another look II

While recently revisiting the images I made last year in Uganda, I paid attention to this one for the first time.


"A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know."
-Diane Arbus

work weekend

I was in the studio and on location shooting portraits this weekend. Here's one of my favorites. This handsome man will be 90 soon!

photophilanthropy: hasan

Recently I discovered "PhotoPhilanthropy" - an organization created to promote, support and connect photographers to charitable organizations around the world.

The PhotoPhilanthropy Activist Awards provide a platform for student, amateur and professional photographers to publish Photo Essays designed to educate and engage people in a wide variety of social campaigns.

I entered my "Dream Series" from Uganda. But, man oh man, was I ever humbled when I started looking through the enormous amount of amazing work being done by an impressive number of talented, compassionate photographers, all of whom are using their cameras to try and make the world a better place.

Here is but one example of the many entries:

Khaled Hasan is a student at Pathshala South Asian Institute of Photography in Bangladesh. He previously attained a bachelors and a masters degree in accounting. He has done feature photography at Bangladeshi Daily News. Here is his description of the project he submitted:

“The story I focus on is about the hard work community of Jaflong, in northeastern Bangladesh. The Piyain River is the main feature and shows the natural beauty of Jaflong which flows from India through Bangladesh. During the monsoon, the river currents wash down precious rocks and pebbles from India into the Jaflong area. At dawn every day, more than a hundred little boats with laborers enter the Piyain River, buckets and spades in hand. This is one trade which has a geological limit; the stones that tumble down the riverbed from India are decreasing in volume and the laborers are already taking the risk of invading the no-man’s land along the Indo-Bangla border which is a contradictory political issue between Bangladesh and India.

More than 5,000 men, women and child stone-laborers are engaged there. Uncontrolled stone extraction and crushing at Jaflong has been posing a serious threat to public health, and to the environment and agriculture in the area. There is no legal protection and no human rights in this industry. Many children there have been suffering from hearing problems due to the high-pitched sounds of the stone-crushing machines.

During my work in 2006 as many as 250 machines were engaged in crushing stone at Jaflong. Abul Hossain, a local, told me they cannot produce crops on their lands as dust of crushed stones destroy all their efforts.

The Bangladeshi government has failed to take any initiative to prevent the stone-crushing industry at Jaflong and the resulting high rate of erosion which is threatening to destroy the adjacent Khasia (indigenous people) villages within the next 5 years. I saw their hard work and I saw their happy moments. So, I want to visualize the facts of this suffering society and their personal feeling through my way in a little space.”

looking in

Speaking of editing... read this interesting review of the Robert Frank exhibition currently at the Met. "Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans" celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Americans, Robert Frank’s influential suite of black-and-white photographs made on a cross-country road trip in 1955–56.

Robert Frank shot 767 rolls of film for the 83 images in the book. That's 83 divided by 27612 or .003 percent. He spent one year editing his work. A good photographer learns to become a good editor.

another look

Back in the days of contact sheets, I labeled and filed them carefully. On occasion I would go back and look through them, concentrating on the images NEXT TO the ones I had selected in the editing process. Every now and then, those near misses gained credibility and started to make more sense to me. And so I’d print them, and sometimes I’d be really pleased that I had rescued a good picture from its previous death sentence.

Fast forward…

I try hard not to erase any of the images I capture as I am shooting digitally. Same reason. Now and then, I go back and consider the ones that didn’t measure up during my first few edits.

Sometimes, I am surprised at what I let get away.

And I give it a life.

This image was made last year in Kajjansi, just down the road from the orphanage. My current frame of mind says, “Hey, Gloria, give this one a chance.”

collision

Too often I get caught up in the self imposed need to put my work into neat little categories, complete with project titles. Occasionally an image crosses over, and a collision occurs. This picture was made as part of the dream series, but is finding its way into my group of sea pictures. Or maybe the Uganda pictures. Or perhaps "Convergence"?

picturing childhood exhibition

I spent some time at the Nelson-Atkins Museum this afternoon and took a few snaps of the exhibition I'm in.

Electronic marquee featuring Julie Blackmon


introduction to exhibit/opening wall


William LaRue, Wendy Ewald


Morris Engel, Francis Miller


me, Walter Rosenblum, William Klein


Keith Carter


Andrea Modica, Nicholas Nixon


guest book entry

good people

I am very happy to report that Change the Truth has been given a grant by THE GOOD PEOPLE FUND, a fantastic organization based in New York. All of you have worked for and donated to CTT are good people. Without you, we could never have come this far. I thank all of you who have chosen to get involved. And I thank THE GOOD PEOPLE FUND. Its mission statement is:

"Many people work quietly and diligently, often below the radar screen and with shoe-string budgets, to better our world in untold numbers of ways. It is to these people, small entities or individuals whose efforts don’t benefit from glossy brochures or promotions, or help from adequate staff or large organizational structures, that we direct our attention. Their success is our mission — by making them and their work visible and viable to others who will provide needed funding through tzedakah that is given in a cost-effective and meaningful way. One might call those that do this work social entrepreneurs or tzadikim (the righteous ones). We choose to call them simply good people.

Founded by a diverse group inspired by the work of Danny Siegel, founder of the Ziv Tzedakah Fund, including and led by Naomi Eisenberger, Ziv's former Managing Director, The Good People Fund is about both the good people who work selflessly on behalf of others, and also the good people who contribute time, money and energy to help that work become a reality."

book review

My book, Kutuuka, is reviewed by Aline Smithson in the current issue of Photo-Eye Magazine.

new t-shirts!

The new Change the Truth t-shirts have made it into the world! Thanks to the beautiful drawing by our eleven-year-old friend from St. Mary Kevin Orphanage, Isabella, and the screen printing skills of Portland's Adam Porterfield, the shirts are now available.

Isabella (Izzy)

The gray men's shirt is available in medium and large. The women's shirt, a cool seafoam color, is available in small, medium and large. The shirts are made in LA by American Apparel. They're really soft and kind of form fitting. I've been told they do shrink up a bit when washed.


Later today (fingers crossed) we'll have these on the CTT website store. Wouldn't this shirt make a good gift for yourself or even your favorite cousin or best friend? And just think, your gift will keep on giving... all the way across the world to a little place in Kajjansi, Uganda where some special kids can really use our continued support.

team 3: meet christy

My name is Christy. I'm the proud mother of two spectacular children––Matthew, 24 and daughter, Taylor, 22 and I'll be traveling to Africa from San Diego, California. As a professional photographer, I primarily photograph buildings and structures for architectural clients. Some of my recent projects have been the Phoenix Convention Center in Arizona, TCF Bank Stadium in Minnesota and the new Yankee Stadium in New York. I delight in seeing the world through the lens of a camera. My upcoming trip to SMK will be no different. Camera at my side, I can't wait to take in the experience.

I'll have just turned 46 as I step on the plane as a member of Team 3 and feeling all the butterflies of a wide-eyed, excited, but apprehensive woman about to embark on my most adventurous pilgrimage ever. Experiencing this journey to Uganda has been something I've considered for years and I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to finally be a part of the team.

Life is truly a privileged journey - one to grow on, one to be tested in and one to find the strength to discover the unique individual you were created to be on this great, big, beautiful earth. I've seen the stunning pictures and I've read the heartfelt testimonials, but I can't wait to do all I can to contribute to SMK and experience the unconditional hugs and smiles from all the children who live there. It will be an honor to share all of my daily enthusiasm and effort as part of the team that Gloria has brought together through friendship and fellowship. I want to offer all that I can to encourage, share and support the good work of all the teams who have traveled before me.

new photos

I'm working on a project for Operation Breakthrough these days.

Photographing a few - rather than a few thousand - miles from my home.

bronia at operation breakthrough

A couple of weeks ago I was at Operation Breakthrough working on a project, and I struck up a conversation with three young women about my various photographic series. They were really interested in my work; we ended up going to the computer lab and looking at my website. They asked great questions and were so interested in what I do. What proved to be the most fascinating to them was "Among the Ashes." After looking at that work, we started talking about the Holocaust. When I told these thirteen and fourteen year olds that I could arrange for them to meet someone who had actually survived the Holocaust, they could hardly believe it. One thing led to the next, and today I took my friend Bronia to Operation Breakthrough to speak to a group of about 20 young teens. The three young women who inspired the event are pictured here with her. Since they are approximately the same age that Bronia was when she was rounded up by the Nazis and sent to a labor camp, I think they were especially moved.


