Life Through My Lens

The word trickled through my core group of girlfriends, my tribe, that there was a diagnosis of breast cancer.  We have all been friends since high school, some of us even longer, and the majority of us are still here in California while our sweet friend who had just been diagnosed lives out of state. When something like this happens, the first people you want and need is your family. Like most of us, her family is here in California as well.  We knew that even though she was trying to be brave, she needed them. The decision to fly her in to be with her family was a simple one, so we put her on a plane and brought her home.

After we picked her up at the airport, we took her to lunch where we talked about high school and old crushes and who was still married and who had divorced.  And we laughed.  A lot.  Then finally, in a quiet and safe moment, her eyes filled with tears.  Letting go of the false bravado, she let all of her fears come to the surface and spill over while us, her tribe, did what we do best: we surrounded her with all the love, faith and hope we could give her.  It was at that moment that I picked up my camera and took this photo. 

I've taken hundreds of those happy photos we all take of babies and families and people.  I'm a photographer.  It's what I do.  But life is so much more than that, and that's what I tend to photograph: life in all it's glorious, raw beauty.  It's also what I tend to do when I can't really put what I'm feeling into words so I let my camera do the speaking for me.  When my grandma was at the end of her days, I documented it with my camera.  When my son was critically ill and there was nothing I could do but wait and hope and pray, my camera was my saving grace.  So while this photo isn't your basic posed and happy photo, the love in that photo is undeniable and that, my friends, is everything.  It's what life is all about.

Share with us today your photos depicting life. Tell us a story. We're listening.

fulfilled

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.” - Forest E. Witcraft

One goal of our new homeschooling adventure with our youngest son was to cultivate his love of science.  Allowing him to guide the curriculum is proving to be exciting.  While working on mathematics, spelling, reading, we are also exploring microbiology, chemistry, geography, photography, roman numerals, and Latin... all chosen by him.

The result is bigger smiles, a soaring self-esteem, and an unstoppable desire to learn.  Think about how happy, content and fulfilled you would be if you had been able to pursue passions meaningful to you.

What would you choose to learn?

the connection

It all started with memories. I learned to use a camera because I wanted to capture memories, of where I had been and with whom I had shared my life.  For a long while, it seemed I was afraid I wouldn’t remember life without having a photograph to remind me.

As I learned more about photography, my goal transitioned to the moment.  It was the triumphant feeling of capturing a fleeting moment of an expression or of light, which drew me to bring the camera to my eye. I no longer needed to capture every memory, but watched for the right moments.

Over time, my motivations shifted again; shifted deeper.  One day, I noticed I was no longer capturing images to remember or to freeze time, but to feel. I had discovered photography as a form of self-expression. I was learning more about myself through my images. I was expressing my true self in photographs, in a deep and soul-satisfying way.

Photography brought me from memories… to moments… to me.

What I had discovered was a heart connection with some of my images; they expressed feelings I had not yet put into words. I found the stronger my heart connection with an image, the more likely others would connect with the image too. More than just connecting with an image, though, others also began connecting with me: The real me, the part that is often difficult to see.

These days, the heart connection is what I seek in my photography. To express a feeling is my purpose and motivation when I pick up my camera, more than the memories and the moments. When I share my vision of the world, I want it to be the vision that expresses who I am at heart. And through my heart connection with my images, I want to connect with others. I want to find kindred spirits who express themselves through their images. I want to know those who seek a heart connection too.

This year, I’ve started a new project called Photo-Heart Connection, to deepen my practice of photography. At the beginning of each month, I will be looking through my images from the previous month and finding the one image which brings me the strongest heart connection. I’ll write about it, learn from it. The exercise will force me to pause for a moment, contemplate my direction and reaffirm the expression I am seeking through my photographs. Each time I pause to do this, my photo-heart connection will deepen. I think yours will too, so I’m inviting you to join me, sharing your strongest photo-heart connection each month with a community of like-minded photographers. Our first link up will be February 1.

Today I encourage you to consider your photo-heart connection. Do you have an image which comes to mind, as an expression of your heart? Share it here, and start the connection.

Image and words courtesey of Guest Blogger Kat Sloma of Kat Eye Studios.

reminders

 She gets me. Do you have that special someone in your life that builds you up, reminds you of all the goodness inside you and awaiting you? Oh how I hope you do. Those irreplaceable members of your tribe that stand with you side by side, through all ups, downs and in betweens. Life has felt a little uncertain lately. We all have those times, those times when things weigh on our hearts and dampen our creative spark. 'All will be well', I remind myself, again and again. Then the mail arrives, and tucked in an envelope amongst a few funny magazine clippings and handwritten notes, was this tiny tag. A token of her morning tea no doubt, but she saved it just for me and added a little extra love to seal the deal. How did she know? But of course she knew, she just does. Someone else might think it silly, not me, it was just the thing I needed. I tucked this little tag on my bedroom mirror right under this sticker.

Some days you just need a little reminder. I AM limitless, and just in case you forgot, so are you.

Have you found a message you needed in your tea, at your feet, or embodied in a token?

Do share it with us today.

right at home

I am not sure what it is that transforms a place from being just another space to somewhere that feels like home. Maybe it's when you know it is safe to hang up your armor of defenses at the door. Or when you realize that you leave little bits of your heart behind whenever you spend time there. Or perhaps it's when you see your child plop down on a futon with a familiarity as if she has spent countless hours hanging out on that piece of furniture.

I love this photo of my daughter making herself right at home in my friends' apartment. To me, it is actually a perfect depiction of how I feel about that space, the affection and love I hold for that locale and for the friends who live there. It is a reminder that I photograph the spaces I inhabit because the photos become repositories of the memories knit together by love and friendship and laughter and conversation in that very place.

Please share with us your images of the places where you can hang your heart, the places that make you feel right at home, whether you actually live there or not.