with the totality of a time stretching endlessly and forever."

Two for Tuesday: Gotta Light

2011-10-25T09:22:00.000-04:00

Smokers huddled outside committing a societal sin together brings people close together on a lot of levels. Renegades are often closely bonded. This twosome seems to be in a race to light the man's cigarette first. He's striking a match and she's coming in with a smile and a flick of her lighter. I love this moment I came across outside Tatt Datt, a catchy sounding tattoo store in Melbourne, a city I pine for every time I dig into my photo archives.

A small detail you can't quite see -- the man is wearing an AC/DC tee shirt, a group that's a BIG deal in Australia. I'm not an expert on Australian music, but I think AC/DC and Olivia Newton-John are the only musicians to cross the oceans to climb the pop charts.

Wench Time, Part Two

2011-10-22T18:32:00.007-04:00

I promised y'all another look at the wench dress, so here we go. I could blather on about the ribbons, the buttons, the basic sexless look, but instead I'll include a short excerpt from the story:

I stood there,a twenty-two year old, newly minted college graduate, swallowed up and safe in mydress that, from his distance, probably appeared like a swatch of AndrewWyeth's hilly Maine landscape, a patch of Wyeth's late November grass.

The Finale

2011-10-20T09:34:00.000-04:00

At the end of nearly every photo session last week, my collaborator, Lindsay, and I ended up playing around with the props. Here's the rose toss, the final act in the high school graduation portrait. The shadow on the pillar pulls me in and I love the stretch of her feet and hands. Maybe it's because I was there, but this image seems to say, the end, the finale.

Two for Tuesday

2011-10-18T10:14:00.000-04:00

Sometimes a classic posed portrait is a sweet thing. I was wandering downtown when I spotted this twosome, this mother and son leaving Sunday evening services at Goler Memorial AME Zion Church. I got my nerve up and asked if I could make their picture. It's always a push to invade people's privacy, but I was taken with them.

For one thing, they looked so good and, more importantly, they had a cheerful feeling about them, each with their church bulletin rolled up in their hand. It turned out it was a special day, a birthday, and I just can't now remember who was celebrating. Seems they both were.

Strange But Familiar

2011-10-17T14:48:00.001-04:00

Here's a cast off image from an interesting experience at a country club. That may sound like an oxymoron, an improbability, but let's keep our minds opened, shall we?

Confession: I grew up belonging to two country clubs. It's not something I discuss or really think about much anymore. My parents joined a club for golf, which was essentially their club, and another club with tennis and salt water swimming where we the kids ran feral and free.

No wonder summer was my favorite season. I had a place to play without parents and fake paper money to order up food and drinks. Standing on the wet and sandy concrete floor by the snack bar feels as immediate as typing on this keyboard today.

Back to the image, though. This is from the dress story entitled My Father's 150th Birthday, which takes place at a country club. The figure off in the distance describes how strange but familiar a country club felt.

Thanks to the kind staff at O.T. C.C. for opening their doors to us.

It's So Embarrassing

2011-10-14T16:48:00.001-04:00

Some dresses are just so embarrassing you don't even want your face to show. Case in point is this green mistake I wore a long time ago when, of all things, I found my true love. Go figure.

Getting Dressed

2011-10-10T20:12:00.001-04:00

Something about zipping up a dress has always seemed like a beautiful thing. Unzipping is also a promising in its own way.

Thanks to J for allowing me into her space. Love the light there.
And thanks to L for bringing a light touch to every moment.

More to come...

Wench Time

2011-10-08T22:34:00.001-04:00

There's a lot of possibilities...that's pretty clear. This is from the wench work dress story, which was an over the top fashion no-no if ever there was one.

L & I had a ton of fun making this set come true. First day working together after a day of prep.

We hid, ducked our heads in the front seat of the car, eluded cars and trucks, and then, finally, came face to face with a woman in control who kindly accepted our idea of just another five minutes.

The mindful trespass for the comedic dejection is so worth it. Funnier ones to come.....

