I fell off the face of the Earth

Or at least it seems so... where the H - E - double hockey-sticks have I been???

Well, many places actually... mostly looking for work here in my home town... which is scarce. I was hoping to stay in the photography field, but that is looking like a bust. *headdesk* I hate to do it... but I think I may have to go back to the world of banking... not my dream job, but something I am good at.

ANYWAY! What else have I been up to? Went on a few road trips... of course I brought the Camera and have many lovely photos I am now playing with.

I am still working on scanning in and improving the photographs from my September 11th project. I have about 6 more images nearly ready to post... I just keep tweaking them, OCD much?

Oh, and my writing... ok, yeah I have not been doing as much of that as I would like to admit, BUT, I did start using twitter as a medium to really flex my muscles in the writing arena... the world of Role Play is fascinating, but more than that, it forces me to think fast about my characters next move or remark... and I am really enjoying it.

Enough about me... I need to post something already... ok ok ok...

Empire State of Mind

'America Under Attack' is the first image in this series...

'September 11th'

I shot this series, literally, of the screen of my television as it was happening. The idea was to capture the moment as most of us actually experienced it... through the TV. Mine was an older TV set... curved front, classic 'tv border'... you can even see the "grain" of the picture produced by the cathode-ray tube... I think that may actually be my favorite part of how the image is created.

Empire State of Mind

So I am watching the History Channel, (I know, I'm such a geek) and they are airing a special about the events surrounding September 11 and the World Trade Center. As close to a real-time video record as possible, using media coverage but mostly footage from camcorders. It is incredibly powerfully done.

Before I go on, I think you need to know a little bit about me I think. I was born and raised in Upstate New York. But, that does not mean that I am removed from what happened in NYC. Both my parents are from New York City and we spent 4-6 weeks of every year visiting our family and friends. It has always been in my blood. A place I call Home.

There are few things in this world that can make me cry. I consider myself to be tough as nails... well, let's be honest, I'm a bitch. But, watching the event unfold on that day, made me sob. I think I ended up living in a daze for the next year. That was my senior year in college, and frankly, I dropped the ball... but that's another story.

That morning, when I woke up and saw the news, I put a tape in my VCR and hit the record button. On 2 VHS tapes I have 12 hours of news footage... every year, I make sure I have the 11th off and I sit down and watch some (or all) of those two tapes.

And I cry.

Maybe it's a strange tradition, but I find it to be very cleansing.

I am ever the artist, never does a day go by that I am not 'in' my art. As I watched that day, I got an idea... I loaded my Nikon with Black&White film and photographed my TV... and the series I will be posting over the next couple of weeks is the result of the idea. I found it surprisingly powerful, for me at least.

Cleveland Project

Fall in Cleveland is quite lovely. The iconic clock tower at the West Side Market makes a lovely contrast of the Orange bricks against the clear blue sky. Timing, especially in the fall, is everything. Cottonwood trees are among my favorites as they change colour in the fall. Just one tree can showcase green, red, orange, and yellow all spattered together.

After looking at how this image uploaded, I think I will tweak it a bit in Photoshop, and repost... The colors are far more vibrant in the original image... hmm.. We'll see.

Cleveland Project

The West Side Market... forget 'Whole Foods', that's for the eastsiders... but here on the West Side this is the place to go for whatever you need! Though it looks like it may have once been a train station, it has always been a market. I was watching a special on PBS focusing on Markets across the country, looking for one where they could buy a whole pig... they chose 5 markets from florida to Hawaii... but the last one... and the only one where they where successful was our very own.

Below is one of my favorite vendors, where I used to buy my herbs and spices... favorite guilty pleasure... Hawaiian lava salt!

CLeveland Project

I started the Cleveland project, partially because I lived there for so long... and partially because people seem to have a preconceived notion of Cleveland being some dirty, ugly, rust-belt, low-class kind of town. OK... at one time it really was (I mean, come on, they were so dirty they set a river on fire) but, after spending a decade there I have learned so much more. It really is a beautiful city. In fact... where else can you take a train from the suburbs into downtown and be in walking distance of an airport, Great lake, a science center, several museums and botanical gardens, a Hard Rock cafe, an MLB field, an arena (home to a major NBA team), an NFL stadium, and a harbor 'housing' a submarine?

Speaking of a submarine... you didn't think I was kidding did you?

Ladies and Gentleman: the USS Cod.

Cleveland Project

I have been diligently been working with my Cleveland Images and can't wait till I have a slew of them ready to post... Patience, I promise lot's of good stuff on the horizon.