Check This Out - Simon Hoegsburg

Part of "We Are All Going to Die" by photographer Simon Hoegsburg

Friend and fellow photographer, William Dunniway sent me this link. I am glad I opened it. It gives you a virtual experience of viewing a 100 meter long photograph of 178 people, taken over 20 days, at the same spot on a railroad bridge in Berlin during the summer of 2007. Most people were unaware that they were being photographed. And the people who were aware are quite interesting. I can't say I have ever viewed an image of people in quite this way and it is very powerful. As are many of the images in the rest of Hoegsburg's galleries. I especially like the Thought Project.

Photographer Feature - Robyn Cumming, Toronto

Many Shades of Pink by Robyn Cumming, Copyright Robyn Cumming

Tonight I was cleaning my inbox and came across an old e-newsletter from OttawaXpress, a weekly arts and entertainment newspaper that read religiously when I was living in Ottawa. I mostly read the visual arts reviews online now. This review was about Robyn Cumming, a Toronto based photographer. I won't rehash the review here, but I will recommend you check out Robyn's cool website. On it you will see five series of images. Many of them, like the image above from the series Little Legs, are humorous and disturbing at the same time. As a photographer, I tend to make images of beauty, but have always been drawn to the beauty in the disturbing. It is amazing how the lens can make a situation that is totally benign, seem almost horrific, thanks to the way it has been captured by the photographer to inspire your imagination. Many of Cumming's images looks like scenes from a play. Her work is referred to as "staged-reality". I particularly like the series Bound, which featured portraits of people and the things they are bound by, and then portraits of just the things. I also really like her bio.

Book Recommendation - A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel

I love to read. I read mostly non fiction because I also love to learn. And since I am a photographer, images appeal to me. I was recently in our local library when I noticed the shelves where the librarians showcase their recommendations. My friend, Kim, is a librarian there, and her shelf caught my eye. A beautiful image in glowing orange (my current favorite color) and piercing eyes stopped me in my tracks. Then, the title of this book, "A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel: My Journey in Photographs by Annie Griffiths Belt" sold me completely. I snapped it up, brought it home, and have been reading and pouring over the images ever since.



I was reading it in bed one morning and my 2 1/2 year old was dozing next to me. When she rolled over and woke up, I was looking at the above image, and she started laughing and talking about the silly kids.

Annie Griffins Belt, is a National Geographic Photographer. In addition to some of her best images, this book showcases her excellent prose. It is a memoir. Her start in photography began at the age of 21, during a University photography classes (it was the University of Minnesota, in my hometown of Minneapolis). From there, she worked her way to National Geographic, a dream job for any photographer. But, what makes Griffins Belt different is that once she became a mother, she continued to work for National Geographic, all over the world, for months at a time, with her two kids in tow! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have this kind of opportunity, but since I wasn't already working for one of the most well respected documentary magazines in the world before having my first child... oh well, I can dream. And I can say, Right ON, Annie!" to this amazing woman who brought her kids with her for 5 years before even saying anything to anyone! Determined not to be an absentee mother, she just made it work. She paid all their expenses, and brought nannies, when her husband could not come with. These kids have seen the world, and they are now something like 16 and 19... what a gift!



Griffins Belt mentions returning to Africa, herself, for the 14 and 15th times, so you can only imagine how many countries she has been to around the world. Mexico, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Jordan, the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Dominican Republic, Kenya, Thailand, Haiti, Cambodia, Burma, Bosnia, Kenya, Tanzania, Bolivia, Bermuda, Australia, Israel, Syria, Brazil, China, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, England, Zambia, Italy...

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Above is one of my favorite images in the book. It is of a Somalian mother and her child awaiting evacuation from Kenya. Although I cannot imagine what this mother is going through, I look at this image and I feel that I can understand how much she loves her child. We are both mothers. It makes me feel for her, and her child. It makes me weep.

My favorite paragraph written by Griffins Belt, who tries whenever possible to work without an interpreter, is:
"And I have learned that even without a shared language, it's easy to let people know that their children are beautiful, their homes are lovely, their tea is delicious, and their stories are worth sharing with the world."

I admire this kind, sensitive, and brave woman, this mother, and I think this book is excellent! Thanks, Kim :)

Morag, My Dollar Store Doll

January, while in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, teaching a digital travel photography course, I answered a call for submissions for a project called Dollar Store Doll Makeover. I love to search online for submissions that require work to be made with Polaroid film. How thrilled I was to find one that combined dolls and Polaroid! Not only that but the woman who is curating the project, Pamela Klaffke, lives in Calgary and I have since met and befriended her. I look forward to collaborating on future projects with her. This weekend, she was able to get the dolls up online, including Morag, my doll. Each doll has a before and after picture and a short story to go with it. Very cool concept and a fun project to have participated in. It has inspired me to start a collaborative project of my own someday...