sayulita

Thirteen years ago I took a vacation with my kids, sister and niece in a place called Sayulita, Mexico. It was pretty much a dirt road fishing village, very quaint and charming. The beach was beautiful, the townspeople very friendly, the margaritas tasty. I was just beginning to make photographs again after a fifteen-year hiatus. The children of Sayulita were willing and sweet subjects.

Tomorrow morning I am heading back to this place. From what I understand it has undergone tremendous development since 1996. I’m hoping some of the children I photographed will still be around. Well, they won’t exactly be children anymore. My plan is to try and track some of them down.






Packed in among my swimsuit and sunscreen are these old photographs. I plan to give them to their rightful owners. I hope they will let me photograph them again as teens/twenty-somethings. Bet they never thought they’d see me again, much less the picture I took of them!

These pictures, made at a time when I was searching for my stride again as a photographer, are kind of fun to rediscover. I’ll share a couple of them now; if I can find these Sayulita residents this week, I’ll post their “old” and “new” photos in upcoming posts.

friday night bash

On Friday (tomorrow night), Leopold Gallery will hold a big bash and silent auction from 5 to 10 PM in honor of the gallery’s 15th anniversary. Featured works will be marked down 15 to 25%. A portion of all sales will go to the art programs at Lincoln Prep, Paseo and Sumner Academies in Kansas City.


Two of my large shredded pieces, as well as two of my new Streetcar pictures will be included in the exhibition/auction. If you live in Kansas City, make your way to the Leopold at 324 W. 63rd St. for your Friday night entertainment. It should be a fun evening.

sara

A Bat and Bar Mitzvah marks an eternal milestone in a young Jewish person’s life—one that happens even without (and perhaps despite…) all the hoopla and fanfare of public celebrations on this special occasion. On this day, every Jewish girl or boy becomes a full-fledged Jewish person. Prior to the Bat/Bar Mitzvah date, the soul of that Jewish young person had not yet reached maturation. Until the Bat/Bar Mitzvah, this child is considered spiritually under qualified and thus not held responsible for her or his actions. With the acquisition of new spiritual credentials comes a new career as a Jewish adult - one of climbing up the ladder of Jewish learning and performing good deeds.

These days, most all of the girls and boys take on Mitzvah projects in conjunction with the ceremony (where they are called to read from the Torah for the first time.) A mitzvah is, of course, a good deed. The kids get to choose for themselves who it is they want to help.

Change the Truth has been the lucky recipient of JJ’s and Sarah’s Mitzvah projects over the past year. Now, we have Sara, who has asked her friends and family to donate money in honor of her Bat Mitzvah to help the children at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage. I asked Sara to introduce herself and explain the process:


“Hi, my name is Sara Lessem and I am in 7th grade at Elm Place Middle School in Highland Park, Illinois. I am very busy with schoolwork, horseback riding and dance. In April of 2009 I will become a Bat Mitzvah and will read from the Torah. For my Bat Mitzvah I wanted to choose a Mitzvah Project that I knew about and was interested in. Then I e-mailed Gloria and told her about me and how I wanted to choose her organization for my project. Of course, Gloria said yes. I was excited and asked her many questions about Change the Truth. After I had read more and more about CTT I decided that it was definitely right for me. I set a goal for my project, which was $1,000 and was determined to reach it. A few months ago, I started to e-mail different people and tell them about CTT to try and get them interested in it. I ended up raising 1,200 dollars and still counting! I was so happy when I had reached my goal. I was proud of myself, my community, and my family. This shows that if you have something set in your mind, it is possible. I think of the children at Saint Mary Kevin Orphanage in Uganda and hope this makes a change in their lives.”

It will definitely make a change in their lives. Sara has raised enough money to send four orphaned children to secondary school for a year. Going to school in Uganda means obtaining the tools necessary for digging out of the rut of poverty. Sara should indeed feel proud: she’s just handed four kids her age a shovel.

stills for film

When Lynne and I began working together on the Change the Truth films, we knew right away that we made a good team. We’re very good friends, we compliment each other’s styles and we are respectful of one another’s creative flow and work habits. Most of all, we simply enjoy being and working together!

We are presently hammering out our second project for Kansas City’s Operation Breakthrough. It’s a video that will be shown at the annual fundraiser in April to 800 people. Lynne is the filmmaker; I am the photographer. The film will tell the stories of several of the children who go to the center – through their own eyes and in their own voices.






Last night we had to shoot some “B roll” material – at night in the urban core. I was pleased with a few of the pictures I made. Most important, Lynne and I both feel good about the shape the piece is taking and the opportunity we both have been given to make it happen.

susan maasch gallery

Sales at art galleries are down. Dealers are searching for ways to keep the bottom from falling out. Several have devised an interesting solution for now: offering smaller works at smaller prices.

A couple of months ago I was invited to show my work in such an exhibition at Wall Space gallery in Seattle. Now, on the other side of the country, 5” x 5” prints of mine are included in a show in Portland, Maine.


