A Legacy of Love

My father was a professional photographer, illustrator, ad man, and filmmaker.  He photographed Charles Lindbergh and other famous people, but his favorite subjects were my blonde mother, sisters, and me.  My dad died when I was 3, so everything I know or made up about him came from a lifetime of studying his prints. 

My sisters were a lot older than I, so they didn’t need pictures to jog their memories.   I was so young when he died that I still believed in magical thinking.  You know, “step on a crack” kinds of thoughts.  My father achieved immortality for me through his photographs.  At 13, Brownie Starflash in hand, I photographed everyone I loved to insure their permanence, and I never stopped.

The Starflash became a Nikon 35mm, which became a DSLR, while my own darkroom got better safe lights, a real sink, and suddenly an iMac appeared on my desk.  I breathe photography.  Yes, I know that capturing image doesn’t keep people from leaving me.  But, it comes close.  When photographing people, an immediate intimacy happens that stays in my heart through the archived moment.  I love everything about photography.

I have immersed myself in photography projects like, They Come and They Go; a series documenting everyone from UPS drivers to first cousins who visit me, “keeping track” showcasing objects relating to memory, or Loving Aunt Ruth; a 3-year odyssey into the life of my aunt, the last of my mother’s family that turned into a book with a possible 2013 release.  I am interested in memory, time, impermanence, and love.

In 2007, my oldest sister moved to live near her daughters.  I photographed her packing and the truck taking her away, and her move prompted a feeling of urgency in me to get closer to my Aunt Ruth.  I asked Aunt Ruth if I could photograph her for a book without imaging a “real” book was possible.  At the time, I was probably thinking of a photo album.  She said, “Sure, I’ll have a party, and you can meet all of my friends.”

Loving Aunt Ruth is the culmination of everything for which I have cared:  family, story, respect, hardship, triumph, humor, and my work as a photographer.  Since the book began with a party, I chose to end it with one.  My Aunt’s 90^th birthday was a beautiful place to close a journey that we began together.  Aunt Ruth had 165 people of all ages, ethnicities, and religions to her party.  I only “know” that many people on Facebook!

My father left me the legacy of an understanding of photography’s power which opened the door to my understanding of Aunt Ruth whose philosophy of living life guided by loving and caring for people has changed mine forever.   

In the last year, both of my sisters have died.  Aunt Ruth offered me comfort and wisdom.  I asked her how she stays determined in the face of so much loss.  She said, “I have my faith, and I have a will to live…that will comes from loving people.” 

 Image and words courtesy of Honey Lazar. Discover more about her and read more about her Aunt Ruth on her blog.  

weekending by Melissa Talbert

Melissa Talbert shoots images like this with her Nikon D60 or D600 and spends her weekends savoring her family's togetherness. Although in the images above, Melissa and her husband explored their city during a special "date weekend" to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary.

You can find her on her website melissatalbert.wordpress.com or on Flickr as melissatalbert.

How often do you make time for a date night (or weekend)? Share your rare date photos with us here.

Today's prompt: rest

Sunday's prompt: crimson

The Beauty of Words

As I unpacked my suitcase when I arrived home from Shutter Sisters Oasis, I came across a moleskin journal that I had received while there.  I took it out, set it on a table near my couch and went about my business.  A few days later, I had heard something that I didn't want to forget, so I quickly reached for the journal, grabbed a pen and wrote down what I had heard, words that had really resonated with me: Whatever follows the two words "I am" is going to come looking for you. I had to write them down.  Those words were too powerful not to remember.  Then, because they moved me so, I wanted others to feel their power as well, so I grabbed my phone, snapped a photo and shared it on Instagram.

It's been a few weeks now and surprisingly, I find myself writing something in that journal almost daily.  Even better, I've noticed in doing so I'm feeling more calm and more centered.  For someone with A.D.D. like me, that's a big deal.  When I think it's something that should be shared, I again grab my phone, snap a photo and share it on Instagram.  Not only are these words beautiful to me, but the comments I'm getting on my shared words have been awesome: Thank you for this today; Keep 'em coming!; You have no idea how much I needed this today.   Aren't words just beautiful? What a gift.  

Today, write some words of beauty that mean something to you.  You can use pen and paper, chalk on a sidewalk, lipstick on a mirror.  Then, take a photo with your camera or phone and share them with us.  If you want to share your beautiful words on Instagram, be sure to hashtag them using #thewrittenwords so we can feel their beauty, too.  You can find me on Instagram at chris_sneddon.

Step into softness

I snapped this photo while traveling in Haiti. When I look at it, I am reminded of how, in that soft moment, I felt far away and peaceful from the challenge and chaos happening around me. Photographs are so key in helping us transcend our present circumstances. Sometimes even just a quick glance through my photo album  on my iPhone or an old Polaroid pinned up in my creative space can quiet the "to do" lists swirling around in my head. These days, I am more committed to calm than chaos. My spirit needs tending and any tools that will support my serenity are welcome.  

As the holidays and all that goes with them approach (cooking, and gathering and traveling, and shopping and baking and entertaining and wrapping and...), it will serve me well to hold sacred a place to step into softness. A gentle photo that can take me back to a moment when I felt ease and calm. In this way, photography is a gift to myself and my peace of mind. I'll be strategically placing photos in places where I can be reminded that my life is made up of many, many moments of softness. 

I invite you to puruse your collection of images or snap some new images that you can place in your line of vision when the going gets rough. Won't you share your soft shot with us?

Election Night

 

On election night, we loaded up the car with lawn chairs and a picnic dinner and headed to a friend's house to watch the results roll in. The news broadcast was projected onto the side of the house and several computers were set up in the yard to track the results. At one point there were more than one hundred friends, neighbors, and passers by squeezed into the small front yard. The conversations were primarily of the political nature, from the smallest local propositions and bond initiatives to the house/senate races to the presidential election. This election-watching party was a family event to be sure. There were so many young children that night running around without a care in the world...children of loving straight couples, children of loving gay couples, children of loving single parents, children of loving affluent parents, children of loving parents struggling to get by. You hear a lot about voting as a civic duty, and I love and appreciate that our children are learning that the act of voting is truly an individual's chance to voice how they want their world to be. All the worry, all the hand wringing, all the emotional investment that bound us together that night represented the world we want for our children—a better, kinder world. A world that embraces the diversity around us and affirms that differences can deepen our understanding of one another instead of driving us apart.

Show us a better, kinder world today through your lens.

Images and words courtesy of Jote of Bless Her Heart.