Outwitting Calamities

2011-10-05T14:19:00.000-04:00

Here's a shot from the window display I created this weekend at Associated Artists in Winston-Salem. I had a blast making it, working within a confined, proscribed, three dimensional space. I used some recent photographs as the starting point and then began building a set using props and materials from both portraits. Glass bottles, white cloth, twinkling lights and small mirrored squares from a disco ball.

Then I went a little nuts with a series of 6 images picked at random and printed 3 x 2 or 2 x 3. I hung those from ribbons that ran from hooks installed in the ceiling in a manner best described as willy nilly.

There's a great quote I came across this week from the self-portrait photographer, Arno Rafael Minkkinen. His words speak to my love of inviting chaos into frame.

To outwit the calamities, I have learned to formulate a partnership with spontaneity. Allowing limitations to become idea generators instead of idea killers means opening oneself up to creative solutions we might ordinarily never have known nor anticipated.

Hanging Together

2011-10-04T14:37:00.003-04:00

These two cherries were the only decorative thing left in a corner diner that had closed its doors and cleared out the furniture months earlier. The place looked sad in that declared bankruptcy sort of way.

But, still, with the late afternoon sun pouring in the window, there was something bittersweet about the dusty paper fruit hanging from the water stained ceiling panel.

They looked like they would make it. They were tied together, touching side to side, above the fray, unperturbed by lost fortunes.

The Beginning

2011-10-02T13:28:00.001-04:00

I came across an old favorite the other day - the Venetian laundry lady. Love her and the way she looks to be a white rectangle on the laundry line of hanging shadows.

What struck me seeing this image after such a long time is how it represents where I've gone as a photographer. Before I even understood what I was after, this moment and place and person represented the images that interest me most. There's the setting, the repetitive pattern, the dress, the timelessness, the gesture, the story, the everyday mystery.

The woman leaned into that window talking to her friend (I only assume to know) for at least 30 minutes. I stood taking pictures until I ran out of film at which time I ran to the nearest drug store, purchased another roll, ran back to the laundry line, and there she remained, leaning, her elbows on the windowsill, her left foot pressed against her right calf, her head shaded by the awning.

You Crack Me Up

2011-09-27T16:42:00.003-04:00

Here's a portrait of explosive happiness. I didn't take the photograph -- one of the very talented fourth graders I've been working with did. The student photographer worked with Una, the exuberant girl on the left. Una wanted her self-portrait to describe her love of friendship and so she picked Zoe, one of her many good friends, to join in the frame.

I don't know what you think, but to me friendship never looked so fun. Such hilarity and closeness. And doesn't this portrait contain its own soundtrack.

And doesn't it so perfectly demonstrate what the great Ernst Haas once said about color photography: artists are not making color photographs, they make photographs about color.

Welcome Home, Mister Barry White

2011-09-26T17:35:00.002-04:00

Got some serious Barry White action going in the house last night. Felt good to hit that groove and remember how it feels to dance on and on, to move and just let it spin.

And, once again, friends and butterflies, it's that third time that's turning in the good stuff.

There's something about threes - triptych and trilogy, three act plays and third time is the charm belief systems. It's as easy to see as one, two, three.

Thanks to the dancing Mizz A and to lights man extraordinaire Mistah M

On the Way

2011-09-25T13:49:00.004-04:00

Now that the ABES auction is over, I can post this picture made to support a wonderful school where I've been lucky enough to work since 2004.

It was a warm and windy August afternoon when a small group of collaborators got to work. When I say work, though, that sounds too stiff and serious for the easy flow of what happened. We took to the streets with a theme, a dress, a balloon, a lovely girl ready to walk the walk and then a little magic took over. The beauty and confidence of R.M.'s steps, her feet and especially that left hand, pulls me in again and again.

Thanks to whoever ended up buying this piece. Appreciate your support!

Two for Tuesday

2011-09-20T14:09:00.001-04:00

Going to the barber sets up a natural twosome - stylist and customer. I found these fellows at a classic looking shop in Melbourne during an early evening stroll last spring. These guys who look a little bit alike were kind enough to let me in on their appointment. The old time feel of the space (check out the phone on the wall), the barber's hunch and his pouty concentration amuse me.

