I love rap music. It makes me want to move my body. It moves my soul.
I got the chance to go see a rap concert in New York City and all I had was my cellphone. It was dark in the venue and it was super difficult to track the lighting without getting much blur because these dudes can MOVE!
Here are a few images, and also one of the many videos I took. This one has my cell phone going for a little ride.
I am starting to teach photography classes for NGOs and corporations, and it has been especially gratifying to work with an established team already in place when I arrive. Many areas of communications are explored. We discuss how photography is much more than just about the devices we use for capturing imagery.
Here is the Mercy Corps’ Communications Department having a great time with some of the random subjects we met on the street.
My images of Cheryl Strayed were featured in the Spring issue of Poets & Writers Magazine. Cheryl’s newly released book, Wild, debuted at #6 on the New York Times Bestseller List, and the movie rights were recently purchased by Reese Witherspoon.
Cheryl was not the easiest person to photograph, as I chronicled in a blog post. She has an intensity and ease about herself, all in one wonderful package.
I just had an incredibly fun time teaching my first class in a new series of workshops entitled “GET IN THE VAN”. The concept is simple and dynamic: I team up with another photographer I admire, we select a location, and participants get two-in-one instructors for the workshop. We also try to keep a few locations secret, revealing them on the day of the workshop. And we also keep the class size small so there is plenty of hands-on instruction.
Leah Nash was pure fun to work with on this first class! Here are some images from our one-day class held on the streets of Portland.
I had the honor of being a guest lecturer at the Safe Motherhood Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on April 20. I was the only person who spoke who was not a medical professional, but the audience seemed to appreciate the topic of documentary imagery. I focused on maternal care and the prevention of fistula in Ethiopia, but also spoke about the work I have done in Madagascar.
I included a section about composition and lighting and discussed how they can take better photos of their important work in developing nations. I also showed them how these images can have an impact on the work they perform and the support they require.
I am still basking in the afterglow of teaching a street photography workshop in Amsterdam with one of the most amazing group of people. We kept the class size small so that we could give hands on instruction regarding how to approach people on the streets and take compelling images of them, plus making a few new friends along the way!
I co-taught this workshop with Michael Schoenholtz, and he was a well oiled machine with his skills and very much fun to work with. We all ended up staying well past the time that the workshop ended, because we loved each other so much!
Just taught my first workshop at New York University and it was a complete riot! All of the students initially were nervous to approach people on the busy streets of New York City, but wham! They got the hang of it quickly. We also added in a bit of storytelling as each person they met gave them information about their work, what they liked to do, etc.
The students’ professor then met with us at the end of the day to look at all of the images and hear the stories about the people they met. We also discussed how this workshop fit into the theme of her syllabus.
The class was a positive experience for all, and it looks like I will be asked to come back and do it again next year!
Thank you for your wonderful workshop Friday. What a generous gift you gave to all of us. – Professor Jessamyn Hatcher
Here is a pic of my image, Mandi, that was in the juried members show at the Newspace Center For Photography.
One of my images wase included in the Worldwide Photography Biennial Exhibition benefiting Save the Children and the Foundation for the Comprehensive Treatment of Children Neurological Diseases (FLENI) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For more details, follow this link.
Here are some pics!
