Their last embrace

No words are needed.

TimesHowever if you want some words, click here to read the article on TIME’s website. It’s pretty interesting.

In Bangladesh, 3.5 million workers in 4,825 garment factories produce goods for export. 85% are women. These people died while making 2$ a day. Sometimes forced into 14-16 hour days/7 days a week. These factories continue to happen because we continue to buy the clothes from Walmart, Joe etc. I mean I know they are cheap and I can’t pretend I don’t ever buy from those places, but it does make me think. Over 1000 human beings died because we indirectly support factories just like this one. Not only are the workers getting paid barely anything, now they are giving their lives for it, because the factory owners are irresponsible….and probably cheap.
One girl who lost her entire left leg says  “My mother, grandmother and two cousins were all working inside the factory that day. But there is no trace of them. How can that be?” she asks incredulously.

Just because we live in a different country, doesn’t mean we should feel the impact any less. Whether we want to be or not, most of us are involved.

Image is POWERFUL

This is an amazing and short TEDtalks video about how powerful image is and also how superficial it can be. Cameron Russell, a famous model breaks down what its REALLY like being a model… and goes into whats really important.

I attached the video… but if you don’t have time to watch it… at least check out these images from her talk. They really had an impact on me. On the left are her modelling photos and beside them are real photos of her in her life taken around the same time.

As a photographer and retoucher… I am constantly in battle with the world of making everyone look perfect and the world of realness. All I know is if I have a daughter… I hope she can grow up in a world where images and ideals are real, and promote healthy self image, not a distorted definition of “perfection”.



Image is powerful Image is powerful Image is powerful Image is powerful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM4Xe6Dlp0Y

India will get in da ya

I just got back from 2 months of backpacking in India.
It was indescribable.
The sights… the insight… It was perfectly difficult.
Everyday I feel grateful.
This trip OPENED MY EYES… and I think you will be able to see that in my images.

I have about 900 hours left of going through images and editing but am anxious to share my images so I will post a couple and there will be many more images to follow.

Powdered in Mumbai

 

 

 

 

In India there is always some celebration going on around the corner.
You can hear the band play as they go down the street.
We follow and I snap.
There are picture opportunities every second… Celebrations, poverty, beautiful scenery… It’s all around me! and I love i!

Re-inspired

On my second plane… during the 12th hour… I was feeling drained and the excitement that I was actually going to India was fading. But when the indian man in the window seat saw my face looking out the window… he offered to switch places.  I was amazed… Mountains… poking into the clouds… completely untouched by humans. It instantly re-inspired me. Hard to explain with a picture… but here is a quick shot anyways.
Lots more photos from India coming soon.

Mastin Kipp and The Daily Love

Watch this inspirational interview with the creator of The Daily Love. This guy is young, laid back and relatable. There are at least 20 genius quotes in this interview alone. If you are a starving artist, or just struggling to get where you want to be, I know this will fuel you with some faith and inspiration.
WATCH and FEEL THE LOVE!

Nicoline Patricia Malina

Wow!
This woman is amazing. Her style is not limited and I love that. One series is vibrant bold contrasty colors with a crazy subject and the next is a girl on the beach with a soft tone and natural beauty. I love it! It keeps me interested!
I am all fueled up on inspiration and ready to go shoot some of my own stuff.
Check out her website – Nicoline Patricia Malina
I couldn’t leave without seeing every single image.

She sees through Bahamian eyes.

Everyone sees through their own eyes with their own unique perspective.
Determined by where they are from, past experiences, things they have endured, seen, been a part of, culture, upbringing, family, society, things that make them uniquely them. We have to learn to appreciate everyones perspective… even the ones we don’t understand. Then we can truly learn from one another.

Use before expiration.

I create a lot of photos.
It’s my way of expressing ideas and feelings I have, towards humanity, individuals and myself.
This 2 image series I did is my favorite of all my work… because it took a lot of effort to create but also a lot of thinking. I had a feeling.. and tried to express it visually… and while creating it, it kept evolving… and in the finished product, it started saying more than I ever consciously thought of. I can now read these images multiple different ways and I love that. My own images here have inspired me to not only put deeper meaning into my photos… but to create images that can be read so many different ways… because just like the book of life… we all write and read different stories.

Where on the map?

Where on the map…. do I want to go?

I have a big map on my wall with pins that I have put on places i’ve been and places i’d love to go. I just keep adding them… but at some point i’m going to have to chose between all those pins… roll up my map and pack it for my next destination…
or JOURNEY I should say.
What an exciting choice to have.
(Here is a random shot I did of pins on my map… you should put up your own map and pins… it’s so inspiring + fun!)

Runaway

I hear people say this one line all the time, it’s even been directed at me before…
” YOU CAN’T RUN AWAY FROM YOUR PROBLEMS” 
Well you know what, I think you can.
Because running away, usually implies running towards something else.
The fact is you are running into another experience,  running into new lessons, new insights, sometimes even new perspectives on the “things” you were “running away from” to begin with.
And all those sound amazing… so…. why not run away? Worst it can do is give you a new perspective.

run

Tim Walker

There are so many awesome images by the great Tim Walker it was hard to pick only a few! Check out his website to continue the inspiration – http://timwalkerphotography.com/

Annie Leibovitz Disney

Always have, Always will, love and look up to Annie Leibovitz.
I have hundreds of favorites i’ll post at other times, but this disney series is pretty cool. I love disney and these are so cool.

Chase Jarvis

Here are some sweet pics by the always inspiring Chase Jarvis. Something I love about this guy’s work is the range. He can do raw portraits, dancers, crazy snowboarding jumps and beautiful landscapes to name a few… One of my favorite sections on his website is his iphone photos. There are just certain artists whose eye I just love, when you have that creative eye, it’s almost impossible to take a bad picture.
Check out his website and blog and  feel the inspiration.
Website – http://www.chasejarvis.com Blog – http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/