Take Three

2011-09-17T22:11:00.002-04:00

Revision is about my favorite part of writing, but as a photographer I've resisted it because that form is twinned so often with the instant, the snapshot, the captured moment. But what I'm making now are images that seem to demand at least three go rounds.

Today's take three of the funeral dress seems to have landed in the sweet spot, finally, after a wonderful process of figuring out what I was trying to do, and say.

The only doctoring post production involved cropping and a little blurring out where the security system stuck to the wall like a wound.

Two for Tuesday

2011-09-13T07:27:00.001-04:00

Labor Day has come and gone, but this fabulous pair of white sandals had to make it into the waning days of summer images. The look is fetching. And, holy mother of god, check out the tear-shaped cutout in the wedge -- that's what prompted me to ask this lovely young lady walking down the street to pause long enough for me to bend down low and make a photo.

Personally, I can't walk in heels, but women who can do capture my attention. Of course, I wouldn't mind being three inches taller, but that won't happen in this lifetime.

Hope you're steps are high and happy ones, everyone. Enjoy.

High School Graduation

2011-09-12T15:05:00.000-04:00

Working like mad over here. Pulling together a bundle of elements and making a serious dose of possibilities. I'm lost in it. This shoot involved three people, 24 balloons, 24 plastic eggs, countless quarters and dimes, and secrets a plenty I can't reveal.

Lift off has begun.

A line from the high school graduation story: "Freedom stood on the other side of ceremony and I could not wait to wave adios."

Does this look like waving adios?

Artsy Thoughts

2011-09-10T00:08:00.002-04:00

It's been a productive and emotionally whirling week. Here's a discarded draft of a photograph I'm working on in my series. The momentum behind my project is building like the movement of the skirt of this dress. Locations, props, people, dots - it's all combining with energy that gives me hope.

But why this blog title? Well. I just have to say how much I loathe the word "artsy." It's an adjective that makes me go eeewww, makes me cringe. Lately I've been described as artsy, and I know it's been done with affection, but it rattles my cage. Is it because I hear that echo, that rhyme...artsy fartsy? Maybe. Or maybe it's just sounds diminutive, dismissive, maybe a little too cutesy.

Two for Tuesday

2011-09-06T16:55:00.002-04:00

I can't say what these two ladies decided before they began their walk together, but they make a lovely twosome, uniformed and united.

Small white dog - check.
Black capri workout pants - check.
White sneakers - check.
Sweatshirt with zipper wrapped around the waist - check.
Ponytail - check.

Still Life

2011-09-04T08:55:00.005-04:00

A still life is a classic practice for working artists. It's a good exercise in seeing.

This summer my life has been marked by a stillness of a certain quality I've not know. It became at times so quiet that every little object and sound came into focus.

One day I washed a bunch of pears and put them onto a wooden plate my friend Dennis made and let the late afternoon sunshine do the rest. Quiet and still can be beautiful.

Two for Tuesday

2011-08-30T10:22:00.004-04:00

Oystercatchers are birds with great legs and such nicely matched beaks and eyeliner. Talk about coordinated pairings. They seem to understand the power of accent colors when putting together an outfit.

The whole time I watched this twosome, they never strayed more than two inches from each other. Living by the vast ocean, it's got to feel less daunting to think you've got a buddy by your side.

Read, Aim, Shoot

2011-08-29T13:25:00.003-04:00

Excited to begin the shooting - that act can energize any plot line.

Not sure what look I'm going for exactly, but the experimenting is going to be an all options on the table affair. I'm planning to make a mess.

Summer Frig

2011-08-27T09:28:00.004-04:00

Maybe I was hungry, but when I opened the frig the other day it made me so happy to see the contents. Summer is the best eating season and it seemed to appear on every shelf. Tomatoes, peaches, grapes, squash. I also love the beverages here - a full container of milk, a six pack, seltzer, tonic, lots of juices.

I always love the frig shots in movies, especially when they shoot the person looking in. I don't have the fancy equipment for such things, but imagine a cheerful face on the other side, studying what to pull out, having a tough time deciding with so many great options.

