i am

I am on a journey. to everywhere.

I read this proust passage today, the voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes".... It is just pure gold. I prey every night that I may awake with new eyes, eyes that bare witness to the miracle that is life - walking, breathing, heart breaking, toe stubbing, gut wrenching life. We get one chance at this...

pentax asahi k1000. 35mm film.

i am

I am collecting photographs by other people who continue to inspire me, on a topic that motivates the very nature of life itself. I will be updating this collection regularly, with a rotation of 18 new photos and artists. You can take a sneak peek of it here:

i just want to be in love and take photos of it. is that too much to ask?

If you have any suggestions of photos you think may fit the gallery, link me up. I will add them (Already over 7,000 views in two days!!!)

{Pentax Asahi K1000. 400 35mm film}

somtimes

{Pentax Asahi K1000. 400 35mm film}

I don't want the world anymore.

I want the world with you in it.

pentax asahi k1000. 35 mm. b/w.

I have the flu. being sick is horrible and come monday i am pretty sure i will have turned completely into a fluid. the only thing holding me together at this point is this american life season 2, tomato soup, and the batch of prints i just got in the mail.

it's nice to enjoy photos of nothing and for no one in particular, just a few fleeting moments captured quickly, collected at ease, for your own amusement.

i have been getting back into the habit of carrying at least one camera with me wherever i go, with no expectations of really achieving anything because it's not really about that all the time, is it? sometimes it's just the process of always making, always looking, learning, always keeping your hands moving and eye's searching. for a very long time i lost that spirit. i was stuck in a place where i didn't belong and in a relationship where i didn't fit. it's incredible really, how much our personal lives filter directly into what we create. i look at what i was doing then, what i captured and the words i wrote, and it's so obvious to me now how unhappy i was.

about a month ago i started to get emails; people who have followed the blog or flickr explaining how happy they were to see me back in action, to see me inspired and creating once more. i was floored by their words. i had no idea it was so evident. i guess i was too immersed in the bullshit to see.

i realize that in a unique community like this, one that is open to the entire world, the nature of sharing images, words and ideas is a volatile one. there is never any guarantee that anyone will like it, or understand it; hell there is no guarantee anyone will even see it... but that is not why we share. we share because we simply must. it helps us endure our days, it helps us make sense of the world around us, it helps grab hold of feelings we can't bare to let go of. and then sometimes, if we are truly lucky, someone out there in the vast greatness of this capricious community gets it.

i am thankful for moments like that, for the words and experiences people have shared with me. i will hold them dearly and closely to my heart.

{Pentax Asahi K1000. Seattle Film}

the best

The best part of my week is this moment here and now.

It's sneaking out of the office a little early.

It's hot jogs through the cities greener parts.

It's the music that fills our hallways.

It's the pining over mini skirts and sandals.

It's dimly lit lights and laughter behind half full glasses.

It's the bringing together of kindreds.

It's privileged youth at the height of life eternal.

It's the never ending potential of a long weekend escapade.

Happy friday.

{Yashica A. Medium Format. 120 Film.}

i love

I love

our secrets

coming undone.

{polaroid sx70 alpha. 600 film. no filter}

More from the kyle + casey shoot. we found a busted old laundry mat near wills pub to shoot in. the light was horrifically florescent, but thankfully i was using b/w.

We also found a few other cute spots to play around with and finish off the roll. all in all this duo was a delight to work with. i want to do some solo stuff with the both of them. casey is insanely photogenic in a sincere unknowingly sort of way, i can just picture doing something very environmental with her. kyle is a big ball of fun and up for anything. you can say "hey scale that building" and before you have the shot lined up he is in position.

I wish I were good a graphic design so i could throw a little something extra together for them, like cd art style stuff... i need to work on that i suppose. that is why i envy people like autumn de wilde. her photo work is so casual cool and her design stuff just takes it all to the next level.

If you haven't noticed yet, i am very much into the low production look- a handmade heaven, wreathing in vintage glory, of some newly found discarded art. this is not to say i don't appreciate the digital stuff. i love looking at it, but can never imagine myself working in that medium. the process just doesn't appeal to me at all. lately i've been feeling a little presure to move into that direction.... but i can safely say, my feet aren't budging. at least not yet.

{Yashica A. Medium Format. 120 b/w Film}

The impromptushoot with kyle and casey, two local orlando musicians (who completely rock), was sooo fun. just a few weeks ago we trolled around will's pub an hour or so before their show and squeezed in some shots between spurts of rain. the film happened to be expired walmart 35 mm gifted from a friend - sadly only half the roll turned out. however, i have another roll of 120 b/w waiting to be processed.

to hear some rough demo's of their music you can visit kyle's myspace.

{Pentax Asahi K1000. 35mm Film}

Well the weather isn't that great today

but it's just fine for me.

Because i'm thinking of you.

And i've got these far away blues.

{Polaroid sx70 alpha. 600 film}

Just a few small discoveries on our journey to the middle.

{Yashica a. Kodak 120 film}

I was first introduced toAandrew Wyeth's work in college. this chance meeting was not unlike a lovers tryst. i was leaving my drawing class when i happened to pass by the visual arts gallery. casually glancing over my shoulder, hair in my face, i caught a glimpse of a man lying down in a small boat, set adrift in a vacant sea of gray ripples, beneath a receding horizon. something inside of me moved. i can't define exactly what it was without saying that at that very same moment i was both empty and full.

