he rain was coming down hard.. traffic northbound out of San Francisco... the sky getting dark.... thick with mist... the train.. i'd seen it before, just a couple of weeks back... but i couldn't stop.. this time.. was my moment....the cars were zooming so fast.. i had a split second to think..and off i went on to the side of the road..
there i was in the pouring rain ... dripping wet... muddy feet walking up and down, looking for the right angle....trudging through the high grass..... best spot to shoot.. i am not sure why.... but i felt moved.. ... i'm not into trains.. but this one spoke to me.. the train winding off into the distance in this field...
i was out there a good 20 minutes shooting... like someone would do for a head shot... killing it... then saying. ok done. hope i got what i want..
wet muddy.. back on highway 101 north to sonoma county..
Transitions
I look forward to being part of the Rotterdam Photo Festival... “Transitions” this February...
this image was taken after the first Sonoma Fire two years ago in Santa Rosa, California where several communities went up in flames...
there is nothing quite so humbling as to walk through the embers and left over treasures of a house and family...shards of a history of years....childens toys, pieces of pottery, burned out bicycles and remaining hearths....
but really, in the end what is left is the strength and fortitude of people who have endured the pain, loss and sadness and their ability to keep going and begin again..
because, in the end for those who have survived..what really matters is that they have each other.. which is more important that anything else.. friends , family, a community..... one in transition rebuilding again
A tribute to you.. Sonoma Strong.... never seen a community dig in so deep to help each other.. proud ... the good stuff we are made of...
Home
home...... i often wonder about the many meanings of that word..... especially in light of all the destruction from fire, hurricanes and earthquakes, the destabilization of the world..environmentally, politically , financially.. socially, on and on...we turn to each other.. count on each other... HOME.
home always indeed.. is a safe haven.. that you return to at the end of the day.. cook your meals, read, work, make love and go to sleep in your own bed.. nothing like it
but home is so much more.... it's not so much the structure, but what happens inside... our stuff while precious to us is just an accumulation ..... we cant take it with us.. but yes it has so much importance to most of us/Me Too.... .especially irreplaceable momentos, and precious items passed down through families, our art work, things we want to leave to create a legacy
but bottom line it's how you live your life... and how you are with the people in your life. family , friends , loved ones, the world at large..... these people are also home..
so while it might be grand to think of having a big home.. or a home with a lot of amenities.... in reality.. it doesn’t so much matter.... big or small. the same cultivations of thought and purpose , dignity and life occur in a tent, an apartment or a big or small home...even those who find themselves on the street bc of so many ills in our system that lets people fall through the cracks.....they too make a home.. if you stop to notice and look...... home is important.... everyone deserves and is entitled to a place called home...EVERYONE
so when i see this home, which i drove by for many days.. i found myself staring at... it was beautiful to me... and wondered about the life and family inside.... as i do often when i walk this earth... we are all family..
Home IS where the heart is...its all of us....
On Sundays in The West Indies
on Sundays in the West Indies i like to be in the country... watching all the people walking so diligently to church.. sometimes walking miles.. carrying children.. ascending steep inclines.. some rocky and slippery.... small churches hidden in the landscape.. larger ones out by the street.. people in their Sunday best .. some carrying bibles... lots of shine and crisp pressed shirts...
I'd listen for the singing, because those are the churches i wanted to go visit.. watch the community come gather. people greeting each other. children wiggling in their chairs. some eyes finding mine, wondering how i came to be there..
most times i was invited in.. or i'd come in.. sometimes i'd bring a tambourine bc many had them and id dance and swat at it the way they were.. mostly leaving it for some elderly woman whom i could see eyeing it with desire.. in reality i was buying it for someone who didn't have one..
those days are precious to me.. i never tired of it.. and i look forward to it more in the future... i just love gatherings of people.... in communities.. tight communities.. where people know their neighbors.. the shop keepers... something in todays world is less present
What Do You See When You Look At Images
As i heard in a recent lecture on the brain and art…….. "An image or piece of art isn’t completed until its been viewed"
I'm going through lots of work (in preparation to finally edit...really edit first time ever)...... when i came across this image and a question about it from a non photographer, which i love, and my answer......
it really was quite revelatory to my thinking... and being as a photographer... helps me to hone in on my own work and what makes me tick, what matters to me and the connection of the various , often sometimes seemingly incongruous parts of my work
Question:
Is there an intended meaning behind your photos (which are excellent btw), or is it intended to be open to interpretation? Or is it just the visual aesthetics that you are after? (The skin color matching the pew/bench color) (And why are you taking pictures in what seems
to be a church?)
Me:
love your inquisatory mind.. always did.. initially i am drawn by my gut.. my visual acuity to different elements. but to something that speaks to me on various levels.. mood.. tenor.. moment.. always visual juxtapositions.. color.. hues.. or lack there off.. more elemental… yes it's a church in brazil.. i went in, and after some time there was drawn to this particular woman. i took several photos of her.. her face telling.. she was lost in prayer.. had tremendous strength in her .. defiance.. struggle.. in the end the photo i chose was of her from the back... love the kerchief.. the color yes of her dress and skin tone exacting to the pew.. the bone and shine of her skin. the bra strap.. her bent in total submission and connection to her prayer and faith..
images are meant in my minds eye to be provocative on some level..…. with the subject, pieces of myself revealed .... and then mb with those that view them…
what, how you interpret them is Always up to you…
but i love catching the eye of a non artist.. those that dont immerse in art or photography and wanting to embrace and understand more... often our audience is for those similar to us... same pull towards it.... i like the idea of pulling in people who shy away.. dont ask questions.. but want to understand more... so so good to me
Looking Forward, Honoring the Past
this facebook question.. what's on your mind.... well here is what i'm thinking about........
I forget October is Breast Cancer awareness month. i don't think a lot about the year and a half i struggled with treatment and isolation..... it's tough.. and so i just don’t linger there....
i more focus on the person who faced something life threatening.. put one step in front of the other.. tried quite often to kill myself and others with humor and humility.. but more importantly it's who i have become in spite of it.. and what are some of the good things it taught me.. about myself.. the world... others...totally life changing.....
so thank you to all those people and you know who you are who showed me what i'm made of and stood by me when the world looked bleak.. i don't forget the experience or anyone.. i never will.... i just am choosing to look forward and to honor the past
Send Some Good JuJu
UPDATE for all those kind enough to ask..
They(my son, gf and two dogs) are Evacuated from their home and livlihood.... strong winds. fire.. very very close to their home. the whole area of Santa Rosa etc.. on the move
its terribly worrisome.. trying to stay strong.. and while not a religious person at all praying they get this under containment
so please.. good juju please out there.. he is safe. but im still in tears.. looking to find my hard core strength today... bc they will be fine either way.. and i hope the same for all in the path of this hot terrorizing flame of destruction..
love you peeps
A Beautiful Old Maine Face
As i head back to maine.. i think about a beautiful old face.. the smile... as he walks down a country road.. where i spot him and practically propel myself out of a moving car.. driven to him like a magnet...
one can imagine the years lived.. what history is carried within..... oh the stories and memories he could share...
