WE ARE OUR FACES – feb & march 2014

February and March 2014 on film.

It is always around this time of year that the ache to be back in the ocean comes for us. We go to the beach and brave the cold water but usually end up bundled in (what we call) a walrus pit on the sand. “Come into the walrus pit,” we tell our people, our family and extended family, patting the spaces beside us, and we lay on blankets and cover in blankets and press our bodies together to stay out of the wind. To stay on the sand as long as we can. We drink from plastic cups filled with margarita and flip the hair out of our faces and I look around and I soak it all in, all of it in.

My parents are part of a Woodie club and we visit them as often as we can for the car shows and the camp outs. The Woodie people are good, good people and they feed us and talk to us and let my children lay down with their dogs for cuddles and marvel at the cat on the leash. The environment is easy and welcoming, vintage cars and people who love to be together, sitting in circles and talking.

Last year, my brother moved to the Bay Area with his wife, a move I have wanted to make and never had the guts. A move that took my brother and his wife, a best friend to me, too many hours away. It’s awful not having them in my home on a regular basis and at our family gatherings but it’s wonderful having them with me when I go up north to work. My brother and Rachel are masters at entertaining me, mostly because we love the same things. After I work we do what we do. Indulge in laziness and time together, good food, exploring parts of the city we haven’t yet, drinking in bars, walking and taking photos.

It’s never enough time.

But that is a recurring theme/worry/thought in my life and the largest reason why I do what I do with a camera.

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We Are Our Faces is a project I started this year to push myself to take more photos of the people I love and what is around me. You can read more about it here.

You can also read past entries by clicking the “we are our faces” tag below this blog entry.

Equipment used: Nikon One Touch, Kodak Ektar, Fuji Neopan Acros

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SCHWANK FAMILY – BICYCLES AT THE BEACH

This is the family of Zak and Jennifer Schwank. A few years ago, Zak decided to sell his car and use a bike as his main form of transportation. With three children that he cares for during the day, he has gone through a few different types of cargo bikes. He started with a Madsen, and right now he is using a custom Metrofiet. He sure got a lot of attention riding around Newport Beach with that thing – everyone stopped us to ask about it, which is why I am linking. SUCH a cool bike. SUCH a great family.

Because cycling is a large part of their lives, they wanted to incorporate them into their session.

I always love someone who goes against the grain, and found their decision fascinating and inspiring. I thought it would be interesting to share a bit more of their story with you.

“The more and more I think about why we ride so much the more I come back to being able to give our children some independence. Sure there are environmental, health and financial reasons why we bike instead of drive, but it really boils down to empowering our children. We bike about 6 miles round-trip to school each day and for our children to be able to do that under their own power is empowering for them. We want our children to have the confidence that they can do anything in life and biking is one way we hope to instill that in them.” – Zak Schwank

 

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More info about the Schwank family:

If you are in the Temecula area, you may be interested in joining the Temecula Bike Train that Zak organizes.

Article on the Bike Train.

Valley news story, including a video about the family.

 

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WHAT I’M DIGGING THIS WEEK

I am no longer living the fancy free life of our beautiful summer, which means I am back to my daily routine, which means the goals I made a few posts ago (about blogging at least twice a week) are back on my priority list. I have always loved round-up posts, so what the heck, I am going to do my very own. Here is a list of things I am digging this week:

1. THIS, THIS, THIS :

Well your body shows up every day, every breath and tries. Really hard.
Despite donuts, pop, chips, coffee or pie.
It shows up and puts out effort for you.
And if after every heartbeat, step, every breath, and grocery bag lifted, you have the nerve to say
“Why aren’t you thinner, or rounder or longer, or lusher, or more radiant?” then I think you need to take a long look at the way you treat the best friend you have, your body.
Your legs are shorter than a supermodel? But they carry you?
Rejoice.
You have 50 bones in your feet, paint those toes!
You have hips that sway and a belly that houses the mechanical miracles that ensure that the odd carrot or glass of milk turns into what you need to keep going.
Give your lungs a walk in the air.
Give your hair a shake.
Stop being a bitch to your best, best, only best friend.
Be grateful, be mindful, show some friendship to your parts of your partner.
It is not your body’s responsibility to decorate the world for the gaze of others. It is not a guarantee of love or an advertisement of your worth.
Seriously.
You are not your ass, your hair or your dress size
Take care what you put in it, where you run it or walk it, and treat it with the love you’d give to a helpless baby.
No one else is going to do it if you don’t.

-The Speech From The Crone

 

2. Humans of New York

(Brandon is taking a UN World Tour and the photos and stories he has been sharing are breathtaking, humbling, perspective bringing.) You can also find him on Instagram, which is my preferred method of keeping up with him.

http://www.humansofnewyork.com

 

3. Life Serial aka Matthew Allard

“You and me and everyone else we know, different but still holding onto some shred of the same, in tiny colored boxes, living our secret little lives.”

 

4. James Brown Gives You Dancing Lessons

 

 

 

 

5. Recently edited sessions: