Ragdale

I am back at Ragdale again for one week, which already feels way too short. As I get older, I realize I am less eager to leave home, but when I travel I always want to stay longer, to really dig in and get into the rhythms of wherever I am.

But it is always so fun to be here and I am with a really lively group of residents. My own project about the Ragdale house is interesting in that I am confined to a certain space, and even when I feel I can't get another shot in a room, I try to push further and find some small thing I have overlooked. In truth, the Ragdale house is so beautiful and full of such interesting objects that it is almost hard to find a new way to approach them. My challenge is to get the emotional feel of the house too.

Flashback

My parents had one of these when I was born. My brother and I often sat in the "well" behind the passenger seats.

I just took this yesterday with my iphone in the grocery store parking lot. Amazing car!

New Years Eve Madonna and Child

Last week of my show

It has been so amazing getting e-mails from the Loyola Museum of Art about the various places my show has cropped up - like this website, 10best in Chicago. I am # 193, but I'll take it!

Tattered Tibetan peace flags. Shot with my Holga.

Malibu again.

New Years resolutions

One of my resolutions is to post a photo a day on my blog. Guess I better get going...

The photos won't necessarily all be new ones, as I am scanning some old film at the moment and looking at that too.

This first one was taken on the beach in Malibu with my some good friends. The people in the background are looking out at the dolphins we spotted. The woman in the foreground is carrying her 3 mos. old baby.

Happy New Year

More and more goodness!

So, China was a wonderful experience and I will post more pictures soon, but I flew from China to the opening of my first museum exhibition at the Loyola Unversity Museum of Art. There is a great exhibition of creches from around the world in the main area of the museum, which is well worth seeing! I had no idea they could be so interesting as art objects. Also, as a treat, the "Off The Streets Club Children's Choir" sang Christmas carols and other songs.




My show got reviewed, which was totally unexpected and so kind. You can read it here:

Anyhow, if I don't post again, have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Beautiful Kwanza or enjoyable three day weekend!

Peace,
Sarah

More China photos

China

I will start with China, which was an incredible experience. I don't think I had any idea what it would be like, so it was a bit like Alice going down the rabbit hole. I was up for the adventure, but also a little daunted by what I'd read beforehand about the difficulties of getting around, but it turned out to be a lot easier than I imagined.

I arrived in Shanghai (and yes, 13 hours is a long time on a plane) on Thanksgiving night and thanks to the kindness of friends of friends, I was picked up by a driver and taken to a Thanksgiving meal with about 8 mostly American ex-pats. Dinner was delicious and conversation about life in Shanghai very interesting.

Woke the next morning and took some shots of the sun rising over the sky scrapers.

Life is beautiful

Life has been spinning so fast, but suddenly I have two weeks of breathing space and I am enjoying myself. Filter Photo, the portfolio review I organized in Chicago, was a success and I met so many inspiring and eager photographers and the reviewers were all spectacular. We are planning even a bigger event for next year, but thankfully have plenty of time to plan it all.

I also delivered all my prints to the Loyola University Museum of Art for the show which opens December 3rd, and I am so immensely proud and excited for that to take place.

Now, I am getting ready for China which will be an incredible adventure. I am part of the Lishui International Photography Festival along with 40 other American photographers.

I am trying to just relax and take it all in. Trying to accept that I am on the right path and that things will unfold and that life is beautiful.

Ragdale

Four years ago, I applied to Ragdale, this artist and writers colony in Lake Forest, IL and by some miracle, they accepted me. I was intimidated as everyone else seemed so accomplished. Nevertheless, I had a blissful two weeks. I photographed all the time and felt what it was like to be a real artist - one who gets up and creates every day. I had my own studio and great conversations with people at dinner and went for long walks on the prairie and really got into the swing of things, into flow, as they call it, when the creativity is just moving through you. When I left, I was practically kicking and screaming, it had been such an amazing experience.

Now, here I am four years and three residencies later, a lot closer to my ideal life of being a real artist, and yet it is still magical to be here surrounded by so much creativity. I love having my own studio with a loft bedroom and endless hours to shoot and contemplate my work, and I love even the little things here - hearing the screen doors slam and seeing the chipmunks scurry under trees and the pears fall on the path when I go for walks. It really is a wonderful place and one that has become part of my life.

I will be giving a talk about my work on Friday, which scares me, but I know it will go fine and I have been asked to shoot inside the main house for a book the Director of Ragdale is writing and I feel so honored and excited. I feel like I embraced Ragdale and it embraced me back.

Finding confidence!

Back in 2000, there was this amazing photo project called "Chicago in the year 2000" which hired photographers from all over the city to document the entire year. I applied to shoot alternative medicine in the city, but was so nervous and unsure on myself, I hardly took any photos and was terrified to have them seen and edited. Now, I see the photos in the archive and think they are wonderful. I wish I had had the confidence back then. It just goes to show, you do know what you are doing, even when you think you don't.

You can see more of the project at The Comer Archive, University of Illinois. This is a photo of a woman getting an acupuncture face lift!

Filter Photo 2009

I am very excited to announce Filter Photo, the Midwest's first large scale photo reviews, which will be held on Saturday, October 31st, and Sunday, November 1st, from 9am to 5pm at Loyola University's Crown Center Gallery in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. Filter Photo's mission is to bring together fine art and documentary photographers with the Midwest's top gallerists, educators, curators, photo editors, and photo professionals.

Please check out the website www.Filterphoto.org for more information and please pass this on to other photographers who you think might be interested in attending!

Hope to see you there!

Lishui Photo Festival

I am going to China in November as part of the Lishui Photo Festival. I will be showing photos from my new series - The Water's Edge. Here is an image from that series. You can see the rest of the series on my website.

We went downtown to the Art walk last night and it was so cool to see the streets teaming with people. Normally downtown LA is a little sketchy, but it was alive last night and there was art everywhere. I was waiting for Rob's comedy show to start and walking around with my camera. I haven't just done some street shooting in ages and it was really fun because the light was bouncing from all over. This guy caught me pointing my camera at him and he grabbed the girl and posed. She looks so amazingly young and vulnerable. I just love it.

Santa Monica pier at sunset

Santa Monica pier at sunset, originally uploaded by mind the light.

Crawfish on a Pancake

We go to Michigan every year with my husband's college friends. The house is just down the street from Lake Huron. They have an old black raft in the garage which we have been using forever. Some years ago, my husband dubbed the game of trying to shake the kidlets off the raft "Crawfish on a Pancake" I think because we had had a fabulous crawfish dinner the night before. The name stuck and here it is in print in Light Leaks magazine. Though here Stella looks more contemplative.

Unconscious Terrain

Unconscious Terrain, originally uploaded by mind the light.

I have posted a new project to my website. It is called "Unconscious Terrain" and deals with the dark and mysterious crevices of our beds.