Spring has sprung!

Combined a little weeding with some photos in my yard. Nice to take advantage of the thousands of dandelions I'm about to eradicate:)

Educate a child-Educate a Nation

As some of you may know, I'm going to Ethiopia in May. I'm traveling with an organization called COEEF- The Children of Ethiopia Education Fund.

The fund exists to "empower young girls in Ethiopia from impoverished circumstances with quality, private  education through generous sponsors and donors". 

You too can sponsor a student's education for a mere $25/month, which enables a girl to make a difference for herself, her family, community and country.  This sponsorship provides tuition, uniform, and supplies for one student in school for a full year.

to sponsor, click here!

In a recent Time Magazine article, Nancy Gibbs wrote:"In sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than 1 in 5 girls make it to secondary school. Nearly half are married by the time they are 18. 1 in 7 across the developing world marries before she is 15. Then she gets pregnant. The leading cause for death for girls 15 to 19 worldwide is not accident or violence or disease; it is complications from pregnancy. Girls under 15 are up to five times as likely to die while having children than are women in the 20s, and their babies are more likely to die as well".

Here's a video by my friend, photographer Rick Egan from a previous sponsor trip.

Can't wait to share my experience with you guys when I return. I'm hoping to do a gallery show if possible of my images with proceeds going towards the girls in Ethiopia. 

If you have an opportunity to lend your support, please click on the link above. 

For more information about COEEF

Pulitzer Prizes in Photography

In photojournalism, a profession where men outnumber women tenfold,  this year's Pulitzer Prizes are dominated by women photographers.  This year, three out of the four prize winning photographers are women.

The Washington Post photographers Carol Guzy, Nikki Kahn and (male) Ricky Carioti were awarded the 2011 Pulitzer in Breaking News Photography for their "up-close portrait of grief and desperation after a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti".

Barbara Davidson of the Los Angeles Times, won the Feature Photography category for her "intimate story of innocent victims trapped in the city's crossfire of deadly gang violence".

Here are some of their images:

Feature Photography, Barbara Davidson

Breaking News Photography, Carol Guzy and Nikki Kahn

To view all the photos on the pulitzer.org website, click on the following links:
Feature photos
and
breaking news photos

Photographer Helen Levitt

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is exhibiting Helen Levitt Photographs, February 24 through June 12, 2011.

The photographs on display features her work form the late 1930s, early 40s when she emerged as New York photographer as well as her later works in 70s and 80s.

NPR refers to Levitt as a "photographer's photographer---little known by the public, but revered by fellow photographers". She photographed New Your City street scenes, mostly in Spanish Harlem, in a time before television where the streets were full of life, from kids playing in the streets to adults sitting on the stoops to avoid the inside heat.
The museum is open everyday except Mondays and Holidays.
For more info on the exhibit and museum click here.

a

Maternity shots...photographing pregnancy

Pregnancy, though it can feel like it last forever, only lasts a few months but often the only shots we have of it are unflattering poses in profile against an even less flattering wall.
Not a great way to commemorate this amazing experience or way to show your child/children when they want to see what they looked like in "mama's belly".
I mean really, what's with the science experiment photos, with a steady growth pattern against a backdrop? It may be good for bragging rights (Really....I was thiiiiiis big) or used as future ammunition such as "this is why I have to wear a mommikini to the beach", but other than that...you won't be hanging them on your wall anytime soon right?
So before you take pregnancy photos, here are some things to think about.
What is beautiful about pregnancy for you? Why is it important to you to capture it? How does it make you? What do you want to remember?
For me, I didn't find myself pretty at the time, but in hindsight, I love looking at the roundness of my belly, the glow I failed to see I had. The wonder of the body, stretching, curving, expanding to make room for this little person (and in my case, two persons).
Today, my little girls love looking at photos and videos of me pregnant. They are fascinated with the idea that they were in my belly and love to hear stories of how they moved and kicked and "tickled" each other in there. I love that I have photos I'm proud to show them that capture how much I loved having them in there:). Here's a photograph I shot of myself in the studio with a tripod and self-timer 8 years ago almost to the day.

and a few other ones I like of friends and clients