This is the kind of work I want to make. Simple. Beautiful. Truthful. A visual feast. Elicits interaction and discovery. Delights. Conjures laughter. Contains within it the sacred and mysterious. Makes you cry with joy.

Not sure what form it will take, but I know it will first require that I get out of the way.

Video via RadioLab (watch this video big on itunes….it will knock your socks off)

In college, I worked on a photo project involving having a lot of televisions at my disposal.  My mother was not about to have these tv’s strewn willy-nilly around the house, so a number of them ended up in my bedroom.  One morning I woke up and sat on the edge of my bed for quite awhile, my mind and body slowly coming to the realization that I was now awake. When I finally came to, I caught a glimpse of my silhouetted reflection in the television opposite me and what I saw was not just the natural awkwardness of what I looked like having just woken up, but something much more profound and quiet-seeming.  And I could not stop staring at it.

Believe me, this wasn’t about vanity, it felt more like how you feel when you watch reality tv, or catch a glimpse of someone inside their house or apartment going about their daily life.  You are seeing a basic and sometimes casual moment in life and as much as you know you should just look away and give someone their privacy, you just can’t stop watching.  Cause deep inside you are secretly wondering if they are like you.  And they usually are.  So.  I sat there being a voyeur on my own life – having one of those existential moments you have when you stare at yourself or a word for too long and it/you slowly become detached from reality.

I had wanted to take a picture of myself then,  but something stopped me.  Self-consciousness? Pride? Embarrassment? Who knows, but for whatever reason the image has never left me and has, in fact, been popping up in many different forms, recently.  My favorite being the shot (above) of the character Elizabeth Bennet  in director Joe Wright’s version of Pride and Prejudice. Wright (who also directed Atonement), is a director of details and overlooked moments, which I think is why I love his work so much. Plus, this quick flash of a scene is probably the closest example I have of what I saw that day in the tv.

In August, as I was perusing A Cup of Jo, I ran into these images of Michelle Williams – modeling the fashion line Boy (Band of Outsiders).  “Again!?!”, I exclaimed.
It’s a sign, I thought.

Now, maybe it’s one of those things like, “I own a cream Ford, therefore, I notice all cream Fords.” or “I hate Ugg boots, therefore I notice all people wearing Ugg boots”.  Sure, maybe it’s that.  But what if it’s better than that – a gentle reminder, a second chance of sorts -  to find some way of taking that photo I never took that day.  I’m not really sure, yet, but I’m curious.  And that’s the beginning….maybe of some new work.

1. The One in 8 Million series at The New York Times Online.

2. Seeing my work out in the world.