Now, it is common knowledge just how rare an occurrence it is for an individual to be stopped dead in their tracks these days. however i can attest that this image will freeze any person in place for the potential of all eternity.

My eternity must have lasted for a few minutes or at least until i could feel my feet beginning to place themselves one in front of the other, until i had made my way to the building. for some reason there was a pit of nervousness that built up inside of me with each step; as if i knew this experience was going to brand me for all of eternity.

For the following two hours i wandered my way through Wyeth's world. visually, i was being destroyed. no other time in my life had i witnessed such honest moments laid out in paint. i sat in front of far away and sketched for over an hour -meticulously rendering every blade of grass and fur follicle present. my attempts were pathetic but my hands urged me on.

So often i find myself inspired by others but stilted by their greatness. wyeth's work is no doubt colossal, with every brush stroke he commands repute, and yet somehow the viewer is left feeling a sense of undaunted pride in this experience, in this becoming of his story. i wish i could convey a true likeness of braids or anything from his helga series... maybe subconsciously i am still trying. somewhere deep down at the heart of all of my artistic endeavors is a small wyeth impression burried beneath the surface.

Please enjoy these images. they are only a supplement to his quiet grandeur.

P.S. I just got two of his books in and both are mind blowing. highly recommended for visual imagineers: magic and memory & three generations.

sometimes

we find ourselves surrounded by truly amazing people.
they are listeners, knowers and laughers. they are motivators who urge us to be and do more in our very short lived lives. they are damn good people to have in your corner.

i just so happen to have a few of these people in my family circle, one of which is my brother cody. already at age 15 he understands himself better than most people do at mid life. last weekend, i managed to convince him to spend a few measly moments with his big sis and go for a bike ride to the point before sunset. we talked about travels, fishing, our mother, and the need for freedom. talks like that, with a young man like him, feel greater than 100 hugs by 100 arms.

Pentax Asahi K1000. 35 mm Film.

This morning i woke up and i swore i could smell you on my pillow. i breathed it in deep. i shut my eyes tightly and i imagined you here.

We lay facing each other for what felt like a lifetime, careful to not make any sudden movements, in fear that reality would too quickly seep in and erase all of this wonderful progress. so i looked on. your skin seemed fair in the morning light. it begged to be explored by a pair of wandering hands. i continued witnessing every detail of your body, every curve and crease was beheld with tender vigilance. i was not disappointed to find each freckle fully in tact, right where i left them last.

It was a grand morning in the land of make believe.

{Yashica a. Kodak 120 film}

I have a long ways to go with this camera.

I am however enjoying this first batch of film i shot off last weekend.

from what i can see, i need to tighten up on my shutter speeds and really learn all of the lighting boundaries i can and can not push. i know it takes time to sink into something new like this... but I am damn impatient.

{Pentax Asahi K1000. 35mm film}

Today my heart soars above this city.

I am leaving town. Be back soon!

{Mac isight Photo Booth}

i wish

i could convey the perfection of a bird as it hovers above placid waters, or the textures of ocean dwelling fare nestled in the sand, or the sun merely sinking into the horizen. but language founders in such seas. better to picture it in your head if you want to feel it.

*side note: i took this shot while sitting on top of a tower going 45 mph on a carolina skiff. i had absolutely no intentions of this image coming out clearly, but apparently the gods of the photo world were looking down on me with love.

Yashica A. Medium Format. 120 Kodak Film.

please

let me introduce you to my new love, penny. i just inherited this pentax asahi k1000 from my step father. i have absolutely NO clue how to operate a 35 mm but am loving it's speed. also, how bad ass is it to crank out 24 exposures in one roll?! who'd a thunk it!

p.s. allegedly i am the imagekind featured artist of the month. too bad i couldn't find me on their site...

Pentax Asahi K1000. 35 mm Film.

well

it appears i am leaving town once again this weekend.

any good suggestions for some road trip music?

here is my current set list for the upcoming odyssey:

1. Smile by Telepopmusik

2. Around my Smile by Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions

3. Distortions by Clinic

4. Focus 6 by The Black Pine

5. Lella, Our Time is Running Out by Morning Recordings

6. Look On Down From The Bridge by Mazzy Star

7. Be My Baby by ivy

8. Kid Heaven by Johnny And the Moon

9. Oranges by Plan B

10. So Low, So High by Maps

in case you were wondering, the answer is yes.

music is my king size bed.

Pentax Asahi K1000. 35 mm Film.

it

is september and there is a season of change stirring inside of me.

i'm not quite sure how to explain it. i suppose it isn't unlike the memory i have of the great west, of standing at the rim of a canyon and releasing a handful of leaves into the breeze. it's despair and desire in equal measures... i fight every urge of it's lonesomeness because sometimes there is joy in the unknown - a kind of quiet celebration that hangs in the air, a well of possibilities continuously running over with promise urging a long nights rest, so that with fingers crossed you may dream of exploring every distant secret with unbounded capacity.

Pentax Asahi K1000. Expired 35 mm Film.