I took many photos of graffiti and street art when I was in San Francisco back in October. I’d completely forgotten to upload them to flickr until now. A lot of these were taken in Clarion Alley in the Mission. I have made the rest of the set private but you can view them with this guest pass.
These are scans of my moleskin sketchbook.
For more collage journal goodness, check out the work of Teesha Moore.
Have you ever felt as if you are standing at a crossroad in your life, and you weren’t sure which way to go? I’ve had this feeling building inside of me for the last few months, and it has become all the more acute and intense after seeing the movie, “Into the Wild” last night. The film is based upon a true story of a young man choosing to leave his life and family behind to wander randomly across the country. He decided to do this for a few reasons related to his family situation, but mainly he just didn’t want to live the kind of life that was expected of him. So he wandered away, and kept on doing so, and never saw his family again.
I sometimes get this urge to just “wander away” from my life and leave everything behind – even Yuuki. But would I ever do it? The character in the movie seemed to realize far too late, that the most important thing he left behind were the people, but until his last moments of extreme aloneness he had no idea of their importance. I am older than he was, and I have already learned this lesson about the value of my relationships with other people. It is what ultimately keeps me from just wandering off into the wild.
I have one of my Holga photographs in an online show at the Photomedia Centre: Holga Show 2.0. I had work accepted in 2006 as well, and I actually prefer the selection and presentation of that show to the current one. None the less, please check it out.
The Holga Show is our second annual show of fine art photography produced from toy cameras with plastic lenses, such as the Holga. Thirty-seven images by thirty-three artists were selected for exhibition from the entries received from our open call. Best of show honors were awarded to Tread, James Arnold, Nicolas Bellion, and Kelsey Jarboe.
And now I need to take my Holga for a spin. It has been awhile since I’ve shot anything with it. I blame the rain. 😉
Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland is looking for more people to take part in their mentorship program in 2008. I became involved with the organization last year, and thought I’d share my experiences.
With the dedication of our wonderful volunteers, we are currently providing 315 girls with the support of a caring mentor– thank you! But for 2008, Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland is on a mission! We know that there are many more young girls who need a mentor in their lives, so we want to serve even more girls in 2008! In order to accomplish this, we need more women to volunteer with us AND more families and community workers to know about our programs so they can refer girls to us who could benefit from having a mentor.
In the spring of 2007 I was looking around for volunteer work and I decided to give Big Sisters a try. It was something I’d been considering for awhile, especially after hearing about it from a friend who’d been matched with a Big Brother (the boy version of Big Sisters) as a young boy and his good experiences within their relationship. I didn’t know much about the program at the time, other than it involved volunteering my time and working closely with a young girl I would be paired up with.
My first step was to attend one of the many Info Sessions Big Sisters hold regularly around the Lower Mainland, to learn more about the program and it’s requirements. Once I decided I was definitely interested I filled out an application package, attended an orientation session with other hopeful candidates, and then a one-on-one screening interview with a Big Sister councelor. It was a couple of months before Big Sisters got back to me about a potential match with a teenaged girl named Lauren. They put a lot of care and attention into finding just the right combination of people because they want the relationship to last.
In the beginning it felt very odd and awkward, to both Lauren and I, to hang out because essentially ours is an arranged relationship even though we are both willingly involved. It has taken time to get to know one another and become comfortable talking about ourselves, but it’s totally worth it. It was also tricky between both our schedules to come up with a regular day and time to get together, but seeing each other the same day every week has been key in helping the relationship grow. My “Little Sister” is a wonderful beautiful person, full of life and intelligence, is lots of fun to be around, and shares my love of photography.I feel lucky to know Lauren and she would not have come into my life any other way.
If you are interested in becoming a Big Sister yourself, please call Call 604.873.4525 ext. 300 or email info(at)bigsisters(dot)bc(dot)ca. Information about qualifications can be found here.
Taken near Porteau Cove, BC.
A few days ago I was looking through a set of shots taken with a pinhole camera back in the spring of 2007, and rediscovered this shot. I’m not sure why I didn’t scan and upload this at the time, but I absolutely love it now.
For the Utata weekend project: Mugshots. I’ve been dying to use these goggles for something… 🙂
The first horoscope of the year from Free Will Astrology…
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “It’s now possible to fake everything,” writes David M. Hopkins in his book *Counterfeiting Exposed.* He’s not just referring to digitally altered photos of celebrities and singers who lip-sync to pre-recorded vocals during their supposed live performances. He means everything in the world, from vintage wines to famous paintings to designer jeans. At least five percent of *all* products on the planet are phony. I bring this to your attention, Leo, because I’m putting you on high alert for frauds and cons and deceptions of every kind. You should be the top whistleblower of the zodiac in 2008, the chief bullshit-detector and constructive critic.
The title of this entry is the gist of something my yoga teacher said in class on Saturday morning a few weekends ago. We are so much more than the thoughts that limit us.