This is how I introduced Bronia.

"Bronia was born eighty-three years ago in the small town of Turek, Poland. She was named Brucha, which means 'blessing' in Hebrew.

When Bronia was a young girl, she lived in a neatly kept brick house with her parents and brothers and sisters. She played the violin, liked to ride her bike, make up plays, help in the garden and in the winter ride on a sleigh pulled by her Russian husky dog.

All pretty normal things in a pretty normal life.

She and her family had lots of friends, both Jewish and non-Jewish. They spoke Russian, Polish, German and a little French. Bronia’s mother was a kind woman who made food for the needy and never spanked her children.

Bronia doesn’t have any pictures of her mother and cannot remember her face. But, of course, she thinks about her – and the rest of her family – every day.

When she was thirteen, the Germans marched into her small town and eventually forced all the Jewish people out. Two years later, after living in horrible conditions in a ghetto, Bronia volunteered to take her sister’s place when the Germans came to the house to select people to go to work in a labor camp. For the next two years, Bronia lived in a barn with 150 other women and had to clear swamps and work on farms. She was sent to three different concentration camps, the last of which was Auschwitz-Birkenau.

After being there a year, she was loaded onto a truck that was taking its cargo to the gas chamber. She escaped…. by jumping off the back of the truck and landing in a snow covered ditch. She returned to the barracks at the concentration camp and was kicked - nearly to death - for what she had done. Later that year she was sent to another labor camp. Finally, Bronia was forced to go on a death march and was one of only 19 women from Auschwitz to survive and be liberated.

Bronia never saw any of her family again, except for one cousin.

She left Europe and came to Kansas City in 1947 where she trained as a nurse. She chose Missouri because of Harry Truman. She and her husband eventually opened the M & M Bakery at 31st and Woodland. She has three daughters, a son and several grandchildren.

Bronia doesn’t hate anyone for what happened to her. She has devoted her life to spreading the message that what matters most in the world is that we respect each other’s differences and that we love and take care of one another."

team 3: meet carol

"Several times a week now when I arrive home from work, I find bags left at my door. Bags containing tee shirts, bags containing shoes and sneakers, bags containing crayons and art supplies. And I smile. Over the last several months as our visit to SMK grows closer and I’ve mentioned my plans to visit St. Mary Kevin again to friends and acquaintances, there have been instantaneous requests to help. I am constantly amazed by the generosity and genuine interest in the children I speak about and that I love and care about across the world. This will be my 4th visit to Uganda and the children at SMK. I can’t wait to see their faces, their smiles and how much they’ve grown in the year since our last visit.

As I think about each visit I have made, all have been different. Our first mission in December, 2007 when I had no idea what to expect or what I’d find. That visit truly changed my life. I was touched by the love and warmth that radiated from every single child and I was moved by the unimaginable experiences that they have endured during their short lives. Gloria’s descriptions had now become real to me. Upon return home, Change the Truth and its mission became an important part of my own life and my desire to help those in need.

In August, 2008 I stopped for a few days in Kampala on my way to meet my family in Tanzania. It didn’t feel at all foreign. I was returning to a place and to people who I cared about deeply. I went with Rosemary and Joan, who are the backbone of SMK, to the bank to get money from the account into which funds from CTT are deposited. I went to the marketplace to buy food for the children. Beans and flour. We haggled over price and made arrangements for transport. I witnessed the difficulties in seeking affordable food in that marketplace as compared to what we all do so routinely walking into our local grocery stores. It again reinforced my connection to the children and my desire to help.

My visit last December was shorter but I was thrilled at the goal. This time we were assisting in creating longer term projects-the garden, the band, the medical help. The reports we’ve gotten throughout the year have reflected our success but more importantly, the success of the children at SMK.

So, what am I thinking about this next visit, only weeks away? I can’t wait to see the children, how much they’ve grown in the last year. I look forward to working in the garden, to assisting Eddie with longer term financial planning and to reading with the children. Improving our ability to communicate. During our visit last year I spent time reading to them and they took glee in my struggle to pronounce the Lugandan words they were teaching me. The laughter—seeing those smiles and hearing their laughter. Creating those memories for them and for us. That is what I look forward to."

team 3: kinda sorta max

As you can see, we have a great group of young people going to Uganda to help out at the orphanage this year. Isn’t it inspiring and so hopeful?

There is one young person who was part of the group last year who won’t be returning this year. I wish he were! He was such an energetic, enthusiastic and helpful team member. OK, so I’m just a little biased – he’s my son.

Last year Max brought his sense of humor, his compassion and his mad skills as a drummer to St. Mary Kevin’s. He loves drumming, both as a member of the USC Trojan Marching Band and as fellow-drummer and teacher at the orphanage.




This year, he has found a cool way to reach out and work with the children, even though he's not making the trip.

When his writing professor, Mark Marino, recently issued a class assignment revolving around “service”, Max suggested a collaborative project with the kids in Uganda. This is the letter he sent to the director of the orphanage:

"My class, made up of 20 students, would like to facilitate collaboration among students who are geographically separated. We
think that picking out a project and working on it together would be a great way to have fun, befriend students from different
schools/cities/countries, and make something really neat. We intend to make a website to help accomplish our goal of bringing classes together.

But before we inspire others to do such a project, we need to try it ourselves. So, we'd love if you would allow us to work with some of our friends at SMK! The idea for our project is to have a group of kids work together to write a script for a short movie/play. Then, they'd send the script to us, and we'd act it out, videotape it and then send it back to the kids! In order to help narrow the scope of the script, we've come up with some guidelines that could give the kids some tangible ideas. We've recorded our thoughts and posted them as a short video online that you can look at."

This letter and the video (along with a written proposal) has been sent. Plans are now underway for the children to participate in the assignment, and both groups of young people – at USC and at SMK – are excited to work together, even though their connections will be strictly limited to cyberspace. Watch the video here.

The writing class hopes to have the collaborative piece completed in a few weeks. I’ll be sure to share the finished product here!

team 3: meet sara

“Hi my name is Sara Hjalmarson. I am a Kansas City native, but am currently living in upstate New York, where I am a sophomore at Colgate University. I’m double majoring in Political Science and Economics. On campus when not in class or in the library, you can find me spending time with my Gamma Phi Beta sorority sisters, mentoring young girls in the area through the FIVER mentoring program, or on Lake Cazenovia at sailing practice.

I am unbelievably excited to be a part of team three! I first learned about Change The Truth two years ago when Gloria’s work with St. Mary Kevin’s was featured in our local newspaper. I then became involved as a volunteer for Change the Truth at friend-raising events. Last summer, I worked as an intern at a consulting firm for not for profits. My salary plus a generous bonus from my summer employer, Pelofsky and Associates is funding my trip.

Gloria and the impact she and the other Change the Truth volunteers are having on the lives of the children at St. Mary Kevin’s is so impressive. I too, hope that my visit to the orphanage will also positively touch these children’s lives. While at SMK, I look forward to helping finish recording the children’s biographies. And I am really up for doing anything to be of help, whether it be art projects, gardening or sporting events. But my musical talents (or lack there of), pale in comparison to Max’s, so I think I will avoid marching band practice!

Alternatively, I expect that my time at St. Mary Kevin will forever change my outlook on life and make me truly appreciate how lucky I am.

