Shoot Snap Shot: Italian Style

This weekend, I had the pleasure of participating in my first annual Italian Sauce making tradition. For those of you who don't know, I did marry an Italian. And if there is anything I've learned in the four years we've been together it's that Italians take their sauce very seriously. I think it could also be considered hazing for new family members as you know that the entire family will hang you out to dry if you mess with their sauce. I took it upon myself to do some documentary photography of the sacred process. Here's a sneek peak from the shoot.

See the final edit from the shoot at www.crystalinerandazzo.com, under Personal Projects.

Indego Tripod Bag

Hello friends and fellow bag lovers! A friend of mine recently sent me some information on a great organization in Africa and one fabulous tripod bag. See more info and products at their website: http://shop.indegoafrica.org/


Indego Africa is a proud member of the Fair Trade Federation, employs a simple yet powerful social enterprising business model: (a) partner with cooperatives of world-class artisans in Rwanda; (b) sell their masterful fair trade handicrafts at high-end retailers across the U.S. and on Indego Africa’s WebStore; (c) pay the women a fair wage, including 50% up front; and (d) return 100% of the profits for training in culturally-tailored training programs in business management, entrepreneurship, organic gardening, computer skills, and literacy.

I am loving their tripod (or yoga) bags! You can buy one too! This one is my fav!

Inspire Me Monday: Craig Ferguson

 

Monday is back again my friends. And I am sticking to inspiration, which I hope will get me motivated after a weekend of travel and family. It's time to get back in the photo grove of things.  I first came across Craig Ferguson's work on a set of interviews done on herbervega.com. I was truly drawn to Craig's story as much as his work. I'll admit this is directly linked with the stage of life that I am currently in. I know that I am about to go and live in Lusaka for 2 years, so I have been seeking photographers who have made a similar treck, and been good at it. 

The theme I'm sticking to this week is R-E-S-P-E-C-T, yep just like Diana Ross and the Supremes. During the interview Craig was asked, "What are the characteristics that a good cultural photographer needs to have? How is that different from other fields in photography?"

 

Patience and respect are probably the most essential characteristics needed. Actually, the same characteristics that make someone a good human being would make someone a good cultural photographer. Awareness, honesty, openness, curiosity are all traits that are desirable in any walk of life. 

I've been thinking alot about this approach, respect and awareness are not something that we see incorporated into our immediate daily schedule where we are very busy and important, it seems to be that other people often become more of a nuisance in traffic than an entity to be respected. I am always amazed in other countries how there is less focus on the individual and more on the community. A respect for the group as a whole. As for me, I think I'm going to focus on being aware and respecting those around me this week. You never know someone's story, and you never know what you'll stumble upon if you'd pay attention.

Sebastiao Salgado

I don't know about you, but on Monday morning after my weekend activities I can always use some inspiration to motivate me to action. So I've decided that the first thing I should do on Monday mornings is to find something that inspires me. Be it other photography work, architecture, light, design, or individuals.

One of my favorite quotes is by Henry Thoreau, "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." To me this is a call to action, a challenge to dream big no matter what the costs. Your future is what you make it, and what inspires you are clues to your best work.

That being said, I thought I'd start this week of by visiting my first introduction to documentary work, Sebastiao Salgado. What strikes me about every single one of his images is the dignity given to the subject, and the beauty even in the moments of sadness.

I think that I have always admire photographers whose work strives for dignity. But after being witness to the photo tourism that took place in Haiti after the earthquake, I must admit that this subject has been on my mind of late. Is shock value worth demoralizing our photography subjects?

Salgado proves that the story or image stands on its own. His work is better than a java jolt on this Monday morning. Hopefully he'll inspire your week too.

Camera Meets Crop Mob!

I spend Saturday with a D.C. meet up group called Crop Mob. Once a month, Crop Mobbers head out to a local farm and take part in that day’s work and get their hands dirty. The specific tasks for each outing varies - they weed, mulch, dig, plant, harvest, or compost depending upon what the farmers need.


This week we headed out to Maple Avenue Market Farm to help weeding, planting, mulching, and picking vegetables. Maple Avenue Market Farm, located in Northern Fairfax County, is the first...and currently the only local farm working directly with Arlington County Public Schools to grow fresh local produce for its students. In addition, the farm's produce is sold at the Maple Avenue Market, a local foods store in downtown Vienna, VA owned by farmers Chris and Sara Guerre, and at area farmers' markets. Chris and Sara are passionate about using organic growing methods on the farm; and passionate about hands-on agricultural and social innovation.

The Crop Mobbers were awesome and left Chris and Sara's organic garden in tip top shape. It was truly amazing what 30 people can do in such a short span on time! It was wonderful to be witness to the community effort in helping these organic farmers. Go Green! 

Website Updates!

Hello all!

I have posted images from my final shoot in Haiti. I worked with ACDI-Voca during the bean harvest. As always I will be forever impressed with the resilience of the Haitian people. Many of the farmers I worked with were hosting multiple family members from the areas that were damaged by the earthquake.

My favorite bit of work is the Haitian Farmer portraits, their approach and positive attitude in regards to their works comes out. And I feel nothing but admiration when I look at the portraits. You can also find new work from the harvest in the Haiti section under Agriculture 2.

Just for fun, I put in some of my favorite photos from our 7,000 mile road trip. I must say, it is great to be back in the U.S.A. It is something I don't think I will ever take for granted again. Upon return from Haiti, I must say I am so appreciative of the simple things in life. These photos are just reminders to all of us who forget how lucky we are to live in a place like this.

One Step at a Time

Today I made progress!!! After reading a guest blog at Scot Kelby's website yesterday by Gary S. Chapman. I decided to send him an email to commend him on some fantastic work and to see if he had any pointers for newbies in the field, namely me.

Today, I had email from him waiting in my inbox! He passed along an amazing resource! Talk about knocking my socks off. You all must go this website:

http://www.hebervega.com/category/10q-interviews/

10 interviews with 10 photographers who are making it happen abroad! This is exactly the kind of inspiration I was needing today! One tiny step for Crystal, one giant leap for documentary photographers everywhere!