Two for Tuesday

2011-08-23T14:35:00.007-04:00

It's late August and back to school fever is in the air. The yellow buses are rumbling on the roads and students are settling into their brand new year, including my daughter who begins her doctoral program today. (Good luck, Missy Miss!)

This handsome twosome pictured here is from Bali. Each morning during my short visit there last spring, I'd walk three buildings down from my hotel to the local elementary school. I loved watching the comings and goings of parents and children during morning drop off. It was an unrehearsed ritual of the everyday - not your typical tourist show and tell.

The red school uniforms are jazzier than the drab American equivalent of khaki pants and polo shirts. But that sharing between friends - it looks the same, the same as anywhere. It's a recognizable moment shared across the globe.

Look, look at what I hold in my hand. Check this thing out.

Streaky Skies

2011-08-21T13:52:00.003-04:00

Pin stripes at a diagonal appeared late in the afternoon when most people had headed back home. So glad I stayed. I remember learning in documentary photography classes that many good photographs appear when the event is (supposedly) over. To linger can bring dividends.

Horizon with Umbrella

2011-08-21T13:43:00.003-04:00

The sky put on a pretty great panoramic show this week at the beach.

Think I'll post another streaky number that appeared like a welcomed ghost on the final day.

Working Will

2011-08-13T15:46:00.007-04:00

I am such a bad mother. Really, really bad.

I only just now - in the dead center of August - found the photographs of my son's college graduation. Technical difficulties did mingle with maternal neglect. But, still, that's two months, that's a lot of time and space, y'all.

Anyway, here's the white haired gent who sat a few rows in front of me and my proud little family. Our seats had no view of the ceremony. We couldn't see a speaker or student or balloon. Watching the ceremony on line would have felt more immediate.

I trained my attention on the man dressed as a quintessential New England prep, practical shoes and all. But why him? Because that document, that paper resting on his lap, is his will.

Watching a man revise his will is a quiet but riveting act of theater.

His will looked to be a dozen pages, stapled and legal-sized. I loved when he'd pause. See the way he holds his pen with two hands, twirling the pen cap. He'd scan the crowd, and then, eventually, scribble words onto the will's margins. He made it look as natural as working a crossword.

It struck me as synchronicity. The documentation of endings.
The diploma. The will.
Both symbols of moving into the unknown. Prepared and yet clueless about what will happen next.

Closed Shades

2011-08-11T17:23:00.003-04:00

Light and shadow all mixed up inside the house lately.

Found this mid-morning.

Two for Tuesday

2011-08-09T08:24:00.005-04:00

It's not the perfect photo, but I can't resist these two boys talking on a park bench after their swim. The one on the right with his swinging legs always draws me into this sweet moment.

As a child, my friendships divided into school friends and summer friends. With my summer friends, there was plenty of ocean swimming.

Looking at this twosome I can practically feel the salt on their skin and the way their stiff hair clumps together in pieces.

Friday Hop

2011-08-08T16:35:00.004-04:00

Let's talk about being in a good mood. I mean, seriously. Can we?

It was Friday night downtown Winston, and the hop was an especially hoppy brew - tomatoes, and black theatre festivities, open galleries and who knows what all. The joint was jumping, to quote a phrase.

When I saw this lady walking down Trade Street, dressed up and looking ready to play, I jumped from my seat. She was unmistakable, unmissable fun. I really needed a closer look. To smell the vibe of such obvious happiness.

Thanks, Mizz J.

A Private Place

2011-08-03T14:28:00.002-04:00

Q: What is the biggest life lesson you've learned?

A: Affirmation comes from a private place.

Thanks to photographer, Gary Schneider, for such a great answer.

Two for Tuesdays

2011-08-02T11:03:00.011-04:00

The sloping, warping wave of those aluminum seats seems like worn skin and those arm rests look animated, like arms themselves. There's something curiously anthropomorphic in this twosome.

Without any people sitting with their bums down and backs leaning, I can hear a conversation, a familiar back and forth that's been going on for years.

You hear from Catherine lately?

Nah, she's still mad about the shower.