I’m so excited to meet all of the kids and to form lifelong friendships! December 18 can’t come soon enough! “

team 3: meet kaley

"I am a senior at Shawnee Mission East High School in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. This year, over my winter break, I will be joining the Change the Truth service trip to St. Mary Kevin Orphanage between applying to colleges. Since I've learned of the Change the Truth foundation, I have wanted to travel to Uganda and make a direct change in the lives of the kids at SMK. I want to know that the kids will have the most positive experience that they can. I am looking forward to creating memories with these kids through making friendship bracelets and other activities. I am looking forward to sharing with the kids their daily smiles and struggles. I hope that I will be able to impart to them some tools with which they may see a happier childhood, full of hope. As the second youngest on this journey, I am hopeful that I may relate to the kids with an empathetic view. I can't wait to spend time with these kids and make everlasting friendships with the kids and team members."

team 3: meet laura

“I've lived in Overland Park, KS for most my life. I graduated from Kansas State University in May 09 with a degree in Family Studies and Human Services and a minor in Sociology. While at KSU I joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority and was active in philanthropic activities (Ali Kemp Bandstand, Links for Literacy, Miracle Mile). After graduation I decided to take a year off from school and travel as much as I could before I started graduate school in Social Work. Since I didn't get the chance to study abroad while at KSU I was looking for another opportunity to go overseas. I knew I wanted to volunteer and work with underprivileged children when I traveled. When I heard about this opportunity from a previous traveler to St. Mary Kevin I immediately said yes! At St. Mary Kevin's I hope to help wherever needed, working in the garden, team building with the younger children, helping with yoga, etc. I'm so excited to be a part of this team and can't wait to meet all the children and be able to share my experience with others once I return.”

team 3: meet bobbi

"It's a joy to think that our trip is two months away. One day I just woke up and realized it was almost here. This year is so different from last, which was my first. I didn't know what to expect last year, and each moment was new, each day was about getting to know new children by face, by name, and by their story. I remember arriving that first day at St. Mary Kevin and each child already knew us...they were waiting for us with OPEN arms, hearts, and faces. It was....quite something. I learned that even though all of our stories are different, and theirs are stories that are unfamiliar and unbelievable to us, we are still very much the same. When hearts connect, healing occurs. When eyes truly see each other, healing occurs. We become part of their new reality, and they become part of ours. Walking around and feeling hands slip into your hands...longing for connection. Aren't we all. Given what these kids have been through, it's amazing that they continue to have so much love to give. I'm excited that so many young people are coming this year. The kids love young people...and they will so fall in love with them. So much to do, and yet all of it is about being with them. Those of us who go will never be the same, and yet more the same than we've ever been."

[Bobbi has been a therapist for 24 years and worked with children for 10 of them. She was with Catholic Charities during that time, so she visited areas of South Florida, where she lives, that were depressed and with families in need of outside support. Since that time, she's been working with relationships...teaching about the power of deepening connection, through listening and validating another's experience. Besides conducting group and individual therapy at the orphanage, Bobbi will be traveling with a duffel bag full of yoga mats and plans on conducting yoga classes.]

team 3: meet eddie

"When I retired some years ago, it wasn’t to avoid working. Rather it was to give me the time to try new things – to have fun and to make a difference. I have no doubt this adventure to Uganda with Change the Truth will allow me to do both. Adventurous is not a word most people would associate with me. I lived most of my professional life behind a desk! But for the past three years I have watched how the experience of being at St. Mary Kevin has changed the lives of Gloria and the other CTT volunteers and most especially how they have made a profound difference in the lives of the children who call SMK home. I don’t know – I may be way out of my comfort zone but I cannot wait to begin!

While there I hope to work with the orphanage leadership to better understand the current and future needs of the children and the orphanage. I want to assemble a multi-year strategic plan for CTT that will clarify our fundraising goals and prioritize the projects we take on over the next three to five years. I also hope to be able to assist with some needed upgrades to the SMK computer lab, install new mosquito netting for all the children and work in the garden. Most of the time though, I plan to just hang out with the kids doing art projects, reading, making music, dancing and getting to know one another – building relationships that I hope will last a long, long time.

It may be selfish, I know, but I also really look forward to just sitting back and watching my wife 'Mama Gloria' do her thing. I, like so many others, am amazed at what she has been able to accomplish. Thanks to her each of us on this journey will have fun and make a difference. This poem, by Marge Piercy, helps guide me on the path."

TO BE OF USE

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who stand in the line and haul in their places,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

[Eddie retired from H&R Block in 2004 after 29 years in management. He has since been the Executive Director of Jewish Family Services, a reading teacher, a culinary student and now works seasonally for the IRS. He does a lot of volunteer work and sits on several boards, including that of Change the Truth.]

team 3: meet melissa and antwain

"Returning to Uganda for my 4th visit feels comfortable and familiar- I am returning to another home. Relationships that I made on my initial trips have grown and evolved over the years- they are now family. When I close my eyes, the sites, sounds, and smells of Kajjansi flood my senses. My stomach fills with excited butterflies eagerly anticipating seeing those beloved children at St. Mary Kevin- how much they have grown, matured, and learned since I last saw them in May.

This trip holds even more significance as I share this experience with my son, Antwain. He has been so supportive of 'sharing me' during previous trips. Antwain and my SMK friends have heard countless stories about one another. I will be overjoyed the day both of my worlds meld together. Antwain wants to make new friends, but he has no idea how many friends he is truly going to have.

Having Antwain with me this trip has inspired me to focus on family. In addition to facilitating large therapeutic groups and recreational activities at SMK, I would like to explore the family connections this trip with the children at SMK. Whether biological (brother or sister) or chosen (life long friend or kindred spirit) relationships, the children at SMK are bonded with one another. I would like to introduce simple projects as a means to highlight the significant support and comfort those relationships have been to the children.

It is so awesome that Team 3 is diverse in background, experiences, and age. I am equally thrilled to reconnect with CTT team veterans and welcome new CTT travelers. Along with my Antwain, it will be incredible to witness their initial Ugandan experience. My greatest hope is they will come to love Uganda as much as I already do."


"When my mom first told me I would go to Uganda with Change The Truth, I felt a little scared, cause I had a feeling that I was going to get sick. But my mom said that I will not get sick, so I won’t be worried as long as I am with her. She tells me about St. Mary Kevin a lot, and she said the kids want to meet me. Some of them have written me letters and made me a video. I’m excited about making friends and learning new stuff about Africa. I want to learn some new words in Luganda (cause speaking English is easy) and play drums with the big boys (cause drums are my favorite thing). I will work to help the grown ups with projects, but I also want to teach my friends to play tag, American football, and other games that I play at my school. My mom and I are excited to go to Africa in 2 months. I want to make a lot of new friends, not just a couple. I want to work hard at St. Mary Kevin, and I hope we are going to have fun."

[Melissa is a social worker at Operation Breakthrough, a daycare and family service center in the urban core of Kansas City, MO. Her job is to coordinate the School-age Program and Betsy’s Kids Program. Operation Breakthrough serves about 650 children (ages 6 weeks-17 years old) and offers before/after school care and holiday care for over 300 school-aged kids.]

[Antwain is 10 years old and a 5th grader at KIPP Endeavor Academy. He lives with his mom, Melissa, in Kansas City, MO. This will be Antwain’s first International trip.]

getting ready

Two months from now members of Change the Truth's Team 3 will wake up under mosquito netting in a hotel in Uganda, have breakfast, then pile into a van to make the first of our daily jaunts from the city of Kampala to the small town of Kajjansi. A few traffic jams, encounters with weaving boda-boda drivers, street vendors, begging children and various roadside animals later, we'll arrive at the unpaved road that winds its way toward St. Mary Kevin School and Orphanage.

As soon as the local children hear the van grunting its way up the red, pitted dirt road, they will start running alongside us, shouting and waving. In various states of dress, stopping in the middle of what ever they are doing, they will call out "muzungu!" and try to get us to smile and wave back. This ruckus sends a signal to kids at SMK that we are getting closer. Those children then quickly pour out of their dorms and classrooms to gather at the gate through which our van will enter. Shouting and clapping and singing and calling our names mushroom into a great concert. The van driver joins in by honking our horn.

The decibel level at that point will be pretty high! Each team member will then climb out of the van and, before we know what hits us, we will be swept up in a sea of outstretched arms and turned up beaming faces.

Welcome to day one at SMK, day two at SMK, day three, etc.

Yesterday team members spent the afternoon sorting, organizing and packing close to 400 pounds of goodies that will be our checked baggage. Now that bags are packed, the upcoming trip seems much more real!

I would like to introduce you to the amazing volunteers who will make up Team 3. Tomorrow you'll meet Melissa, who was also a member of Team 1 and 2, as well as her son, Antwain.

