HIdden Vault of Beauty

omg this moment.. was better than an orgasm... it was a photographic orgasm................ i had to stand on an edge that dropped from the second floor down to the first to take this..... took all i had not to lean in further and go down...

portraits have always been a huge piece of my photographic arsenal... but lately it's as much spaces that speak to me so loudly ..the history.. the clues to a life lived..

i took a few pieces of the turquoise cement on the ground.. a piece of this history with me..

Back Roads of Dominica, There we Met

walking the back streets in Dominica, West Indies..... i met this lady several times serendipitously on different days...in different places... on a small but beautiful island... fragile to the whipping winds of the hurricanes a few years back effecting Puerto Rico, Dominica, St Croix and many others...

i often wonder what happened to her and all those finding cover under the unrelenting bending and push of such storms.. so many homes so fragile to the elements...

i never forget how lucky i am in comparison. i worry about heavy snows on the roof.. a power outage... such a small insignificant troubles in comparison...

I love you West Indies.. and miss you.. coming back for you soon... birthplace of my photography and a big piece of my heart

"A village without the elderly is like a well without water."

"A village without the elderly is like a well without water."

African proveeb

loved this sweet lady i met in the DR on a back country road in the hills. i was drawn to her and then she with me.. she grabbed me by the arms..my hand , me helping her walk up a steepish hill and up to her home... where she introduced me to her two daughters and grandkids... they offered me some food.....

where would this ever happen here? mb some where.. but it is this type of connection and humanity that i live for... when we see each other.. with respect and dignity... willing to open up enough to let these magnificent simple moments occur

i look forward to more and more of this.. it's what makes me feel so inspired and alive

a favorite image by Robert Frank

i stopped in front of this image today by Robert Frank that i have loved forever.

every time i see it, it feels like the very first time... like a new love.. butterflies... heart racing... i just feel caressed by it........ i could take it home and lay it down next to me

this one just gets under my skin.. to the tender parts, stirring so many intermingling feelings inside, like a warm oozing.... under this butterscotch sky...

if i could live with only one image.. i would be very happy to keep company with this one and stare at it forever

the absence of things

someone may look at this and think what? nothing is there.. yes,sometimes the absence of things.... the background, framework.... the lighting, and textures sets the stage.... my stomach was literally doing flip flops in this space. i loved it so much, i just lingered and lingered and didn't want to leave....... ....sometimes this is all you need....

Choosing a Direction

i've always been a bit of a rebel........when my parents sent me to a private day school.. i made sure to do everything wrong until they were so fed up with me they kicked me out......

i went back to public school. and decided i wanted to get out early.... the learning wasn't vast.. i doubled up, went to summer school and graduated in my junior year.......... of course i had to go back with a smirk to the private school and let them know.. i was hardly a failure. i had good grades, graduated early despite failing everything there to be removed... honestly , i didn't even like the concept private school.. though i understand it on all levels..

when the crowds went this way.. chose one path... starting in my teens i was always pushing the boundaries wanting to go the other direction....i just never felt i belonged with the masses....i had friends... but my calling was always a bit variant.... like many people i have in my life now some were like that back then.... and my son definitely carving his own path

call it the road less travelled.. the long and winding road..... but when i often feel most centered is when i'm following my gut.. my instinct..... i love the anecdotal interractions of life .. the spider web that is formed.. connecting us to one another .. no boundaries...no walls

while some are getting older....thinking about the later years ..settling down....... me i dream and wonder about the possibilities... yes the realities of the day to day living to pay the bills, survive and make things plausible...

but as my wise dad always said.. work hard to take care of yourself and others. always others.... that is KEY... and i'm on it..... but you want some fruits of the vine............. meaning experiences... exposure.... new moments with others.. keep the learning and evolution growing...... and while i want that home base.. of course i do...we all do.. nothing like home amongst the memories of a life , carved out how you want... i love my home...but it isnt a life in and of itself..... I also crave the motion.... the meandering .. the wandering.. the surprises...where my heart and energy are full

right now it's just percolating as i take stock of a life.. where i have been .. what things i want to accomplish,, experience.... what communities.. what kind of love that can truly flourish in my life.........

it is time to have more courage to strike out... stop waiting for others.. and get on with it.. bc the world ain't stopping. the clock is ticking... pay attention and the next thing you know another year has gone by.... 

This Little Green House

you drive by something.... again and again.. sometimes over a long period of years...... but your always drawn..... your eyes connect and want to linger......it’s the the needle in the haystack..

others don't see why you are stopping...what you are looking at, but now they look at me.. .....not the house.......who cares....i am here and having my moment..... it's the less obvious....... the little something .........the je ne sais quoi....... that makes me come alive..

for me it was this little green house, all alone.... lost in the middle of other homes that others would gawk at.........but not for me , it was this simple austere home with all the charm and beauty in a small field........this little green house

finally i stop and gave you your glory and took an image.

the last remaining elder

when you visit the last remaining elder in the family... my father's brother... whom i have grown up knowing since a baby... once the funny, offbeat character that i always loved to be with.... but who grew into a bit of an awnry person with a hot temper.......

a man who lived austere.. never owned a car. lived in the same one bedroom apartment for 50 years or more..... eats a lot in diners..... yet a huge philanthropist, on lots of boards and with friends in all the high places, but he lost his sense of ease, so serious all the time.... and became critical of so much around him...he has told us he has given all his money to charity, which is amazing.

i adored him through my 30's, admired him.. he travelled to places no one dared to go back in the 50's and 60's.....he'd go off to guinea or places i never heard of .and brought back color slides that we would sit and watch listening to these fabulous stories.... i think he helped to create that wonder lust in me.......

i bring him food.... sit for an hour or so.. i told him he lived the longest of his brothers and parents, and then he responded that my dad lived to 210 years old... and as quickly as he said that he drifted back to the present and a totally meaningful conversation of present politics....

sweet and sour... i visit each time thinking it's the last of my great uncle marshall.......i have to call today and plan another visit.....

i found this cabinet photo of my grandmother and told him how much i loved it and he offered it to me...

life moves on.. lives come and go.. and the history of your family with it.... he is the last to ask questions of.. but his memory is in and out....