self-portraits

Going through all of my photos from the last 11 months, I'm noticing an astonishing number of self-portraits. As mentioned in a previous post, I've always had a thing for self-portraits and have compulsively snapped my own photo in a full variety of moments for the last 13 years of my life. On this recent edit, I'm struck by how many there are ... literally hundreds taken on this wandering journey called my life since January. Almost always the photos are snapped as a reflection or shadow, and I can't help but wonder what Freud or Jung would have to say about this ...What is it about my impulse to photograph myself?

All through the photos of my travels, there I am in one of my favorite comfy outfits, with my camera in hand - pointing it right at me. It is no secret that my adventure has been just as much about lesson learning/learning who I really am, as it has been about seeing the Tower of London and Notre Dame. There were so many moments when I'd lost all sense of self and was on my knees, so it isn't surprising that I would intuitively use the lens to make sense of it all. Perhaps I was reaching into the camera for some sense of time and place, and for a comfort of knowing that I was there, wherever I was ... because there were times I felt pretty lost.

The thing is, when I take these photos, I just take them. I don't have any big plans for them, and pretty much disregard them after they are taken. Surely there must be a project in there somewhere. But it is daunting to look at the photos let alone consider forming a body of work from them. I feel vain, self-absorbed, a wanna-be Cindy Sherman even considering it. But the photos were taken for a reason ....
I think I'll think about the impulse behind it all is as I continue editing through them.
... Paging Dr Freud and Dr Jung! ...

and now ...

vegas © erin faith allen

Many days are quickly passing by. I've been immersed in an interior world of prioritizing, re-aligning, reclaiming and constantly adjusting to the ebb and flow of life. Oh what a journey the past 11 months has been, bringing lots of travel and deep soul diving, while I fluctuate between temporary landing spots. The time is coming yet again to move on, toward another adventure of the Great Unknown.

chinatown © erin faith allen

Looking forward to heading back to Europe very soon, and bracing myself for an upcoming flurry of activity in the form of getting rid of even more possessions, all sorts of organization-y tasks, and schlepping between Northern and Southern California. In the midst of this, I'm reflecting heavily on the momentous journey I've been on - almost impossible to avoid since I am also updating my website with photos from my recent travels.

winchester © erin faith allen

I've missed this blog, yet my precious internet time has been spent on building an exciting new project, and the rest of my time has been spent rebuilding me, as I practice how to live in flux with grace and serenity ... how to embrace the ebb and flow and simply let it be.

long time ...

It has been awhile since my last post, partially because I've been internet-ally challenged, though mostly I've been up to my eyeballs in all sorts of delicious projects. If you'd like to see where my attention has been, go here.
I will return soon with some new photos ....

life as i know it ...

Life is absolutely fantastic in my neck of the woods.

I'm tucked away high in the hills, blessed to be working on all sorts of new projects, and spending time with a handful of wonderful human creatures ... without the distraction of cell phone, internet, television, traffic, and the general hustle bustle. Diving into my soul, making art, planting flowers (and my first vegetable garden!), scrubbing dirt out from under my nails, reading the Bhagavad Gita, and breathing in the rolling foggy air ...
I'm like my own little version of Thoreau meets Georgia O'Keefe.

Creative energy is overflowing, and I feel so very blessed to be who I am, where I am, in this time on our planet. Tim Guion's CD art is taking on a life of it's own ... as of course these things do. Take a moment to visit his website, which is playing my all-time favorite Tim song. While you are at it, check out his delightful new blog about life in the magical city of Prague. Not only will you catch blissful bits of music pre-release, you will also stumble upon his recent kind words about my artwork. Team Tim and Erin also have our heads together for another creative project which is taking on a mighty momentum (stay tuned!) ... and my personal work is scooping me up in it's wonderfully wild whirlwind.

This all adds up to lots of time in the studio ... and lots of time with Mother Nature. Lucky me!

In a nutshell? I'm just Flowing with the Go!

simplicity

it's the simple things in life .....

praha revisited ....

tim, praha. february 2009. © erin faith allen

Waaaaay back in January, my very dear friend Tim Guion and I sat at our favorite Greek Restaurant at the Grove in Los Angeles, and began visioning an extraordinary project. It has taken several months and many adventures, but the vision is now shapeshifting into physical form.

