An acrobatical abstract,
where the performer isn’t
the only one holding her breath.
Shoestring #3
I have a sincere appreciation for people who commit.
Who are full in on what they’re doing,
be it swallowing a sword or making a sandwich.
Sending is sending, after all.
Shoestring #2
Being a pure spectator is difficult.
I spend so much time looking at the world in photographer mode, thinking about what I see and feel, and how to convey it to others visually. The process of shooting images is a process of remembering for me. In the age of everyone having a camera, living distracted, moving at breakneck speed to the next thing via a screen, that can seem counter intuitive.
Photography is a practice of slowing down. Of examining feelings, moments, and light. I struggle to do this without a concrete tool, something in my hands to remind my brain to calm itself and be in the moment..but I’m working on that.
ANYWAY, these ladies were amazing. This is looking directly up in the air, while they performed a gorgeous physical duet. The costumes, the smiles, the flawless execution.. Golly I love performance art!
Shoestring #1
One of the interesting things about living in a semi-small, liberal arts town is that you get access to quirky goings on. Many things have changed in Bellingham over the years, but thankfully there remains an undercurrent of artists, performers, creatives, and the like, people interested in making investments in our community through creativity, talent, and fun. I’m more than happy to support these events. Having kiddos makes it extra fun.
In honor of tickets going on sell in about a month, this week I’m sharing a few photos from the local/regional 2024 Shoestring Circus. A friend of mine invited our family to the inaugural performance two years ago, (thanks Teizeen) and we’ve been hooked. This year they’re expanding, again, because guess what? People love the circus. People appreciate exceptional talent, goofiness, cotton candy…Check out the link above if you’re in the PNW, looking for a fun summer activity.
Hopefully you enjoy this visual departure from my normal mood. It’s spring, after all!
Today I’ll let these branches speak for themselves.
Rorschach
What do you see?
the good juice
the good juice is realizing it’s ok to be a part of a thing, and not the entire thing.
a single entire thing, is a lonely thing. but a thing made up of millions of parts
that’s where the magic lies.
—streams of consciousness while editing photos, listening to Coltrane 😆
Black and White Thinking
Trying so hard to see the world in one way.
So many signs point to the lack of contrast within our station, the flowing, the nuanced dance of existence humanity attempts to learn. It makes sense we’d want more clarification on how to go about the act of living. We’d need rules, hard & fast, that dictate our steps.
And yet, enough of humanity rebels against these rules, especially when they aren’t our rules, our choreography. We’re such a messy bunch, plagued with a collective thought structure that doesn’t quite align. We need the self awareness of gray, but our contrast levels are turned way up.
G.O.A.T. #4 & #5
Contentment & Friendliness, sunset in Prospect, TN
G.O.A.T. #3
Striking poses in the dusk, Prospect TN
G.O.A.T. #2
Bokeh & the Goat, Nov 2024, Prospect TN
G.O.A.T. #1
Privacy Please.
A less than a week old goat hides from unwanted visitors in Prospect, TN, November 2024.
❤️
for truth-telling
Sometimes a place is visceral. It touches you in a way you can’t quite describe, and you leave changed.
You shed tears at a place like this, the silence a weight you’ve never experienced.
The Memorial for Peace and Justice is one such place. A six acre permanent installation in Montgomery, AL, dedicated to the victims of lynching in the United States. This memorial is pure, devastating art. An acknowledgement of the worst of humanity’s actions in this country, and all that was done to brush aside the atrocities.
A collaboration between MASS and the Equal Justice Initiative, the installation walks visitors through 800 steel structures, each with a record of the county and individuals murdered there.
As you exit the memorial, the tone changes. The idea of freedom, and the responsibility it brings, is the focal point. We know better, we do better. We don’t give up hope.
Despite what seem like insurmountable problems, community leaders at ground zero of the civil rights movement are still working, pushing the boundaries, and fighting rising tides of racism within our nation. And the men and women behind this memorial are doing it in the most rebellious way, through art.
These photographs don’t do it properly. And to some extent, I’m glad. Everyone should visit this memorial, confront the history, and act upon the findings themselves.
This place is resistance.
inscrutable
the Galvanized woman
who sees it all, spread before her,
the necessary intuition,
the overwhelm that comes from being
unable to compartmentalize.
Galvanized woman
who moves to find her heart beat in anything,
in ultrasound focus.
oh the inconsistencies, oh the insecurities.
Inscrutable nothing.
Inscrutable everything.
sick day
What was supposed to be a week of starts promptly came to halt early this morning. A sick kiddo, and knocked down house, all of us fighting whatever yuck is currently hitting the masses. My youngest and I almost share a birthday, so the weekend was for celebrating. However, we all felt…off. That’s manifested itself in croup, body aches, and tiredness this fine Monday.
I suppose I could have written a cryptic poem about this, but I did not.
Sick days are weird days. As a parent, you rarely get completely knocked out. You can’t, really. I’m up and doing all the things, but feeling like my body is moving at 1/2 the speed. It’s lunchtime and my mind is a million places, trying to catch up with and balance this reality with what the plan for today was.
So here’s a snap of some beautiful mountains back in December. Over and out.
a nother year
Each year reminds me.. It’s the little things over and over that build up to the big ones. And often times when we’re in the big moments, those too are composed of a thousand small instances. 35 has arrived for me today, and with it comes my unoriginal but nonetheless important practice of introspection. I like to define words for a year, which is something that started when I turned 30. Subsequent years have been about listening, noticing, bravery, gratitude. This year, I think the word is action. Or rather, I know the word is action. There. That’s the commitment. Might as well start it here, with that declaration.
Action won’t mean sweeping motions always, but it will mean forward momentum. It will mean that even the tiny moments forward count. It will also mean allowing the tiny moments to add up to something bigger.
I feel quiet today, and small. But I do feel some clarity for 35, which makes me grateful.
a point of view
Perspective from the lens of a tourist in British Columbia.
a living
The heart needs another outlet,
but it can’t pour everything out to every thing.
Necessary is space for the business of this existence,
one wants a life, but needs a living.
a song
the music of this mist is such
that what can’t be seen,
can be felt and most certainly
will not be forgotten.