Inspire Me Monday: Autumn

Happy Monday friends! Today I am inspired by the gorgeous turn in weather, we are heading toward my favorite of the four seasons....Fall! I know that normally I put up some fantastic photography, but today I decided to break inspiration down to its simplest form. This is the time of year where new ideas are flowing, and my motivations are in full force. I don't know what it is about this year, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I lived in perpetual summer in Haiti. But the weather is so inspiring, I cannot bear to stay indoors.

I love the fact that I can disappear for an hour or two with my camera in hand and come back inspired and refreshed. In my heart, I am dreaming about pumpkin carving, Halloween costumes, and apple cider. I hope that you can also tear yourself away from all that is going on in your life, and take a drive through the beauty of the changing seasons, that hour could inspire your work for the rest of the winter.

Inspired Me Monday: Walter Astrada

This week I got to see the newest multimedia piece on http://www.mediastorm.com/, it's a piece by photojournalist Walter Astrada on the mistreatment of women in India. I know I was certainly unaware of the situation in India. You can see the full story here: http://mediastorm.com/publication/undesired

Each time I see a story like this I struggle to walk the line between showing the reality of the situation without exploiting individuals in a negative/dangerous way. Throughout this story I was horrified by certain photos, but I could not help but to connect with them emotionally.  I can see the strides and the work that this piece must of been for both Walter Astrada and Media Storm.

This week I walk away from this project considering the bravery it takes to make others aware of what is going on in the world. It takes you harnessing your own emotions and using them for the benefit of others. I hope that we can all have the courage to tell the story for individuals who cannot tell their own.

Words to Inspire

"Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous!"

- Bill Meyers

Inspire Me Monday: Ami Vitale

Happy Monday folks! I am alittle late getting this out there today but I claim a pass as I am prepping for my move to Zambia!

This week I had to do an Inspire Me Monday on Ami Vitale because when it comes to inspiration she delivers!  Ami makes beautiful images that have the power to tell the full story in a single click of the shudder. I am so inspired by the repetitive themes within her work as she shows issues with water, maternal health, environmental images, etc.

When I was sorting through her images on her website, I felt as if I was reading individual chapters of a very concise book. Ami sticks to what she knows, but she brings a new dimension to similar themes. Shooting similar subject matter often leads to static repetitive images, Ami seems to take on that challenge and prove that it is as simple as changing your perspective and stretching your photographic imagination.

I challenge myself this Monday to make beautiful images in an everyday situation, all it takes is looking beyond what is in front of you and show casing it in a new way. I hope you all are inspired this week!

Inspire Me Monday: Newseum

 Happy Monday Friends! I had a truly inspiring weekend which was a great start to my preparing for this weeks Inspire Me Monday. I had a great friend in town and we decided to head over and see the Newseum. This was my first time to visit the Newseum, so naturally we headed to the Pulitzer Prize Winning Photography Gallery

Little did I know that upon stepping foot in that gallery I would be caught in a time warp. I made it through the first wall of photos, and sat down in one of their digital booths where you could watch interviews of the photographers and I was LOST for the next three hours. The work and the artistry of the photographers stopped me in my tracks and I was lost in their stories and in the beauty or horror of the moments that they captured.

I learned about the risks that they took to show the world a story, the grief that held them due to what they saw, and the lives they changed forever with actions that were not captured on film. I will say that I was truly inspired. I could not rip myself away, and I have spent the last two days thinking about the images that I saw.

For this week, I am inspired by the bravery of the individuals who document real life, who do not shy away from ugliness, who inspire us by capturing the quiet beauty in times of sadness, the ecstasy of life, and the starkness in humanity. My motto for this week is carpe diem as so many photographers have done before me.

Fantastic Nonprofits in Lusaka

Since I arrived in D.C. in August, my goal has been to make connections with non-profits working in Zambia. Luckily for me D.C. is the city of non-profits. I am so excited that I have had several one-on-one meetings with the non-profits which has only increased my motivation toward humanitarian photography.

The Lubuto Library Project is providing literacy and library services to Zambia’s orphans and vulnerable children in cooperation with the Zambian government and the nation’s network of educational institutions. I was very surprised to hear that 1 in 5 children in Zambia have been orphaned due to AIDS/HIV and many of these children live in group homes or are left the street. Lubuto is provided them not only with a library with which they can pursue an education, but also a balanced selection of reading which allows them to direct their education to areas of their interest. Lubuto is creating online software where the children can learn bimba alphabet, and have found some children's books that are no longer in Zambia written in the Bemba and Nyanja languages which they have scanned and are now utilizing as resources for their children. I was truly inspired by the work they are doing and cannot wait to see the library in person!

http://www.lubuto.org/ 

Africa Fighting Malaria is a non-profit health advocacy group founded in 2000 and based in South Africa and the United States.  Their mission is to make malaria control more transparent, responsive and effective.  They conduct research into the social and economic aspects of malaria and raise the profile of the disease and the issues surrounding its control in the local and international media.  AFM strives to hold public institutions accountable for funding and implementing effective, integrated and country-driven malaria control policies and to promote successful private sector initiatives to control the disease. I cannot express how serious the Malaria problem in in Africa, the organizations that promoting and supporting prevention and truly saving hundreds of lives.


http://www.fightingmalaria.org/

Taking the Leap of Faith

“…That the moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Begin it now.”
-Goethe