Tim is not only a wonderfully big-hearted presence on the planet, but an extremely gifted composer of ambient music, with a CD and film score under his belt. His compositions are truly from another realm, and his new album is in production as we speak. Lucky me - I've been on the inside track (no pun intended), and have witnessed his creative process in his studio in Prague (Praha in Czech). Nothing is more inspiring than watching an artist caught up in the flow, tuned into the powers that be, and releasing the magic through their chosen medium. From start to finish, that is Tim Guion. If Tim's previous works are blissful, this new album is a skyrocketing joyride into the divine.

I am blessed and grateful to be collaborating with him on his project - my photography and art will be the imagery accompanying his compositions for the CD. I spent a month with Tim in Prague photographing him and the city for this album, and yesterday was the first day of sitting at my work table and beginning production on the art. Not only am I gifted with listening to the pre-release AMAZINGNESS of this album while creating mixed media art for this album, I am also revisiting my love affair with the beautiful city of Prague through my photos and illustrations.
In a word? Heaven.


pražský hrad, 2009. © erin faith allen

the one and only walker evans ...

Walker Evans, Brighton


Imagine my surprise (and delight) when I unexpectedly stumbled upon the above Walker Evans image of Brighton I'd never laid eyes on, which belongs to a body of work I did not know existed (a small miracle, for I am a rabid fan).

When I saw this image I gasped - it was so familiar. Perhaps I flatter myself by thinking there are similarities between Walker's image, and a sequence of my own shot on a recent journey to Brighton, England. I had even converted the file to black and white, although it is ravishing in color (if I do say so myself). It was shot and converted before coming across Walker's image.
Regardless of my wishful thinking, the facts are undeniable: same chairs, same skyline, same seaside town in England, same pier.



from the series Brighton, Erin Faith Allen

from the series Brighton, Erin Faith Allen

from the series Brighton, Erin Faith Allen

from the series Brighton, Erin Faith Allen

Apparently Evans was an anglophile who relished his time spent in Brighton. As a pseudo-Brit who lived in London, I have affinity for ... well, Evans' affinity for Brighton. Evans himself has influenced my work tremendously. He is one of my top faves in the photo world, and I would give anything to go back in time and work with him. So sorta kinda, in a way, this discovery felt like a little wrinkle in time, like I was kinda sorta working beside the master. Imagine it, little old me standing unsuspectingly in the footsteps of my long-deceased mentor, shooting a similar scene decades later. I could care less whether my photos are as good as his. What puts a smile on my face is knowing that we each saw this magical seaside pier, and deemed it worthy of a shutter snap or two.
When it comes to me and the mighty Walker Evans, there is no competition, only my tremendous admiration.


from the series Brighton, Erin Faith Allen


I've looked everywhere for his Brighton body of work - all I can find is one image, and repeated reference to it as a 'little known' body of work. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would be eternally grateful.

from the series Brighton, Erin Faith Allen

humboldt county as i see it

pulp mill, eureka

channel six, eureka

king salmon

humboldt hill

madaket, eureka

Returning to the town I grew up in has been thought provoking and fascinating. I've been shooting a bit, though the weather hasn't been cooperating much ... in spite of my most earnest efforts I still haven't managed to take a brilliant shot under densely fog packed skies. (any helpful hints are welcome!)

These few photos represent my attempt to capture what life looks like
behind the Redwood Curtain.

More (most certainly with my usual cerebral meanderings) to come.

ready, set ...

the world inside me, 2008

I'm dangling on the precipice of a wholehearted full body leap into a new mixed media project, based on all the photos taken on the wild ride of the past six months. Before beginning a new mixed media series, I always feel ripe and round, every last limb and vein and cell drenched with the creative buzzhum, as I call it. It's happening again. It will birth itself when it is ready ... and it is a' comin'.

I feel exactly like the above piece looks. This upcoming project is literally about the world exploding inside me ... a whole new me waiting to be expressed ... a result of Seeing and Being a part of the world as I traveled.

