My grandparents on my father’s side were simple people. PaPa and Gran-Gran had funny expressions that would always make me laugh. My little brother as a toddler was called Hot Rock. “Hey, Hot Rock”. And “Boh, he’s a little fat patate”. Gran-Gran used to say that after eating a rich meal, she was “Gonna be up on one elbow all night” to digest her food.
She also used to say, “Shake it, break it, hang it on a wall” when I would dance a little jig for her, after receiving a check at Christmas, for example. They owned a motel in our small town. Once, my waist-length hair got caught in the jacuzzi drain and my uncle had to brace with both legs to un-suck me from the filterless, famined vacuum. I bore a square-shaped bruise on my back for weeks after. It would have been so hip today.
Touring rock bands would stay at the motel. One of these bands was KISS. A far cry from Lawrence Welk, the sound my grandparents tuned into on the regular, KISS was my kindergarten self’s ideal. I remember asking to have a photo made with the band on the spiral staircase. The photo exists nowhere, and my mother denies the experience.
In her nursing home, Gran-Gran told me that PaPa cheated on her regularly with a receptionist in the motel. Nobody acknowledged it, and it made her feel insulted and furious, especially when she was at the motel. In her old age she told lots of stories, her cracking voice like broken gravel traveling lanes of painful memories and wishes unrealized. I was recording audio of her for a project one time when I left the room to retrieve a bookmark I had painted for her. It wasn’t until Gran-Gran was on her deathbed that I listened to the whole recording and heard her express her disapproval of me in my short absence. She said, “Her hair is pink, her hair is orange, and everybody wants to know, who that FREAK is”. It was tough to hear this as she was dying, and it took some time for me to forgive her. Their generation just couldn’t handle the changes ours had grown accustomed to. Even still, it hurts. I wanted to be a rebel but I wanted to be accepted as well. What did I expect?
Personal blog post after Hurricane Katrina
What struck me most were the spray-painted search codes on each of the houses. My city had been reduced to a Monopoly board tagged with chalk by green plastic army men. The emptiness was pervasive, like inhaling negative incense. There was almost no one around. When another human was sensed, we would automatically check each other psychically and return to our task. Friend or foe? Military or civilian?
We rode up Napoleon and watched the water lines rise and the greenery die. Moored to blank traffic lights, bottoms of boats slept on streets, awaiting their own delayed rescue. The floodwaters were like billowing silk curtains behind which a horrific diva maniacally dressed, then were sucked offstage to leave a diorama of mechanic sea creatures and rooftop remnants that never should have met. A red helicopter lay crunched and belly-up like a welded beached whale. Each sight begged an imaginary movie to relive the screams and the flailing arms and the rushing currents, as I tried to mentally piece it all together with memories of media and stories and with evidence and sense.
It became more real to me, finally.
Scenic drives
Les Corniches on the French Riviera
In music, as in life, it’s best to experience the highs, the lows, and the midrange. For drivers seeking a fully articulated impression of the Cote d’Azur, they can do just that. Oui.
Les Corniches, The Cliffs, are a trio of parallel routes at three different altitudes, giving drivers three different options to tour the sublime French countryside. Edging decoratively around the bends of steep mountains, these roads tie Nice and Menton together.
At the top, nearly 500 meters high, Grand Corniche offers million-euro views. Part of the route is ancient, built in xxBC, and was extended later by Napoleon. It is said that this drive, at times whitewashed in a veil of fog, is more about a mood than a journey. With drama suitable for Bond and Hitchcock, and the glamour of Princess Grace, the peaks and valleys of this landscape have a historical soul indeed.
Cut into the middle of the mountain, Moyenne Corniche offers unfolding vistas of the Mediterranean and its shore. It has less hairpin turns than the Haute, or Grand Corniche. However, it was at this level that Nietzsche wrote and Princess Grace fell. The luminosity and clarity of air here have inspired some of the most famous painters in the world: Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse.
The lowest road of the trilogy, Basse Corniche, or Corniche Inférieure, runs along the coast and offers access to famous seaside resorts. It can get backed up during peak traffic, but the route is peppered with elegant 19th-century villas and gardens. All three roads lead to Monaco. No matter which tier you choose, the trek is a symbol of pure driving pleasure.
768 steps, spiraling up a narrow steeple atop the medieval town of ulm.
click image to see photo gallery slides
scaffolding braced the centuries-old gothic wonder, so i shot what i love best – light and shadow. somehow we flew up there, beyond the belfry, at golden hour in the crisp autumn air. we did it, martin and i climbed up the tallest church spire in the world! at dinner later (inside the oddly squat and slanted zur forelle restaurant), i felt waves of movement cascading through me, in directions i could not describe.
sometimes, hopefully only once in her life, the photographer is the bride. in this case, the bride must leave her camera at home and work on creating the picture for other people to experience and record.
for my american-german wedding, i assembled a team to produce the event. many mood boards were created and communicated. i built an “antique” tiled mirror as set design. i hired dani rodriguez to do the painterly photography. we made sure there were distant fairy lights for bokeh in the photographs. we visited the location and plotted out the path for dani to take on foot with his camera as the gondola boats would be floating through the canals. as a result, we ended up with a lovely story full of dynamics and movement. i enjoyed doing post-production and cutting together a slide show with music that was played or performed live at our wedding.
please enjoy!
.. orbits of the earth eye…
art direction, candle photos and web design by sp
click image to see the published editorial in just-magazine
click on this image for more springtime scenery!
these two sweeties were a dream to photograph. what a day they had, and what a color for a dress! it was super fun to lead them over to the swingset and record the afterglow of their ceremony. click image for more photos!