Still?

I know. Ridiculous to hold grudges over nothing.

I made this photograph during a day spent wandering the streets of Seattle. Wished I had a friend to join me for a sit down on this inviting pair of very red red chairs.

My Dad Loves Degas

2011-08-01T14:52:00.005-04:00

Couldn't wait another day before posting this pearly moment. Sometimes things are better than you even imagine. This here is a case in point.

I'd hoped for that weird focus and buzz.

I knew beauty stared directly into my eyes.

I hadn't known that the magic would show up too.

Always glad when that happens, and grateful.

Lighten Up

2011-07-31T16:15:00.005-04:00

It's been a dark week. I just could not shake the mood and the view and the fact that nothing at all seemed right or worthwhile or promising. I felt a little trapped. All doors locked, no windows opened.

But then, thank goodness, I had a play date come through. Thanks to my lovely friends who helped make that happen. They have no idea how much I needed a dose of their sweet medicine.

That's All

2011-07-29T10:24:00.004-04:00

This is about everything I have to say. A vase with a flower on the windowsill. It keeps me quiet.

Two for Tuesday

2011-07-26T14:19:00.015-04:00

Here's a favorite twosome - Lindsay and me. She's the one with her foot in the air. I'm the elbow shaped like a V.

When we met, Lindsay was new to modeling and I was new to working with models. We enjoyed experimenting, ran through ideas like unconcerned children at play, and improved along the way. Our failures were instructive and many, and our successes brought a savory satisfaction. We collaborated for over two years.

I posted this image now because this week the Lindsay-Diana vibe fired up in undeniable ways. I'd just written a grant envisioning a month long photo shoot for my series and the whole time, I'm seeing Lindsay as the model. And, then, guess what shows up? A letter from Lindsay. An honest to God, use a stamp letter.

Okay, no more about all that. Don't want to jinx the juju.

This portrait came after we made a very excellent piece of theatre together, one entitled, There Are Limits. We brought a chair (located at the far left of frame) and waited. First we waited for the six o'clock shadows to come lay down and then we waited for the winds to blow.

The Deadline

2011-07-24T17:07:00.005-04:00

Striving, stretching, reaching, almost there. I can practically hear her moaning with the effort.

This image resembles where I am in the process of putting together a grant proposal, due tomorrow.

Hope she gets the ball. Hope I get the grant.

The One That Got Away

2011-07-22T08:57:00.007-04:00

I've been checking out store window fronts for a new photo idea. I found this old time shoe store, recently gone out of business, in the middle of downtown Winston. The single shoe, wooden and dusty and all alone, stood like a poetic reminder of loss surrounded as it was by so much musty white carpet and that lonesome band of plastic ivy.

At the time, I knew I hadn't quite captured the image, so figured I'd come back. Only problem was I waited three days. Big mistake. When I finally got my lazy ass down there, a huge for rent sign leaned against the window, propped up by - you guessed it- that lone shoe.

Two for Tuesdays

2011-07-19T09:06:00.011-04:00

It was a small space, a gallery, and I had my big lens, but still the tight shot captures the connection that first drew me to this couple, this twosome, one named Israel the other named Zach. The tilt of their heads, their focus, their glasses, and most of all their sweet expression created a unity based on quiet warmth.

What are they looking at? It's not clear other than it's theirs.

That's the poetic answer, but the narrative truth is this: their downward stare is trained on their new puppy, a jolly little mutt whose fur is the color of iced mocha splashed and splotched with black markings that would have made deKooning proud.

Stop the Car

2011-07-17T18:35:00.003-04:00

The afternoon I spotted this woman opening the mail, her kerchief and anklets beautiful teal blue mysteries, I got excited. So excited, I asked my friend to stop the car. I jumped out of the passenger's seat in order to photograph this ordinary gesture on an ordinary city street on an ordinary weekday afternoon.

Later, a friend asked me why I took this picture. What made you do that?

The question took me by surprise. I couldn't come up with a quick reply. This image is my answer.

Thanks to you, Miss G.

