the world's eyes, the war-torn's voices

the NY Times Lens blog has done a beautiful piece on the impact of chris and his work: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/20/parting-glance-chris-hondros/
and, from the NY Times news coverage:

"Tyler Hicks, a photographer for The New York Times who worked alongside Mr. Hondros in several wars, paid a tribute in an e-mail.
"Chris made sacrifices in his own life to bring the hardships of war into the public eye, and that dedication created award-winning photographs that shaped the way people viewed the world."

a loss

i can't believe i'm reading this headline: Acclaimed War Photographer Chris Hondros Killed in Libya. i used to see chris all the time around the agromeck/technician offices. although i didn't have contact with him after i graduated, his name would leap out at me from time to time as his work was recognized both in the media and in photographic circles (including the Duke Center for Documentary Studies). his work in kosovo was the focus of a solo exhibit at nc state some years ago. what an amazing life.


see more of chris hondros' work.

photogs: james agee on helen levitt

from the always mindblowing photography blog "american suburb x," a reprinting of james agee's beautiful intro to a book of levitt's kickass nyc photos:

"I am nevertheless convinced that the photographs cannot be fully
enjoyed, or adequately discussed, on a purely naturalistic or rational
basis. Many of them prove, rather, that the actual world constantly
brings to the surface its own signals, and mysteries."

http://www.americansuburbx.com/2009/03/theory-helen-levitt-way-of-seeing.html

gonna tell you a story...

once upon a time (say, a little over two years ago), i made a decision that would change my life, scare the bejeebus out of me, and drain my savings. i quit my well-paying but deathly depressing job to pursue a dream. (i know, what *was* i thinking?!)

now, two years later, i am not in demand, famous, or even making money. however, i have had two glorious years of nobody telling me what to do and when to do it. two glorious years of doing projects that make me proud and put beauty and vision above money and practicality. two years of seeing the best live shows i've ever seen. two years and more than 13,000 clicks of the shutter.

i'm not done taking pictures, but i figured this was a good time to take stock, remember how i got here, and tell the story of the first 13,000.

next time: my history of photography.

the road show @ the visual art exchange in jan 2010

back in january i had a photo in the visual art exchange's first exhibit of the year. called "the road show", it featured works about life on the road -- road signs, maps, cars, roads, or road trip sights. i had shot mine through a rain-spattered car window on a road trip from philly to raleigh.
artists were allowed to submit up to two pieces in any media, and then the juror, meg rader of the uber-classy mahler gallery, selected which submissions would be exhibited. i was highly honored to have my submission included in the show and awarded an honorable mention. the awesomeness of the occasion was palpable.
here's my photo all framed and hanging on the gallery wall:

and here's the original photo:

life, the universe, and everything...

my dad sent me this quote a while ago, and i find myself returning to it time and time again.

"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day." -- Rainer Maria Rilke

nice local review of the rebus show

Plastic CameraWorks 2: The exploding plastic ephemeral by Amy White, Indyweek.com. My bear gets a shoutout. :-D