Editorial / Narrative
PavlishGroup: Stop Animation
Created for PavlishGroup, a Cleveland video production and web design firm.
The photos were taken in multiple locations around the fair city of Cleveland. PavishGroup owner Don Pavlish wanted a DIY aesthetic that showcased Cleveland’s history, strength, fortitude, and playfulness!
Alexandra Tapié
The first time I heard Alex sing I thought, “how can such a low, sultry voice come out of such a petite fairy-princess of a girl”? Alex is spreading her songbird wings as a singer/keyboardist/guitarist with the Cleveland band The Buried Wires. The Buried Wires are Alex’s first band, resorting previously to writing and singing songs only in the company of herself. These days Alex is more comfortable on stage with every show. Don’t miss the opportunity to see The Buried Wires and Aloha on April 24th at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, OH!
Ketterer/Hoover Easter
Weather-wise, this day was the icing on top of a perfect weekend. Blue skies, chirping birds, soft breeze, cool grass between our toes; wonderful accessories to a glorious Easter egg hunt. Each of the four children was assigned a their own special color egg (of course, the girls had a bit of a struggle with the ownership of the pink eggs – who wouldn’t!). When the word was given, the kids raced around the yard, peering into bushes, mailboxes, and trees for the eggs the Easter Bunny had hidden only minutes before.
I just love photographing kids being kids; delightfully curious, exhilarated by the simplest joys. I hope you enjoy this series as much as I enjoyed getting my bare knees dirty to get the perfect angles!
Cass, yoga, and a large frozen lake.
What could be more exciting that photographing someone doing the thing they were made to do? Fully immersed in her art form, Cass was seemingly unaware of my presence, and for a time, of the deep chill of a below-freezing Ohio morning.
Cass and I wanted to do something different. Forget the studio. Forget comfort. She spoke of the challenges of staying focused in such unforgiving climes, but I promise you, we both left the beach smiling.
Cass teaches yoga at the Cleveland Heights Recreational Center and at Puma Yoga in Lakewood, OH.
(The final two images were taken with a Mamiya C330F analog camera, my new baby!)
GLUE “I will stay if. . . ” Cleveland Edition!
The lovely, tireless, and always fabulously dressed Genna Petrolla (of Messy Magazine and countless other incarnations supporting our fair city) recently co-organized the Cleveland edition of GLUE‘s (Great Lakes Urban Exchange) “I will stay if. . . ” campaign. One of the goals of the event, held November 18th, 2009 at Speakeasy, was to photograph each participant with his or her “I will stay if. . . ” statement, ultimately compiling all the photos into a visual document that will be presented to city officials so that the true voice of Cleveland’s present and future can be heard AND seen. The wonderful Bryon Miller and I volunteered to photograph the evening; what a pleasure! The turn out was impressive and the statements were, on the whole, encouraging and inspiring. Here are a few of my favorites!
Danielle DeBoe of Room Service located in Cleveland’s brimming-with-creativity Gordon Square!
For more information on GLUE’s Cleveland chapter and/or this event, please visit here!
You are your streets.
It is fun to be expected to be a tourist. When I walk around Cleveland each day, camera constantly in hand, passersby may wonder exactly what’s up. Is she a reporter? A spy? A quirky girl with red shoes and a handbag larger than a carry-on? Even though Japan was my home, the conspicuousness of my appearance made me seem like a perpetual tourist, and I boldly took advantage of every moment possible.
I am experimenting here within the confines of Cuyahoga County. Be a tourist now. See my city through new eyes, wide open.
Zombie Proof
My boyfriend, Dan, used to practice with his band Megachurch at a recording studio/practice space known as Zombie Proof. Housed in a large factory on the near east side of Cleveland, the lofty and expansive room had great acoustics, housed any number of pieces of high brow, low brow, and outsider art, and always smelled of stale smoke and cheap beer. One fabulous perk was the roof access, which offered an amazing view of downtown Cleveland.
In defense of color.
Not to long ago, an old Orthodox Jewish man walked up to me and said, “that purple, the color of your shirt; it’s a color of balance.” He wasn’t simply referring to the hue - the subtle combination of cool blue and warm red – he was alluding to something deeper, something only the spirit could measure and comprehend. I took his comment to heart, and took his charge seriously – to wear the color as if it were an outward manifestation of my inward self.
I love the moody all or nothing of black and white, but I am in love with the complex harmonies of color. Color is a reflection of nature, whether it be nature the way our eyes perceive it, or our very intricate, contradictory, unique human natures.
What do you see of yourself in these images? Your loved ones? What makes you hopeful? What makes you still?
Walk with me.
I have a veritable cornucopia of shoes, the majority of which are brightly colored and highly textured, looking more like furniture than footwear. I have very few bags in comparision, each chosen extremely carefully, merit based partially on style of course, but mostly on how well they cradle my handful of cameras. I have traveled this way for years now, very rarely with a dedicated camera bag, and nary a fatality (except for that one time in Yosemite; the bear, the kicking-the-camera-off-the-bed).
This is my lifestyle. This is my life. The camera’s eye is my eye, blinking stories out in digital or film form, evidence of a cherished moment. Below are a few examples of thoese moments, taken with my Holga 120SF and the cache of expired film left over from a wedding that never happened.
It’s okay. It was put to good use.