The images selected for the show at the Susan Maasch Gallery in Portland are from the series entitled "The Space Between” which is about identical twins. I was surprised how much I loved the intimacy and beauty of the small prints once I made them. Perhaps a trend away from the mega prints of the last couple of decades will begin – all because of the economy.

Atticus and Alexander

Tanya and Tenaya

Susan said she is showing the pieces in a glass case, which can only increase the sense of preciousness. They may even seem like little treasures, which could result in a collector feeling as if he/she has uncovered a great find. We’ll see!

rosemary and vincent: part 2

I thought you might find it interesting to see the correspondence from Mama Rosemary at the orphanage regarding the two children we are now trying to place there:

"The two orphans from Rakai (Southern Uganda) are welcome, as long as Gloria has given her assurance that Change the Truth will support them at St Mary Kevin.

Please provide the child case details, as follows:

- Names of parents & indicate if one or both are dead (dates when they died are useful)
- Names of current guardians and their contacts – by phone, post office box, email if available, and physical address [in case of serious eventualities, like death]
- Ages of the children
- Languages spoken
- Last class attended at school plus the name of the school & its location, and the original of the last school academic report for each child
- For each child state known diseases and infections & current treatment, and HIV status if known
- Indicate if there are any traumatising experiences in the lives of the children that require therapy, and indicate whether each child has an inward or outward going personality
- State positive points for each child – for example a good netballer or chess player

The children deserve our best efforts, as it is not their fault that they are disadvantaged.

Thanks & Regards
God Bless
Rosemary"

Once we get them there, little Rosemary and Vincent will be in good hands.

be inspired

You’ve probably seen this good-looking guy, Peter Alexander, on NBC news. He and his family are dear friends of my brother’s family. Peter and my nephew are life-long best buddies; I remember a 13 year old Peter wowing everyone on the dance floor at my nephew Sam’s Bar Mitzvah! He had a magnetic personality (and great moves) very early on.

Peter has a sister named Becky. She has suffered for many years with a gradual diminishment of her ability to see and hear. She was first diagnosed, at age 12, with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited disorder where the cells in the retinas slowly degenerate. She was told she would eventually lose her eyesight. Then her hearing started to decline; by high school she got her first hearing aids. In college she was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome, type III, a disease that affects about 16,000 people in the U.S. It causes its victims to go both blind and deaf. This will likely be the case for her in the next ten years.

Becky (she goes by Rebecca now) is truly an amazing young woman.

Peter is doing a story on the NBC News Today Show about Rebecca on Friday. It is supposed to air between 8:00 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., though the time (and even the date) could change if it turns out to be a big news day.

The story is about Rebecca's courage facing her disabilities while living in New York City. The piece was inspired by the article that New York Magazine did on her in February. In the story, Peter will be interviewing his sister. Afterwards, the two siblings will be live on the Today Show set and will be interviewed by one of the program's anchors. Rebecca’s story originally piqued the curiosity of Today Show anchor Matt Lauer when he read the New York Magazine article.

If you want to truly be inspired, I suggest you watch the Today show on Friday morning or check out the website later in the day.

rosemary and vincent

No, this is not a picture of mine, though I wish it were! This photograph of a little girl named Rosemary was made by my friend Anna Boyiazis, who I met on my first trip to Uganda. We were fellow students in the NGO photography workshop taught by Thatcher Cook. During that workshop, each of us spent a few days with our “own” family in a small village in the Rakai district, documenting lives in a part of the world that has been devastated by HIV/AIDS. (Rakai actually has the unfortunate distinction of being known as the “birthplace” of AIDS.)

Anna recently returned to Rakai and spent two months immersing herself in the life of the village. Her photographs and her stories about the experience are amazing. She sent me this email upon her reentry to the U.S.:

“Gloria,

When I was in Rakai, I was introduced to two little children, Rosemary + Vincent. Their dad died of AIDS; their mom cut. The kiddoes were taking care of their ill grandmother. Nobody was taking care of them. They were sleeping on shreds of torn clothes and were lucky to get a meal once every couple days.

I suggested the children be placed in an orphanage and suggested St Mary Kevin’s. The village spent more than a month warming up to the idea.

My biggest desire is to make this the least traumatic that it can be for these children. They have already been through so much in their short lives; I can only imagine what it would be like to be taken from their home and grandmother. The grandmother has an ideal situation (from her perspective) -- she has two little ones to fetch her water and tend the gardens. I had to explain repeatedly that these children deserve consistent meals and an education... that the current situation was not in the best interest of the children, but of the grandmother. The challenge was convincing the village that THEY should care for the grandmother.

Francis, the children's next-door neighbor, is willing to transport the children to the orphanage. He is in his mid-twenties and is torn up about the situation. He wants to open an orphanage in Rakai. I have encouraged him to get to know Rosemary... that perhaps she could end up being a powerful mentor for the young lad. He has a degree in social work and cannot find a job. He loves these children and is totally trustworthy.

