Pre-Ramble:  A very powerful project/book titled “Where Children Sleep” by documentary photographer, James Mollison recently came to my attention, and I would like to share it with you here.

The following description, in Mollison’s own words, is taken directly from his website.

“Where Children Sleep- stories of diverse children around the world, told through portraits and pictures of their bedrooms. (Chris Boot publisher, November 2010)

When Fabrica asked me to come up with an idea for engaging with children’s rights, I found myself thinking about my bedroom: how significant it was during my childhood, and how it reflected what I had and who I was. It occurred to me that a way to address some of the complex situations and social issues affecting children would be to look at the bedrooms of children in all kinds of different circumstances. From the start, I didn’t want it just to be about ‘needy children’ in the developing world, but rather something more inclusive, about children from all types of situations.

It seemed to make sense to photograph the children themselves, too, but separately from their bedrooms, using a neutral background. My thinking was that the bedroom pictures would be inscribed with the children’s material and cultural circumstances ‘ the details that inevitably mark people apart from each other ‘ while the children themselves would appear in the set of portraits as individuals, as equals ‘ just as children.

The book is written and presented for an audience of 9-13 year olds ‘ intended to interest and engage children in the details of the lives of other children around the world, and the social issues affecting them, while also being a serious photographic essay for an adult audience.”

A sampling of the 56 diptychs presented in the book are featured on the artists’ website;  the selection shown above is Juan David, age 10, from Medellin, Colombia.

The Take-Away:  Awareness, understanding and compassion are great gifts you can give to the children in your life.  This book would be a great gift too.

Pre-Ramble: Well, as promised, here is the brand, spanking new profile picture (shown at right) … Stunning – yes?

I am so happy with the outcome, mostly because (and maybe I’m just speaking for myself here), as we discussed in the last blog post, unless you’re a Super Model, a good photo of yourself is super hard to come by.

I’m usually on the business end of any cameras in my world, and the rest of the time I am prepared to rough up anyone who tries to point a loaded Canon in my direction.  Plus, there are so many ways that a simple head shot can go wrong …

• the location can be too cluttered or cheesey …
• your outfit can be too busy or boring …
• you can show up with a bad haircut …
• you freeze in front of the camera and end up with dozens of variations on stupid facial expressions …
• too much light and you’re blown-out and squinting …
• too little, and you’re a shadow puppet …

It’s all about your face. Sounds so simple, right?  And it kind of is. For this shot, for example, we were in an average room … no props, no faux finish backdrop, no gazebos … just the walls and a bank of windows … (good lighting is key).  I was wearing neutral colors and a simple neckline with very little jewelry. My hair was uncomplicated, and I had on just enough make-up to give my face some definition. Took some with glasses on, some with ‘em off.

Full disclosure: (Well, and, ok … the planets were all lined up and there may have been some kind of soft focus filter involved.)

Good photography also requires a good photographer.  The guy I used knew his stuff. He dragged me close to the diffused light from the windows, stood on a chair, and told me to smile …

Say CHEEEESEE!!! (He never said this.)

The Take-Away: A good photograph of yourself can capture your essence at a specific point in time.  Celebrate this moment.  It’s fleeting.

Can of worms. The trouble is, you now have a new gold standard. Right away you’ll want to purge the universe of all other photos of you and replace them with the new and improved one.  Second, you are totally going to have to rethink your personal appearances. It’s not like you can hold up an 8 X 10 of your go-to photo in the grocery store and say, “My hair looks frightening today, but I really look like THIS !” … And, you can’t just scamper off in the middle of a conversation with, “Just one second while I step into this flattering light over here … ” … Or, make friends and colleagues put on special “soft focus” glasses before they can look directly at you …

I guess until we come up with a better plan, I’ll just have to wear a big hat and sunglasses and send everyone to my website.

Pre-Ramble: I run on a lake path near my house, and the great thing about this venue is that the lake has some neat new surprise to offer every day. Sometimes it’s the sunlight sparkling off the surface of the water, or a big old fish jumping clear out of the lake to grab a bug, or ominous dark clouds in the distance, a harbinger of weather to come. Being in the presence of the lake is always calming and often inspiring.

So, I was out on a run (actually more of a shuffle) yesterday when I came upon one of those sights that literally stops you in your tracks and makes you say “Wow!” out loud, even though there’s no one there to hear it. Poufy white clouds were hanging against a clear blue sky — picturesque as all get out — and then, below, reflecting in the still glass surface of the lake, was an exact copy of the scene above.

We’ve all seen that, but something about the cartoon-esque shapes of the clouds and the quality of the light made me feel like I was caught in the middle of a painting. As is often the case, I wished I had had my camera to take a picture of this very cool effect and share it with family and friends.  

However, as I do not generally bring my camera along on runs, rather than revel in the visual delight that was before me, I spent a majority of the time trudging along grousing about not having my camera … and how long would it take me to run home and get the camera … ? … and would the effect be gone when I got back … ? … blah, blah …

Basically, I wrecked the whole vibe of the moment trying to capture it.

And even if I had had my camera, the fact that I would be messing around with taking a picture of the beautiful scene — am I getting the best angle on it? … is the lighting good? … is the shot in focus? … is the tip of my finger in the shot again? … etc. – would interfere with the beauty and meaning in the moment itself.

The Take-Away: Recording life’s milestones and meaningful moments is an important thing to do, however there is also something to be said for the value of the pure, fully-lived moment.  As we embark on the fun, carefree days of summer, try to find space to live in the moment and enjoy whatever is there for you – unencumbered by pressure to capture, record, scrapbook, tweet, … and ok …, blog about it.

Rejoice in the things that are present – all else is beyond thee.  — Montaigne