Stay tuned!

in the studio

I've been photographing these beautiful sisters for years. It was so fun working with them yesterday.

vivian maier

Vivian Maier: 1926 - 2009

OK. this is is a long post, but please stay with it. This is a fascinating story that has been circulating throughout the photo blogosphere recently.

I'll preface it by saying that I have always held the belief that the very act of "framing" a picture in the viewfinder is a powerful event; sometimes that act alone can be fulfilling enough. I know when I was a kid that I held the camera up to my eye and squeezed the shutter lots and lots and lots of times. Were my parents constantly feeding my addiction by buying lots and lots and lots of 120 film for my Rocket Brownie camera? I doubt it.

So, anyway, this guy named John Maloof in Chicago was apparently rooting around for some good finds at what was basically an estate sale/auction. He ended up buying a HUGE cache of someone's undeveloped rolls of film and negatives. He started developing the film and printing the negatives and found that he had come across a woman who was an extremely talented photographer who apparently had no need to see the end result of lifting the camera to her eye! No prints existed of any of this work. (In this case, it could well have been that the photographer didn't have the resources to take her pictures to the next level; it seems we may never really know for sure, though.)

No prints existed until now, thanks to Mr. Maloof.

Here is the story in his own words, as well as some of the incredible images made by Vivian Maier.

“I acquired Vivian Maier’s negatives while at a furniture and antique auction. From what I know, the auction house acquired her belongings from a storage locker that was auctioned off due to delinquent payments. I purchased her negatives and rolls of film from this auction. I didn't know what 'street photography' was then.

It took me days to look through all of her work. It inspired me to pick up photography myself. Little by little, as I progressed as a photographer, I would revisit Vivian's negatives, I would ‘see’ more in her work. I bought her same camera and took to the same streets soon to realize how difficult it was to make images of her caliber. I discovered the eye she had for photography through my own practice. I am so attached to her work.

After some researching, I have only little information about Vivian. I cannot find any relatives or heirs after a diligent search.

Central Camera (110 yr old camera shop in Chicago) has encountered Vivian from time to time when she would purchase film while out on the Chicago streets. From what they knew of her, they say she was a Jewish Refugee from wartime France who came to the U.S. in the early 1950's (some of her earlier work shows New York where she must have resided for some time). They say she was a very ‘keep your distance from me’ type of person but was also outspoken. She loved foreign films and didn't care much for American films.

Some of her photos have pictures of children and often times it was near a beach. I later found out she was a nanny for a family on the North Side whose children these most likely were. Her obituary says she lived in Oak Park, a close Chicago suburb.

Out of the 30,000-40,000 negatives I have in the collection, about 10,000-15,000 negatives were still in rolls, undeveloped from the 1960's-1970's. I have been successfully developing these rolls. I still have about 600 rolls yet to develop. I must say, it's very exciting for me. Most of her negatives that were developed in sleeves have the date and location penciled in French (she also had poor penmanship).

The way I found her name was because it was written with pencil on a photo-lab envelope. I decided to 'Google' her name about a year after I purchased these only to find her obituary placed the day before my search. She passed only a couple of days before my inquiry on her

Chicago Tribune's obituary said she was a ‘second mother to John, Lane and Matthew’. After contacting the Chicago Tribune to find out who put out the obituary, I was led to an address on the North Side that didn't exist and a phone number that was disconnected. Were John, Lane and Matthew the children she would nanny on the North Side?

I wanted to meet her in person well before I found her obituary, but the auction house had stated she was ill, so I didn't want to bother her. So many questions would have been answered if I had.”

gotta love this

"The eight-track tape never got a second chance. But things are looking up for instant film, which last year seemed destined to follow the sound-recording technology into the history books. A Polaroid licensee, the Summit Global Group, said Tuesday it would be re-launching Polaroid brand instant cameras. That proves The Impossible Project (that group of Polaroid employees who leased the Polaroid factory and purchased the company's equipment in the Netherlands) is now entirely achievable.

The licensee did not give a time frame for the relaunch. But The Impossible Project still says it is being commissioned to develop and launch a limited edition of Polaroid-branded film in mid-2010. 'Large-scale production and worldwide sale of The Impossible Project's new integral film materials under its own brand will already start in the beginning of 2010 -- with a brand new and astonishing black and white Instant Film and the first color films to follow in the course of the year,' says the press release.

I was one of many film nuts who saw Polaroid's mistake in the time it takes to develop one of the company's iconic photographs. Shutting down the instant film and camera business in February 2008 may have been pictured -- by the consultants and brand strategists -- as a graceful acquiescence to the inevitable annihilation of film by digital imaging.

But the tangible magic of film -- and most especially the not-quite-instantaneous revelation of an image from dark rectangles of photographic paper -- had an unusual meaning for many Polaroid aficionados. Polaroid lovers couldn't let go, scouring eBay (EBAY) for old film and stockpiling all that could be found. In an extraordinary move, some of them went so far as to purchase the assets of Polaroid's film production and pool their money to develop an entirely new, Polaroid-compatible instant film.

The story is a tale of victory for the power of consumer desire; in this case, fanatic and devoted artists and regular people who couldn't let the dream die. Between 1972, when Polaroid first began producing its instant cameras commercially, and 2000, when the company went through bankruptcy proceedings, 13 million instant cameras were sold. Many of them were celebrated, not just for their unusually gratifying functionality, but for their iconic design.

Artists and photographers loved the film for its ethereal look and cloudy, mystical color. Its quick output added to its appeal. Some photographers work mostly in Polaroid even today, stubborn holdouts against the modern pixelation of the art. Thanks to thousands of Polaroid fans who buy old Polaroid film off of eBay and post their work to Polanoid.net or weekly flickr groups -- and to modern digital developments like the Polaroidonizer -- demand hasn't gone away.

In a month in which Gourmet magazine was closed to much subscriber outcry, Polaroid's comeback represents a rare victory for actual customers who didn't want to see a beloved product sent to the graveyard of iconic objects. You wanted Polaroid instant cameras and film back: and you got it."

-- Daily Finance

interview

The nice folks at KCUR have emailed me the link to my interview on "KC Currents." You can listen to it here.

And here is another Dream picture that didn't make it into the book.


Coming soon: blog postings by members of Change the Truth Team 3! You'll definitely want to "meet" the volunteers who are traveling to Uganda with me this December to do good things at the orphanage. They are wonderful people!

radio + dreams

Late last week I was invited into the studio of the local Kansas City public radio station, KCUR 89.3 FM, where I was interviewed by the very gracious and well-informed Susan Wilson. The resulting interview aired yesterday and will be rebroadcast tonight on the show "KC Currents" which is hosted by Wilson. If you have the opportunity and the inclination, tune in at 8 PM! If you live out of the area or won't have the chance to listen, I will be posting a link to the show sometime later this week here on the blog.




Susan asked me to talk about the DREAM series which I worked on at the orphanage this past December. Some of these images are published in my book, "Kutuuka"; some didn't make the cut, though, and I have revisited those this morning. Here are a couple which found their way to the edit room floor. I still like them and hope to include them at some point in the portfolio.

rosemary writes

“When you are the Mother to more than 100 children
The responsibility can sometimes become overwhelming
But with the firm support from Change the Truth
Life has been made easier and more manageable
We sincerely thank CTT, and the donors for this critical intervention



We can now afford to have a few orphans with us at home during holidays
It gives them a sense of belonging
And they learn social responsibility
The girls – prepare food & clean plates at home
The boys – wash clothes & clean the house and the compound
Then I can take the opportunity to sit back and enjoy a cup of tea



Our guest orphans are always grateful for the change
Firstly because the food is better than at the Orphanage
But also for the chance to be loved intimately, as a small group
Last holidays (August) we had five (5) lodging orphans
Jackie, Pauline, Kate, Isabella & her sister Petra, plus Boy Boy
They all had a good time for 4 weeks
A few glasses & plates were broken – but that is part of growing up
They enjoyed the fun
And we gave the children all the love we had”



Now and then I get an email from Mama Rosemary, director of St. Mary Kevin Orphanage Motherhood that puts a smile on my face. Just wanted to share this one with you, the friends of CTT to whom she is saying thanks.

i exist

There are so many circles and cycles in photography, ebbs and flows, new things and old, twists and turns, reinventions and imitations, new technologies and rediscoveries of old ones. And they all sort of overlap and feed into one another.