I will not feel at peace until these children are in Mama Rosemary's loving hands. One of my friends in California has offered to provide funds for the transport of these children to the orphanage.

xo Anna”

Anna was actually able to send someone she knew was in Kampala to make the trek to SMK and was able to then make contact with Mama Rosemary on the phone; she has agreed to take the children in. Anna and I are now working on the logistics of making it happen.

I’ll be sure to update this story here on the blog. It’s a story that will hopefully have a happy ending. Kudos to Anna for bringing it this far! Perhaps on my next visit to SMK, I'll be able to put my arms around little Rosemary and Vincent, and will see first hand how their lives have changed for the better.

Anna is just one person, but she making a very big difference.

baker gallery, bloch museum, abbie, crewdson...

When I opened my gallery in 1981, there wasn’t a lot of photography action going on in Kansas City and its environs. Collectors here were just beginning to understand the important historical significance of vintage work and the excitement of discovering contemporary images by emerging and mid-career photographers. Hallmark had been actively assembling its major photo collection since the 60’s, but that work was only occasionally seen by the public. Hard core fans had to travel to Chicago, New York or LA if they wanted to see the good stuff on a regular basis.

My place, the Baker Gallery, helped fill in the gaps as much as a small art gallery could do in those early days. Over the years, though, more and galleries began to show photography, and museums ramped up their photo show schedules. The Society for Contemporary Photography (now defunct) was born in a Kansas City collector’s basement in the late-80’s and went on to become a nationally recognized organization. The Kansas City Art Institute continued to build its strong photography program, and more and more talented graduates began renting studio and loft spaces in the area, contributing to a plethora of fascinating exhibitions. Kansas City was truly ready for what took place in 2006 when The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art acquired the Hallmark Photographic Collection. The collection spans the entire history of photography, from the birth of the medium in 1839 to the present. At the time of its acquisition, it included more than 6,500 works by 900 artists, with superb examples by virtually all the key American photographers in history. The collection is housed in the Bloch Building, which triumphantly opened in 2007 to resounding applause from the architectural community worldwide. With the acquisition and the move into this spectacular building, the Nelson-Atkins took its place as one of the premier museums in the world for photography. A great coup for Kansas City and its photography lovers!

I have been privileged to witness and be part of the exciting growth of, acceptance of and enthusiasm for the medium in this great Midwestern city. We’ve definitely come a long way. This past Thursday night, I joined other photo enthusiasts in a packed auditorium at the Nelson-Atkins Museum's Bloch Building to hear a conversation between April Watson (associate curator) and the wildly popular photographer Gregory Crewdson. The Crewdson presentation was made possible by the museum’s Photo Society. I looked around and saw people I’ve known for a long time, people who used to park themselves in chairs at my gallery on Saturday afternoons to talk about photography, to browse through books, to explore the flat files and to hang out with other photo-lovers.

Thursday night I found myself marveling at how our patience and persistence has paid off; we now have the world famous Bloch Building with its world famous collection and its world class curatorial staff right here in our own back yard! Between Keith F. Davis, April Watson and Jane Aspinwall, the collection could not be in better hands.

(Just so you know how full circle this whole thing is for me, I am posting this photo of my daughter Abbie.


She was three years old and was hard at work helping me get the Baker Gallery spruced up for the grand opening of its new location on State Line Road back in 1983. And that wildly popular photographer who spoke Thursday night and then came to my home for a reception in his honor? Abbie’s advisor/professor when she obtained her photo degree from Yale in 2003.)

If you live in the Kansas City area, get ye to the museum. If you don’t, plan a trip to do just that.

book work

The collaborative process of making a new book has begun.

The photographs have been selected with the help of curator Keith Davis. Photographer and teacher Thatcher Cook, and Ann Thomas, therapist, are writing essays; Sam Brandao is editing them. Lindsay Laricks is busy with the design of the book. And Meridian Press is gearing up for the printing of it.

And I have been spending glorious days in my digital darkroom making reference prints and hammering out an essay of my own. Blissful activities for this lucky girl.

The book, still unnamed at this point, has a long way to go before it makes its way to the east coast for printing and binding. It is interesting and gratifying to watch it all come together, as all these talented people - located in different parts of the country - help weave together the finished product.

Included in the book will be my black and white work made in Uganda in 2006 and 2007, as well as the color dream pictures made on the most recent trip in 2008. We may even include some of the artwork made by the children at the orphanage.

save the date

When you have four and a half minutes of quiet time today, please give it to us at Change the Truth.

When you do, you can watch the latest creation by Change the Truth board member, volunteer Team Member and filmmaker Lynne Melcher. It was made in collaboration with award winning Austin filmmaker Layton Blaylock.

