365 Project: Day 112

I think I may have a problem. My camera collection has officially exceeded my available shelf space. Actually, I ran out of space a while ago. I've been finding creative ways of arranging my cameras so that I can cram as many of them as possible onto the limited shelf space I have in my tiny room. But now its really official. I am out of places to put them.

These cameras are my babies. I love them all. They all work. When I see one sitting in a thrift store I just can't stop myself from picking it up. I especially love Polaroid cameras. I got two new-to-me vintage Polaroid cameras a couple of weeks ago. They both work, but the Polaroids they take aren't made anymore. I was so excited when I saw them in the thrift store. They both came with the original hard case and a ton of little accessories and goodies to go with them. Whoever owned them must have really been into photography. They took really good care of these cameras and I am so thrilled that they now belong to me!

So here I am. All these cameras and nowhere to put them. What am I going to do? I'm not going to stop collecting them. That's for sure. 

365 Project: Day 111

I have dressed and undressed this manequin probably 500 times in the last few days. I've been shooting some of Modern Cowgirl's T-shirts for their website. I started looking at this mannequin and thinking, "This is supposed to be the standard female form?" I think I can honestly say that I know maybe one or two woman who look like this. Maybe. No wonder we're all screwed up when it comes to body image. 

365 Project: Day 110

I changed the locks at my house today. Someone, somewhere out there has my purse, my house keys, my ID with my address, my cell phone, my debit card, and about 10 rolls of exposed medium format film. 

My purse was thrown from the car while I was driving down the freeway last weekend. I don't even want to get into the details of how that happened. But, some jerk found it. How do I know that someone found it? Because they returned it like they should have? No, of course not. That would be too much to ask of our society. I found out because there was about $40 worth of games and rap/hip hop ringtones charged to my phone the following day. 

It worries me a little that some person out there has my address and house keys, but it has been a week without incident so I'm sure its fine. However, I'm still changing the locks. You just never know.

Visual Poetry

Just recently I have fallen in love with the poet Pablo Neruda. He was a Chilean poet who's real name was Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He wrote under the pen name Pablo Neruda. His poetry was all originally written in spanish. It is amazingly beautiful, even when translated. I can't imagine what life would be like if every emotion I experienced was as intense as he describes his own feelings.

I am creating an entire collection of images called the "Visual Poetry Series" based on poetry that inspires me. The prints will be available with (or without if you prefer) lines from my favorite poems. This is the first of many to come.

The line that goes along with this print is from Pablo Neruda's Sonnet XVII.

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul. 

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

Than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

365 Project: Day 109

I was so excited when this baby was delivered to my house! A 30"x30" print of my "Shade" image. I almost didn't want to send it off to its rightful owner. Its really amazing to see something I created reproduced that large. I can't imagine what it would be like to have a billboard of one of my images. I don't think I could handle it.

An interior designer from San Francisco emailed me a couple of weeks ago about this image. She was interested in having it blown up for her client's kitchen. I was stoked! I knew the file could be printed this large, but I had never actually tried it before. When I saw that it had been delivered I couldn't wait to tear the package open. It was like unwrapping a gigantic present on Christmas morning! But, a gigantic present that I could only enjoy for a minute because it belonged to someone else. 

I know the people at the Post Office must love it when I walk in carrying packages like this. I sell 20"x20" prints all the time and I ship everything flat. The packages are always awkward for them to handle, they don't fit on the scales properly, they have to be measured with a tape measure. Its just a lot of extra work for them when there is a line of impatient, disgruntled people trailing out the door, which there always is at this particular Post Office. 

That's why I loved Tina. She was my favorite USPS employee. Always very sweet, always smiling no matter how large of a package I brought in, always conversational with a little hint of sarcasm. I make many trips to the Post Office down the street, so I've gotten to know Tina a little. But, sadly, Friday was her last day. She's moving on to another Post Office location. I made a special trip to mail a package out on Friday just so I could bid her farewell on her last day. 

Its funny how you can become a little attached to your favorite people to see in passing. The barista at your favorite coffee house, the guy who works at the dry cleaners, a waitress at a local hole in the wall, the bar tender at the little bar up the street, and the sweet and helpful postal employee. All people who you don't really know, but you do. You see them only in passing, only for a few minutes at a time. You know almost nothing about them personally, but they still have a place in your life and its sad when they are gone. Now, when I go to the Post Office Tina won't be there and that makes me a little sad. I sort of wish she was there to send out the biggest print I've ever sold.