Things I Love to See #7

THIS as the view from my chair this morning....

Looking over the cover of my book:


Looking up:

Things I Love to See #6

6. Pictures to take pictures of

Things I Love to See #5

5. Something pretty hanging from the ceiling

Things I Love to See #4

4. My students on a photo shoot, going for it

Things I Love to See #3

3. An Alpaca chowing down

Things I Love to See #2

2. These two dogs playing in the snow

Things I Love to See #1

1. A teenager reading Toni Morrison on the T

Happy First Friday

It's First Fridays in the South End, and while I'll be hitting the highway and heading out of the city right when the gallery doors open, I did make a trip last month with a group of Literature of Photography students to see the November openings and open studios down at 450 Harrison Ave.




Note to gallery owners:
Everyone's happy at an art opening when there are cupcakes.

In addition to eating cupcakes and being wowed by the imaginative qualities of painting after a months of scouring photographs and examining the photographic process, we saw a visually - and technically - intriguing show at Gallery Kayafas, one of Boston's best venues for art photography. Caleb Charland uses multiple and long exposures, mathematical equations, and natural light sources like candles, light pens, and sparklers to make these cool black-and-white prints. It took us forever to figure out how he made some of these exposures - and in the end, he had to explain to us how some were made. See if you can figure them out:

Instamatica

Oh, there are so many things to love about Polaroids. What I am loving right now is the way the shiny "scanned" border is always the same frame, and you have to get it right the first time - I'm taking a break from editing post-shot, and it's nice.

Here are some shots from the weekend.

Fauxlaroids

A New Profile Picture

You may notice that I have a new profile picture. The old one, while sentimental (it was taken when I was really, really happy - in Croatia with Kate and some friends and miles of coast ahead of us), was getting a little stale. This photo was taken by Emerson College student Rebecca Knell in an alley off the Boston Commons.

Learning is Fun

I designed and implemented a new class at Emerson's Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies called The Literature of Photography. It's a class of 19 freshmen, about half writing majors and half arts majors. We are reading the usual suspects: Sontag, Barthes, Berger, Calvino. We also write poetry, study and critique narrative photography (what photography isn't, somehow, narrative?), and go into back alleys and take pictures of each other.

You can find some of my students' work on our Tumblr site. I will continue to brag about them as the semester goes on, I'm sure.

Jess Getting Ready

I grabbed Kate's camera and became the impromptu photographer for the "getting ready" segment of Jess and Melinda's wedding in Portland, Oregon. I think the camera loves Jess as much as Melinda loves Jess. We had a fun time while Jess got her hair and makeup all settled and got into her dress. Then it was off to the Hoyt Arboretum to meet Mindy and get hitched. It was supposed to rain all day, but it held off completely until the "minister" - our friend Dan, recently ordained with the Universal Church of Life - pronounced Jess and Melinda married. At that very second a light mist dusted the crowd, sparkling like glitter in the still-sunny sky. Try not tearing up when something like THAT happens at a wedding!

Jess & Melinda's Wedding Weekend

Jess and Melinda got married! Here is a "Polaroid" (a la iPhone software) of Jess getting ready (more of those soon). And here is one of Jess and Joe at the wedding site, working hard...

One Last Look...

This is the view from the deck off the attic bedroom in the house Kate and I rented in Wellfleet for the week of our wedding. Every morning we awoke to the sound of seagulls and the view of the oystermen wading out in their boots. I sure did like it there.

Night Falls

on another summer season in Provincetown.

Wedding Pictures

Here is a peek at our wedding pictures, taken by our most talented friend, Margaret Singer. You can see more of her work at margaretsinger.com or at her blog.

I Knew There Was a Reason I Kept Those White Go-go Boots

Carnival 2009: Peace, Love, and Go-go Boots.

If you know me, you know that I love Provincetown. And Carnival in Provincetown is one of my favorite days of the year. The glamour. The characters. The attention to fun. The fact that everyone is throwing beads and candy and blowing kisses and hugging strangers. The fact that everyone wants their picture taken all day long. And this year, the fact that I got to wear my white go-go boots and hot pink halter dress with the silver threads. Scratchy...but worth it!

This float blasted "Let the Sun Shine In."

I should mention that it was about 95 degrees. It was a good day to be wearing as little as possible.


Julia hurls herself upon the boob float.



Excuse me officer, are you cruising my wife?









And afterwards, we happily wait in line for sandwiches at Farlands.