See, Se Puede

Family Portrait

The light turned monkeyish right in the middle of Mother’s Day dinner. So we went outside.

Gathering of Nations

Had a great time at the Gathering of Nations last weekend where I met up with my friends Steve St. John and Roberto Rosales who were leading a photography seminar as part of the their Tortuga Workshops. If you missed this one, they’ll be leading another workshop scheduled for July. It’s a B&W film class, taught using a holga.

Wedding Photos

Jakob & Casey’s New Mexico wedding – Images by Steven St. John

My friend Steve St. John just posted the photos he shot at our wedding. Amazing……

I wanted to paste the gallery here, and I invite everyone to please visit his blog.

Thank you Steve! I can’t tell you how much it means!

What GURU meant to some white kid in the mountains of Northern New Mexico

I was sad to see that hip-hop artist GURU passed away yesterday after a long fight with cancer.

It might sound strange, but GURU was a big part of my life growing up. I lived in the mountains of Northern New Mexico and his music was one of my only connections to the urban world beyond. His tapes and CDs still fill my collection.

I clearly remember the first time I heard his Jazzmatazz vol. 1 album with my friend Adam Buechley. That album also bridged a gap between my dad and I. It was one of the first times my dad (who loves jazz) and I connected on the same piece of music.

GURU’s work will live on, and I’ll bump it until I can’t.

Pajarito Mesa and the NY Times

The New York Times just ran a story on Pajarito Mesa, a small unincorporated area 24 miles southwest of Albuquerque, NM. The community has been battling for years to get water and electricity services. According to the Times article, they won a small battle and will finally get their first permanent water supply this month.

Back in 2006 during an internship with the Albuquerque Tribune I had the chance to work on a story about Pajarito Mesa with reporter Kate Nash.

While we were out there, we met Belizario Reyes. Reyes, who was 74 at the time, said he didn’t mind the lack of services but instead preffered to live on the mesa because he had plenty of land for his 30 chickens, eight goats, and horse, Rebelde.

TEXTURES

I became a photographer primarily to make pictures of people. Photos are a way for me to interact, communicate with, and participate in my community.

That said, it was nice break to make pictures on Sunday of inanimate objects during a hike outside of Grants.

It also doesn’t hurt that New Mexico is so beautiful.

Social Media: Build Community and Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

This week my iPhone blew up (at least by my standards). Every time the mail server refreshed I had five new messages waiting, most telling me I had a series of new followers on Twitter.

At first I was sure my account had been hacked. Then I saw my colleague Mark Luckie, who runs 10,000 Words, had mentioned me on his Twitter feed.

Mark’s site is an incredible resource for journalists like me who are trying to harness the power of new technology in the digital storytelling age. We both went to the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and I had been following his work for a while.

It was a real hand-to-forehead moment as soon as I realized Mark’s mention drove all the traffic. He’s built a strong community of followers who trust his advice, and all it took was 140 characters (or less) for them to give me a chance.

Before this, I knew social media was about building an audience, but I quickly realized that it was also about building a community. I felt lucky to know someone like Mark who is (pardon the cliche) blazing a new trail in the ever-evolving world of social media and new technology. It demonstrated that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but instead I have to pay attention, learn from people like Mark, and find a way to make my own unique contribution.

Tea Partying

Tea Party supporters lined Menaul Blvd. just around the corner from my house yesterday. I think their signs, and their politics, speak for themselves.

Dogs and HDSLRs

Last Minutes with ODEN from phos pictures on Vimeo.

Dogs and HDSLRs: I’ve been thinking a lot about both of these things lately. It’s been a year, this month, that we got our dog Benny, and I can’t imagine life without him. I bet every dog owner says this, but I mean it when I say he is the the….best….dog….ever…….

I’ll save you the rant I could write about why he is so wonderful and instead post this video, which I think addresses the many of the powers of los perros. It’s a heavy video, be prepared. I loose it every time I watch it, but I think it’s a really good example of why dogs are truly our best friends.

It’s also shot on a 7D and I think the cinematography illustrates the power of an HDSLR. You’ll see that the photographer is not afraid to be a little out of focus (focusing is hard on the fly with these cameras) and the shallow depth of the field gives the video a unique aesthetic. The story is compelling, and the editing is tight (something I’m trying to learn).

Re-thinking social media

I know this video is kind of old, but I saw it again at a really inspirational lecture/workshop last weekend with Rob Haggart (A Photo Editor) who spoke about photography and social media. Before the lecture I think I believed in social media, but had no idea how to use it (really no idea). I’m not sure I have all the answers now, but I know a little more (and believe a little more) and wanted to put some of it into practice.

One of the key things he talked about was social media and audience. If you’re going to participate in the social media world and have any kind of impact, you have to figure out who your audience is. As someone who also teaches college English, and talks a lot about audience, I was really embarrased to admit I had never through about my audience. Who am I communicating with? What’s my point? What am I trying to do with my blog, my Twitter feed? What am I saying when I post to Facebook?

I’m still not sure who my audience is, but it’s something I would like to start working through. As someone who is part of a variety of communities, I think my audience is fairly broad. I’m a photographer, an academic, from New Mexico, covering Palestine, etc. I need to figure out where my interests meet.

I suspect this will be a process and I figure I would let my blog and other social media help me figure it out. I’ll be re-designing my website and blog over the summer to be more audience-oriented. But in the meantime I’m also going to start communicating more directly with the various communities I belong to. I want to be part of the larger conversation within each of these communities and see if I can’t find a way to weave my own social media web.

Please feel free to join the conversation, because that’s the whole point. And of course, feedback is always welcomed.