squam + city

to the folks who showed up to roam the streets of providence, rhode island with me to do my absolute favorite thing in the world (wander and shoot, shoot and wander), thank you. to the downpour of rain that magically held off and the golden honey light that finally showed up, thank you. to the dean hotel and the wonderful staff and all the lovely/quirky/thoughtful details, the tiny lift with the chandelier, the hotel bed that gave me my first real amazing night of sleep in months, thank you. to the fascinating people we met as we wandered the streets, the man with cotton white hair feeding the swans, the 95 year-old portuguese grocer still doing his thing, the prize fighter who turned his life around, thank you. for talking with us, for letting us photograph you, thank you. to the streets of providence, for your hundred year-old buildings, impossibly narrow alleyways and gorgeous old fire escapes, your bright-colored doorways and complicated wrought iron fences, your bicycles at every single turn, thank you. to xanthe and amy for a rooftop/wasteland golden hour shoot like no other, thank you. to all the lovely folks who showed up to squam in the city completely open to new things (and new people), who showed up to stretch and learn a little, thank you. and to elizabeth, maker of squam magic extraordinaire, thank you. until next time, friends.

the phone photography project

honored to be a special guest contributor for the phone photography project 2, friends. 28 days of photo tips, app tutorials and general iphone photography goodness. I will admit to slaving over a fifteen minute video (where I talk about the hows/whys of my personal iphone photography process/practice). I will admit that the making of it was way out of my comfort zone, that I almost pulled my hair out in the process but I will also admit that now that I've finished it, I'm a little bit of proud of it. I sort of poured my heart into it. and so did a whole host of lovely teachers, which you can read more about here.

if you're looking to learn a little more about crafting images with your iphone, this is a pretty terrific place to start. more information and/or sign up here, if you please. class starts july 17th, yo.

squam in the city

oh hey, squam! squam in the city! stoked to announce I'll be there this september leading a few experiential photo walks on the streets of one of america's oldest (and squam organizer extraordinaire elizabeth's favorite) cities-- providence, rhode island!

one part photo walk, one part workshop, one part treasure hunt, this is my dream class scenario, folks. wandering down side streets and back alleyways, cameras in hand. talking street photography and the art of shooting on the fly. talking tips and tricks and the ins and outs of shooting portraits of strangers, talking color and light. hours spent looking for stories, jamming our cameras with a hundred city stories.

also? so many terrific teachers lined up, including my friend and fellow color//colour co-conspirator xanthe, who is also leading photo walks. color//colour photo walks. you guys. I AM EXCITED.

and don't even get me started on the hotel. because it's so good I can't even talk about it.

is this your gig? is this your scene? if so, read more here. and then meet me on the streets of providence in september, mamacita.

tahoe!

oh hey, teaching a few photography workshops at the create/explore/discover art retreat in tahoe this fall! on the roster: instant magic and a class I call five for five. and then: patchwork collages and painting with mati rose, crocheted stones and arm knitting with anne, image transfers and paper flowers with courtney. in tahoe! tahoe! I've never been but the people, they say nice things. I'll tell you, organizer sarah stevenson has outdone herself. I am excited.

meet me in tahoe in october? I'll be there with bells on. well, maybe not bells. I'll most likely be the one with all the polaroid cameras.

(retreat registration officially open! more here)

pictures of people

taking pictures. pictures of people taking pictures. this is something I like to do, this is something that makes me happy.

in other news, a few workshops are in the works. I might be coming to a city near you, 2014 might be a busy year. I am excited.

hey ho

so, this summer I'll be contributing to a rad lil ecourse called the phone photography project. 32 days of iphone challenges from 32 different contributors. busting at the seams with tips, tricks, project ideas and more more more.

(sign up here and gimme a holla this summer)

instant noun (workshop edition)

calling all bay area folks (or anyone, really)-- registration is now open for my instant photography workshop coming up later on this month! to sign up (or find out a little more), go here! there are only ten spots available so if you're down, don't sleep on it.

people, it will be all kinds of fun. I promise.

INSTANT NOUN

bay area peoples! excited (and honored, so honored) to be a part of this upcoming polaroid show, curated by the infinitely rad lisa solomon. stoked to be showing alongside some of my absolute all time favorite instant photographers but also? this will be ava's first show. I am bursting. bursting, I tell you.

show opens friday, june 7th at rare device and, in conjunction with the show, I'll be teaching an instant photography workshop! to take place at rare device (natch) on saturday, june 29th from 2-6pm. registration details forthcoming, so if you're interested, stay tuned.

finding your photo style

hey peoples, honored to be a part of an upcoming six-week online workshop devoted to finding your personal photo style. I'll be teaching alongside five other incredibly lovely photographers and I'm telling you, it'll be chock full of good stuff. if you're just starting out or you struggle with carving out an individual style, this is the joint for you.

clickety-click here for more information.