Ripe, plump, rich ... and ready to go ... to create ...
and then to jump on another plane ... to See and Be some more!

my great-grandmother, boise, photography, and me

Edna Winnifred Stewart Allen

Today I stumbled across an original photograph of my great-grandmother, whom I've always felt a special connection with, though she died long before I was born.
Edna Winnifred was a photographer who lived in Boise in the first quarter of the 1900's. This information was told to me after my own headlong fall into photography in the last years of that century, which happened while I was living in Boise. (And it was all a rather random string of circumstances that led me to Boise in the first place). Delighted beyond measure to learn of the Boise/Photography connection, I began to search out information on this kindred spirit ancestor.
According to family lore, she graduated from college in 1912ish as the only woman in her class and helped her sister run the first professional photo studio in downtown Boise. After she and my great-grandfather Ellis Roscoe Allen met in a photography class, they fell in love and married in Boise, then moved to Los Angeles to start a family. Edna and Ellis Roscoe were card carrying members of the LA Camera Club.
Today in my mother's home I found this incredible photo, which shows my great-grandmother almost 100 years ago, holding a camera at the sea. Waves of chills engulfed me when I turned it over and read what is written on the back - in her own handwriting. Looks like we are more kindred spirits than I thought!
My great-grandmother continues to inspire me and delight me.
Thank you, Edna Winnifred, for the outstanding DNA.

chinatown

woman walking, chinatown

A few shots of a few fleeting moments spent in Chinatown (San Francisco) a few days ago.
I'm dying to go back and shoot more.
The Asian culture fascinates me in a way that draws me toward it, yet admittedly intimidates me slightly because it is so very different to my own. Regardless of difference, it is a picture perfect experience to shoot my way through this part of the city.
I want to make pictures of it - so that I will understand it.

market, chinatown

post no bills, chinatown

sign, chinatown

street and signs, chinatown

market window, chinatown

reflection, chinatown

LA to Humboldt, part 2

into the city, san francisco

Twice in my life have I lived in San Francisco. As I parked my rental and walked around I was struck by two things: that I lived here twice and didn't explore it to the max, and that somehow the fog which kept shapeshifting into blazing blue sky (and back again) felt very sweet and comforting. I didn't have much time to spend in the city, but it was blissful nonetheless.

jack and neal, san francisco

bay bridge, san francisco

hyde street, san francisco

clay street, san francisco

The Golden Gate Bridge is absolutely magical. Is it the way the brilliant shade of red looks against the deep blue waters of the bay? Or against the kaleidoscope sky that morphs between shades of blue and fog constantly? I'm not sure what it is, but this bridge holds a powerful beauty that takes my breath away every time I see it.

golden gate, san francisco

alcatraz, san francisco

bay, san francisco

reflection on hood of car, san francisco

Sadly I departed San Francisco, and headed further north to Humboldt County. As the forest began to thicken, and the fog bank began to swell and sock into the curvature where Ferndale meets Eureka, and as the air became pungent with sea and pulp .....

redwoods, humboldt

self portrait and redwoods, humboldt

humboldt at night

I knew I was home.

LA to Humboldt, part I

feet on stairs, santa monica

I'm up to my eyeballs in photos from my All-American road trip north, most of which were taken while driving. I have become a whiz at multi-tasking, and as of yet there is no law in the state of California regarding hands-free photography. Since my return from England, I have been overwhelmed by the sheer mass of the US of A. It is tall, it is deep, and it is one big fat wide open space, this magnificently geographically obese country I now roam.

reflection on rental car, santa monica

cows and hillside, santa maria, highway 101

truck, highway 101

buellton. highway 101

Kerouac and Cassady were on my mind as my Mustang convertible vroom-vroomed up north. An avid devourer of Jack and the gang, I made many 'On the Road' inspired roadtrips between Colorado, Idaho, and San Francisco about 10 years ago. My camera was with me then too, as it is now in this re-opened thirst to go go go ... to see see see ... to photograph and stare down the open road ... to feel the great joyous wonder of expansiveness ... to feel the wind whipping my hair while I sing off-key at the top of my lungs.

Pismo Beach

Pelicans at Pismo

self portrait, highway 101

farm, highway 101

near soledad, highway 101



Countless hours I've spent on the road, admiring the beautiful for spacious skies and amber waves of grain, but only now do I really see how truly wide the purple mountains majesty spreads, and how rich the colors of the fruited plain. This clear vision is true not only in the aesthetic sense, but in the larger sense of what it means to have been born and raised in a country bold and beautiful.



clouds and light, highway 101

still driving, highway 101


My cultural inheritance is clear to me now because of 6 months in what was other and different (albeit wonderful) culture. I learned what it is to be American.
And it is a label I am proud to wear.

northern cali, here i come ...

