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Chloe is amazingly smart, has a heart filled with empathy and a passion for service, and is the sweetest person you’ll meet.
And she also loves Beyoncé. Like, loooooves Beyoncé.
When we met to plan her session, she told me how inspired she was by the Formation video, with its gritty and glamorous aesthetic, and its message of standing in pride and strength as a woman.
So when I photographed her, I was sure to capture her sweet side, and her love of dance and swimming.
But I also found a century-old house with a gorgeous, decaying garden, and a sweet muscle car where I asked her, nicely, to channel her inner Beyoncé. As you can see, that was no problem.
I do something different and new for every client, because we’re all multidimensional and there is a power and beauty in letting that show. I’m so happy Chloe let that show for me.
I have such a soft spot for Bella, and her name suits her so well. She is just a beautiful person.
We talked forever about musical theatre and microbiology and physics and all of the things that make her crazy smart and crazy cool, as we explored Madison and let the wind do wild things to her hair.
Not long after her session she underwent a big medical procedure that would have scared the sh*t out of most adults, but she did it with grace and with courage, and it made me admire her even more.
She’s on to great things, I just know it.
The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.
– Isak Dinesen
This family’s story is not mine to tell, but I can tell you this.
Moving across the country and landing across the street from them was such bittersweet serendipity. Or fate. Or whatever you like to call it.
And that in offering myself to serve them in the small way I knew how, I learned that I needed them as well.
I needed them to show me the beauty in fear, and uncertainty, and faith, and heartbreak, and leaning on one another in a time of sorrow.
I needed them to allow me to be of service, and to be part of something so meaningful at a time in my life when I felt driftless and alone.
The pain they have gone through is unimaginable. But bearing witness to their fortitude, their love for each other, and their strength has changed me. And I’m not the only one.
We go to the sea for healing. To be part of something bigger than ourselves. To feel that tug of the tide saying that the landscape of our lives may be changed or scarred, but it is no less beautiful, and that we can carry on.
Liz and Jonathan’s harvest moon wedding in Cape Cod was just the sweetest, with the most eclectic, loving group of friends and family, and cakes made by the bride, and an Armenian-Middle Eastern-Mediterranean spread of food provided by loved ones, and not just a couple becoming one, but the celebration of a new family. Lots of laughing, a few tears, a bounty of homemade touches and at least one ornery sea captain. See for yourself, and leave the happy couple some love.
I just returned from an 11-day trip to the East Coast, including a week spent in New York City with my husband as an early 15th anniversary celebration. It was bliss. We stayed in a very bohemian 5th floor walk-up apartment in the Village and spent our days exploring and without an itinerary, which is how we like to travel. We hadn’t been back there since I went to college north of the city a decade and a half ago, and it felt nostalgic and new at once. Taking so many street and documentary photos also made me realize that I need to make more space in my life for personal work, so that’s my goal as winter nears.
For those interested in technicals, I shot all of these with what I call my “little camera,” my Olympus OM-D e-m5 with a 17mm f/1.8 lens. It wasn’t quite pocket-sized but it was much less conspicuous and much easier to tote around than my usual rig, and I loved the results.