i was late to photography.. starting at around 46 years old.......

there was a lot that was great about that.. i never went to school for it.. i wasn't even looking to do photography.. i didn't know or care about what anyone else was doing... what the rules were.. and in fact when i began i had no idea what was an F stop or Shutter speed.. and didn't care so much about that either

i'd be driving around and getting lost in Jamaica or Guatemala at the time.. jumping up high, standing on things, lying on the ground, hanging on a street corner observing for a long time.... just literally syphoning all i could out of any experience, moment with others or something that had me curious or i thought was significant.......

i had come from an art family.. but i was never an artist.. my big claim to fame was that i had a "Good Eye"...actually i think i still do

Fast Forward.. it is 2006 and 2009... i'm with my driver at the time in Guatemala ...and he figures out after many visits what i'm interested in.. not the standard fare he is used to with other travelers.... and so it began.

he passed his own neighborhood and stated i shouldn't go there.... it was too raw... so of course i said, “then stop the car i'm going...that’s where i want to go now” !

it was great as i explored.... not as he said and i spent time with children, women and men... and families..walking in narrow alleys.. very intrigued and inspired.... as we were leaving he said to me as a woman that was walking alongside us......... she is a "lady of the nite".. naive as i was at the time, i said what is that..... ... i thought mb it was something different than i might have imagined..but it was just as it was meant..

a week later we are in a small village..i'm watching and engaging the collection of wood by Mayan woman.. and my driver says this place next door is one of the places to go for ladies of the nite... do you want to go in??

i said, "Heck No".. they aren't going to let in a person with a camera.. and i can't just start taking images...exploring like that.. he said wait here.. so minutes later he calls me in.. we are hanging out.. and i'm talking with many women.they are showing me their dance pole, their rooms... it was so strange, but it was easy and i felt comfortable .. and i'm being given carte blanche to take photos if i wanted... and of course with that permission and commitment to my craft... i wanted... and i talked to them as well as i could in my broken Spanish

the next time he takes me to a transvestite bar.. similar thing.... i'm welcomed, we spend a few hours.. i actually had a wonderful time, lots of dancing , talking... even sharing the goings on.

how did i get into and welcomed into the first place (not the second) the place for Ladies of the nite........ ???

He told them i was a MADAME in New York City.... and i wanted to check things out there... !!!!!!

the second place i was readily welcomed.. what a trip.... would i have had the same comfort today? .. yes if in a diff scenario. with a thought in my head what i was wanting to explore, and a discussion prior.......... but here I was..... a novice....a virgin photographer in love with the camera and images.. not mattering to me what subject..... just if it pulled a chord in me.... if i saw something that made me feel. ..and my heart pounded

and so it goes til this day... i go by my heartbeat..my gut.... but not as a Madame..