It is a request that you mark your calendar for the second annual CTT Friendraiser/Fundraiser. It is also a thoughtful and powerful short film that helps explain the work that is being done in Uganda because of generous supporters like you.

(To view it properly, you’ll want to click on the HD button that is in the lower right corner of the You Tube screen. You Tube isn’t perfect; sometimes the film chokes. Please bear with it.)

And please pass this link on. Change the Truth has grown from just a handful of people to over 300 active supporters. This is simply because people like you have spread the word to family and friends.

In this film, you will see that the helping hand we have extended has touched the children at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage in a very warm and wonderful way.

Got some time? Here's the link.

news from the orphanage

I just received this greeting for all supporters of CTT from Rosemary at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage:

“Thanks for the efforts for the orphans.
When they are happy, I am also happy.
They are our children –
Their future is determined by our actions.”

I recently sent a package full of letters and pictures for the children. Here is Rosemary’s take on the frenzied mail-call that must have taken place:

“The orphans almost ran me down because of your photos & letters.
They were all over me – which was good, but tiring.
I shall try to forward their replies as soon as possible.”

Finally, Judy, a CTT supporter from New York visited the orphanage a couple of weeks ago, before she headed off on a gorilla trek. Here is her report:

“I just returned from Africa on Saturday and am slowly re-entering my life. My journey was extraordinary and my time at SMK was amazing. Rosemary. Joan, all the teachers, staff and children were very welcoming. I spent the day with them and left with many greetings for you. What a blessing you and your organization are to St. Mary Kevin as they are striving to improve their conditions. The garden is in the process of providing flavors to their meals, and they are enjoying the new tastes a lot. Thank you for making my visit possible.”

Next up: the amazing and powerful four-minute film made by Lynne to be used as the viral “Save the Date” for the CTT Friendraiser/Fundraiser. Stay tuned – you don’t want to miss seeing this beautiful piece she has been working on since our return from Uganda.

a picture can be worth lots of words

There is a blog called Every Photo Tells a Story. Each day a new image is posted, and readers are encouraged to write something based on that visual prompt. The creator of the blog writes, “If you want inspiration to write or create, or if you enjoy beautiful photography and art, then you've found the right place!” She contacted me recently to get permission to use one of my photographs as a tool to inspire her readers/writers. I was really moved by the poems submitted. The image she chose was “Solitary Confinement Room, Auschwitz” a picture from my series, “Among the Ashes.” Here are three poems written by her readers.

GHOSTS by James Parker

A vile and bitter darkness

Dwells within these walls.

A vestige of past evils

That shocks us and appalls.


Auschwitz now stands silent,
Its cells like empty wombs.

The ghost of horror and despair

And shame it now entombs


Cries of utter hopelessness,

Born of mortal fears

Arose to a crescendo,

But fell on deafened ears



A blinded world stood idly by,

Midst the suffering and pain

A haunting question taunts us now,

Is it happening again?


PROOF 

by Therese L. Broderick

three times

the priest

denies

an Auschwitz

window's

three iron bars



Untitled by MIchael

You've been out there?

You've seen out there?

You've smelled the waste? The fear?

Racks of bones are made to toil,

Digging roots from frozen soil.
Sleepless nights in louse-filled bunks.

Scraps of food in cold grey lumps.

Endless coughing through the night.
Every sound is cause for fright.

They think that it's a punishment in here...

world water day exhibition

Opening March 7th at the White Sturgeon Art Gallery of the Water Resources Education Center in Vancouver, Washington will be an exhibition of my Uganda photographs. The curator, Maya Jones, chose to show my work in honor of World Water Day 2009. She appropriately selected this image to use on the exhibition notices. I made this picture on my first trip to Uganda in 2006, when I took a workshop from Thatcher Cook. I had walked with some of the children who live in the small village of Buyingi to their water hole. After this little girl had finished filling her jerry can, I asked her to place her hand on the surface of the water.

The exhibit will run through April 25th.

more artwork by the children from st. mary kevin

The planning committee meeting for the second annual CTT Friendraiser/Fundraiser took place yesterday. It's going to be another exciting and thought provoking event. There is an excellent group of men and women who have volunteered their time to guarantee that! Most are returnees from last year; we do have a few new faces, though, which is wonderful. There will be a couple of surprises this year, but you can definitely count on being able to bid in a silent auction on the amazing drawings and painting made by the children at the orphanage. Here are a few more examples.















In my last post, I mentioned the fire at Owino Market in Kampala. Rosemary wrote to say that some of the orphans' guardians were among those who lost everything in the blaze.

a long overdue change the truth update

Last night was the Kansas City reunion of recent travelers to Uganda. It was great fun to get together over a few pizzas (staples for us when we are there!) and reminisce about the trips. Pictured are Gloria, Tom, Fred, Jane, Melissa, Randy and Lynne.


