Author: Sarah

 

In New England, when there’s a storm on the weather forecast, all hell breaks loose.
And what do people do?
They flock to the grocery store.
What do they buy?
Bread. Milk. Eggs. Every time.
As if those three foods are the most important emergency survival items needed to stay alive during a storm.
Markets are overwhelmed by panicking people, even for the smallest of storms. And what happens if you get to the store late?
The shelves are completely empty. Well, the bread, milk, and egg shelves anyway. The rest of the food groups aren’t touched. People will walk through the stores with their arms full of bread loaves — more than anyone could actually eat.
It’s a quirky thing. The majority of storms here pass by relatively quietly. Even the worst of storms have us down and out for only a day or two.
I have to ask: why?

 

Cooper to Young Murph: “It doesn’t mean that something bad will happen. It means that whatever can happen, will happen,”

-From the movie “Interstellar”

Murphy’s Law has struck. Whatever could have happened in moving my studio to another town, has happened. Illness, snow storms, cancellations, non-comittals, reliable people letting you down, unreliable people surprising you, lack of communication, changes of plans.
I have about 10 days to empty this room. What else could go wrong?

 

FFJG+45 Kingston, South Kingstown, RI

 

Can a grouping of images really sum up a life changing experience? Can photographs really capture what it was like to be in a particular place at a particular time? The feelings, the atmosphere, the beauty?
These are a selection of pictures from my Seattle trip 3 months ago. I’m trying to go through them all (I took over 500 photos) and pick out the ‘best’ ones. But what does that mean? What story do these singular images tell? Are they really portraying what I want to say?
It’s going to take a lot of work to get the selections made, and some sort of order figured out. After that, it’s time to design a book.
I still need a title.

95GF+3X Westerly, Rhode Island

Selling at markets is an interesting thing.
You meet a lot, like, a lot of people you don’t know. Many of them stand at a distance away from your booth, not making eye contact or any sort of initiation of conversation. Others will come up and look at everything really quickly, barely giving any time to each handcrafted labor of love. Still others will make pleasant conversation. We’ll talk about my process, or their pets, or the old cameras they have in the basement collecting dust. Then there are the relatively very few who actually make a purchase, love what you have to say and show, and want to take it home with them or gift it to a loved one.
All kinds of people come through your booth, some pleasant, some less so. But regardless of the interactions you have, their lives remain largely a mystery. Who are these people? What are their hopes, dreams, professions, families, passions?

The lady in this photograph avoided my booth entirely, but her hat caught my eye instantly. Who is she? Has she been to Austria? Does she have a friend there, or family? Does she know Stefan? Was the hat a gift perhaps? Maybe she loves the Sound of Music! Or is it something else? There is a world of possibility to explain this fashion choice. I guess I will never know.

FF3W+V2 South Kingstown, Rhode Island

The holiday season in the US starts with one very, very busy weekend.
First, on Thursday, there is Thanksgiving. Families gather and everyone across the country eats the same food. Many people think it’s the worst thing in the world to be alone on Thanksgiving. I wish I could be.
Then, there’s Black Friday, a name as bleak as it sounds. Stores have huge sales, the lowest prices you can get stuff all year. I’ve never gone Black Friday shopping, because every store is absolutely mobbed with fanatical crowds who want big screen TVs at a low, low, low price. Even the gallery I work at has a line going down the block when we open our Holiday Sale that day.
Next up is Small Business Saturday. After everyone buys stuff at the big box marts on Black Friday, they’re expected to support small businesses and do some local shopping. Are you sensing a pattern here?
The day after that is apparently Secondhand Sunday, where people are supposed to shop at thrift stores and shepherd sustainability.
Finally, there’s Cyber Monday. That’s when all the online stores have sales. Your inbox will be chock full of emails telling you that you can get 50% off a new computer or anything else you can imagine. Often, the sales are extended for a full week.

Here, the holidays are considered to land between Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years Day. It’s one big push to buy buy buy presents for people (and yourself)–if the first weekend is any indication.
This is one of the reasons I say bah humbug to the holidays. It’s all so very commercialized, the seasonal music drives me nuts, and I just don’t get into the ‘holiday spirit.’ Maybe I’m just a Scrooge. But doesn’t it seem just a little like madness?

FFJG+45 Kingston, South Kingstown, RI

 

In the past year, I finally found my ‘home.’ A place I feel safe and warm, and love to spend as much time as possible there.
True, I have some catsitting clients whose bedrooms are larger than my entire apartment. But those million dollar houses are not home.
So what is home, exactly?
And when I have to live at other people’s houses for weeks on end, how do I take my feeling of home with me?
It’s not a rhetorical question.

 

FMXV+H8 Newport, Rhode Island

It’s called a “New York Minute,” the concept that things can happen in an instant.
Without warning, the light goes from red to green. Then green to yellow.
Who can tell when things will change? It could happen any second!
This can be both scary and hopeful at the same time. There’s no telling what will happen.
Alan Watts said, and this may not be the first time I’m quoting it:

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance“

Dancing can be so freeing. What a healthy way to handle what’s going on.
Won’t you dance with me?

FMRP+6V Newport, Rhode Island

When I took this photo recently, this just about summed up how I felt at the time. It’s funny how quickly things can shift.
Tonight is daylight savings time. The clocks get set back an hour. Tomorrow, it will be dark even before dinnertime.
Winter is a time for healing. With the upcoming short, dark, cold days, we must make a conscious effort to be good to ourselves. To do things we enjoy, eat good food, have good conversations, nurture ourselves. I’ll try to remember to be a little kinder to myself when I don’t meet my own high expectations. We all get to a point in life where we have to parent ourselves. We can’t rely on others for our inner peace. And that’s where I’m at. Keeping warm in the cold, and kind in this crazy world.

95FF+HM Westerly, Rhode Island

Here in the states we each have what we call a “Bucket List:” a list of things we’d like to do before we ‘kick the bucket’ (a term for dying).
Some people have very adventurous bucket lists. Others are simple. I actually don’t give much thought to my bucket list, and maybe I should. In fact, if you asked me for 5 items on my bucket list, I’d probably freeze up… I really just haven’t thought through what I’d like to do before I die.
One thing is for sure, though.
Watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, after 34 years of sunrises over the Atlantic–THAT is a bucket list item.

Perhaps I ought to make my list after all.

Ruby Beach, Washington 98331

This is not what I originally wanted my post to be.
I wanted something lighthearted, fun, happy. I’m sorry to get political again.

We have an event at work every year called the Great Art Heist. People adore this event, coming in costume to ‘steal’ works of art. My ‘bandit’ character is called the shadow. I wear pretty much the same outfit every year: all black, with bandanas covering my face. I’m trying to stay in character for a shadowy photographer bandit.
It all started when one of the guests at the Heist compared me to an ICE agent. I was immediately disturbed. He started going on about how crazy the times we’re living in are. I politely excused myself, and right away removed my bandanas, showing my face and breaking character. I wanted no part of that comparison.
Another ‘bandit’ character is called the Kingpin. He’s the emcee of these events, the ringleader of all the other bandits. I overheard someone yell to him, “Sorry, buddy, No Kings!”– a reference to the anti-Trump movement here in the states.
Then there were multiple conversations, both had by myself and overheard, about politics, immigration, guns, laws, and how a certain someone seems to be able to get away with absolutely any and every type of crime.

This year, our fun-filled event was tinged with political unrest. Even here, there is no escaping what’s going on.
That is the State of the States.

FFJG+45 Kingston, South Kingstown, RI