Someone I Know

Ross, sheets.

Sometimes making a portrait feels so personal and vulnerable. Capturing my partner Ross Minzenberg the way I see him when I wake up is the way I see him in my mind and hold of him closest to my heart. It is included in the online exhibition (among other beautiful portraits made by many other talented photographers), Someone I Know, compiled by curator Stuart Pilkington.

Buttermilk Falls

The Waterfall, Beaver Falls, PA.

The Ice, Beaver Falls, PA.

We took a short hike to Buttermilk Falls on Sunday. It's a short drive from our apartment and we assumed that the path wouldn't be too treacherous since we had a sunny weekend. The ice formations were spectacular and the light was so beautiful underneath the rocks that we decided to go back the same afternoon and make some pictures. It's always hard to start but I'm glad to finally be making work in PA.

Dialogue

The Monongahela Incline, Pittsburgh, PA.

Last month's events in Sandy Hook, CT are still on my mind. We rented Lynn Ramsey's We Need To Talk About Kevin without knowing what the movie was about (Ramsey is one of our favorite directors). It was unexpectedly a heavy heavy movie. The agony Tilda Swinton portrays rings true to the suffering one may feel after a tragedy. One of the most hopeful things to come after Sandy Hook is that dialogue is taking place and people are talking about it.

My Handyman

My husband Ross is an enthusiastic handyman and I am extremely lucky that he not only makes great art objects, he can do plumbing, walls, roofs, and just about any other project that comes up. See the insulation foam above? And the dump truck below? He's been crazy busy while I was away over the summer, trying to make things comfortable and cozy before I came back. I've failed to mention here that we are now mostly living in Western PA so that we have studio space and can be closer to his family. It's something we've discussed for a while and have been learning to balance. I'm not sure how it'll all work out and how much we'll be back in NY so we'll play it by ear for now. We are lucky to have a place to land in and lots of space to test out our creative projects. I'll do a separate post with pics of our place. We've been in construction mode for months and are finally settled in. Thank you babe for all the hard hard work.

Clyde Minzenberg

We have adopted the thirteen year old family chocolate lab, Clyde, to live with us full-time. Ross and I both grew up with dogs and we've always wanted to adopt a dog. Having Clyde with us at our new little apartment in Western PA makes it feel like home. Clyde is a sweetheart. He is great with kids and has a gentle disposition.

Since he's a bit of a senior, he sleeps just about all day except during his walks and when he's eating. He has some joint issues but gets around well enough (we've started giving him fish oil to try and ease that pain). He plops down where ever we are working and just wants to be near us.
 
We run lots of errands and take Clyde with us in the back of the car (or truck) so that he's not left alone at home.
 
Though it's a commitment with lots of work and maintenance, we're pretty lucky to have him by our sides. We are extremely grateful that he is our constant companion. We love you Clyde!

The Perfect Tank

Remember my obsessive Liberty of London post from August? It's past summer but it's never too late for a custom designed Liberty tank made by Ross. I just have it hanging out on a hook so I can admire it until it's warm enough to wear. *le sigh*

More Pittsburgh Snaps

Just a couple more views of Pittsburgh. We went to the flea market and found a home-made mod doll house for my niece. It's actually so big that we had trouble fitting it into the car. I hope that she and her parents like it! The last time I was down at the Strip, they were still working on this mural. I took a huge liking to the bear hat the Gavins picked out for me. And the Turkey Bowl is always better with team uniforms and special hats.

Silliness

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving holiday. I spent Thanksgiving week with the Minzenbergs and the Gavins in Pittsburgh. It was loads of fun and I always feel blessed to be surrounded by them, however wacky things get.

To the Park

Shots from a couple of weeks ago. Ross and me biked to Flushing Meadow Park to visit one of our favorite things in Queens- the panorama at the Queens Museum. If you've never been, it's definitely worth the trip.

Weekend Getaway

We spent the weekend with Geoff at the house in Pond Eddy. It was a packed weekend and included hiking an old wagon trail, swimming at a local lake, lots of weeding, eating local strawberry & rhubarb pie and lots of food made with Geoff's garden greens including a super duper chimichurri sauce (recipe from the August 2010 Martha Stewart magazine), grilling, and an all around great time spent together. Thanks Geoff! I am so happy that my two favorite guys get along so well, I couldn't be luckier.