Escaping Words

2011-07-14T15:05:00.003-04:00

What I want to say flies out of reach. The words are many but I can't seem to hold onto them. Will the page be saved or will it float away, never to be retrieved?

Two for Tuesdays

2011-07-12T05:35:00.004-04:00

These blue sneakers bring back a memory from a summer past when I took a class on photographing the nude. One day a new model showed up. Shy, young, long blond hair, no clue what she'd gotten herself into.

Without her clothes on, she was a frozen, dreadful model. But one afternoon, I asked if I could take a picture of her cheerful blue Converse sneakers. It was obvious she was into them as a fashion statement. After all, she'd cuffed her jeans.

Finally, a photograph she could naturally pose for. Her relief felt palpable. And, at last, her personality came through the lens.

Trashy Truths

2011-07-09T22:07:00.008-04:00

I enjoyed some summertime wandering at home the other night around 6 . Took the bus downtown. That was a first.

This image comes from one of my favorite buildings which has countless rooms that contain history, possibilities, and are rough around the edges. It's a monument to glamor in decline. I love this building the way people love their pets.

But there's a piece of trash - look - it's just to the left of mid-frame. I couldn't remove the paper or tape or whatever it was. There was a wide gulf of space separating the window from the sidewalk, and from me.

Somehow I don't want to change it with Photoshop either. I don't always like the poof and it's gone factor.

Fairy Good Stuff

2011-07-07T13:01:00.005-04:00

In Australia they call cotton candy fairy floss, which, in my humble, is a better description.

Cheers to fairies, to short sleeve summer dresses, and to Melbourne, a place where part of me still lives.

Two for Tuesday: For Marissa

2011-07-05T14:48:00.014-04:00

Talk about pairing up. The hair, the haircut, those pockets, the hip tilt, that way their upper arms lean and cross.

I watched these two during a Blues Festival at Grant Park in Chicago. Not once during the concert did they disconnect their bodies; they merely rearranged from time to time. During intermission, I overheard them speaking Spanish, but didn't understand anything other than this: they'd come a distance to hear Chicago style blues. (Totally worth it.)

The photograph is a shout out to my daughter (hello, Missy Miss). Tomorrow she travels to Colombia, heading back to Latin America, a place she knows well and loves more. She'll be traveling as a twosome. Wonder what they'll see along the way... Happy travels.

Getting Wet, Circa 1967

2011-07-02T22:19:00.002-04:00

You ever notice how women enter a pool a little at a time? It's that gradual movement that gives the act its theatricality. Its moment.

On this morning, Rachel wore her suit she had since seventh grade and imagined Italy. I think she should pack the bathing suit in her luggage and wave Bon Voyage.

Am I crazy, or does this portrait look like a snapshot from 1967?

Lucid Living

2011-06-30T14:53:00.006-04:00

Okay, so this was a good day, a day when the elements and flow were right there, right in place, right on.

It began with this couch that sat along the curb of one one of Winston-Salem's most beautiful curves. Upper Glade Street. The road should really be called Glide Street. The road is wide and steep, and makes a curvaceous slow and sexy letter S as it ambles down toward Hawthorne Road.

The couch talks to me, it insists on being photographed. But I feel the need to find a person to sit on the couch so I can make the album cover that flashed into my head.

Along comes a wonderfully dressed man with dark glasses and a felicitous spring in his black-loafered step. Sure, he says, OK I'll meet you on Glade.

My friend, H, and I put a recycle bag atop the seat cushion of the discarded couch and down sits Mister Good Guy. Bam. The photograph realized.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, the French photographer I seem to quote way too much, said something I often think about. He said, "To be lucid about your home is the most difficult."

I felt I was in the zone of lucid looking when this image materialized. Thanks to HW and CR and the muses that showed up that fateful afternoon.

Two for Tuesdays

2011-06-28T10:40:00.004-04:00

I love the way the oars reach toward each other. The assurance of a simple touch can't be underestimated.

Summertime Evening

2011-06-26T22:28:00.004-04:00

A pool standing still is an invitation. Come in. Walk down the stairs. Join the trees and the clouds. Make them ripple with your presence.