I'm leaving Los Angeles today, heading north to the Redwoods.
I don't know anything about my future except that every day just gets better and better.

That's enough to keep me going.

who i am ... where i've been ... where i'm going

Prague Castle, Czech Republic

One of the many wonderful/awful things about my experience living overseas for 6 months was that I was shaken senseless. My way of dealing with it was to turn to my camera and my spirituality for answers. My perception of the world and my place in it was expanded beyond measure. I really don't like saying predictable things, but the past six months has changed my life in ways I cannot put into language. And I didn't quite realize how much I'd changed until I got back to LA, and began to try to fit back into a life I had left behind.

Prague

So even though I am back in the States, and there is a magnificent comfort falling back into predictable monotony, I do not want to forget who I really am because of where I am OR where I've been. Who I am is NOT geography. My self has nothing to do with location, my self exists within.



Brighton, England

So, my intention for my return to the US of A is to find the space between the old American Erin, and the Erin I was introduced to in England and Prague. Perhaps I can take comfort in my old comforts ... AND still live on the edge ... in a way that comforts me.



Eiffel Tower, Paris

My soul's greatest desire is to travel the world and make pictures and projects about what I see, in the way that only I see it, bringing my unique imprint into and out of every country on our planet. It takes a certain chutzpah to be willing to get out there and explore the unknown, leaving all the creature comforts behind, and I learned that I have it! Hooray for chutzpah!


Notre Dame, Paris

In the meantime, I am beginning a project on life abroad, and all of it's many ups and downs, ins and outs, cyclones and swirls. Everyone is asking 'so how was it?' and 'did you have such a great adventure?', although I've tried to explain, words alone cannot articulate what I experienced.



Hever Castle, England

The only thing I can say is that it was beyond profoundly life-changing. I'm still not even close to understanding what it was all about. My way of 'telling' my stories will be through mixed media word + image, and perhaps that is why I shot and documented every moment obsessively in thousands of photos and diary pages.



London Eye

So that at the end of it all, I would be able to make sense of it in the way I make sense of things - expressing creatively that which I have witnessed - in myself - as a participant in the world around me.

LA at night

One of my favorite things to shoot is night-time.
Los Angeles does not fall asleep as it's blessed sun goes down. Shapes, shadows, and colors rise and reveal in ways not possible in blazing sunshine.
This is what Hollywood looks like between sharply focused lines.

top of the world

Such a feeling's comin' over me, and there's wonder in most everything I see ...

Something in the wind has learned my name ... and it's telling me that things are not the same ...

(thank you Karen and Richard Carpenter)

bliss!

Reunited with Los Angeles and it feels so good.
I am shooting up a storm, and spending most of my time outdoors meditating, meandering and soaking up the sun!! Dizzied yet grateful, the photobliss I live for is flowing through me more than ever. Truthfully, I was a bit nervous about my photochasing wanderlusting soul upon my return: would I be inspired to take photos in LA?
The answer is undeniable.
The bliss is the bliss, geography matters not!
I crave it (and recognize it - and embrace it!) more than ever.
These are a few first impressions of my return to the City of Angels.

london to los angeles

my last glimpse of English soil and sky at Heathrow

changing planes in DC

santa monica

from heathrow to santa monica .....
jetlag and reverse culture shock are keeping my words to a dull roar.
but my camera, as always, picks up the slack.

leaving ... returning

take-off: LAX and the Pacific

I am leaving England tomorrow, and heading back to the good ol' US of A. True to form, I am reflecting deeply on the past six months and an unpredictably epic journey of self-discovery.

I thought I knew all about me - who I am, what makes me tick, what makes me tock. Until ....

Following my heart and soul with a deep sense of knowingness that this is what comes next, I left for Europe and England not having a clue of where, or how, or why. Terrified and ready to allow my dreams to come true, I gave away most of my belongings and took a massive leap of faith.

waking up suddenly on the plane, shocking bright light over the Atlantic, catching my already jet-lagged reflection

These photos mark the very beginning of my 180-ish days (and tens of thousands of photos) in England, the Czech Republic, and a dash of Paris. From take-off to landing and every step along the way I've snapped away, documenting obsessively in the way I do.

