Blog

One: February 2015

Farewell, February! May you and your icy grip be but a distant memory soon. We headed out West to go skiing this month, and it turns out we fled a brutal bout of Eastern cold and snow while we were at it. Whistler, B.C. is stunningly beautiful, though a little lacking in the white stuff this season - just enough for our little guy to go to ski school and learn some moves. My skills on the slopes are mediocre, so I took an old film camera up the mountain to avoid risking any significant gear. Thankfully, the limbs came down mostly intact as well. My photography efforts were mediocre (note to self, do not accidentally grab slide film without noticing) but I'm happy to have these memories anyway.

Please head over to equally arctic Chicago and see what Jessica has been up to this month. Congratulate her, too, on her feature over at I Heart Faces, coming in March! 

Artistry - Week 2

I admit, my leap into this new project has been hindered by a variety of delays, mostly of my own doing. But the project is up and running over at Who We Become and it is about time I jump on the bandwagon.  

In our first week, we kicked off the year with the idea of facing our fears and embracing the things we find comforting. This week, we are introducing ourselves, including our fears, by putting together a brief artist's biography. And so, below, is a bit about me.

In many respects, I am a very practical person. I make reasoned choices. I am timely. I am calm. I am private (and therefore find this exercise somewhat excruciating). I am responsible. If it sounds like I am describing a lawyer rather than painting the picture of a passionate artist in residence, then you would be correct. Yet, here I am – also a photographer.

In some ways, this is not surprising. I have long been the family historian. My family moved around a fair amount when I was growing up and photographs served as our portable memories when we left one home behind in exchange for a new adventure.  I was immersed in the arts, though most often in the form of music. So my adult foray into photography began as the perfect solution to my need to tap back into my neglected creative side, my desire to learn something new and my hope of documenting my young family in the way that I see them in my heart as well as through my eyes.

But then, my dabbling took on a life of its own. I found myself engrossed in photographing New York City. I love it here, except when I hate it here, and find the city and its people to be endlessly inspiring and fascinating subjects. I am not alone in this - New York is filled with photographers, all out there feeling equally as inspired. Pioneering an original voice, creating imagery worth sharing, conveying meaning in addition to pretty scenes, giving enough of myself without baring too much, working hard for something only to let myself down by not playing my cards right or simply not being as good at this as I want to be - these are my fears. I am excited to face them, fight them and embrace them alongside my generous and talented friends in the coming year. 

A Crowd at the Top