Here is the latest report from the orphanage regarding projects set up by Change the Truth and nudged along by us when we were there:

CTT is now sponsoring twenty-five secondary school age children. Each one is working hard, striving to become well educated and informed and ultimately qualified for University or a job. We continue to sponsor one student, Douglas, as he enthusiastically makes his way through nursing school.

The motorcycle we purchased is being used as a taxi. It brings in an average income of $25 per week. The funds are used for school purchases (notebooks and pens) for the orphans, as well as inexpensive hygiene supplies.

Remember the marching band Sarah and Max help set up? An instructor has been recruited, and according to Rosemary, “The orphans are steadily learning how to handle the instruments.” I can just imagine a rousing rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In” rising up over the grounds of St. Mary Kevin!

Harvesting of greens has begun in the garden Randy and his crew planted. Cuttings are being used to establish a new garden in another area. As per Randy’s suggestion, flowers and new grass are being purchased and planted and will be in place by April. This will really brighten up the grounds and will hopefully make the children feel happier – and even proud of their home.

On that note, the children are gradually embracing Captain Freddie’s idea of keeping the place clean. According to Rosemary, “rubbish is regularly placed in bins and disposed of regularly and safely.”

All those games, puzzles and balls we took with us? They continue to be used and enjoyed by the children. They are set up on shelves in a "game room." When a teacher is on duty there, the kids can have access to some of their favorites that Melissa taught them, like Uno, Sorry, Scrabble, Go Fish and Chutes and Ladders.

We have helped SMK purchase pigs. The latest on that from Rosemary is: “Two pigs delivered ten piglets, five each. SMK now has forty (40) adult pigs, plus piglets. We plan to sell off about ten pigs around June 2009 to raise funds, and also to keep the total number below 50.” (This is a great source on ongoing income for the orphanage.)

Change the Truth pays for the employment of a part time nurse, Jane, who reports to work twice a week. Tom worked closely with her when we were there in December and was able to get the ball rolling with regular checkups. Again, from Rosemary: “Jane has continued to focus on checkups of the orphans plus first aid treatment of common diseases like coughs, fever, skin ailments, etc She refers difficult cases to nearby clinics & if necessary to hospitals. She has also started research to try and establish a link between diet and complaints about stomch upsets. She plans to take some orphans for late immunisation. She is also investigating the accessibility to ARVs by HIV+ orphans.”

Other than education, the main thrust of CTT’s mission has been to provide much needed assistance for food. Here is Rosemary’s latest assessment of that situation: “We are very grateful to CTT. The orphans are now fed better, with the correct quantities and promptly at the correct time. We have introduced soya sauce in addition to soya porridge, extra proteins in the form of meat & milk over the weekends, plus bread on Sundays.”

Thanks to all of you who continue to help us by becoming friends to these children. We really are making a big difference in the lives of the orphans who call St. Mary Kevin home. In such a short time, we have accomplsihed so much.

Rosemary always says it best:

“Friends make the Challenges of life a lot easier to handle.
And Love is the magic that brightens up the lives of the orphans.
It gives them hope for the future
And soothes their minds – to forgive & forget the past.

Thanks for everything.”

On a very sad note, the largest market in Kampala, Owino Market, burned to the ground on Ash Wednesday this past week. 20,000 vendors (70% of whom are women) lost everything. From what I can gather reading various news reports, it appears that it was probably arson. This market provided everything from CDs, radios, shirts, shoes, chickens and other animals to items for the home and all kinds of produce, fish and grains. This loss deals a huge blow to the people of Kampala and outlying areas. Our hearts go out to everyone affected.

max at the oscars

"Did you see me on the Oscars? What, you didn't? Well, no surprise there - I don't think anyone did, except an Associated Press photographer behind stage (picture above). While we knew the performance wouldn't stack up to the band's show on the Grammy's a couple weeks ago, we didn't expect the producer to place us behind a stage prop for the song. Nor did we expect instructions to 'play softly, so that the audience hears the recorded track, not you.' Nevertheless, I had the privilege of enjoying the Oscar's from an exclusive on-stage perspective. Although the Academy didn't bother to mention the USC band, it was an honor to be part of the group asked to play on the Oscars. It was an incredible production to witness firsthand. I'm thrilled to have been a part of it, and I hope that I'll be more visible next time I show up on TV :)"

b.o.o.k.

When I was a graduate student, I had the opportunity to study with Phil Hamilton. Phil was a graphics man who happened to love letterpress printing. His studio classroom was chock full of type cases, pica sticks, inks and Vandercook letterpress printing presses. I can still recall the smells and sounds of that room. There was no better place on campus to hang out.

The coolest part of it all was watching books being born. My classmates and I spent countless hours conceiving and designing books and then setting type, one letter at a time. The sections of type were locked onto the beds of presses, then printed one page at a (very slow and methodical) time.

My love for beautiful books has not died. I love the feel of a nice paper, the sound of a page turning, the way an image “sits” in its place, the creative arrangement of type and the eloquent conversation that takes place between all these elements.