Naturally, I am both devastated and ecstatic to be leaving/returning. The last six months have forever left a mark on me, in ways that will take months to process. I have learned about culture, history, God/Spirit/Source, having, not having, giving, receiving, saying yes, strength, ego, just how many tears I am capable of crying (alot!), my capacity for holding joy and wonder, solitude, togetherness, borders, boundaries, perception, authenticity of self, and my reason for being on the planet ...

So my mighty leap of faith has crash landed me straight into ME. My reason for being is undeniable, loud and clear. Our planet has a story to tell, and my camera is part of the storytelling. Exploring, discovering the unexpected, and capturing energy inside a 'camera lucida' (translation: box of light), it is my hope that the resulting photos tell the story of who we are as a collective whole.

touchdown: my very first glimpse of English soil from the window of my plane

So thank you England, Prague and Paris.
Thank you countless alleys and castles and meadows and rivers and cobblestones and motorways and bridges, and abbeys with nuns and abbeys long abandoned, jackrabbits and rainstorms and cafes and cathedrals and mountains and trains and people ...
Thank you to the dearest of friends - old and new, seen and unseen, human beings and lightbeings - who have been beside me along the way ...

I am grateful.

Simply: I am forever changed. I have become a truer version of Who I Really Am.

Henry Allingham

Yesterday in Brighton the funeral for Henry Allingham was held at St. Nicholas church. In a previous posting, I mentioned Mr. Allingham was one of the last surviving soldiers of World War 1. Hundreds attended his funeral, and I am blessed to count myself among them. There are no words to describe the atmosphere of respect and reverance as people of all ages gathered to honor his life. The pages of history turned as his own was recalled. Born in 1896, he served in the trenches of World War 1, was a founding member of the RAF, and once lunched on the Titanic. Family members and military colleagues spoke of him as a man with a spark of life and mischief all at once unparalleled and inspirational. In the atmosphere of hushed awe I was moved to tears surrounded by World War 2 veterans, modern military officers, and others like myself who came to pay respect to a life lived in service, humbleness and .... life lived.

In the words of Air Vice Marshal Peter Dye, who spoke at the service, "Henry Allingham was an ordinary man, but an extraordinary human."

the heartbeat of history - medals of a ww2 officer

one of the many paying respects in the church yard to Henry Allingham

three navy and three RAF carry the casket, representing the branches of military Mr. Allingham served

following along with the service

hundreds spilled out into the churchyard to watch onscreen, standing or sitting on 300 year old tombs

a woman wearing medals of a soldier

the RAF flyover

civilians line the streets to say goodbye.

Henry Allingham in 1916.

One thing is certain, Mr. Allingham has touched my heart in the deepest way. His own life has rekindled my innate spark, that I may also live a century or more and leave behind a legacy of joy, honor, and ... life lived.

Rest in peace, Mr. Allingham.

Here's to us ....

(copyright © Liz Kuball , from California Vernacular)

The latest blog posting from fellow photographer Liz Kuball last week read like a beacon in the night. Her recent thought process about 'playing by the rules' was thrilling to me. To think that there might be another artist out there whose thoughts may parallel, in some way, a few of my own was inspiring to say the least. You see, I've been thinking ....

Though attached at the hip to my camera for many years, it has been a very long time since I've focused on photos exclusively. Shooting has been as natural to me as my own breath, but I've not taken notice of my photo obsession until recently while traveling overseas. Looking over the 15,000 photos I've taken in the past six months I wonder where they go from here, and sit with questions about the intentions and motivations underlying my compulsion to make pictures.

The answers leave me wondering if there is a place for me in today's project and conceptually oriented photo world. I just want to witness life happening and unfolding all around me, all the time - and I want to shoot that. I have a gift to give the world: my gift is being the lens, being willing to dive in and absorb the world around me, to be receptive to the impulse to document, and to let the subtleties of life reveal through the frame.

(copyright © Gary Winogrand)

As a result of trying to find my place in the photo world, I've rediscovered Gary Winogrand. His images show him to be a master of being in the moment, of taking a photo of what was; which translates at the moment of inception, to what is. His camera was always ready, and he was beyond prolific. In this, he comes closest in mirroring my own innate experience with photography. My dream? To work with Winogrand, or Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, or Walker Evans, and ask their advice for a photochaser in this day and age. Would they say stick to your guns and shoot from the heart, or would they prescribe a tutorial in mastering photoshop and web design in order to catch the eye of an gallery owner or editor?

