March 26th, 2008
I must say, it feels soooo good to be home.
The last couple weeks have been very busy with travel to and fro.
There are several exhibits coming up in the next few weeks that I’ll be posting about. I hope to get to see all of you there!
March 16th, 2008
After waiting in the Houston airport forever, I made it out on a flight last night to Amsterdam.
I am here for the next week shooting stock images and visiting my family. There is nothing like sitting
out at a cafe in the Netherlands and sipping a cup of coffee on a rainy day.
much much to edit…. that will consume my next few days here.
March 13th, 2008
I’ve been shooting in Houston for the past couple of days.. haven’t had much sleep.
I have so much going on in my mind that I can hardly process my thoughts, emotions and ideas.
I think i’m going to take a day and just go out to the middle of nowhere and write… that sounds amazing right now.
I have exhibits coming up in Charlottesville, Waco, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin….. much to plan. If you have a venue to house an exhibit, please contact me. I hope to be posting many new photos on the site from Sierra Leone, Dia De Luz in Nicaragua and soon to come Holland and Germany. much love to you all.thank you for reading this and caring.
March 10th, 2008
Check these out: Plumpy Nut – Made in Africa.
The product Plumpy’nut is designed for the treatment of severe malnutrition. Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food has a nutritionnal value similar to F100 therapeutic milk.
http://www.plumpynutinthefield.com
A straw that cleans water as you drink through it. About half of the world’s poor suffer from waterborne diseases, and more than 6,000 people, mainly children, die each day by consuming unsafe drinking water. LifeStraw, a personal mobile water-purification tool is designed to turn any surface water into drinking water. It has proven to be effective against waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and diarrhea, and removes particles as small as fifteen microns.
March 9th, 2008
From my travels with Summer Rayne Oaks across Mozambique in November – Shape interviewed her in the April 2008 issue and published one of my images during our tree planting adventure in the Bush.
Check it out – page 34
March 8th, 2008
I have dreamt of being back here since last year. It is a place where I am challenged and grow. My heart soars to see these people who have something that I long to have. PURE joy amidst nothing. The people of La Chureca live in a Trash Dump. Literally, the trucks come in, one after another, and dump the nastiest garbage in their midst and they filter through it to find thing to sell. Even at home, it is hard for me to face my dumpster because of the smell that reaks from it. What about a place where it all gathers and then finding people that practically swim in it. They have no shame in what they do, they work hard and provide for their families. Many of them suffer from illnesses because of the conditions they live in. You see babies and children walking around aimlessly in garbage that has everything from hopital needles to animal carcasses to the leftover foods a restaurant throws out. I wish I could only describe in words what this place is like, but my strength is not in my words. The community of La Chureca has light protruding out of the Darkness. The people are absolutely beautiful, kind and loving. I am in awe of the people who are with Braddigan and Love, light and Melody who have built relationships with each one of them. Young people who have moved into the dump to Love these people and serve them with everything inside. visit: http://www.braddigan.com/llm
The below photograph is by Eric Kelley – A freelance photographer from Virginia. He captured a moment that i shared with a little boy I photographed shortly after.
I will post many images soon. It has been confusing lately to where i’m waking up. I am not sure where I am anymore most morning, or what day it is. Please continue to keep me in prayer and those in La Chureca.
March 4th, 2008
Christiana was awoken from her sleep in in 1999 by her Mother saying ” listen, listen”. The first time, she heard nothing, but then again her Mother said ” listen, listen”. It was the sound of gun shots being heard all over the city.
The rebels were invading her city of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
They quickly got into a friends vehicle and started to head out of the city. There were shots being fired at their vehicle and it seemed that they had got away fine. Christiana was crunched in the back seat when she looked down to realize that two shots hit her in the chest. They rushed her to a clinic outside the city to get medical attention quickly. Her life was almost taken, but she somehow survived. She gives Thanks to God for each breathe that she takes. She lost all her cousins and her Grandmother who were killed by Rebels. If she is awoken in the night, during her sleep or if she drinks heavily, she suffers from a panic attacks and flashbacks to the awful days in what they call the Former Life of Sierra Leone. She now lives in Freetown with her two sons and runs her own business selling souvenirs to foreigners.
