Photo Junkie

I found this picture during a random search. I was really drawn to this image. I want to know her story. But I'll never be able to find out because I have no idea who photographed her.

Tsunami

This photo is of a tsunami wave in Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture, in ME Japan.  I recently watched the movie "The Impossible" and the terror I felt watching that made me so sad for everyone that had to endure that horror.  The photograph is from Mainichi Shimbun.  The photographers of this event placed their lives in danger for their work.  Very honorable thing to do.

Biomechanical tattoo artistry

My daughter wants to become a tattoo artist.  My first tattoo was a set of angel wings.  If I had the nerved I would get it changed to this.  Gorgeous!  But surely VERY painful!!!

Upside Down or Right Side Up?

I love how you can't tell which perspective is the right one.  It totally keeps you guessing!  I found this image on a Creative Photography website.  Unfortunately they don't always name the artist.  

http://creativephotographymagazine.com/70-really-creative-examples-of-forced-perspective-photography/

Disney Photography

Walt Disney World in Orlando is like a second home to my family.  We have vacationed there since my kids were about 5 years old  My middle son is a chef and was recently hired by Disney... so he lives there permanently now.  I miss him alot.  When I see pictures like this is makes me homesick for Disney, but at the same time makes me wish my son was home (HERE at home.)  So it's an odd sort of juxtaposing of feelings. I love these images.  

Tree Frogs

I have always loved tree frogs.  These images are gorgeous.  Love the sharp and soft combination.  I have no idea who took the pictures but I wish I could have their job!  I found them on the website below.  

http://wildlifereference.blogspot.com/2010/08/wildlife-photography-best-animal.html

Jerry Uelsmann

Jerry Uelsmann's work is astoundingly beautiful.  It's a cross between reality and an imaginary world.  You could interpret his photos one way today, and totally differently tomorrow... possibly depending on your mood or state of mind at the time of viewing them.  I notice that his work is very symmetrical and 99% of what I found were done in black and white.

www.uelsmann.net

Haley Morris-Cafiero - Wait Watchers

Her work is hard for me to look at because I've been subjected to the same prejudice.  People are just rude sometimes.  This photographer, Haley Morris-Cafiero, started a series of photographs centered around her weight.  It caught my eye because of the message it sends.  She turns the tables and is essentially staring back at them.


You can read more about her and see more of her work here.

http://haleymorriscafiero.com/about/


This is an uncomfortable topic for me.  I used to weigh about 300 lbs.  I've lost a lot and for a long time I stayed right at 150 lbs.  Lately I am creeping back up there (to about 180 lbs.)  I'm getting scared it's all gonna happen again.  I have so much stress lately it's mind blowing.  So I know that's why I'm having trouble.  It's like alcoholism.  You can stay sober for the longest time, but if you fall off that wagon, you're back in the shit.  No matter how small I've been I never feel "normal."  Her images are really hard for me to look at.

Inside Out Project --- JR Art

JR is a street artist that uses photos to show the world it's true face.  He's set up mobile printing stations and/or places where people can upload their images and he'll print it for them (HUGE.)  He strongly encourages people to get creative with the location they choose to place the photos.  JR started this project after winning the TED prize.  His TED Prize wish "opens an even wider lens on the world, asking us all to turn the world inside out."  He is really pushing the envelope with some of the places he himself has pasted pictures, like slums in Kenya or other dangerous locations.  He wants to confront and engage people where/when they least expect it.  

In his project, "Women Are Heroes," JR shows women "dealing with the effects of war, poverty, violence, and oppression” from Rio de Janeiro, Phnom Penh, Delhi and several African cities.

  

Read more about it here: 

http://www.insideoutproject.net/e

http://www.ted.com/speakers/jr.html

http://www.jr-art.net

Multiples

Getting ready to start working on the multiples project.  I ran across this image.  I have no idea who shot the picture, but I love the creativity.  It's inspiring me to come up with something different.  Hopefully I can :)

Subliminal Messages

I am profoundly deaf.  Seriously.  But God blessed me with the ability to hear things subliminally.  Most of the time this "ability" causes some embarrassing moments.  I can be in a room full of people who are conversing about something and I'll "hear" one of the comments (subliminally) and a few seconds later spit out a sentence identical to what one of them said a few minutes earlier, as if it's my own thought.  Then people either laugh at me or get annoyed.  It's a source of embarrassment for me, but I've kind of learned to laugh it off, depending on the people I'm with at the time.