(copyright © Walker Evans)

Don't get me wrong, I want a website I am proud of. The thought of gallery representation, a published collection, and a million viewers a week to my blog make me weak in the knees - but sometimes chasing down a cohesive body of work takes me in the opposite direction of WHY it is that I pick up the camera in the first place. Every artist is different - what doesn't work for me may work for you. But I feel that the current 'system' combined with technology smothers my spark sometimes - what happened to good old fashioned 'load up the camera with a roll of 120 and get out there and shoot'?

(copyright © Robert Frank)

So here's to you, Liz Kuball. Here's to you, Gary Winogrand. Here's to me, and to every other photographer, artist and person out there who lives for their bliss and from their soul. Let's start a revolution. Doesn't anyone else want to shoot photos for the pure joy of it? Who else lives for that illusive burst of adrenaline, that signal of the perfect shot, that perfect moment immortalized?

For now, I'll just speak for myself and say the nebulous strategies of business can taint the spirited realm of my soul. Art/photo business? For this dedicated photographer, that's an oxymoron.


"Leaving aside the mysteries and the inequities of human talent, brains, taste, and reputations, the matter of art in photography may come down to this: it is the capture and projection of the delights of seeing; it is the defining of observation full and felt."
-- Walker Evans

wanderlustagraphy and me

This week one of my photos has been included in Wanderlustagraphy, which is curated by the very talented Amy Elkins. I'm thrilled, as it is a site I visit regularly. Do yourself a favor and browse through the archives for a serious dose of eye candy!

(Other photos from this project can be found on my website.)

soap box: cultural inheritance

One of the last living WW1 veterans died last week at the age of 113. We stumbled upon a single flower left in his memory at a war monument in Whitehall. Coincidentally, we were on our way to the Cabinet War Rooms, the labyrinthian underground system of rooms in which Churchill conducted most of the operations for the second World War. As an American in the process of becoming Anglophied, I am steeped in the deepest respect for the cultural impact and inheritance of WW2 upon the collective psyche of the English. The war may be long gone ....

but it's not.

For me, this lends a much larger perspective and insight on the impact which continues to occur for generations - long after the dust has settled - everywhere bombs are dropped and thrown. Until now, I've never thought about the generations-to-come, or the invisible residue of war.

I hope I live to see the day flowers are left exclusively in remembrance of peace, though it is remarkable to behold the honor and pride the Brits hold for their soldiers. I feel tremendous respect for the history of this country. Yes .... I think I'm have awe and compassion for the legacy they carry. And their resilience.

oh london ...

One city. One span of 24 hours. Two photos.

a sequence

As a compulsive and intuitive shooter who thrives on wandering aimlessly, I never quite know what I'm going to get, photographically speaking. Photographing itself is a bit like an out of body experience for me. When I edit, the photo appears as if for the first time, and usually as metaphor.

This sequence was shot within a few moments on a dreary day in London near Tower Bridge, just steps away from the Thames. Each image found it's way into my camera quite independent of the other.
Something archetypal and metaphorical, primal even, lurks in this sequence of imagery for me.
I am repulsed and enchanted by it.

self portraits: a confession

Unexpectedly, a scattered and unorganized collection of old friends has resurfaced. These old friends have become as near and dear to me as my own blood, yet I'm afraid they've been taken for granted. I have had an obsessive compulsive relationship with self-portraiture for over a decade, and have amassed a whopper of a collection. At one point I thought I really had something earth-shattering and original - until a photo class brought Cindy Sherman to my attention. Ouch. Disappointed in discovering I was not that original, my self-ports continued regardless. The photos reflect the spectrum of me's: a dollop of self-awareness, a compulsive drive to document each moment, with a smattering of vanity and self-voyeurism. I am who I am because of a constant inquiry into my inner world. The camera is just one of my tools.

prague

I've been editing my archives in an attempt to update my website, which sits barren and waiting for the onslaught of fresh images. I've spent the whole day in my photos from my month in Prague. Things were beginning to look a little stark on this blog, since I'm currently shooting London in black and white. Refreshing to see color on my screen again.

While in Prague I am inspired by the textures and layers which pile up to make an ancient city. When editing, I find that every image is gorgeous - but I'm afraid this photographer can't take the credit! Prague is so intoxicatingly beautiful, it is impossible to take a bad photo.

