Temporary Abandonment

Hi friends,

This blog is being temporarily abandoned. To keep up with myself, Joey, Jordan, Ranjana and V's recent adventures in India, go to www.untitledindiaproject.blogspot.com.

Love,

Courtney

congrats, grads

I should not be allowed to drive...

ever, really... but especially when there are flash thunderstorms and tornadoes... the shiny flashes of light were just too much for me to resist. so pretty, yet so powerful.

i shot about 100 photos, blindly, while driving, and this is the only one with a hint of lighting in it. im posting it here in order to not feel like i risked my life for nothing.

sister

If only I could do my entire consumerism story on my sister... and I mean that in the kindest way possible. Its just that shes the only one who will let me into a dressing room with her and a camera.


Also, she got a tattoo. Jake, the artist, was less than happy to let me take pictures during the procedure. At one point I took a step forward and got in sort of close and he looked at me and said, "Okay, really?" Yes, really.


Launched my website yesterday! Feedback/criticism always welcome here.

Granddaddy, 93, and Grandmother, 87. These remarkable pair of people have been a constant source of love and support throughout my entire life. I remember countless trips to the Dallas zoo with my little sister and older cousin. Being the youngest three of six grandkids, we've been called "the three little girls" since those days at the zoo, even though we are now 25, 22, and 19. The three of us climbed in and out of every nook and cranny in their house, which my grandparents have lived in since my mother was in middle school. I have an endless cache of memories of my grandparents in that house-- "meaty things," Braums mint chocolate chip ice cream, feeding the birds in the backyard, Singing in the Rain-- I could go on forever. Within the month, my grandparents have to leave their house. They probably should have moved years ago, but they have refused. It's their house, with their things, where they raised not only their three daughters, but a slew of grandkids as well. Its been a struggle for everyone, but it is now a necessity that they leave the house and move to an "assisted living" kind of place. It is really hard watching people you love and adore become sick and old. They are so proud of all of us, and I realized yesterday how incredibly proud I am of them.

granbury

A few lazy days at the lake with my family and my dog.

its here.

these are taken with a 5D. wide open. at 1.4. i used to make fun of jordan for abusing that 1.4, so i'll just get it out of my system now.

Mas

Line to cross the border.


Juan.


Lines.

Finally getting a chance to sift through the rest from last weekend... no, two weekends ago... wow. Time flies when you're studying for finals.

PS: I finally committed. I switched. My amazon widget says that a 5D and 50/1.4 will arrive in one day. Not sure why, but the 28/1.8 is still six days out. Regardless, I don't think I've ever been so excited.

Mermaid

Ten hours in Brownsville

plant

rocket fest

krause

Ten pages

on Eugene Richards.
Easy.

I've been dreading writing this paper because I don't like to sit still for long enough to write a paper.

I've always thought a lot about questions of motives that people ask photographers like Eugene Richards or Nachtwey, etc., insinuating the photographer is exploiting the misery of the subject for their own benefit. They usually go something like "But how can you photograph such pain and suffering? And still sleep at night? And get paid to do it?"

I like his response in this excerpt from a November 1989 article on Richards in American Photographer:

"He has been stopped in the carpeted hallways of the Time-Life Building by better-dressed colleagues who asked,'What sewer are you going down today?'

Richards responds to such questions with great patience.

'People talk as if these subjects are aberrations,' he says.
'What they don't understand is that for most people in the world, poverty and disease are the norm- we are the freaks. But when I tell them that, they change the subject.'

'The only time I get upset by this work,' he explains, 'is when I see how hard it is to get anyone to take interest in what's happening in the pictures. Capturing the misery in life might somehow help correct it- I know that's not true, but it's a story I've always told myself.'"

Well, I might be young, naive and have very little real world experience, but for now I'm going to keep believing that story.

Homage...

...to the quote in the bathroom at Dog and Duck that I love so much. (Previous coverage of this same quote on Megan's blog) It's being painted over. So I wrote it on my arm.



'Let us toast to animal pleasures, to escapism, to rain on the roof and instant coffee, to unemployment insurance and library cards, to absinthe and good hearted landlords, to music and warm bodies and contraceptives, and to the good life, whatever it is, and whatever it happens to be.'

-As per Julia, 1/7/58

Skate

The Roots

and an impromptu bboy battle.

I shot another video .

The lovely miss Jenni Jones; multimedia guru and portrait stand in.

DPS Video

Finally made my first video for the Statesman yesterday. It was quick and dirty, but I'm pretty okay with the way it came out. Watch it here.

violins