harold feinstein: when your mouth drops open, click the shutter

Harold Feinstein was born in Coney Island, New York in 1931. He began photographing at the age of 15, and by 19 he was considered a young prodigy in the field, having his work purchased by Edward Steichen for the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. His career has spanned the greater part of the twentieth century, from his most notable work documenting Coney Island to his more recent color photographs of flowers and seashells. His portfolios cover a wide range of subject matter, including street work, nudes, landscapes and still life. Personally, I prefer his earlier black and white work, and that is what I’m sharing with you here. These images (primarily from the 1940's - 1960's) are from his Coney Island, street work and Korean War series. As far as Coney Island is concerned, he once said: “I feel like I fell out of my mother’s womb onto the beach at Coney Island with a Nathan’s hot dog in my hand." The man clearly has a great sense of humor and a deep appreciation for the joy of living and seeing.

In his early years, Feinstein collaborated closely with W. Eugene Smith, for whom he did the extensive layout of Smith's famous "Pittsburgh Essay." Smith said of Feinstein's work, "He is one of the very few photographers I have known, or have been influenced by, with the ability to reveal the familiar to me in a beautifully new, in a strong and honest way."

Feinstein was fundamentally self-taught and never graduated from high school. His teaching style urged experimentation and emphasized seeing over technique. It is best captured by his well-known statement, “When your mouth drops open, click the shutter.” Even though as a teacher he under-emphasized technique, the editors of Modern Photography, and later Popular Photography utilized his work frequently to showcase technique and asked him to contribute his own articles explaining darkroom technique, composition, and printmaking.

Critic A.D. Coleman wrote this about Feinstein: “Harold Feinstein is a true photographer's photographer, and one of the most seriously under-recognized senior figures in U.S. photography. Until the beginning of this new century he was best-known as a highly respected independent teacher of photography whose private workshops (conducted mostly in his Manhattan studio) influenced hundreds of people in the field, including Mary Ellen Mark. Yet at long last, as he nears the age of 80, Feinstein's work has begun to become familiar to an increasingly wide audience.”

I wish I could say we are related, but we are not. Wouldn't it have been fun to look at and talk about this work around the dinner table during family gatherings?

fire

Designed by award-winning artist Barnaby Evans, WaterFire Kansas City, a multi-sensory experience of music, fire and water, took place last night on Brush Creek. WaterFire was originally created by Evans in 1994 on the three rivers of downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Now it travels around to many cities. It was a nice fall night, the music was cool, and yep, there was a lot of fire.

sukkah

We recently had dinner in our friend's sukkah. For those of you who don't know, a sukkah is a structure built during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Here's Wikipedia's quick definition, one that is far better, luckily, than my own Sunday School recollections.

"A sukkah (Hebrew: סוכה‎, plural, סוכות, sukkot; sukkoth, often translated as "booth") is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated with autumnal, harvest or Judaic themes. The Book of Vayyiqra (Leviticus) describes it as a symbolic wilderness shelter, commemorating the time God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness they inhabited after they were freed from slavery in Egypt. It is common for Jews to eat, sleep and otherwise spend time in the sukkah. In Judaism, Sukkot is considered a joyous occasion and is referred to in Hebrew as Yom Simchateinu (the day of our rejoicing) or Z'man Simchateinu (the time of our rejoicing), but the sukkah itself symbolizes the frailty and transience of life and its dependence on God."

I am particularly grateful for the reminder of the frailty and transience of life.

I am also grateful for friends who continue to carry on these age-old Jewish traditions and who invite us to participate.

team 5: meet shane

In the business of illustration, design and creative development, Shane Evans is a multi-talented artist and visionary who combines his world travels with his art to influence creative expression in others. Shane studied at Syracuse University School of Visual and Performing Arts and graduated in 1993. He then began traveling the world. In addition to contract work in illustration, graphic design and web design for major companies, he has conceptualized and illustrated numerous children’s books. Shane's books have been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, NBA Inside Stuff, Reading Rainbow and Letterman.

Shane has received much acclaim in the children’s literary field for his work on books such as "Osceola," "The Way The Door Closes," "Shaq and the Beanstalk" and "Take It To The Hoop Magic Johnson." His accolades include being honored by Laura Bush at the 2002 National Book Festival, receiving The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and The Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Non-Fiction for Children. Shane's latest book, done in collaboration with his close childhood friend, Taye Diggs, is called "Chocolate Me" and is receiving all sorts of rave reviews.