My press name back in the 70’s was “Yellow Bird.” I continued with the moniker when I self-published Convergence in 2001. On the heels of that was Among the Ashes.

Yellow Bird Press is proud to announce that a new book is on the horizon! It is unnamed at this point, but the work to birth it has begun. It will include photographs and essays about the children in Uganda. Its due date is early June. The book is being underwritten by a very generous donor; all proceeds from sales will go to Change the Truth.

Since it will be a small run with several people carefully collaborating, it still feels kind of like a handmade book to me. I certainly will not be setting one letter at a time, but I believe I will be putting it together with the same amount of attention to detail and deep appreciation for the beauty of a well deigned and well printed photography book that I learned back in Phil Hamilton’s classroom.

in the studio

This past weekend, I had fun photographing the two-month-old twins who were born to one of my daughter’s dearest friends. Makes me realize I am at that stage in my life when I could be a grandmother. Pretty wild. Anyway, here is the proud father hoisting the male component of the set of adorable fraternal twins.

happy valentine's day

This is a photo from my archives. It was shot ten years ago today when I was in Oaxaca, Mexico taking a workshop from Mary Ellen Mark. She and I both agreed the picture would not have worked if the heart shaped ballon hadn't just cleared the thick, black line on the wall as it was floating up out of the boy's grasp. Gotta love and thank those photo goddesses!

artwork by the children at st. mary kevin orphanage to be sold at fundraiser

The date has been set for the second annual Change the Truth fundraiser. It will be June 11 at the Screenland Theatre in Kansas City. If you are on the mailing list, you’ll get a special “save the date” notice soon. If you are not and would like to be, please email me: gbfeinstein@aol.com.

Just as we did last year, we will feature a silent auction to sell the artwork that the children at the orphanage made during our visit to Uganda. Here’s a sampling of what you can expect to see and bid on!

meatyard

I grew up in a town that had a very interesting photography scene. I was too young to be aware of Van Deren Coke and Eugene Meatyard, but they were here; among other things, they were members of the Lexington Camera Club. (I went to high school with one of Meatyard’s sons, but we did not really know one another. My father knew Coke, however.)

Ever since I began my study of photographic history, Meatyard has been at the top of my list of favorite visionaries. When I was growing up, he was on optician and ran a shop called Eyeglasses of Kentucky. He only photographed in his spare time, usually on the weekends, and he printed in a makeshift darkroom in his home. He was president of the PTA at his kids' school, and he coached baseball there,too. His membership in the camera club (1954) led to an enduring friendship with his photography teacher, Coke. In 1956, summer workshops at Indiana University brought him in contact with such influential photographers as Henry Holmes Smith, Aaron Siskind, and Minor White. These interactions paved the way for Meatyard to launch his own photographic vision.

His earliest work from the mid-1950s includes a documentary project on Georgetown Street, a primarily African American neighborhood in Lexington. By 1960, he was regularly making photographs of his three children in abandoned rural Kentucky mansions and in the forests surrounding them. The photographs evoke a world not normally acknowledged with the human eye. They suggest the complex emotions associated with childhood, intimacy, loss, and destruction. His expressionist style and use of staged scenes foreshadows the work of many contemporary artists, like Francesca Woodman and Sally Mann.

From his thousands of images, he would pick only those he considered his best and made just one or two prints of each negative. His strict attention to technique and consistency in print size achieved the aesthetic effects of photography he was seeking — a world seen through a full tonal range from black to white; intentionally strange, yet familiar and approachable.

The visualization of the passage of time played an important role for Meatyard in all of his photographs —from long exposures to the maturation of his children, from old buildings to the changing light gracing the natural world.

Meatyard died of cancer shortly before his 47th birthday (1972.) His work received critical acclaim when he was alive, has done so even more over the years, and he has influenced countless photographers, including this one.

old photos

Looking at the photographs of Homer Page from 1949 and getting ready to visit my father inspired me to look through some old family snapshots today.

You’ve probably got the same ones – different faces, different locations, but I bet they’re similar in many ways. Have you ever thought about how incredible some of these pictures are – and how they surely must shape the way we “see” the world around us even now?

I think these particular images from the early 50's are amazing. They were probably taken by my parents and older brothers, none of whom had any particular interest in picture making beyond documenting some of the details of our family’s life: the neighbor kids, the grandparents, gatherings with aunts and uncles, family vacations, birthday parties, etc. I suppose I was drawn to these specific photographs because I would be thrilled to have them in my own portfolio as a fine art photographer today.

Do they succeed on a visual level out of pure luck on the part of the photographer? Or do I simply deem them successful (and am I reaching?) because of my art school educated eye?


