Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Where We Sleep: Sacred Spaces


Marcus and Beer share this room at the Catholic Worker house in Denver, CO.  The room is filled with books, remains of various dead animals, and musical instruments.  On Tuesday nights Marcus gets together with friends to hand craft soap; in the right corner of the photo you can see some of the soap he has made.  Illuminating this space is an open door, which leads you down a staircase and out to the garden.

Eric's Brooklyn Loft, as he pointed out, is big enough to build a small boat in, but when he is home he spends most of his time in "Fort Wilson."  This dome like structure is where he keeps his bed, a space heater, a disco ball ornament,  and four lights of varying brightness and shapes.  He built Fort Wilson by himself in hopes of protecting from the chills of NYC winters.  In the summer he plans on transforming it into a cabana outside on the roof.

 As daylight fades and Christian turns on his bare bulb lamp, the wall to his left becomes the perfect setting for playful shadow puppets to dance about. 
Brooklyn, NY

Matthew's room in Queens, NY is filled with little treasures.  His ceiling sparkles with glow in the dark stars and on the other side of his bed there is a tabletop covered in sea glass, candles, a New Mexico license plate, and feathers.
 
   This is Luis.  He built a loft bed to make his tiny Brooklyn room feel a little more spacious.  Unfortunately he forgot to build a ladder, so on days he is too tired to monkey on up to bed he pulls his mattress down to the floor.  If you look closely you will find that most of the decorations in his room advocate social justice.

This self portrait is with my dog friend Beer.  I currently sleep on a twin mattress on my bedroom floor in Brooklyn, NY.  Lighting a candle once a day in my room helps me feel grounded and at home here.  I move around a lot and I am blessed with many visitors each place I go.  Beer is from Denver, and when he came to visit he stayed in my bed with me and cuddled up much like in this image.


"Where We Sleep: Sacred Spaces" is an ongoing project about people in the places they sleep, whether that be a room in a house, a car, a city bench, a friend's couch, this is the space we spend most of our time.  It is a place most of us go to feel safe, to cry, to get comfy, and spend time wandering around in dream world.  The idea of being welcomed in to such a special place and allowed to photograph really excites me.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Thursday, January 26, 2012

HOOPS.



 

 
















With all of the recent changes in my life, new city, friends, couch-surfing, jobs, I find comfort and solitude in exploring Brooklyn by foot.  One thing I have noticed is all of the Basketball courts... they are all over this place, and each one has its own charming qualities.  This is my new project: HOOPS.
The circle, the hoop, is significant.  A symbol of eternity, it represents peace, love, anger, and war. I find it interesting how we are drawn together through sports, where these very concepts (or things or ideas) are apart of this greater gathering circle.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Monday, December 26, 2011

The peace between the trees

My parent's front yard in Upstate New York.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

music makers


Paper Bird
Bonnie Gregory
Robert Cole-Sackett
Robert Cole-Sackett
Orelia String Quartet

Friday, February 25, 2011

Beautiful Pakistan



Metal Foundry in Mirpur
Melting down scrap metal
My friend, Ahmed

Lahore, PK
Inside the Sihk Temple in Lahore

Women washing their clothing in the river
Refugees in Pakistan. You can see one of the tents that the people here live in.
Refugees in Pakistan. Many of the kids were covered in their own feces. It was really eye opening to see the way they had to live.
Selling balloons is the livelihood of these people.
Mirpur, PK
Maria is a young girl I met while visiting the school for girls.
Dusk
Beautiful view near Chanjah
This is one of the few ways of getting around the village.
"The Local"
A mosque next to Unzila's village home.
Each grave stone is the length of the person buried beneath. After I was told of this it was hard not to notice just how many of the gravestones were tiny.
Village home
Gossip Hens
Shy

going out to cut wood to bring home.Sitting on the roof
This little girl would build this rock/car toy and push it about 4 inches before it would all fall apart and she would attentively rebuild. It was made out of rocks, a toy car, the sole of a shoe, and a lollipop stick.
This young girl followed me so closely that I actually bumped hard into her when I turned around.
Women Working
Watching a game of cricket
Village Children
Boy and Calf
Oldest man in Chanjah village
Chanjah Village
Village Man
This boy was very proud of all his winnings in a game of marbles. He made sure to count them in front of me and tell me the boy he beat only had 4 left.
1/2 cup of chai with 1/2 a cup of sugar
Village child
Mountain children
Camouflage
Boy watching from high above
Village Woman

Beautiful door, beautiful women
Sheep coming home to their lambs
ShepherdDadi with goat
Village man
A woman in the village
Village barber
A woman picking herbs
Village men
This is a teacher and his students. He is very strict and is known to discipline the children physically.
Two boys and the only girl in the all boys school (she is the one on the right).
Husband and wife in the village
There are many houses made of mud in the villages.
Two women washing clothes
Mino and Hamza
Driver Cha Cha took us all over with Taya Papa's family.
I noticed the man on the right... he is Unzila's dad. He ran for village government a few years ago and the posters and still hanging around the village.
This woman was hurt very badly in an accident and broke many of her bones. She was bed ridden for 2 months and then Unzila's family gave her some herbal medicines. She is now walking again.
Maria
School girls
A classroom
School girl
In class
Kids lining up to go in to school
Ugly chicken
School girls walking to class.
Boys on their way to school
Chicken
Papa and Ahmed
A boy on his way to where he lives, in the mountains.
Pakistan is BEAUTIFUL.
Sheep
Crossing the bridge
Apparently Americans are "farm chickens" because Arricka and I refused to ride this.
Ribbon Boy
A person of the third gender in PK
"Old is gold"- Ammi Pervaiz
This brings back memories of Nicaragua.
Stoop sitting
A beggar in the Bazar.
Daadi Zeb Un Nisa drinking chai
Abbottabad from a rooftop view.
Daadi Zeb Un Nisa
On our way out of the Market.
Two Tailors hard at work.
The electricity went out, so this man had to work by candlelight.
The Bazar in Abbottabad.
Selling meat in the Bazar.
Abbottabad
Pakistan Zindabad
Oranges for sale
Two boys working in a crop field.


On the way to Abbottabad
On the way to Abbottabad
Suzuki truck. This boy is waiting to pick up passengers.
"They have everything! Men selling fish on bikes."
After I took these photos this man asked me what newspaper they would appear in...

A man waiting to be picked up for work.
Pakistan is colorful
Tai ammi
Pindi
Even the fans were praying.
Women's area for prayer in the Mosque
Men's area for prayer in the Mosque
Unzila and Arricka at the place where Muslims clean themselves before prayer.
Faisal Mosque, Islamabad
Rawalpindi
Islamabad
Islamabad