Shane’s talent does not end with illustration. His design work includes one-of-a-kind hand crafted furniture, clothing, CD cover art, photography and a number of other custom made items. He’s also a musician.

This will be Shane's third trip to Africa - his first with Change the Truth. He can't wait to get to work with the children at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage! He plans to incorporate music, art, dancing and theatre into his various projects. His laid-back and super cool style will surely win the hearts of all those lucky enough to get to hang out and work with him. I feel honored that this multi-talented and busy man will be part of Team 5. He has so much to offer the children. It will be great to have him on board!

henry fix

Grandson Henry is 13 months old now.


Is that a sweet punum or what? [punum = face in Hebrew]

joseph kony

The first time I ever spoke with my buddy Nicky at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage (in 2006), he told me that both his parents had been killed by Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).



You have probably read in the news that on October 14th President Obama sent 100 military advisors to Uganda to help regional forces track down Kony and his group. The LRA has been wreaking havoc in northern Uganda for 20 years. This action is long overdue.

From the New York Times:

"Joseph Kony is one of the most vilified rebel leaders on the planet. He stands accused of brainwashing countless children across northern Uganda, turning the girls into sex slaves and the boys into prepubescent killers.

His so-called Christian movement, the Lord’s Resistance Army, has terrorized villagers in at least four countries in central Africa for nearly 20 years, killing tens of thousands of people, burning down huts and hacking off lips. The fact that Mr. Kony, whose followers believe he is a prophet, rarely appears in public has only added to his brutal mystique.

Exiled to a fiefdom on the border of southern Sudan and the Congo, Mr. Kony in 2007 emerged from the wilderness indicating a willingness to sign a historic peace deal with the Ugandan government that would disband his army. But in April 2008, he backed out, saying he needed more time to consult Ugandan elders and contemplate the war crimes charges brought by the International Criminal Court in 2005."

There are many children at the orphanage whose parents were killed by Kony's LRA. I can't help but think of them now as the man may finally be brought to justice.

The reaction of "Invisible Children" to this news is worth watching. This organization has, after all, been greatly responsible for getting Kony's name out there and making young people in America aware of the tens of thousands of innocent children in eastern and central Africa whose lives have been horribly and profoundly altered by this maniac.

Watch "Invisible Children" founders express their support for Obama's decision to apprehend Joseph Kony. It's a first step, but a huge victory for the thousands of youths who have been lobbying Washington to take action against the LRA.

Nicky, Cate, Otim Isaac, Geoffrey, Lillian, Rebekka, Issy, Petra and the others: I'm thinking about you as I follow the news reports... thinking about what you have been through because of Kony and how his capture might (hopefully) bring you some sort of closure.

[JUST IN: This AP article presents the perspective of Uganda's president and clarifies the issues surrounding US involvement.]

new hipsta photos

Here are some new images I made with my trusty iPhone camera.

butterfly portraits and facebook

These butterfly portraits are from an Operation Breakthrough shoot I did in the studio yesterday. It was crazy fun.






I have started a Facebook page for Gloria Baker Feinstein Photography. If you're on Facebook, please "like" the page; that way you'll get notices of discounts, good deals and upcoming studio events. Currently I'm offering a 20% discount on sitting fees (either in the studio or on location). Join me on FB so you can learn of other offers in the future!

i can see clearly now

Recently, Change the Truth paid for eye examinations for sponsored students who have been struggling with their vision. Now we have purchased glasses for those who need them. Here are Cissy, Nicky and Rachel showing off their new look (literally!).

team 5: meet dawn

I first met Dawn Taylor at the Change the Truth annual fundraiser three years ago. She was enthralled with the artwork done by Nicky and had purchased a couple of his pieces. She continued to attend our event, always looking for more of Nicky's work. (She also purchased a wonderful drawing by Nicky's sister, Issy.) Dawn and I started talking that first year, and she told me she would like to accompany me to Uganda one of these days.

Well, that day is coming soon! Dawn will be a member of Team 5. She'll finally get to meet Nicky, Issy and all the other special children at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage. Dawn is so excited to be going, and I am thrilled that this talented, enthusiastic, gregarious and energetic woman will be part of our group. She's going to be a tremendous asset to our team. I know the children will fall in love with her.

A native of Oklahoma City, Dawn graduated with honors from Duke University. She moved to Kansas City in 1989 and spent a short time in the corporate world before recognizing that her calling was in the not-for-profit sector. It was a happy accident that landed Dawn at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, where she spent more than nine years in various membership and development roles. She was part of the team that developed the strategic plan that led to the historic expansion of the Museum, designed by Steven Holl.

