into the sea

you're 9!

9 things my sons have taught me:

being a mother is being on auto-repeat mode pretty much all the time.

how to (kick ass) play Wii hockey on Mario Sports Mix.

they will forget how many hours you spent crafting birthday invitations but will always remember that one day you were late picking them up for school.

to laugh at my own incompetence and mistakes.

doing the thing you love and that you do well for even a couple of hours a week can make everything else more enjoyable.

life balance is overrated.

kids need more of your attention and involvement as they get older, not less.

farting and then lying about it is not cool, no matter what age you are or what the circumstances might be.

learning to lose gracefully takes time.

I love you my crazy little monkeys.

Happy Birthday!

Fine Little Gallery featuring some of Will's drawings (thank you Elisabeth!)

where I would like to get to

"my lack of knowledge in the beginning really helped, and really just made me refine what little I knew to make it work. I think if you ask any person that does a creative thing, they probably go to school and learn all these different things and as they get better it just narrows and narrows. you could ask most chefs, they just need five ingredients, one pan and a stick of butter and they can make the best meal you've ever had. and I think that's really where most photographers would like to get to, as not to have all that other stuff, be able to create the most beautiful image they can in the most simple way that they can."

- Scott Schumann aka The Satorialist, Intel Visual Life

(note: this is an outtake from the Polaroid portraits that I shot for the Facing the Impossible exhibition, and one of my favorites.)

grain of sand

"you don't have to understand the desert: all you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation." 

- Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

facing the impossible (plus a giveaway)

a few weeks ago I was asked by The Impossible Project to test and shoot the new PX600 Silver Shade UV+ film and PX70 Color Shade PUSH!, and selected to participate in the new Facing the Impossible exhibition at the NYC Impossible Project Space.

needless to say I am beyond ecstatic (and the lights on our Christmas tree pale in comparison to the beam on my face).

but there's more.

my friend photographer and filmmaker Gail Mooney recently traveled to six continents for 99 days to shoot her documentary film Opening our Eyes about people making a positive difference in the world. I learned so much spending a couple of days in her presence at the European Summit for Global Transformation, about how amazing it is what one small act can do, about being a woman photographer in our society today, about our responsibility to remember the truths about our work, and to hold them at once – of its playfulness, and of its power.

so to celebrate the opening of the Facing The Impossible exhibit, I'm giving away a pack of PX600 Silver Shade UV+ and PX70 Color Shade PUSH! film with a reusable shopping bag from The Impossible Project Store and a Baby Holga camera. all you have to do is back Gail's kickstarter project for a 1$ minimum pledge amount, and leave a comment here before December 24th, 2010 to be entered in a random drawing.

(note: the two images of this post are the ones that are on exhibit at the NYC Impossible Project Space. you can watch a short video of the opening reception here. also, many thanks to Anne, Emilie and Marlene from the Impossible Project office in Vienna for their time and kind encouragement.)

UPDATE: we made it! thank you all so much for your ongoing support and generosity in helping Gail reach her pledged goal! you can still donate and leave a comment here to enter the giveaway. anything pledged forward will be shared with the subjects of the film for their causes.