I do have a little bit more up my sleeve in the way of announcements and such. upcoming shows, workshops, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. things be cookin. but first things first and not at all at once (lest I meet myself coming and going). stay tuned.

this is my favorite class

because instant photography plus middle schoolers? yes. yes, this is my kind of class. my favorite kind of class. 

twas a small but wildly enthusiastic group. they rolled right through the challenge of shooting through grey rainy weather and met peel apart film catastrophes head on. and the girl who just about drove me crazy the first day of class, the girl who would. not. stop. picking up cameras and pushing buttons shortly won me over. she was there every wednesday, ready to shoot, determined to master that land camera beast. her little hands could barely pull the film out of the compartment when we first started. every week, she struggled. but then-- then she got it. and she began to wield that thing like a pro. she became what I like to call UNSTOPPABLE.

we should also talk about how my daughter signed up, even though I told her she didn't have to, told her she could totally skip it and my feelings would not be hurt. but she decided to take the class anyway and so of course my mama heart wanted to burst into a few thousand pieces because oh my goodness her shots were beautiful. I had to refrain from saying so at least seven hundred times. maybe more.  

there will, of course, be more classes. which means more stories, more images. more kids with polaroid cameras in their hands. and for this, I am infinitely thankful.

instant oasis, part two

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one: best little vintage shop in palm springs. two: just outside my room at the ace. three: lovely fellow color lover, xanthe. four: packed full of impossible project film. five: the saguaro.

shutter sisters oasis, part two. more here. 

instant oasis, part one

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one: the saguaro. two: sweet audrey and the awesome bathing suit. three: back lot of the ace. four: sweet meredith. five: sweet kristin. six: more saguaro.

so, back in october, I did a little teaching at the shutter sisters oasis gathering in palm springs. the truth is that I wasn't sure I was up for it. but I went anyway and I'll tell you, it was maybe the best thing. to throw myself into something, something that had nothing to do with cancer or the planning of a funeral. to pack a few bags and plan a few workshops. to step off a plane into bone dry heat and eternal sunshine. to wander the grounds of the ace, the color hotel, the streets of palm springs. and to finally meet friends I'd connected with for so long on the internets-- kristin, xanthe, meredith (and more, so many more). all as lovely in person as you might think. as always, the folks at the impossible project went above and beyond, supplying fat stacks of film for my workshops and goodies to give away. I like those guys. I really, really like those guys. 

I would be remiss if I did not mention the hard pieces. the sleepless chunks of night when grief practically swallowed me whole. which is when I'd wander outside where there were stars, always stars. and during the day, sunshine, always sunshine. and so the grief was always there but so were these things too. 

I have big news

I'm headed to gjilan, kosovo with a group of artists from my church this friday. we'll be working with high school art students there as well as holding workshops for the greater art community.

I suppose I've sort of been sitting on this news for a while. wanting to write about it, unsure how or where to start. but now it's here and I'm all out of time. I am in full blown preparation mode and navigating batty pre-travel chaos. if I had the time, I'd tell you all about the country of kosovo. I'd tell you how newly independent and young they are, how 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30. I'd tell you how they're still recovering from a devastating war, how they struggle with a poor infrastructure and economy, a whopping unemployment rate of 40-50 percent. I'd also tell you how hopeful they are. the most hopeful of all the balkans, even in the face of serious struggle.

I'm not going because I believe I can fix any of these problems. or because I believe I can fix anyone. I'm going because I believe art is a powerful way to connect with people. I believe it transcends language and a mess of barriers. I believe it gives voice to the voiceless. most importantly, I believe in how profoundly it reflects the image of God, the ultimate creator, thus connecting us to him in deep, meaningful ways.

the truth is that I'm humbled by this whole thing. I'm going as a teacher but I'm pretty sure I'll come out on the other side the learner.

BIG POLAROID FUN

instant magic workshop last saturday at teahouse studios in berkeley! yay! big polaroid fun, people. big times one hundred. many many many many many many many thanks to the folks who helped make this workshop possible, who helped make it so stinkin fun-- the teahouse folks (mati, stef and tiffany), the impossible project folks (seriously anne, you are the best), my friend leslie (leslie the magnificent, who went above and beyond) and of course, all the lovely people who came out to play around with old polaroid cameras (and rad new impossible project film). thank you, thank you, thank you. can I please say it again? THANK YOU.

and if you wanted to come but couldn't, well, you were missed. I'll catch you on the flip flop. on another day, in another city. and hopefully soon. stay tuned.