thinking

i'm still alive.

an experience during work today really had me thinking all day. a mother shared her deceased daughter's journals with me. i really hesitated to look. and as i started to read, the thoughts i read were so personal, so honest, and most of all so sad. i wondered how i felt about her knowing that someday some stranger would come and read her thoughts during the worst moments of her life. she died before turning 28.

it's been four years - and the more i spoke to this mother, tears would form in her eyes. it was just heartbreaking. there was something about this experience that made me feel very connected to this woman. i wondered if it was just the empathy we have when we're on assignment. then i remembered losing a friend and co-worker danielle roach. i remembered meeting her mother for the first time at the funeral and telling her that danielle had touched my life. i remember someone saying once that "parents should never outlive their children." i've known a few parents who have lost their children. i've had to document many strangers who have lost their children.

and as i look through the photographs now, looking into her face, at old photographs of her daughter, the texture of the words in her journal...i don't know - it just had me thinking...

on my mind

quick plug...

i started a new photo column at the globe that runs every monday. it's called on my mind.

the idea came out of the fact that i feel like the majority of large newspapers in general lack a lot of the community's voice. also, the placement of a more documentary style picture within the paper, on B2, could make it seem very much like just another stand alone picture. so, i thought, "what if it's just a face looking straight out at you? and what if it became a place where people could talk about whatever is on their mind?"

true, it's not quite the monitor's teen life, or a few of the amazing columns out there at great picture papers. we can't quite get the B1 centerpiece every monday complete with full transcribed prose, so we're getting what we can.

the best part about it for me is the blog they gave me. so i can actually start talking about work photos again...and the wonderful people i meet.

sorry for the blog neglect...i've been so busy. there hasn't been time for laundry, food, and even snowboarding!!

i'll be back.

*edit on 3/12/08* i feel like idiot. i totally forgot to mention that this wouldn't have been at all possible without the advocacy of my boss paula nelson. i think there are still a few who aren't totally sold on the idea of the column, but from its inception to its weekly runnings, she's been the first to argue for it. and for that, i am very thankful.

spring fashion '08

there is more to this story...

spring fashion '08: bold moves

all you have to know is that jessica our photo department co-op was the best assistant/support/stand-in/tow-truck caller ever.