Whoever took this picture of the Smoky Mountains from the ski lift (my dad, most likely) was probably unhappy that the woman on the left snuck into the frame. Of course, that’s what I think gives the picture its magical structure and what leads your eye into the rest of the frame. You can’t help but wonder if those are skis attached to her feet, but then you realize she’s in shorts (probably summer), and there is no snow: it’s actually just a cable. The wiring from the lift and the cable below create an insanely perfect juxtaposition, framing the misty, mountainous landscape beyond. The two figures, passing one another give us a sense of intrigue and mystery. It’s odd on some levels and ultimately very beautiful. Any of us would be hard pressed to make such a perfect photograph.




How about the Arbus quality of the picture of my grandfather, father and brother; the strange, haunting and wonderful (again, sort of Arbus-like) snapshot of my brother, who is probably standing on a chair or someone’s shoulders behind the hand-painted body of a gorilla? These are the pictures that fill our family albums; these are the pictures I refer to when I look for visual clues of what my family was like back in the day. These are the pictures that have probably even informed the way I see, since I have looked at these and others like them for many, many years.


The one of the girl bouncing the basketball is probably my favorite of this group. I doubt that the photographer (maybe my older brother) was aware of all the circles in this scene: the ball, the girl’s head. the head of the man walking behind her, the light attached to the garage, its shadow… and then the spherical thing propped up against the garage door. It was surely all so serendipitous but what an incredible picture!


Finally, the photograph of the boy holding the umbrella. It’s a picture of our next-door neighbor, made even before I was even born. (He’s a successful lawyer now.) I love the way his feet are cut off, how the curve of the umbrella mirrors the curve of the nearby tree, how the background to the right recedes gently into the distance toward a row of trees that echo the column of the house, how the light illuminates the fabric of the umbrella, and particularly I love his mad expression which is subtly offset by the graceful tilt of his right hand. It’s a picture I could have made last week – if only I were so lucky.

These inspire me.

I thank the people who took them. And thank my mom for keeping them labeled and dated in a box in our basement.

homer page

One of the members of the “photo salon” which I am in is Keith Davis, longtime friend and illustrious curator of photography at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. At our last gathering, Keith had just returned from Meridian Press in Rhode Island with hot-off-the-press signatures of a brand new book tucked under his arm. Little did we know what a treat we were in for: we were among the very first people to get a glimpse of Keith’s groundbreaking work on a photographer we’d never even heard of.

What a gorgeous book! Keith has basically made a major historical discovery in the work of Homer Page (he told me in the kitchen as we were loading up our plates with Gates barbeque that if you Google this guy, you are asked, “did you mean HOME PAGE?” That’s because there are no entries on Page…yet.)

Page lived from 1918 to 1985. He was from California and worked in the Bay Area shipyards during WWII. He took up photography in 1944 with the encouragement of his neighbor and friend, Dorothea Lange. He worked fast… three years later he was featured in a major show at MOMA. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1949 and proceeded to produce an amazing body of work in and around NYC during the next twelve months. He achieved much recognition in the fine art world, but ended up turning to a successful career as a magazine photographer. He let only a few of his personal images out of his hands and, as a result, was remembered after his death by a small circle of peers. He has basically been unknown.

Now Keith brings Page’s work to light in a beautiful tri-tone volume and with an impressive exhibition, the latter of which is due to open at the Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City on February 14th.

In Keith’s words:

“The importance of Page’s Guggenheim work is a result of both its form and its content. Stylistically, his photographs represent a crucial missing link between the warm, humanistic socially motivated documentary work of the 1930’s and early 1940’s (as seen in the work of Dorothea Lange), and the tougher, moodier, grittier work of the later 1950’s (exemplified by Robert Frank). In Page’s photographs, we find, in essence, a previously unknown bridge between these very different artistic eras.”

If you live in or near Kansas City, don't miss the opportunity to see the exhibition. It should be a knock-out. And I assume the book will be available at places like Photo-Eye and Amazon. Do yourself the favor!

update: holocaust denier

"The Vatican, bowing to the growing furor over Pope Benedict XVI's decision to accept a return to the church of a prelate who denied the Holocaust, made a dramatic turnaround Wednesday and demanded the bishop recant.

The Vatican sought to distance the pope from the controversy by saying he did not know about British Bishop Richard Williamson's views when he agreed to lift his excommunication last month.

In the surprisingly public spat, some leading cardinals in Germany and at the Vatican blamed unidentified aides for not fully briefing the pope.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said he took Benedict at his word that he didn't know about Williamson's views, but said he couldn't believe Vatican aides didn't do more research to better inform the pope.

‘This was absolutely a matter that was bungled at the highest levels of the Vatican,’ Hier said. ‘If they Googled the name Bishop Williamson, they'd find out he was a Holocaust denier. This did not require advanced research at the Vatican Library or Oxford.’

‘Everybody knows he's an anti-Semite,’ since Williamson has been vocal about his views, making speeches and publishing a blog, Hier said. ‘The other Holocaust deniers are rabid, anti-Semites who can't claim any legitimacy. But when a person calls himself bishop and he was invited back into the Catholic Church by none other than the pope, he brings with him an aura of legitimacy. And that legitimacy stains the pope. So the pope today finally made the right decision, that (Williamson) must recant.’"

