waiting/

When you see an old abandoned house collapsing in on itself, don't you wonder about the lives lived in there? How does a house just get left until it falls apart? I swear, when I drive by houses in this condition I almost drive off the road. I just cannot look away. Why were they left? Where did the owners go? And even though they have been abandoned, there is a dignity in the house's insistence on standing. Waiting for a return that will never come.

grandma's graduation dress/

I have never posted any of my diptychs because it bugs me how small they post, but I had to share this one today. This was my Grandmother's high school graduation dress. She sewed it herself. Can you believe I misplaced this dress? I was silently freaking out for awhile! But it is found (phew!!! I knew it was somewhere...)! Wish you could see the details on it. It has a hand stitched, scalloped edge in a pale green thread - so delicate and pretty.

The day I shot this image I was at a resevoir and the dress was hanging in a tree. I was just playing around shooting...and then the smallest gust of wind blew and the dress fell off its hanger into the water...nightmare! After a brief moment of panic I realized I better keep shooting because it was already wet. Not much else to do, right? Thankfully the dress was unscathed from its little swim. I'm rather thankful for that gust of wind, though. I cherish this dress so much I would never have purposely dropped it in the water. But it made for a ghostly image. And btw, this eventually became a book cover, so that's a bonus.

daily life/first thing I see

Yesterday, this is the first thing I saw in the morning. I am not one to grab my camera when things like this occur. I usually lie there and watch the light move, but for some reason I did shoot it yesterday. Add to this the sound of howling wind in the trees around my house.  It was a lovely way to wake up.

early work/

I received some questions for a Q&A yesterday and it got me to thinking about how I take pictures.  The questions were very thoughtful and really gave me pause. I do consider my work and my process but I've come to find that there is a danger in overanalyzing for me. I need to be completely present in the moment of shooting for everything to work . The voice in my head that analyzes things has to be bound and gagged - silenced unequivocably. Taking photographs is like dancing for me. It is about feeling and listening to what and who draws me to it. It is like falling in love a thousand little times a day.

This image is from a shoot I did early in my career for Surface magazine. It was for their first Avant Guardian issue. But it wasn't a contest then because as I recall they asked me to participate. This shoot was a day for the history books for me. The perfect synthesis of model, location (oh god...the location...I still dream about it), clothes and crew. It just came together seamlessly and I created pictures that were completely in line with who I was at the time. They were all self portraits really. I still love these.

hay hohos/ sharon, georgia

Am I the only person that calls these hay Hohos? I have been looking through all my images of the South lately and ran across this one which I shot right outside of Sharon, GA. I have always called these hay Hohos because they are like Hostess Hoho's but (obviouously) out of hay. I was never allowed to eat Hostess anything when I was growing up and all the other kids were, so maybe that is where the fascination comes from. Who knows. But now that Hostess is bankrupt it makes me yearn for a Hostess factory tour of the US. I guess I already started with the Memphis factory. See it in this post on Wonder (Bread).

remembrance of things past/

Places that used be the height of luxury but have descended into some kind of sad, dilapidated state make me wistful. I shot this years ago in and old hotel in downtown LA. Back in the day (and by that I mean at the beginning of moviemaking and into the 1930's), it used to be where all the stars stayed for movie premiers. By the time I shot there it was a pretty seedy residential hotel. The kind where you go up and talk to a guy through glass and can get a room for an hour. They had kept a few of the rooms as they once were and film crews would shoot here often - I think lots of music videos were shot here in the 90's. But I got a room and stayed the night. I was (and still am) fascinated with early Hollywood so I guess that is why - I can't remember my thinking at the time.

The geographic carpet mixed with odd modernizations made the room even more melancholy. A feeble attempt to step into the modern era when it clearly didn't want to and shouldn't. The night I stayed there was slightly harrowing (big understatement) but in the morning, when the light shone in, I saw a glimpse of her past beauty. Certainly an amazing place in it's glory days.

Have a lovely weekend friends.

location scouting/

The bathrooms at the Headlands Center for the Arts. Best public bathroom ever...