“My World” assignment for Dr. Mendelson’s Documentary Photography class at Temple University, 2.14.12
Spoken word style artist statement of sorts.
Thanks to Dan Byler, Walbert Young, Ian Darrenkamp, Alex Udowenko, and Michael Albany for contributing portraits to this montage. Must credit these in the final version when I’m not on deadline!
Peach your twirly eyes on soft electric skin, horizons of untouchable desperate madness, the mayhem of the stars losing themselves to gravity & twisted wishes, circular sweethearts who never knew the difference, who are never really anywhere but more so in-between, who sometimes take the time to say confounding things but not all that often, only in lieu of the most necessary & questionable situations for subliminal slip&slide stability, scaling evolutionary slopes only to solidify the ground, where blind unknowing
never thinking always going, steady hasting rarely slowing – the value of reflection? hummingbird healers all full of fluff articulation intrinsically tap dancing on sleepy treetops to up-down music! hands on hips laughing at their riff-raff repetition & that rusty rhythm that lays bye-bye baby to bed (but what do you wonder when you lay down your head?) to splash-dancing ballerinas in mint mango brain storms, thunder lightning illumination, the surface of the sun sun sundry your skin toward disintegrating creation
This past weekend marked my first public display of my photography (outside of Temple) at a craft show in Philadelphia. I am so grateful to everyone who came out to see my booth and helped out with supplies/setting up. You guys made me feel like a million dollar bills to be surrounded by such fabulous people and to get that kind of feedback, positive and constructive.
My mom and I enjoyed apricot and raspberry scones and coffee until the morning downpour ceased on Saturday. Most of the vendors made haste in vacating the premises, but we established ourselves as soon as the rain slowed to a drizzle (Q: Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella? A: Fo drizzle). Can’t say I necessarily would have maintained that sort of optimism without my mama there for encouragement and scones and conversation, but we stuck it out. Of the 200 vendors, only 6 of us set up on Saturday.
Sunday could not have been more polar, like opposite, not the bear. So many people roamed the premises like farm animals disoriented, no longer confined by fences after a tornado. We were all animals for the World Cup game actually, one guy brought one of those buzzzzzzzzz horns, others chanted ole ole ole ole. Silliness, really, to identify oneself with either the Netherlands or Spain when ones own team failed to achieve such glory. Ahhh, social solidarity.
I managed to hand out all of my business cards throughout the weekend and made some valuable contacts. People were mostly interested in purchasing my 4×6 prints, although I did sell some large framed prints of Philadelphia and such. Some people even purchased my portraits, which I found to be surprising considering most people wouldn’t want to hang a picture of a stranger? When all was said and done, I was very pleased with the feedback I received both verbally and in sales. The remainder of my framed prints will be for sale at the Jolly Roger Motel gift shop and various other stores in Long Beach Island.
Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for joining me on this journey. I love you all.
Emily & I are setting bottles to sea today with messages for the founders. Except my bottles will contain photographs & contact information so when I get discovered by the recipient I’ll have a really cool story to tell. Some may say we’re polluting, but I’m just sending some beauty back into the ocean.
My friends at Bowker’s Deli display a sign out front that reads “Don’t ruin my life by the sea, BP.” How many many circles of people will that message continue to resonate among as we approach day 62 of this environmental crisis. My sister Jocelyn refuses to take her girls to the beach in Florida, fumes and tarballs replacing livelihoods and cultures and summer. The surfers are still paddling out in Pensacola to savor the last few days when they will be able to emerge from the water without resembling the pelicans on CNN.
As I look out my window at the lightly undulating bay in New Jersey I can’t even fathom such a feeling. SPF protection from the sun, but who/what will protect us from the tainted sea and air? Louisiana lawmakers proposed a resolution for yesterday to be set aside as a day of prayer to prevent more oil from poisoning the Gulf, the creatures occupying it, and everywhere else (there are no gates between the oceans, as my mom said). “Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail,” said state Senator Robert Adley. “It is clearly time for a miracle for us.”
“Knowing I have love in my life would be a perfect day for me.”
Are the 20s really the best years of our lives? People keep telling me this as fact and reminiscing about the good ol’ days. Of all these years, one hundred years, I’m not sure why all the treasured moments & beauty & carefree-ness are allocated to those between the ages of 20 and 29.. I don’t want to reach a certain age and stagnate. So my wish upon turning 20 today is to always fully exercise my ability to live and harness creativity, to tirelessly pursue curiosities and intrigues, and to execute projects through to completion. That being said, I am now going to paint my fingernails fun colors, put on a pretty flow-y birthday dress, and take marvelous photographs of people with telling faces!
