Taxi Drivers

I have two photos that I can share in my taxi driver series. The first one said he didn't mind where I showed it. The second is pretty obvious why I can post it. :) It has been very scary for me to approach strangers to ask to take their pictures but most of the time people don't mind at all. I think it helps that I can tell them that my dad was a cab driver for 30 years. It has been a great experience, tho, and has taught me that I can talk to just about anybody.


A driver is a king on a vinyl bucket-seat throne, changing direction with the turn of a wheel, changing the climate with a flick of the button, changing the music with the switch of a dial.
~ Andrew H. Malcolm

Among the Rocks

I say, if your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life.
~ Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

Urban Landscape

Remember crime against property is not real crime. People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access.
~ Banksy

The Airport

I have started a new project for my portrait class. I am going to be doing a series of taxi drivers. I have promised all the drivers I have shot that these photos would not be public so I am posting a shot of the airport. I know, not that exciting... :)

It's no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase "As pretty as an airport" appear.
~ Douglas Adams

The Door

When you follow your bliss... doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors; and where there wouldn't be a door for anyone else.
~ Joseph Campbell

Living

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Young Me... Now Me

This was the original assignment for my class...


We grow neither better nor worse as we get old, but more like ourselves.
~ May Lamberton Becker

Hsi Lai Temple

I went to the Hsi Lai Temple over the weekend. It is such a peaceful place. I didn't get too many photos, but these are a few of them.



This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
~ Dalai Lama

Art Installation

E is taking a multi-media art class at the junior college. His final project is due this week. The teacher had each student install a piece on the campus. I drove him up there this morning to help him put it up.


It is not hard to understand modern art. If it hangs on a wall it's a painting, and if you can walk around it it's a sculpture.
~ Tom Stoppard

Mother's Day Picnic

My kids took me on a wonderful picnic today in the mountains. It was such a gorgeous day with wonderful food and company. We also had a little bit of an adventure when E almost ran into a rattlesnake. None of us saw it, but we we all heard it. Very loud and very scary.


It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they didn't.
~ Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

Mothers and Daughters

I have more to post from today, but this seemed appropriate to put on here first. I was working on an assignment from class - a "young me, now me" project. I looked at the photo of me and was struck by how similar B looks so I made her pose in the same way.


The precursor of the mirror is the mother's face.
~ D.W. Winnicott, Playing and Reality, 1971

Performance Art

In class today we had a special guest speaker/performer. She is an artist named Amy Kaps. It was fascinating to watch her perform. This class is fast becoming one of my favorites - more of an art class than a photography class. There is very little technique being taught (which is such a welcome relief from the minutia of f-stop and shutter speed details in other classes). It is very inspiring.

For the theatre one needs long arms; it is better to have them too long then too short. An artiste with short arms can never, never make a fine gesture.
~ Sarah Bernhardt

Graduation Photo

E needed a graduation photo to send out to relatives to let them know. After many serious photos this is the one he picked. It definitely shows who he really is.

You laugh at me because I am different. I laugh at you because you're all the same.
~ Vick Imbornoni

Graduation

E took and passed the high school proficiency exam a couple of weeks ago. Hard to believe at 16 he is now a college student.


Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.
~ Beatrix Potter