Fortress of Solitude

Being here has been lonely but I've somehow marked my time with lots of walks through the town, eating twice a day with Morgan, talking to Ross via Gchat, taking some photos, and making some friends through Couch Surfing. The other day I hiked up to the fortress and got a good view of the town. The bottom picture is of the entrance to the court house, which was shown to me by a CS friend, Mats.

All of this brings me to a comment my friend Luba left here the other day:

In the “Way of the Traveler” Joseph Dispenza has written: "A friend told me ... (that) when she feels the call to journey, she consciously moves from one spot to another. That is all! She stands in one place in one room of her house and mentally calls that "home". Then she walks slowly and carefully into another room - to a spot that she has designated "the destination". ...the act of moving from one place to another - from "home" to "destination" - is a microscopic rendering of the entire journey. It changes your perspective on the world in a fundamental way: things look different from one place to another, and also along the way to and from places. Doing this activity with mindfulness is tantamount to taking the trip, at least in symbolic terms."

It would be really interesting for me to read your reflections on how being able to travel to all these far-away places has affected your work over the years. What inspirations, insights you have gotten from being able to work on your projects away from home, how interacting with another cultures has influenced you/your body of work – on a deeper level (beyond subject matter, beyond sight seeing and all other pleasantries that traveling gifts us with/any of us). I guess, what I am asking is what are you capable of doing, seeing, perceiving now (living/working, albeit for a short while, far away from home) and after traveling to so many diverse places as opposed to staying at home and working. How it has changed for you – if it has – as a photographer and as a person?

So Luba, I hope this answers your question-

As someone who has traveled internationally since I was seven, travel has always been something of a norm for me. And I suspect it is the same for many others who grew up bi or multicultural. My first big trip came when I was fourteen to Guatemala. In H.S. when we were sixteen, my friend Kai and me ventured down to Jamaica on our own.

In a way I've always been comfortable with packing up and going somewhere new, as we moved every year or so when I was a teenager, within Queens. And Queens being the most diverse place in the world has had a firm role in making me feel innately comfortable with diversity. I am very comfortable listening to languages I don't speak because it's that way on the 7 train, every day. I grew up with Salvadoreans, Thais, Peruvians, Colombians, Mexicans, Italians, Indians, Guyanese and didn't even know it (esp. in elementary school). I just accepted all these interesting names my classmates had as normal.

Travel has further helped me understand more about other cultures, isn't that always the case? My work is made mostly abroad because it is the time I have set aside for producing work. And it (Moving Forward, Standing Still) is mostly about looking, observing differences, moments that catch my fascination. I try to absorb and interpret what I see, and that is what I end up presenting to you, my audience.

Did I Mention that I Miss Home?

Well, I do miss home. As in the good 'ol US of A.





Peppers individually wrapped in plastic at Obs. Gosh, it says a bunch doesn't it? It would make a fantastic painting though.

The produce at a large supermarket here in Trondheim is as much as you can get at the corner bodega in NY. I miss the variety of produce to say the least. Happy 4th to all of you back home!

And the countdown begins for when Ross is getting here. 5 more days!

Finnisterra (Land's End)

view of the marina from our suite

I'm having a not so pleasant but necessary procedure done this morning. I'll be out cold when this post goes live and hopefully in my dreamlike state, my mind will travel back to warm Cabo San Lucas. In February I vacationed there with Ross' fam, soaking in much needed vitamin D. (As it turns out, I'm severely deficient- going to pick up a prescription ASAP.) It was wonderfully warm, sunny, posh, and simply luxurious.


the bathing pool


some lucky duck sailing in the sunset


R embracing the Mexican


spicy mangoes on warm sand


salsa y salsa y salsa


sunset horseback desert ride


the best drink- fresh orange and coconut juice with coconut flakes

For those of you who actually like getting my photo albums via email, I'm almost done captioning the album, so those links are coming soon.

(also, for those who actually visit the blog via the site, the address has now moved and I will work on updating my links list and such.)