Pic+tory 2
June 16, 2010
This special edition of Pictory is published for Father’s Day. Again, I have the honor of being published in this brilliant online magazine. This edition was designed by founder Laura Bruno Miner in collaboration with writer Lauren Ladoceour.
Going Soft
I can’t remember what sparked the rare, deep smile that spread across his face that day, but I’m thrilled that I got to capture it. A fierce negotiator and man of strength, he terrified me with his discipline and stern nature when I was young. Little did I know then that his tough exterior harbored such a warm heart. He teared up reading Grover Goes to School, typed country songs into poems for his wedding anniversaries, and provided a belly for me to nap on when I was small enough. And he’s happy just to wake up every day — to a warm cup of coffee and a poppy seed bagel — and protect the rest of us softies of the world.
Pic+tory
April 7, 2010
Pictory is a beautifully designed on-line magazine that showcases photographic images + text to tell stories that excite, inspire, awaken & touch the spirit. People from around the world of all ages and professions are featured. This project is the brain child of editor and writer Laura Brunow Miner. This month, I had the honor to be featured in the London showcase, with the image London Dreams. This image really gets at the heart of the community based photography work I was doing in London, helping young people to share their stories through photography. Sharing stories is ingrained in the human DNA – it’s an important part of being heard and being alive!
London Dreams
During my time in London, I worked as a photography teacher, mentoring young refugees and asylum seekers. I sought to teach them to observe beauty in any environment. That said, East London is the epitome of a dirty, over-industrialized, concrete jungle. Many of these young people had left behind third world countries, due to war and disruption, only to find themselves in conditions that were not much better. I spent days, hours, weeks walking the streets of London with young people looking for beauty. And I realized that it exists in the people — with their hopes, cultures, and stories all mingling together on a dirty street or a crowded bus — dreaming of the past and building a new future.
Learning from our Elders
December 22, 2009
I recently submitted this photo and text to Pictory, an online magazine that publishes personalized mini- photo essays.
This picture was taken of my Nana, on our shared birthday, June 20th, 2009. She was turning 95- years-young and I was turning 28. We were celebrating it together over peach mojitos in a funky restaurant called Dada (named after the art movement) in West Palm Beach, Florida.
My Nana has always encouraged me to follow my heart and to be an individual, no matter how crazy my actions may seem to others. Her strength astounds me and her wisdom inspires me. She came over to the USA from East Prussia during WWI amongst a family of nearly 20 children (many who died) and has fought to make her way in the world. When my grandfather died, she decided to take a break from motherhood and at 50 opened a successful boutique all on her own, which had her traveling to fashion shows in Paris and Milan.
She has followed her dreams, traveled the world, been an interior decorator and a sculptor, had two husbands and one long-term life partner, and has raised 4 talented children, who have given her 11 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. At 95, she still drives, swims, wallpapers her own apartment, goes to the theater, cooks, laughs, gardens, writes, does yoga and is writing a “memoir” on beauty and aging.
She feels age is simply a mindset and has decided not to let anyone tell her what she can and can’t do. She is my mentor and my source of strength about how to be a strong, beautiful, passionate woman who is true to herself above all else.
