family portrait commission

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Women of Vision--Ten Years of Art Beyond Sight

Eight years ago, while I was taking a darkroom class at a local college, I had an amazing experience. My professor gave our class an assignment in conjunction with a Fujifilm student film competition. The assignment was to show through a photograph how people show love in our community. At the same time, I had heard of a fascinating program of blind women artists who met at the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens called The Women of Vision. When we were given our class assignment, I knew immediately who I wanted to photograph. What I didn't know at the time, was how these women would influence my own vision. I can still remember that first day when I photographed them with my Rebel camera and some fast film. I was mesmerized by the way creating art seemed to invigorate them, how the artmaking created connection within them and between them. I became aware as I photographed them (and later as I printed their images in the darkroom) how powerful our human need to create is--how healing and transformative. I believe creating brings us in direct contact with what is best about us as human beings. These beautiful women have also taught me that our gift of sight has its roots in our hands and in our hearts, not just in our eyes. I have continued to photograph the women over the years, and now they are celebrating their 10th anniversary with a very special exhibit at the museum. I hope you will take the time to visit their the Cummer and see their work in person. I am attaching images of them at work below.

Women of Vision--Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens

One Circle Around the Sun--Jude's Year

Here is a slide show of Jude's first year of life and it is accompanied by the original music of Brian Eltomi (more about him in coming up in another post). I began photographing Jude's parents when they were a month or so away from becoming parents. When Jude was born, I visited Jude in the hospital and documented a bit of his first hours of life, and then continued to visit him every three months up to his first birthday. It was an amazing experience watching this family grow! As I left them on his first birthday, I thanked them for the experience, and Jude's mom said, as I was getting in the, "You were with us for his first circle around the sun." T

Kristin and Matt {wedding commission}

Whew! It's been too long since I've posted on my blog. I have much news to write about, but first I want to share some photographs from Kristin and Matt's beautiful wedding. Kristin was a lovely bride. It's easy to see why Matt couldn't take his eyes off her! Click here for highlights.

Saying goodbye to the home you grew up in...

This family gathered with all the siblings and grandchildren to say goodbye to their home. Each family member wrote memories and put them in a box and buried them.

click here for slide show

A boy and his grandpa....

Little boys are so much fun to photograph! I love his dinosaur faces! Slide Show

Summertime is for family reunions...

Click here to see a slide show with more images.

Litza and Ari {wedding}

Click here for a slide show...

A few weeks ago, my cousin Litza, one of my favorite people in the world, got married in Manhattan. Litza has always been a person who knows her own mind. She is brilliant and passionate. Her interests (too many to list) range from cultures, music and books, to computer programming and web design. I first heard about a strange new way to communicate with friends across the country on a computer (e-mail) from her--when she was 9 years old and learning hyperlink on a primitive mac computer. Litza loves entertaining, she loves bees and ants and all sorts of natural creatures, she loves her family, and now she loves Ari.

Ari and Litza are amazing together. He matches her in many ways, especially in his zest for life.

Litza and her hair stylist worked together to find a style that would suit her and her beautiful vintage dress. They decided on a style incorporating the 1920's flapper finger waves. Megan at Lift Hair Studio in Astoria, NY, says stylists still take the same licensing exam that stylists in the 1920's took. She was very excited to have a chance to use her knowledge.


Litza loves vintage dresses, so of course, she researched and found the perfect vintage wedding dress, one she could dance happily in on her wedding day. Several times throughout the day, I was struck by how much she looked like a Degas ballerina in her dress.



Litza and Ari LOVE to dance. And they are very good at it. Here they are practicing their first dance together one more time.


I love the joy on their faces in this shot. I'm also fascinated by how they look like they could have been dancing together in a ballroom 80 years ago.
Thank you, Litza and Ari, for an amazing weekend, and for such a lovely wedding celebration.