Dawn then served as director of development for Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art from 2003 to 2010, raising more than $1 million annually. After 17 years of fund raising and friend raising for art museums in Kansas City, Dawn joined American Institute of Architects Kansas City as Executive Director in June 2010.

Dawn is a devoted Duke alumna, serving on the national board of the Duke Alumni Association for four years. She has chaired or co-chaired two of her class reunions and serves in an ongoing role as chairman of the Duke Alumni Admissions Advisory Committee for Kansas City. She currently serves on the board of Kansas City-based Quixotic, volunteers with Operation Breakthrough, and is looking forward to traveling to Uganda in December with Change the Truth. She is the mother of two teenage daughters, and they will host a foreign exchange student from Belgium in January 2012.

Dawn has been a staunch supporter of CTT since the day she first learned about us. I have a feeling she's going to be in our corner for a long time, especially after she gets to know the children up close and personal. Welcome to Team 5, Dawn! It's going to be an awesome adventure.

nelson and billy begin studies at makerere university

Among the students being sponsored by Change the Truth are two young men who were accepted to and have just now begun attending University. This is a huge accomplishment! Billy and Nelson were sponsored by CTT while they were in high school. Both lived up to the high standards we placed upon them, and both continue to be exceptional role models for the younger children at the orphanage.

CTT gives a (gently used) laptop computer to any student who gains acceptance to University. Nelson and Billy were recently given theirs by our CTT/SMK liaison Melissa, who sent me these happy photos!

Nelson sent me the following email. This young man has been hoping to attend college his whole life. I think you'll agree: he's wildly enthusiastic about finally having the opportunity to do just that.

"Dear Mama,

You won’t believe what I am going through but still I keep my head just like I promised you. Ever since you left Uganda, there has been a lot taking place in my life and today I opted to share with you my experience at the university in the first week as a campuser.

On Monday this week the University was opened and students turned up in large numbers including your Nelson. We had our first lecture on the same day and everybody in the room was very [excited] to experience it all. We all kept on looking at our watches just waiting for that time of the lecture. In about twelve minutes she entered, introduced herself before us and started lecturing.

She was dressed to kill, with a fluent, dust-free voice, precise and strict with her classroom rules. I wonder the source of her stories; perhaps story telling may be a professional skill to every mentor. She`s one woman who can make a class laugh lungs out! This made me remember my high school mathematics teacher. I enjoyed the entire session and I think, if there is any good course, this should be Computer Science. She motivated us and envisioned us about the world of technology.

Now there is this one I cannot leave out: the one who teaches us communication skills. She enters with her register where everyone is meant to sign and tick against his or her name. She is also strict like the first one. She made the whole class make mistakes with her communication questions. To be genuine; I did not know that I wasn`t communicating effectively.

Thanks to CTT and SMK!

Each day throughout my week has been fun and more interesting than the other. Nelson is trying to make each day meaningful and count for something.

I have a lot of school mates around my course and we all go back walking together from the university til we reach town. During this moment, we get the time to brainstorm about computers, talk about our lectures and it is our rule that every one teaches us something new.

The resources of my course are too expensive and I have opted to become a resource of myself by selecting good associates. What I have also observed in this week about campus is that one has got to have good relationships, be self driven and self motivated, focused, believing in oneself, making a lot of research, consulting, reading extensively, knowing who you are and where you come from. The most important of all, are the last two.

My aim this semester is to be able to design a dynamic website using some programming languages like HTML, DHTML, JAVA, JAVA SCRIPT, PHP and others. I imagine myself doing it MAMA! I just see myself there!

There is nothing easy or hard at campus. Being good at something alone is not even ample; one has got to give his best all the time. I know, it is not going to be a smooth path either, there are always going to be challenges. But as I said, those are only challenges which can be solved!

God bless you, God bless your work

Much Love,

NELSON"

stay hungry, stay foolish

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. ... Stay hungry. Stay foolish."

RIP, Steve Jobs.

suite of photographs

For the upcoming holiday season, I have made available a group of 15 small color prints from my Ugandan series. These images are 5.5" x 5.5" and are matted to 12" x 12". I have selected my favorite color pieces; this is rare for me since the Ugandan work that has been for sale prior to now has been in black and white.

The prints are signed. They are not numbered.

