Wednesday, April 29, 2009

catching up


I have been negligent recently, I know this. I have had more 10+ page papers than a person should be able to handle (including one due at 3pm tomorrow). When I haven't been reading, writing, or studying, I've either been asleep or in bed doing absolutely nothing. Or sneezing, rubbing my eyes, and blowing my nose--allergy season has got me bad this year. Every tree in the Chapel Hill area seems to have dumped its pollen just in time for it to catch on the breeze and float on over to my house. Everything I touch makes my skin/clothes turn yellow. yeesh.

In other news, I went home on Saturday and finally got my polaroid Land Camera working, although I definitely need some practice. I had one successful photo and the rest were either out of focus or blurry messes because I didn't have the bellows extended all the way for a couple shots, oops. I can't wait for my replacement battery to arrive so I can begin honing my skills.

Also, I'm planning on getting back in the darkroom this summer. I'm so excited to start shooting film and printing again and I want to order some big, big paper on b&h soon. I just hope that I'll have time/ will be able to make time to being creatively productive. I know I will! I'm excited just thinking about it...can't wait!

I'm thinking about beginning a little weekly or whenever I feel like it post series in which I post a polaroid that captures how i've spent my day, how i've been feeling, what i've been occupied or preoccupied with... Maybe called "story of my day" or something?
hope you like the polaroid dyptich above! I took both photos a couple of days ago and thought the blues and greens were so pretty, plus the subjects complement one another. bring it on summer, I'm ready for ya.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

DC and photos


recovering from the post-weekend blues and getting back into the mindset of work work work after three days of wandering dc, eating good food, drinking good wine, exploring the museums, and enjoying the beautiful weather. plus, we finished off the weekend by seeing the flaming lips perform on the national lawn for earth day, followed by a delicious dinner at oyamel--a mexican tapas place with great food and a really cool atmosphere.


some more photos from the weekend:


chandelier in the entrance to the hirshorn museum

japanese maple
sparkley lights at the hotel



Thursday, April 16, 2009

just now getting around to reading those articles for my 10 page research paper on hip-hop culture and its role in the construction of racial identity that is due oh, tomorrow. i'm giving a big "n'thankyou" to the end-of-the-semester crunch that will undoubtebly send me into at least one panic attack within the next couple of weeks. no wonder I keep looking at my calendar, counting the number of days, and assignments, I am away from summer. this photo my sister took of me last summer at pawley's island isn't helping my desire to drop everything and run towards warmer weather and less responsibility:


what I wouldn't give to be standing on rocks by the ocean right now. in the meantime, if you are curious about the Chicana/o influence in the creationg of West Coast hip-hop culture, let me know.

Monday, April 13, 2009

two more

bleached-out cherry blossoms, looks like polaroid couldn't handle that much sun

my growing collection of matchbooks
...too much to do and too great a desire to procrastinate. no more school, pleaseeeee?

photographer's frustration

i've been having land camera nightmare after nightmare and they just won't stop. first, my land camera 100 arrives and my excitement is promptly crushed when after loading my film (the directions included with fujifilm instant film are highly oversimplified, if only i had watched the youtube tutorial before this experience) i go to snap my first shot, let it develop, pull the print apart and... my image is completely black. i did this three more times before throwing in the towel and deciding the camera was broken. luckily, i thought, it's only 10 bucks down the drain.

so I order a new camera, this time the 230 model, that says on eBay has been film tested and is in working condition. a few days later, I realize that maybe the problem with my first land cam is that the battery it came with is dead...! of course! so, now with two models of the polaroid and about $100 invested in the project, i think that maybe I now have two working land cameras that are only in need of new batteries. I ordered a 4.5 volt battery from eBay and in the meantime, i took my 100 home to test out with my sister's battery from her land camera. unfortunately, the picture is still black. maybe I somehow managed to expose the film but I sort of doubt it. so, as of now, the 100 model (along with an entire pack of film that I loaded in it) is out of commission. I guess I'm chocking that one up to experience.

so then, I receive my 4.5 v battery in the mail this morning and eager to pop it in and give my 230 a whirl, I break open the package and one side of the battery (the prongs that stick out of the - end) just snaps off. i was fuming! I tried to rig it up with tape so that it would still make enough connection to power the shutter but when I tried to snap a picture, black again. I am hoping that the seller will send a replacement battery VERY soon or else I will have some unkind words for them. what a fiasco this has become.

all I want is to take pretty pictures, is that too much to ask?!!!

while I wait and wait and wait for my land camera issues to finally be resolved, here are a few photos i've recently taken with my trusty polaroid one camera. whoever had the idea to just build the damn battery into the film pack was brilliant, now if only the price of 600 film would come down about 10 bucks or so...



Sunday, April 12, 2009

meet anne


hi, again. the girl in this photo is my cool little sister, anne. she has a blog called morning mouth that'll give ya a taste of her coolness and make you wish you were her sister like me.


on another note, i hate batteries and stomach aches. both have been getting me down over the past couple of days. yuck.

i've seen enough of my friends in the depths of the godsick blues


jenny lewis is coming to cats cradle on june 12th! lucy, sarah, and I screamed/sang along to her album acid tongue on the car ride up to and home from west virginia this weekend. thanks for providing the soundtrack to our road trip and get your sweet-soundin' pipes to chapel hill ASAP, woman!

YES, PLEASE.

oh god oh god oh god, i cannot WAIT for this! my favorite childhood book brought to life by spike jonze. how many days until the magic begins??

Saturday, April 11, 2009

lux stories

this is such an adorable, happy photo with a genuinely carefree nature that I feel is somewhat rare in art photography

I love this Martin Rusch photo and imagining all the possible stories behind it


a young, and very handsome, Paul Newman


I found these photos on JJJJound (a major source of inspiration as I've previously mentioned). While they depict lives of luxury and excess, I feel like the story behind each of these photos reveal a certain sense of complexity and depth that lies beneath the surface.


having a relaxing saturday on the lake in ghent, west virginia. more to come later...

Sunday, April 5, 2009

march madness continues


We all had so much fun cheering on the heels and celebrating their final four victory last night! Fingers crossed for the championship game tomorrow!!

Friday, April 3, 2009

camelias



The pink camelia bush in front of joseph's house has been blooming for weeks but for some reason, it was the flowers that have fallen to the ground (some of which have turned brown and rotten) that I found the most enticing. They were so beautiful I had to take a picture.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

12 things that make me happy

perrier sparkling water

steak frites from milltown...yum
this michael kors gold watch

o.p.i. nailpolish in bubble bath

maira kalman's beautifully illustrated book The Principles of Uncertainty

hermes scarves

polaroid cameras
pretty pajamas from pine cone hill lovely, sweet-smelling tocca candles
vintage gucci bags

beautiful peonies




these georges braque prints

land cam


I haven't been feeling particularly inspired over the past few days, but the arrival of my polaroid land camera and five packs of film should hopefully fix that. I am so excited to get out and take some photos! More to come soon.

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