I’m not sure any of us is able to say something entirely new with our work; all that we can hope to do is discover a voice within us - one that sounds slightly different from the voices that make up the huge swell of what has already been said.

You undoubtedly see pieces of me in each photographer I have written about the past few days. There are “nods” to many of them in my work. There are outright cases of pilfering of ideas. There are gently borrowed stepping-off points. There are attempts at going down a similar path. There is also an outpouring of respect and honor for them. As I get older and make more work, I do hope that along the way, my own voice has come through a little louder and a little more clearly with each passing squeeze of the shutter, each passing project, each passing year.

Photography is by far the most democratic of mediums. Practically anyone can take a picture, and practically everyone does. Now that most of us carry around a camera (a cell phone or a point & shoot) at all times, there is very little that goes unphotographed in the world these days. We are all photographers now.

The lines that separate fine art photographers, commercial photographers, war photographers, fashion photographers, street photographers, self-portrait makers, family documentarians, news photographers, portrait photographers, kid shooters, landscape photographers, friends having fun at parties, etc. are getting fuzzier with each passing technology and each passing day.

Ultimately, though, I believe we all simply just trying to say these sorts of things:

THIS MOMENT HAPPENED.

SHE EXISTED.

THESE PEOPLE SUFFERED.

I LIVED.

MY FAMILY GATHERED THERE.

I WONDERED.

THIS HOUSE STOOD HERE.

I WAS IN PAIN.

THIS LAND THRIVED.

WE LOVED EACH OTHER.

Here’s a little story about a photograph I took and then gave away. It was at the orphanage. On my second trip, I took lots of portraits of the children and then printed them on my portable printer. I gave a picture to each of the kids I had photographed – just a little snapshot, nothing special really. To them, of course, it was a huge gift. It was, in some cases, a first glance at themselves. For others, it was the first time they had ever owned a picture of themselves. For most it became one of a very few possessions they had. It was, in short, a treasure.

On my last day, amid the hugs and tears, one little boy came up to me, stretched his arm up toward my face and opened his hand to reveal the picture I had taken of him. He wanted me to have it. I’ll never forget what he said as he handed me the photo - one of his few belongings.

PLEASE DON’T FORGET ME.

(i exist, see?)

The power of photography. Voice after voice after voice… in a museum, in a family album, on a cell phone, in a little boy’s hand, in my desk drawer.

Awesome.

wendy ewald

"Self-portrait" - Sharon Banks

For more than thirty years, Wendy Ewald has collaborated with children and adults from around the world, working in communities in Labrador, Appalachia, Colombia, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Holland, Mexico, Canada, North Carolina, and New York. She offers up her own creative skills and mixes them with her students' imaginations. The resulting images are individual self-portraits, as well as portraits of communities and articulations of hopes and dreams.

My favorite of these visual and verbal collaborations is one of the earliest projects undertaken by Ewald – one that I frequently revisit for inspiration. It was begun in 1975, when she was fresh out of college. Ewald arrived in Letcher County, Kentucky, with the idea of documenting the Appalachian community in a way that caught the “soul and rhythm of the place.” The problem Ewald found as an outsider was that her camera got in the way of developing trusting relationships. She eventually approached Cowan Elementary School with a grant from the Polaroid Foundation for cameras and film and an offer to set up a program where she would teach the children photography. It was a way of providing a service to the community and a means of coming to understand it.

The program was quickly expanded to two other schools: Campbells Branch and Kingdom Come School. With assistance from the Kentucky Arts Commission over a four-year period, Ewald worked with one hundred and fifty children between the ages of six and fourteen. In the end, it was her collaboration with these students that created the intimate portrait of the community she had originally sought.

She asked the children to photograph their homes, their families and their friends. She spoke to them about their fears and dreams and encouraged them to capture these on film; she then used the images as a catalyst for the students to talk and write about their lives. A group of their photographs and writings, along with Ewald’s, came together in the 1985 book “Portraits and Dreams: Photographs and Stories by Children of the Appalachians” a book that, years ago, found its way to my list of top ten photo books of all time.

I have been a fan of many of these young photographers for years. Recently I discovered that Ewald started a Facebook page when she decided to have a reunion with the now forty-something men and women who she taught all those years ago. Imagine my delight when I saw current pictures of Denise, Darlene and others whose honest and imaginative childhood photography has - for years - moved and motivated me.

The Ewald piece that is in the exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum is from another of her bodies of work. All of her projects are wonderful and worth checking out; this one is simply my sentimental favorite.

"Self-portrait with the picture of my biggest brother, Everett, who killed himself when he came back from Vietnam." - Freddy Childers


"I dreamt I killed my best friend, Ricky Dixon." - Allen Shepherd


"Self-portrait reaching for the Red Star sky." - Denise Dixon


"Philip and Jamie are creatures from outer space in their space ship." - Denise Dixon


"I took a picture of myself with the statue in the backyard." - Janet Stallard

keith carter

Often called a “transcendent realist” and “a poet of the ordinary,” Keith Carter grew up watching his single mom work professionally as a portrait photographer.

“Among his earliest memories is waking in the middle of the night from a pallet on the floor to see a small orange safelight above the kitchen sink where his mother stands. He steps over beside her then raises himself on tiptoes to watch in wide-eyed wonder as one of her photographic images slowly comes up in the developer. It is magic, indeed it is a miracle – and to this day my friend Keith Carter has never gotten over it” – Bill Wittliff.

Keith eventually gave photography his own shot, at first finding his subjects in the familiar, yet exotic, places and people of his native East Texas. He has since expanded his range not only geographically, but also into realms of dreams and imagination, where objects of the mundane world open glimpses into inexpressible realities. His tenth book was just recently published.

I don’t remember the first time I saw Keith’s work, but I do remember the way it made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I took a workshop with him in Santa Fe in 1998 and again in 2000 in Tuscany. Those workshops were filled with Willie and Waylon, references to all sorts of great American literature, poetry readings, laughter and good ole boy East Texas story-telling. Never have I had such a good time making and sharing pictures.

Keith taught me a lot. I often think back to phrases he uttered, challenges he threw down, questions he posed. He was the most insightful and generous of teachers, sharing every ounce of himself, his techniques and his thought processes each step of the way with every single one of his students.

There were so many things that Keith said that have stuck with me and that have helped me navigate my way through difficult situations. I owe a lot to him as a teacher and a friend.

His work makes me crazy, makes me feel like giving it up sometimes. Like… how in the world can I possibly add anything to the world of photography after what he has already done? I feel very honored to be in the exhibit at the Nelson, having my work alongside his.

in the street

You probably already know that Helen Levitt is one of my favorite photographers and that she has been a great inspiration to me over the years. If you read this blog regularly, then you may remember my postings about visiting Helen at her apartment in New York this time last year (and, as a it turned out, a few months before she "kicked off.") Those posts can be found here, here. here, here and here.

At any rate, Levitt is included in the exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins Museum "Hide and Seek: Picturing Childhood." Rather than show you more of her still photography, I thought it would be cool to turn you onto a film she made in the 1940's with Janice Loeb and James Agee. Contemporary photographer Amy Stein referred to this as "SIMPLY ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PIECES OF POETRY EVER PUT TO FILM."

It is in two parts. When you have ten quiet minutes, get lost in this remarkable footage shot by one of the masters of 20th century photography.

(For best viewing, click on You Tube in the lower right corner. That will take you directly to You Tube, where you'll get a full screen and better resolution.)

a mega change the truth update

News from the orphanage is encouraging. Our support continues to be responsible for some very good things!

Tuition fees for twenty-three secondary school students have been paid for the final term of the year. When I am there this December, I plan to meet with each child to go over his/her performance record for the year, find out how he/she doing, offer words of encouragement, etc. I will also talk with the very recent Primary School graduates to determine who may be added to our scholarship program. Four upper class students are due to sit for their national examinations in October and November to determine whether they will be qualified to move up to the next level. These are really difficult tests and require a lot of preparation. We wish the very best to Daniel, Saka, Henry and Samalie. All are extremely determined young people, and I know they will do their best to make their sponsors, friends of Change the Truth, proud.


