Photography | Words + Images

Posts Tagged ‘Photography’

Serenity

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged leaves, Photography, poetry, serenity, water on December 3, 2009| 2 Comments »

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

— from Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer

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Aunt Thelma’s Christmas Cactus

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged Christmas Cactus, colors, Photography, Red and White on November 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

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Butterflies as Inspiration I

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged butterflies, color, ink, Photography, watercolor on November 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Butterflies have always been a part of my life. Quite a variety made their way through rural southern Virginia. My brothers and I found a little green pod once. We watched it grow transparent and out drip a wet-winged Monarch. White and gold butterflies were most common. Every now and then a blue butterfly would appear and that was an event that delighted everyone. Today living in the city I don’t see many butterflies at all unless they are on exhibit at local science or natural history museums. But whatever I experienced in my youth continues to inform my creative self to this day because I continue to draw upon these winged creatures for inspiration.

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Back Bay Flower Peeking Through a Fence

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged Boston Back Bay, flowers, Photography on November 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

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Rediscovery: The Africa Diaries

Posted in Books I Love, Inspiration, tagged Africa, Beverly Joubert, Derek Joubert, Photography, wildlife on November 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Not to be cliche, but I have indeed always dreamed of traveling to Africa. To this day, I remember as a child watching on network television shows like Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and National Geographic. At first I wanted to be one of the researchers on the ground studying the animals and the people. That interest influenced my decisions to study subjects like biology, environmental history and geography. Over time my interest evolved to include the people behind the scenes, shooting the footage that influenced my life so much. I’m sure that’s why I picked up the book, The Africa Diaries, An Illustrated Memoir of Life in the Bush by Dereck & Beverly Joubert.

It is a beautiful book of words by Derek Joubert and images by Beverly Joubert, of the landscape, the animals, the local people, and mostly, of the relationship between a husband and wife with a common passion for Africa. I highly recommend.

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Windows and Doorways

Posted in Inspiration, tagged mothers and daughters, musings, Photography, windows on November 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday I found an essay that I called The Watchers. It was a very short, personal piece about my mother and I, and how from her I learned to observe the world through the windows and doorways of our home. Though the woman I knew stayed close to home, and she made clear her worries for me as I ventured further and further from the nest, she eventually encouraged my wanderlust. And, she always encouraged me to tell her stories from my travels.

Today, I find that I am still quite drawn to doors, doorways and windows in my life and travels. They are portals into and between worlds. I did indeed used to tell my mom what I saw through the open windows of my dorm rooms, my hotels rooms at conferences, my apartments, etc. Though my mom is now gone, I find that I still use that “technique” to give people a view of what I see and experience around me, whether it is in writing or through my photography.