Today this ability paid off in a very weird way.  I was working through the task of naming my phot for the art show (the stairs that go nowhere.)  I don't want to leave it too ambiguous, because I doubt anyone could figure out what the story is, but neither do I want to lead them directly to what it is.  Some of the ideas were...

On Scene
Out of the Ashes
All That Remains
Sirens
Stairway to Nowhere

I kind of liked "Sirens."  I walked to the opposite end of the room so I could get an opinion from people I don't get to talk to that often.  I started talking to them, unintentionally interrupting their discussion about some guy's last name they couldn't remember.  While one girl was scrolling through her iPhone looking for the name... I asked them if they liked any of the names I had thought of.  So we were basically having two conversations at once.  I'd spit out a possible title, one would say no, the other would say yes... and back and forth.  At one point in the middle of all of this, the girl found the name of the guy she'd been looking for... which was "Dwarfin" or something that sounded like that.  She said the name while we were tossing about my ideas and my ears heard what she said as "ORPHAN"... and there is how the name of my art show photo was born.

The title of "Orphan" fits in so many ways.  The family is orphaned;  The house is gone therefore the stairs are the Orphan...

It gave me chills.


  

Stormy Weather

Went to bed Wednesday night after making sure friends and family were all OK following the storm.  Then woke up to the news that a tree fell on my mom's car, landing partially on the house.  Tore down a fence and took off some siding. It could've been so much worse and I'm very thankful nobody was injured!

Brian Skerry - Ocean Soul

I have always loved the ocean.  I spent much of my childhood as a swimmer, both recreationally and competitively (in swimming pools ;)  In my teens I was introduced to scuba diving and fell in love with what lies beneath.  Oh, the color!  The fish, the coral reefs and especially the way the water looked.  One thing I've always been especially drawn to was the way the colors changed, depending on whether it was cloudy or sunny.  I was mesmerized by all of this... & extremely jealous of the fish.  I used to dream I was a mermaid.  Later in life I tried scuba diving.  I could spend hours and hours on this blog post talking about just those experiences, and I've only scuba dived 3 times.  It's hard to believe that something I've spent so little time doing could impact me that much.  This is why I relate so much to Brian Skerry.  If only I could've known it was possible to have a career like the one he chose.  You can read more about him on his website www.brianskerry.com

Freaking out!

Had the talk about the student show and the final and it just seems like a lot of stuff all crammed together. We were forewarned it would be a whirlwind during the last 3-4 weeks, and it surely is just that!  It's scary, yet also exciting.  I know I can do this!  I'm not a perfect photographer and I really have alot more to learn, but I feel I have come so far since I first started this.  I very nearly gave up in the first month because I didn't feel like I would ever "get it." Now, it is very hard to believe this will be over in a couple of weeks. I'm really going to miss coming to class.  I sincerely mean that.

My Eye

"I came to believe more and more in this wonderful thing, the eye! Before falling asleep, with my eyes closed, I observed my eye with my eye, from the depths of my eye; and little by little, I came to 'see' my eye." Salvador Dali

Dirty Light Trash

I find this absolutely fascinating!  These artists use trash and a projector to create these cool light sculptures.  The pile of trash doesn't look like it would result in the images that project on the wall!  It makes me wonder if I can use this idea with my photos somehow... hmmmmmm.  
Check out their website!

http://www.timnobleandsuewebster.com/artwerks.html 

Skulls and Police Dogs

I took some pretty cool pictures of random skulls at my house. That sounds ominous, doesn't it? Our professor, Kate, said we could use any kind of skull, even a picture of a picture. That opened up so many ideas because of Devyn's collections and her drawings. I'm happy I was able to do this project, because it will be considered extra credit.

I've been worrying about my service/narrative project too. Then Kate took us on a little walk the other day to show us an event on campus featuring police dogs. I had a lot of fun getting some pictures of that event! I wish I could have stayed longer, that is the field my oldest son is entering in another month or two. The bonus is that this series of pictures will qualify for the narrative project.