The marching band that came to be thanks to Team 2 members Sarah and Max on our visit last December has been practicing hard under the tutelage of teacher Ivan. From their rag-tag beginnings, the band members have come a long way. The band has actually already been hired… twice! The USC Trojan marching band had better watch out.


A new art form has been introduced to the children. Art teacher Michael is helping the children leave how to weave. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they are creating, and I hope to be able to bring some of their pieces back to Kansas City to sell at our next Friendraiser/Fundraiser.

Team 2 member Fred set up a volleyball and basketball court when we were there last year. The children still look forward to playing these games each weekend when they are out of school.


The counseling that was begun by Team 1 members Ann and Melissa and continued by Team 2 members Melissa and Bobbi remains an important part of the healing that takes place at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage. The teachers who have learned from the CTT therapists continue to work with the children and are seeing positive results.

On the sustainability front, the number of pigs in the pigsty has grown to thirty-five. Many of them will be sold during the month of December, once they have been fattened up properly. One of the main success stories to the pigsty has been the addition (thanks to CTT) of a rainwater collection tank that helps provide drinking water to the animals.

You may recall the assistance we provided a couple of years ago for the expansion of the brick-making program. The older boys work very hard to make the bricks. As of this moment, thousands of bricks are now ready for firing and subsequent sale. This is a real moneymaker for the orphanage.


The garden that was planted under the loving care of Team 2 member Randy is still going strong. The children have continued to enjoy an assortment of healthy greens thanks to the hard work put into maintaining the garden, the fertile Ugandan soil and the good weather.


CTT has been responsible for providing medical care to the children. Thanks to generous donors, Nurse Jane reports for work three days a week. She continues to help the children, as she did alongside Team 2 member Dr. Tom, with ailments such as fever, coughing, wounds and abdominal pains. An organization called Touch the World has been doing quite a bit of work at SMK this past year. One of its main projects has been the establishment of a full-scale medical clinic with a doctor’s room, nurse’s room and sickbay. The goal is to serve the children (and the local community at a small fee.) Project completion date is likely to be this December. At that time, CTT will revaluate its monthly financial commitment to medical care. It could be that we will be able to divert these funds toward other needs.

On a not-so-great note: the motorcycle purchased for the orphanage by CTT last year was involved in a wreck. Apparently, the man who was driving it as a taxi loaned it to a friend who promptly crashed it. (I have not heard of any injuries other than those sustained by the motorcycle itself.) At any rate, after some time and some shenanigans, the vehicle has now been recovered by the police, but is in need of repair. More on that later…

I can’t tell you how excited I am to return to SMK on December 19th. There will be nine members of Team 3. Soon I will begin introducing them to you. Being a volunteer there requires a huge commitment (financial and emotional); I am so grateful to those who have decided to get involved with CTT on this level. I know the children are counting the days until our arrival!


Finally, we had a screening of Lynne’s film last night in Kansas City for those who were unable to see it this past June at our annual event. We had such a nice turnout; it was great to see familiar faces and to make new friends. I’d like to welcome those of you who are now on our mailing list for the first time. The CTT family continues to grow, and for that I am very thankful.

danielle

Following up on the wonderful young people who are lending a hand to help Change the Truth, I’d like to tell you about Danielle.


This energetic and enthusiastic young woman is a freshman at Elon University. She contacted me during the summer to say that she wanted to start a CTT club at her new school once she got settled in. Well, it didn’t take her long to learn her way around her new digs and get involved. She has already joined a club called Students for Peace & Justice, and the club has decided to form a branch that solely focuses on CTT!

Her first missive from school reported that the group is “brainstorming fundraising ideas and still deciding if we want to work towards a specific fundraising goal or if we would rather be in contact with certain children and work towards providing secondary education for them. Another option we are exploring is selling some of the handmade jewelry, shirts, bags, and note cards that the children make. Lastly, the one event we have decided upon is to have a film viewing, basically a movie night where we will play the 30 minute documentary. We are going to advertise this event around campus and hope for a large turnout- prior to the movie we will discuss the future projects we are working towards regarding CTT. I think this will be a great way to raise awareness.”

It’s inspiring to hear these ideas springing forth from teenagers, isn’t it? Between Danielle, Max, high school girls from a local Catholic high and Lee (who I told you about a couple of posts ago), we’ve got interest in CTT bubbling in colleges and a high schools from coast to coast!

What you don’t know yet is that two of the members of Team 3 are teenagers, one is early twenty-something, and one is only ten years old! Much more about them to follow, but in the meantime, join me in taking great pleasure and pride in the young people in the world who want so much to do the right thing.

On the blog of a college student, a classmate of Max’s, I found a quote that I thought was definitely worth sharing:

“Do not give to the poor expecting to get their gratitude so that you can feel good about yourself. If you do, your giving will be thin and short-lived, and that is not what the poor need; it will only impoverish them further. Give only if you have something to give; give only if you are someone for whom giving is its own reward.” - Dorothy Day

andrea modica

Here is another photographer whose work I greatly admire and who is included in the “Picturing Childhood” exhibition.

Ten years ago, I took a workshop taught by Andrea in Santa Fe. Even though the class was only a week long, I consider that to have been a pivotal time in the shaping of my work. There were only six students in the class so I got a lot of personal attention from her. (We actually became rather good friends and ended up returning to Santa Fe a year later to take a lighting workshop together.) She was generous with her critiques and challenged me to clarify what I was trying to do and say with my pictures.

Andrea got her MFA from Yale in 1985 and has embarked on various personal projects ever since. She currently teaches at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

The work that I love so much is from the portfolio (and monograph) entitled “Treadwell.”

Andrea began the series in 1986, when she was driving by her subject’s home in upstate New York and noticed Barbara (her primary subject) sitting outside. She stopped to speak with her, and eventually the two forged a strong and trusting relationship. Barbara was seven years old at the time she and Andrea began collaborating. Andrea photographed her for fifteen years, until Barbara’s death in 2002.






Using an 8 x 10 inch view camera and natural light, Andrea’s presence in the spaces she photographed must surely have been intrusive; the exposures necessary to make the negatives are many seconds long, and the close perspective of the images means her bulky camera and tripod were virtually on top of the subjects. The authenticity of the images comes not from the so-called reality of the scenes, but from the Andrea’s keen perceptions and subsequent creative decisions made in the darkroom.

In the series we see Barbara grow from a young cherub to a seriously overweight teenager, her growing discomfort painfully evident. Other scenes portray children playing outside in the mud or carcasses of animals decaying at the edge of the woods. The images are brooding and dark. The rich and subtle tones of her laboriously made platinum-palladium prints bring forth the mood even more. For all the unsettling subject matter, these pictures are at once lovely, sympathetic and reverent.

judith joy ross

"When I look at somebody, I think about their past and what their future could be, as well as what I'm seeing right now.

A good story in a picture is much better than being alive. Being alive is complicated and hard, but a good picture — I can get lost in it." – JJR

One of the photographers in the "Picturing Childhood" exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins who is not terrifically well known is Judith Joy Ross. I thought it might be nice to feature her here so that you can learn a bit more about her.


Ross [now 63], is known in photography circles for her tenderly attentive, black-and-white portraits of people, often children, who seem to radiate a soulful vulnerability. She generally works in series, motivated by a sense of civic inquiry and a keen curiosity about individual emotional lives.

Since the early 1980's, she has photographed children at a swimming hole in Pennsylvania, visitors to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, members of Congress and their aides, and soldiers waiting to be shipped off to fight in the Persian Gulf war.

The Hazleton schools series [which is represented in the Nelson-Atkins exhibition] arose out of her concerns about children's welfare, and by extension, the welfare of the adults they become.

"It's so silly, but I basically thought people would be willing to pay more taxes if they could just remember what it was like to be a kid," she said. "And I thought if they could remember that, they'd also treat each other better."

She decided to return to Hazleton to photograph in the public schools that she had attended in the late 1950's and 60's and where her mother had studied in the 20's.