I can't help but notice how different this project is from all my London photos!

more london

I am so far behind in editing my photos, though I aspire to post them as soon as they are shot, a la 'hot off the press'. It is not as though I have become lazy. My time is spent shooting all over England, on day trips and holidays. I am inspired beyond all reason, and pinch myself regularly! I've gone bonkers in the photographic sense: I see an 'imaginary' rectangular dotted line framing everything I look at, I dream about photos, taking photos, published photos, and gallery exhibitions. I am probably shapeshifting into a photograph, myself. Here are a few taken in the past weeks.

When I am out and about patrolling London for the perfect photo opp, I seem to be attracted to that which describes my own experiences in this city. As an American visiting for a chunk of time, I am drawn to everything that is 'different' in an esthetic/cultural sense. But something deeper is happening. I see differently here, and my photos reflect it.

I'm still making sense of it all - but still prowling around with my heart skipping beats, my soul lighting up behind the lens, and my bliss activated by each click of the shutter.

london london london

I continue to be obsessed with capturing the energy of London with my camera.

london from a bus

I think the title of this post pretty much gives it all away. I'm enjoying the isolated bubble world of voyeurism/photography as I am whisked through the streets of London (and it's suburbs) on a shiny red bus. Once the iPod is playlisting all my favorite tunes and the camera is up to my eye ... nothing else exists. It's a no-brainer: music + new territory + photos = heaven on blissful earth. I love it. What a way to experience the world!

These photos seem to want to be in black and white, which is a recent conversion for me. I've been shooting in color for so many years now. I'm not entirely convinced yet ...

hodge podge

A few new snaps ...

I've been shooting no less than 500 photos a day when I go out and explore. I had no idea there was an urban street photographer lurking inside me, mingling with my inner Walker Evans. It's funny, I've never been interested in shooting people until I moved to London. I'm negotiating my way through my feelings about voyeuristically snapping away at people unbeknownst to them. But regardless of my conflicted feelings, my camera seems to have a mind of it's own. As usual. At any rate, here are just a few of my emerging hodge podge of images.

I know that as a 'serious photographer', I am 'supposed' to have a 'clear vision' of my body of work. But what if I am a serious photographer who has a few visions ... and what if I believe that the more I shoot, the clearer the visions will become? I've always been a compulsive and intuitive photographer, who hasn't much of a clue about technicals or rules ... I shoot because I love the joy of capturing a moment.

Pure and simple.

I'll get it sorted. In the meantime, I'm having a hell of a time shooting. Isn't that all that really matters?

trooping the colour

It's a pretty big occasion when the Queen of England has a birthday celebration.
And I dare say it's an even bigger occasion for an American girl (long obsessed with the ways of the English) to observe the parade originating at Buckingham Palace. The pagaentry made it's way up the Mall, to Whitehall, then returned back to the palace. I was beside myself with glee as the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of Irish Guards marched by in full regalia (they are home from service in Afghanistan). There was plenty to occupy the senses: the royal military band played drums, bagpipes, and trumpets galore. The crowd was immense and the people-watching was superb. The air was filled with reverence as the regiment marched, the Queen and the Princes rolled by in carriages, and the RAF did a flyover after the Royal Family returned to the palace and waved to the crowds from the balcony.
All in all, it was a bloody brilliant day.

a new country, a new photographic me

My latest adventures have taken me all over London, and I've really been exploring it on a deeper level. Truth be told, I had a bit of a difficult time finding inspiration to capture this city by camera when I first arrived four months ago. Eventually I realized that my past approaches to documenting the moment must be abandoned at once - for they were just not cutting it in this new country - and I would have to let the city of London lead me in a new direction, photographically speaking. I am truly enjoying stretching myself into once abhorred and feared territories. If photography is indeed a religion, then I am a fervently born-again photographer!






Having the opportunity to devote myself to my photography has been amazing. Not only am I shooting thousands of photos, but I have the head space to think about myself as photographer; really getting into the nitty gritty of why I need to take photos as much as I need oxygen. So because of all the rabid shutter snapping, I'm a bit behind in editing, but I will be uploading the selects as I catch up.

the beginning

I have always loved the camera.

Here I am with my very first camera (albeit a toy), which was most certainly not my last. As a supposed grown up I have graduated to real cameras, and am obsessed with capturing time and moments with photos and words. This blog will be a documentation of my documentation.