I'm very happy to have gotten these pictures taken. I went to lab for a couple of hours yesterday and printed them. So, I'm all ready for Monday and the next phase: Portraiture and Lighting.

The Sights Along the Way

Let me tell you something people... This class is teaching me to "see" so much more that I ever did before... I kept a journal of sorts when I was on my road trip to help my son move. Normally on a trip like this, I would spot random things here and there... But I have never before tried so hard to really see things...

Cool sights and other observations:

---Several 'waterfalls' in the cliffs along the highway
---An abundance of Outhouses
---Birds, particularly on a wire
---The Batman Bldg - Nashville
---Several painted barn roofs (should that be "rooves"? LOL...)
---A lot of trees are flowering already
---Several fallen, dead trees (I really love trees)
---More Cracker Barrel's per square mile than there are Mickey D's
---Passed exit 333 !!! (You have to know me to understand why that's important ;)
---It's illegal to text and drive in Georgia
---Devyn snores in the car
---I want to stop at these antique malls!!!!
---I love audio books
---My mom worries a lot... I'm checking in once per hour :)
---The bridges are much cooler looking out this way
---If I was driving it would take 4 days to get there. We are passing up SO many photo opps!
---Lots of overalls
---Semis galore!
---Tightly packed carnivals
---Many many antiques malls (but we can't stop)
---BaseBall caps are changing to hunting caps
---Camo and fluorescent orange
---Lots of curves in hwy overpasses and exit/entrances
---Churches
---Almost no hotels in Georgia.  All 3 of us were calling & all were full, finally got a good one!  It was due to Spring Break Week.
---Bed was super soft and room was huge, only downside was Devyn had a sleeper sofa
---When in Florida, it seems I am always on the lookout for a gator's head sticking up out of the water, in ditches along the highway, swimming pools, crossing the road at Kennedy Space Center... (I actually witnessed the third!)

I'm very drawn to:

---Trees
---Dilapidated bldgs
---Railroads
---Rusty things
---Farm houses and barns
---Junk
---Abandoned things
---Things with emotional impact (visually)
---People who are joyous, even in seemingly bleak conditions
---Sunshine
---People that are crying
---People that are laughing

Fast forward to the end...

I started this blog entry to be like a daily journal of the move and we were so busy I never got a chance to do it daily.  So instead it ended up being observations, listed as bullet-points.

I had a great time, despite the hard work involved in moving.  Also despite having to realize, AGAIN, that Tyler lives AWAY from home.  I miss him terribly.  I dream of moving there with him.  Then I'm in despair once again because I realize I'd have to leave other family members behind.  I can't win no matter what I do.

The Crit #2 (Light & Form)

Critique today (Wednesday, April 3rd) was amazing.  Much better than last time.  I learned a lot about what doesn't work, and what does.  I posted my funny trees from the SLU area, the stairway to nowhere, the fire-truck reflection and the SLU church through the branches photos.  Kate loves the tree that looks like it's "raining light."  Several people liked the SLU church shot.  Many could not figure out the fire truck... it looked like a bus, according to one person.  But once it became clear it was a reflection of firemen in the side of the truck, they liked it a lot.  Kate told us that this class is doing very well compared to her other classes.  She's aware of how hard we are working and I can tell that she's proud of us.

Tyler's Move

We got on the road at 5am to go move Tyler into his new apartment in Orlando.  Sam will come down next week.  This is kind of a bittersweet moment.  I'm happy for this chapter of his life, but sooooo sad to know that his permanent home will be in another state, so far away.  I guess it gives me an incentive to go to Orlando more often ;)

The trailer is swaying so much.  It's packed correctly but I feel it's going to whip us off the road soon. I called U-Haul roadside assistance. They sent a text to us, I clicked that link and they were able to pinpoint our exact location.  That's way cool. They told us to try going a bit under the speed limit (55-65) and that really does seem to be helping a lot. Sometimes we have to change lanes and speed up to avoid getting crushed, and as soon as we go over 65 it starts swaying again.  So we will arrive at our destination later, but at least James can relax his grip on the steering wheel.

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