Good Morning

2011-06-23T15:02:00.004-04:00

Summer morning never looked lovelier. Hope everyone here at home is enjoying the soft falling rain.

Two for Tuesdays

2011-06-21T07:27:00.004-04:00

On a cloudy afternoon in Chicago last week I ran across these two colorful girlie girls. So full of whimsy and stylized silly. Check out the orange comb in the pocket.

The Square Root of Monday

2011-06-20T09:37:00.003-04:00

I've been missing my blog, a phrase I never imagined I say, let alone mean. But it's true.

I was traveling west to Chicago, Seattle, Lopez Island, and Vancouver. Thanks to all we visited along the way. I'll be sharing more about that adventure later, but today it's Monday. It's Monday morning in a big way - the trip is over, and I have a lot of projects on my mind, on the to do list, and on the calendar. And, the house, well, it's pretty grimy.

This image from Melbourne conjures something of that getting ready vibe I'm feeling.

Everyone waiting for the light to turn from red to green. Cars idled, bikes lined up in a neat queue, walkers looking for the walk sign to flash. On your mark, get set, go.

Take That

2011-06-07T12:33:00.003-04:00

Making faces is part of the fun of working with models. The ability to go beyond the smile or the stare opens things up quite a bit. Gotta thank the tenth wonder here for all she brings to the experience.

Two for Tuesday

2011-06-07T11:19:00.007-04:00

It's the direct stare and those limbs that seems so unified in this kangaroo two. Hilarious bouncy creatures on this big earth.

I don't know about you, but to my eyes, the parent figure appears a little stronger with those antenna ears and that wtf back position. The young one looks to be smelling the invader peering in.

Not So Sure

2011-06-03T13:28:00.004-04:00

You ever get the feeling that you're floating and don't really want to be?

The swirl and movement of people, emotions, and projects in my kitchen, in my head, and in my morning dreams has pushed the ground right out from under me. Sometimes it's really cool and sometimes it's uncomfortable.

Not sure what else to say.

Number Three Tuesday

2011-05-31T09:21:00.004-04:00

There's so much back and forth and symmetry here you'd think I dressed and sat these two beautiful women down myself and instructed the waves to fold into a double arch. But no. Everything lined up.

I love these women, wet and happy in their shirts, sarongs, and hats just talking, going on the way women do. The woman's lifted hand and the listening woman's outstretched legs seems to say all you need to know about friendship and intimacy. And their reflection is like a sweet sauce poured on top.

Paint it Red

2011-05-30T18:57:00.002-04:00

Festive times call for festive colors, don't you think? This is a summer beckoning, a red of wet lollipop and the green of summertime suburban holiday weekend. Nice.

Some fun was had in these quarters, hope the same can be said of where you've been this Memorial Day.

Number Two Tuesday

2011-05-23T16:56:00.002-04:00

It's that time of the week again. Two for Tuesdays. Here's a couple that have sat side by side for decades.

Time Travel

2011-05-22T16:45:00.006-04:00

Happy graduation to everyone out there finishing up. It's been one celebration after the next around here with more to come. This blurry image of space and land and sky seems about how events are striking my inner clock that, bless its heart, tries to keep time. Things feel beautifully rich and slightly weird.

Just how it is that my son is graduating from college remains a mystery. Whooooosh. Whoooosh, and more whoooosh. Can you make out the train track stretching from the pace?

But enough with my metaphors that inevitably rear their rhapsodic heads at times like these. Here are the metaphors that came to Rainer Maria Rilke when he wrote:

Whoever Grasps

Whoever grasps the thousand contradictions of his life,

pulls them together into a single image, that man, joyful

and thankful, drives the rioters out of the palace,

becomes celebratory in a different way, and you are the guest

whom he receives on the quiet evenings.

You are the second person in his solitude,

the tranquil hub of his talking with himself;

and every circle he draws around you

lifts him out of time on those compass legs.

Playing Around

2011-05-19T15:05:00.003-04:00

You can go far, far away and be right at home when you see young boys monkeying around together. What you have right here are two adorable Balinese boys at the Spring Water Temple on a high Hindu holiday.