- Victor L. Simpson, Associated Press

holocaust denier

Over the weekend, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of Richard Williamson, a British bishop who denies that Jews were killed in Nazi gas chambers and has resisted the reforms of Vatican II. Click on this link to watch part of a disturbing interview with the bishop.

Jack Mandelbaum is a friend of mine. He's a Holocaust survivor and the co-founder of the MIdwest Center for Holocaust Education. Jack helped me with the arrangements for my trip to Poland in 2003 when I was working on the photographs for Among the Ashes. This morning his "letter to the editor" about Richard Williamson's views appeared in the Kansas City Star:

"Holocaust-Denying Bishop

I must respond to Bishop Richard Williamson’s claim that not one Jew died in gas chambers (1/28, A8, 'The defense doesn’t rest; Vatican stresses pontiff’s record of denouncing the Holocaust'). He also claims there were no gas chambers. Oh, how I wish he was right.

I am the sole survivor of my immediate family. If his statement were correct, my mother, age 42, my sister, age 17, and my brother, age 10, would have died of natural causes in old age. Instead, their lives were smothered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz and Belzec. After suffering the horror of Stutthof concentration camp, my father was also murdered.

Denying the Holocaust was ruled to be a sin by Pope John Paul II. Bishop Williamson was excommunicated from the church by Pope John Paul II, yet now the Vatican is bringing him back into the fold. This is an outrage!

I’m 82 years old. I have difficulty accepting the fact that educated people would try to rewrite history in my lifetime. Can’t these revisionists at least wait until we survivors are dead to rewrite history?

Jack Mandelbaum"

The above photograph is one I took for Jack when I was photographing at Stutthof. It is a memorial stone he placed in the former gas chamber itself.

random things

I am one of 150 million active Facebook users.

I joined the ranks 15 months ago and am proud to say I have 120 “friends.” Some people I know staunchly refuse to begin this second job, one that consists of status updating, wall conversing, tagging, posting news and video links, sending private messages, sharing pictures… and the latest craze: making a list of twenty-five random things about yourself.

Other friends have jumped in with both feet. I love reading what they are doing on any given day. I love studying their prized pictures of family, vacations or newly created artwork. I love connecting with people I haven’t seen or heard from in years. I love finding out about not-to-miss events or groups I can join and support.

(No, I am not on the payroll at Facebook.)

What I love most about this phenomenon is that people are THINKING!! WRITING!! And SHARING!! (Facebook is not new. High school and college kids have been using it for years to connect with one another. By the way, I feel certain that now with so many 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 somethings having contracted the Facebook fever, the younger users will move onto something else… let’s hope so; it’s too easy for parents to stay abreast of their kids’ foolish antics and innermost thoughts heretofore only shared at slumber parties.)

So, back to the twenty-five random things I mentioned in the first paragraph of this post. A few days ago, a good friend asked me to make such a list. I did. Next thing I knew, many of my Facebook friends were doing the same. These have made for entertaining and enlightening reads. I would like to share some of my favorites from various lists made by various people. These revealing snippets point to the fact that we all have it in us to think about what matters in our lives, to actually craft those thoughts into words and then to boldly share them with others.

Here are some of the greatest hits from the lists I have seen so far:

I pray even though I am agnostic.

I look in the mirror each morning and pull my face into the position it was 30 years ago, knowing full well that with the economy as it is, and with as much as I hate medical procedures I won’t do a damn thing about it.

I believe that if more people embraced foreign travel the world would be a different place.

I don’t know that I believe in religion but I do believe in a state of grace.

I think it's the civic duty of every single literate person to read at least one newspaper every single day.

I think a proclivity for exaggeration is generally underrated and is a worthy attribute in a person.

If you leave me someplace I will be there when you return.

I stuck Red Hots up my little brother's nose when he was sleeping.

I go to movies to cry.

I think libraries save multiple lives every day, and are the single most important thing that society must support.

My mother once used masking tape to fix my little sister’s hemline. I have learned lots of great tricks from my parents.

I was in the fourth grade and playing outside on the school playground when I found out that Kennedy had been assassinated.

If my brother jumps off a 45-foot rock quarry cliff, then I will too.

I like to stay up late and write because I feel there are fewer people using the airwaves and more room for me to think.

I talk to my father, even though he died many years ago.

(And here are some from my own list)

I am getting age spots on my hands. This I do not like one bit, especially when my husband reminds me that they are also referred to as liver spots.

When I was little, I pretended I had a horse. I rode him everywhere. When I went somewhere in the car with my family, I tied the horse to the back bumper and frequently glanced out the window to make sure he was still with us.

I don’t know if I really believe in God, but when I bite into a perfectly ripe avocado, I think there is no way that I cannot.

I would like to be buried in my cowboy boots.