the Clint Eastwood connection

went out to make a portrait of a local man who furnishes antique autos to movies and TV - most recently he supplied the vehicles for the new Clint Eastwood film Gran Torino - while the Torino was still out in L.A., he had the gangsta car and the old Ford pickup that were in the movie. The guy offered to take a picture of me in the truck, which Clint drove all the time in the movie....so, now i have sat in the very seat Mr. Eastwood sat in....bring on the fame!

a new year!!!

it being a new year, i'm going to get off to a good start and get posting! so much has happened in this crazy profession, it's hard not to feel a little depressed and worried, but i was thinking last night that it's also a good incentive to take yourself more seriously and really think about where you're at, whether you're doing the work you'd really like to be doing and got into this for in the first place and how you can be doing that if the answers come up a little short - whether that happens where you're at now or someplace else....

really i just came on here to wish everyone a happy new year, with hope that things, however they pan out, will not spell an end to the spirit of the work we do - maybe it just won't be in quite the same format - but if the quality and character of this work goes away, that would be a tremendous loss, not just for those who do it, but for people in general - maybe that facebook group "don't let newspapers die" should rethink itself and focus more on not letting journalism die....

okay, i know i'm pretty much preaching to the choir here, so i'll stop blathering on....

again HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!!!

 

through the glass

on my way back from getting coffee and contemplating the feelings of worry/despair about the future of this profession that have been nagging at me for the past several days and making me feel a sense of very disconcerting malaise about current work, i had brought along my camera - i want it there so that i feel a push to be looking, to be seeing, to be interested, to be shooting...simply, to be present - TO BE!
this is Monroe - there are all too many buildings like this one downtown - historic, copper tile ceilings, empty, gutted, maybe being renovated to house something new...maybe not

then i turn the corner and spy the cool old weathered red door along the building's side, and me reflected in the dusty glass window...i liked the warmth of the sun hitting my face amid the reflection of the blue sky behind me.....and as i was looking at this a few minutes ago, i realized that the yellow of the light on my face set inside the red of the door could maybe fit the red/yellow project! talk about throwing yourself into your work! ha ha
anyway, just feels nice to get that sense of excitement about things again

clued in

don't know what i did to qualify as such a good girl this xmas, but i got an amazing surprise from my folks, which i am enjoying and posting from as we speak! wow....that's pretty much all i can say! i'm trying to post up my first photo booth pix - love the effects option on the camera - how cool is this???!!! how lucky and amazingly fortunate am i? and i can sit here in my favorite little cafe and have coffee and be on the web (not at work)...now i'll have to get myself hooked up with wireless at home - i'll never want to turn this thing off! mom & dad, if you see this - thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

shop with a cop

after getting a call shortly before having to be in to work yesterday morning, i found out i was getting switched to the night shift...which on the one hand meant i could just go back to bed for a bit, but on the other meant i was going to have to shoot the annual "Shop with a Cop" assignment for what felt like the umpteenth million time! Drat!
Don't get me wrong, it's a good event, a good program....but 7 years of the same of anything can make you a bit cynical i suppose.
This officer was a good trooper - no pun intended, nor offense, since he's not a state trooper, but a city police officer actually - the 2 kids he took shopping were so hesitant to pick out items or anything too expensive. After nearly an hour, this little girl still had almost 70 dollars left to spend! He was about ready to just start throwing things in the cart - heck, I was about ready to start getting her things, too! It's kind of sad, because it speaks to how they've probably learned not to be able to have too much, and so the concepts of "you can have anything you want" and "it's Christmas - SPLURGE!" were pretty much beyond them...
i didn't submit this photo to run, because even though i know the back-story to it, i think it could be misread that he's bored, doesn't want to be doing this, which is very much not the case, particularly with this officer, as he's one of the organizers and is just a really nice guy in general. He was just a little dumbfounded by how hard a time they were having. "I've never seen a girl have such a hard time spending money!" he joked.

i met a man....

Eugene Flowers will turn 102 on Friday. He is still able to get around and has a very sharp mind. Having grown up in Louisiana, workers at the senior home where he now lives say he can tell many stories of what it was like to live in the segregated south. He also has an incredible attitude and a quick wit and they love visiting with him. I did, too!

mini-me & my kitty boy

Mr. Bosch inspired me to go look up the old baby pictures while home for the holiday...this is my favorite - me at 6 months

while home i got to see my kitty - he's so incredibly beautiful and sweet!!

he looks like a mini-lion!