"That's how it became personal," she said. "I feel like these pictures are my childhood. This isn't me, but it is me."

"I started in the junior high school, and I was terrified," she recalled. "I thought, these kids are going to eat me alive." Back then Ross had a disorder similar to Tourette's syndrome that caused her to make involuntary sounds and movements. But on her first day at the school, all of her tics disappeared; instead, she developed double vision and could barely speak above a whisper.

"I had to drive home with a tissue stuffed over one eye," she said, "but I was just so grateful that they had morphed into something socially acceptable."

Ross, a forthright woman with a reedy voice and intensely observant blue eyes, spent three years haunting the classrooms of her youth, accompanied by a bulky 8-by-10 view camera mounted on a tripod and a powerful strobe light on a separate stand.

For the most part, the students ignored her. "Not once was there anyone saying, 'Hey lady, take my picture!' " she said. But when she asked them to pose, they willingly obliged.

"I basically think people want to be recognized and appreciated," she said, "and when you put a big camera in front of them, they think, 'I must be interesting.' Meanwhile, I'm struggling, tripping over the tripod and putting a goofy black cloth on my head. Because we're both vulnerable, that person gives me more of themselves."

Ross has said that she never got to know the students personally and hasn't kept in touch with them; most have never seen the portraits she made.

"This is the way I work," she has said. "I'm in love with you intensely, and I don't ever have to see you again. I'm not big on intimacy, except in a visual way."








That visual intimacy extends to the prints themselves, which are small and have a level of detail fine enough to render the transparent fuzz on a teenage boy's chin. Using an arcane process, she makes the prints by sandwiching the negative with "printing-out paper," and exposing it to sunlight for a few minutes to a few hours. Later, she tones the prints with varying amounts of gold to produce shades of chocolate-y brown and soft, purplish grays.

Ross agrees that her photographs require careful looking, in part because each image contains within it a small, irreducible human story.

- From a NYT article by Mia Fineman, April, 2006

hide & seek: picturing childhood

A new exhibition opens today at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, and I am honored and happy to say that one of my photographs is included! If you live in the area, please visit the museum and check out the show. It was curated by April Watson and Jane Aspinwall. It includes lots of iconic images, as well as some recent acquisitions by lesser know photographers (like me.) It's a dream come true for me to have one of my pictures hanging on the walls of such a hallowed space.


You may recall my post about the studio visit Jane, April and Keith Davis made some months back. This is when they made the decision to purchase the piece. "Boy with Ball, Kajjansi, Uganda." They eventually made the acquisition when the photograph was later shown at the Leopold Gallery.

I am in amazing company in the exhibition. It is humbling to have a piece hanging alongside works by Keith Carter, Sally Mann, Emmet Gowin, Helen Levitt, Andrea Modica, Wendy Ewald, Judith Joy Ross and Ralph Eugene Meatyard. I have studied with both Carter and Modica, and of course, have long admired the work of Levitt. Meatyard is a photographer from my home town, whose work has always inspired me. There are lots of connections here, all of which only add to my feeling incredibly flattered (and kind of stunned) to be included.

In conjunction with the exhibition, I will be speaking about my work at the museum in January. More on that to follow.

lee

Exactly three years ago I started this blog. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined where it would have taken me, especially considering it was supposed to simply be a way to let my friends and family read about my first trip to Uganda.

One of the nicest things that has happened thanks to the blog has been the connections I have made. People I would not have otherwise met have found me and have thus found out about Change the Truth. Cyberspace has definitely contributed to the expansion and growth of CTT in this way.

One of my favorite things to do on the blog is introduce the children from the orphanage, as well as the people who are now lending them a hand…. especially the young people who are doing so.

One of my earliest young supporters was Lee. Read a past post about him here. Now Lee is a junior at the Pembroke Hill School and is the president of the art club there. (He is a very talented artist.) I recently received an email from him asking if the art club could do an “art supply drive” for the kids at the orphanage. His idea is to encourage art students to donate new and gently used supplies like sketchpads, brushes, paints, pencils and pastels. Pretty great, no? I just love it when young people come up with ways to help other young people. In this case it is a way of connecting art-loving kids from Kansas City with art-loving kids from Kajjansi!


Lee has grown up around altruism. His kind parents have set the right example for him. His mom works at Operation Breakthrough; from a very young age Lee always tagged along and did whatever he could to help out. Now that he is old enough to establish his own set of beliefs and commitments, he is taking a stand to help less fortunate children who happen to share his passion for art. Bravo, Lee!

In my dreams, I see Lee sitting across the table from Nicky at the orphanage in Uganda. They are trading ideas about shadowing and shading, color and design. Lee is very tall, his hair is usually an unusual color, his clothes are cool, his skin is pale, he has a dog, he has his parents. Nicky is slight with closely cropped hair, dark skin, torn clothing and a very sad past. Nevertheless, the boys’ legs bump against each other under the table. They laugh and joke around. They look up from their work occasionally and nod encouragement to each other. When they fasten their eyes on each other, they are each filled up with a sense of wholeness and goodness and fellowship. And everything suddenly just feels kind of right.

venice beach

While in the city of angels, I got to hang out with Max for a couple of days. I am always guaranteed a good time when that happens! He took me to Venice Beach one afternoon. I took my camera, of course.

reporting from l.a.

The Siren Society’s Filmanthropy Film Festival was the place to be yesterday in LA! Of the 144 films submitted, six shorts and three features had been accepted and were shown throughout the day. This was the first festival Lynne has entered; for her film to have been one of the six shorts chosen was quite an accomplishment!

We arrived early to set up the CTT table and to catch the first film, which was shown at 10:00 a.m. Cinespace Theatre is on Hollywood Boulevard; we had to put on our star faces as soon as we got out of the cab.


The films included, among others, ones about street children in Rwanda, a garden in South Central LA, America’s addiction to oil, skin cancer in America and an organization that provides safe water to children in Cambodia. The latter, “A Drop in the Bucket”, was directed by photographer Lauren Shaw.

Tom and Randy, members of Team 2, came up from San Diego for the day. It was great seeing them! My friend and amazing photographer/teacher/blogger/curator Aline Smithson even dropped by with her husband and nephew.

“Changing the Truth” got rave reviews from the audience and from the jurors. It was well liked because of the way it was filmed, its emotional aspects and the fact that it felt hopeful. The film did not win first prize. (We were told it was very close, though.) After the red carpet and cocktails and dinner, it was announced that Lauren Shaw’s film won in the both the shorts category and the overall audience pick. Congratulations to her!

los angeles or bust

Read all about the film festival Lynne, Tom, Randy and I will be attending at Cinespace Theatre in Los Angeles this weekend! "Changing the Truth" by Lynne Melcher will be one of the short films featured. We will have a CTT table where we'll distribute information and sell some goodies. If you live in LA please stop by, see the film, buy a beaded bracelet and say hello!

rosemary and vincent: part 4

If you don't know the back story on the children named Rosemary and Vincent, please read it here, then come back to this post to see how everything has unfolded.

The children were safely delivered to Mama Rosemary at St. Mary Kevin's just yesterday! Francis made the several hour trek to transport them, and they were received with open arms by the staff and new friends in Kajjansi.

No words are really necessary, These photos snapped by Joseph pretty much say it all.

shortly after arriving

in their new school uniforms

in their grounds uniforms

having some lunch

visibly relieved and apparently happy to be there!

no stores paid me to advertise for them

I am not a shopper. Just ask my friends who see me in the same clothes and the same shoes and the same earrings time after time after time, well more like year after year after year.

But old dogs can learn new tricks.

Right after I issued the call for orphanage Christmas gift donations, I was pleasantly slammed with not only envelopes containing checks but also phone calls about great deals at certain stores in town. I was amazed at the level of generosity. A dentist emailed immediately to say that he would provide 180 toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste for the kids. A Hallmark associate offered to underwrite a shopping spree at the employee Hallmark Double Discount Store. A friend showed up on my doorstep with bars of soap.