I am offering these archival matted prints for $50 each. As you may know, my large gallery pieces start at $600, so this is an unusual (and first of its kind) undertaking.

If you would like to place an order, please contact me. If you are planning to attend the "Gathering of the Goddesses" on October 14th, a Kansas City benefit for Planned Parenthood, you can view/purchase the work there.

Enjoy!



Moon



Child's Drawing



Blue Curtain



Clothesline



Red Toenail



Classroom



Checkerboard



Shoes



Beauty Salon



Yoga



Wash Basin



Jump Rope



Christmas Morning



Coffee Beans



Basket

65th anniversary

This past week was Ann and Isak Federman’s 65th wedding anniversary. Yesterday and last night was the big celebration. I was privileged to be able to participate, and I was very honored to make their portrait.

Ann and Isak are two of my favorite people - a couple I've long admired, loved and been inspired by.

They are fixtures in the Jewish community in Kansas City. They moved here only months before they married.

“We were on the second ship out of Germany,” Ann recalled in a recent KC Jewish Chronicle article. “We didn’t know what we were doing or where we were going to go, and after we got to New York, they sent us to Kansas City.”

"Ann is from Bendzin, Poland. In 1942 she was sent to a labor camp in Czechoslovakia along with her sisters, Gertrude and Lola. Ann was 20 when she was liberated in 1945.

Isak was born in Wolbrom, Poland. During the war he was imprisoned in 17 different concentration camps, including Bergen-Belsen. Sick and weighing only 80 pounds, Isak left Bergen-Belsen following the liberation.

A Jewish doctor in the British army took Isak under his wing. After spending a couple of months in a British hospital, Isak decided to return to Bergen-Belsen.

Following the war, Ann, Gertrude and their brother, John, also went to the Bergen-Belsen Displaced Persons Camp to search for other family members. (Lola did not survive the Holocaust. Both of Ann’s parents died shortly before the Holocaust.) Isak and John had met during the Holocaust, and found each other again at the DP camp. It was through John that Isak met his beloved Ann.

It was Isak’s idea to come to the United States. Isak, Ann and their traveling party — totaling 10 people — were on the ship for almost two weeks. An American Jewish social service organization welcomed them when they arrived in New York. They were taken to a hotel and told they were going to Kansas City because it was a nice place.

They came to Kansas City with each other. Other than that they had nothing.

Soon after they arrived, Isak became friendly with Rabbi Tibor Stern. Within a couple of months, the rabbi suggested to Isak that it was time to marry Ann.

As Ann recalls, it was the rabbi who actually proposed to her.

“He called me and asked me when is a good time to get married. I said anytime. So we did,” Ann said.


Because they were set to be the first Holocaust survivors to marry in Kansas City, the entire Jewish community was invited to the wedding. More than 500 people attended the ceremony on Sept. 22, 1946, three months after they arrived here. Ann was 21 years old; Isak was 24.

The ceremony itself wasn’t as joyous as the couple had hoped. In fact, Ann doesn’t even like looking at her wedding photo, because she remembers people crying tears of sadness at the wedding. That’s because Rabbi Stern chose to focus his speech on the horrors of the Holocaust, not the happiness of the day or the happy times that would be ahead for the couple.

“The rabbi gave a eulogy at our wedding,” Ann said.

Their past was indeed horrendous. All of Isak’s immediate family — two sisters, one brother, his mother and his stepfather — perished in the Holocaust. Several members of Ann’s family did survive the Holocaust and eventually two brothers and a sister — John (whose wife, Sonia, still lives and works in Kansas City), Aron and Gertrude moved to Kansas City. All of Ann’s siblings are now deceased.

Together Ann and Isak had three children and five grandchildren. A year ago their great-granddaughter was born.

The Federmans built a wonderful life for themselves. Isak was a successful businessman and Ann an amazing mother. Both have always been active in community service. Isak and his friend Jack Mandlebaum founded the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education.

My family and I have celebrated countless Jewish holidays with the Federmans over the years. My children have had the benefit of "surrogate grandparents" in them. We've built sukkahs together, sung songs at Passover together, shared challah on Shabbat together and enjoyed Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and weddings together. Their family has been such an anchor for ours.

To say that Ann and Isak are special, amazing, kind, loving, inspiring, beautiful people is simply an understatement.

Happy Anniversary you two. I love that you still always hold hands.

(In this post I have used a lot of information and several quotes from the Jewish Chronicle article, which was written by editor Barbara Bayer.)