But my ole pal Sandy is the one who really got my shopping juices simmering. She called one morning so excited that I thought maybe she’d just found a vintage Edward Weston print for five bucks at a garage sale. What had gotten her heart pumping were boxes of crayons - one penny each at Office Max. The catch was that each customer was limited to three boxes, so could Eddie and I come down and get all our friends to come down so that we could deplete the store’s stock of crayolas.

Which we did.

Later that same day, not having had much of a chance to recover from her earlier find, Sandy called to say that Walgreens was selling flip-flops for a buck apiece. She was walking and could only manage one big shopping bag, so Eddie and I had better get in the car and head on over there to clear the racks.

Which we did. And then we even went to two other locations to clear their racks, too.




Yesterday, ON MY OWN, I discovered the joy of Target. Seventy-five striped and polka dotted girl’s shirts soon filled the back seat of my car. I kind of even got that shopper’s high I’ve heard people talk about. I know this because I threw a box of Junior Mints on the conveyer belt just as the check out girl was ringing up the last shirt, and I usually reserve those for road trips or special occasions.

There was enough Christmas gift money donated for me to spend $7 per child. My calculator has been working overtime, and I have discovered that I can put together quite the nice package with that amount. This will require much more shopping, and I’m actually looking forward to it.

Walmart, look out!

profile: nelson

Three months from tomorrow, I will be heading to Uganda for my fourth time. In anticipation of the trip, my head is once again filled with the people, smells, sounds, colors, warmth and energy that is the “Pearl of Africa.”

My posts on this blog will begin to turn more and more to the upcoming trip: who the members of Team 3 are, what our plans are once we get to the orphanage, etc. (The label for this post will be the first of Uganda and Change the Truth Chapter 4.)

I am also going to introduce you to a few of the children there. Melissa (on her visit in May) was kind enough to interview the young adults being sponsored in secondary school by Change the Truth. What I’ll be sharing is information she gleaned from those conversations. (Thank you, Melissa!)

One of the most interesting, enthusiastic and smartest young men I’ve ever met in Uganda is Nelson. Here is his story:

Nelson just turned 19. He has been at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage since 1999. He comes from the Muganda tribe.

Nelson with Team 2 member, Tom - 2008

Nelson was named after his father, who was a successful businessman in the Entebbe area. One day after arriving home from school, Nelson was told that his father had died suddenly. His mother was too upset to talk about the circumstances of the death, and even now, his mother still gets emotional when she talks about it. Nelson still does not know specifically how his father died. He was brought to SMK by his mother shortly after the death of his father. Nelson's mother and four other siblings moved with his grandmother to the small village of Mityana (one of his sister's - Sarah - is his twin). His mother is a farmer there. Nelson says he rarely sees her.

He is most proud of his studies, at which he excels. He states his talents as: thinking, writing, reading, chess, football, computer/technology. His future goals include: engineering, business (like his father) and or industrial arts or architecture.

His inspirations include determination, courage, belief in self, Change the Truth, perseverance and hope.

Nelson's other interests include games, music and making friends.

Nelson is what is known in Uganda as a "half orphan." Many of the children at SMK have one parent who is still alive. This parent, however, cannot afford to pay for the raising and education of his/her children or have no interest in doing so. Nelson has come to consider Rosemary, the director, his mother.

new t-shirt/new drawings

It's time for a new Change the Truth t-shirt! I requested some line drawings from the kids at the orphanage to use as this year's design. Here are some of the drawings I received. The "winning" entry will appear on the new t-shirt, which will be available in a few weeks. It's going to be something you will definitely want to add to your fall wardrobe!

riots

Things don't look so pretty in Kampala these days. Read the news here.

rosemary and vincent: part 3

Some time ago I told you about my Uganda photography workshop friend, Anna, who, during her recent return to the country met two orphans names Rosemary and Vincent. The children (siblings) are from a small village in the Rakai district, an area in which Anna spent a couple of months photographing.

Anna wrote me a few months ago to find out if I thought there might be a chance that the children could go to St. Mary Kevin Orphanage to live and attend school. Once I told her I could try to make it happen, she then had to convince the elders in the village that this might be the best thing for the children. Once the eventual approval from the elders came down, I began working on the logistics of making this come together. The village where Rosemary and Vincent live is several hours from SMK's town, Kajjansi. A young man (whom Anna also befriended) by the name of Francis, who lives in their village, offered to transport the children to Kajjansi.

Anna searched for and found sponsors from L.A. who would pay for the transport. Eventually, Francis succeeded in digging up detailed information about the children -info about their deceased parents, their past, their schooling, their health, etc. I forwarded this on to Rosemary, director of SMK and asked her to consider accepting them into her program.

Rosemary agreed to take them in. Francis then had to figure out how to get the children to Kajjansi, and I had to figure out how to get the sponsor's funds to him.

Just this past week, I was able to finally send directions to SMK to Francis, and well, it appears that after all this manuevering, little Rosemary and Vincent will soon have a new place to call home.

If this all comes together, it will be pretty amazing. A real group effort to help these children. I hope I can post soon about their arrival at the orphanage, and I look forward to meeting them when I get back to Kajjansi this December!

n'awlins

New Orleans has a spring in its step, it seems. Much more so than the last time we were here, that’s for sure.

We came down to visit Sam and Abbie and see the cute new first home they just purchased.

This part of N’awlins appears to have breathed a huge, collective, neighborhood-wide sigh of relief.

Around seventy five percent of the pre-Katrina population has re-established residency in the city. Tulane received 40,000 applications for this year’s freshman class. The streetcars are up and running. There are more restaurants here now than before the storm.


I walked/ran along the streetcar route early this morning (early to avoid the oppressive heat and humidity and did not achieve any sort of avoidance at all.) The streetcars are clankier and way more authentic than the streamlined Czech-designed 21st century ones I love to photograph in Portland. New Orleans has the world’s oldest continuously operating streetcar line, dating back to 1835 when it was horse-drawn. The cars that run today were built in the mid to early 1920’s. Joggers run in between the tracks in the area that I would call the median but that people from around here call the “neutral ground.” When the streetcar begins to approach, the driver clangs a bell, and the joggers move out of the way to let it pass.


There are purple, gold and green beads strewn all along the way, as this is the Mardi Gras parade route. They hang from the trees and utility lines like Hawaiian leis. Glistening in the sun this morning, they seemed to serve as a reminder that the party never ended (ends.)






I love the way residents in this neighborhood decorate their windows and front porches. Signs like this appear every few blocks. This one, courtesy of the adorable nieces, is on Abbie and Sam’s front door.


I love the warm and politely southern nature of the folks who call New Orleans home. On my walk/run, everyone said hello as we passed. People from the streetcar waved from their windows. People on porches did, too. A car full of young men drove a little too close to me at a cross street and then called out the window, “Sorry ‘bout that, MA’AM.”

In spite of the fact that Ray Nagin has hopped aboard the wagon-gone-corrupt (following in the footsteps of so many New Orleans politicians); in spite of the fact that the 9th Ward and so many other parts of the city are still in ruins; despite the fact that the next big hurricane could bring The Big Easy to its knees once again, things are looking up around these parts. Thousands of recent college graduates are flocking here to teach, to volunteer, to intern, to contribute to the economy. A lot of musicians have returned.

In spite of the sweat that is cascading down the back of my neck this morning, I’m really happy to be here.

double nickels

My birthday! The first person to wish me a happy day was one of Change the Truth's sponsored students. Nelson called at 4 a.m. Kansas City time and had about 45 seconds to send greetings before the time on his cell phone ran out. So great to start the day that way, but of course I can't fall back asleep. Thinking about my mom and what kind of day she had 55 years ago. And her mom, too.

So here's a picture of the three generations, not long after I came along.

john trotter

A few posts back, I mentioned a photo a young man had taken of Annie Leibovitz when she was at my gallery for her exhibition and book signing back in 1985. That guy was John Trotter from nearby Springfield, Missouri. I didn't know him; he simply mailed the signed photo of Annie to me a few weeks after the event. He introduced himself to me years later at a portfolio review in Santa Fe, and I was impressed with the work he was making. John told me a little bit about what had happened to him since we had last seen one another, but I honestly had no idea that he had been through such a horrific ordeal. Read about it here. It's a miraculous and inspiring story.