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Happy New Year! I hope that everyone has a peaceful and prosperous 2009!
Today I'd like to share a handful of photos that I took last Saturday in San Francisco. I went to the City with some of my most precious possessions...my last pack of Type 85 Polaroid film and my last pack of Time-Zero Polaroid film. I wanted to shoot some photos in San Francisco before I ran out of either of these beautiful films. The first one I took was this one, looking at the Bay Bridge (my favorite bridge in the world!) from Treasure Island.
Bolt and Bridge (2009)
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Time-Zero *expired*
Imagine my surprise when, suddenly, an airship floated into view! With the mighty dirigible in sight, I took what may well be one of my very favorite Polaroids that I've ever taken:
A Zeppelin Over San Francisco (2009)
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Time-Zero *expired*
I then pulled out my Holgaroid and shot this photo:
Day of the Dirigible (2009)
Camera: Holgaroid
Film: Polaroid Type 85 *expired* (this is the positive)
Just when I thought the Zeppelin was gone, it returned, giving me the chance to take this photograph. It immediately reminded me of the horrible footage of Herbert Morrison's eyewitness account of the crash of the Hindenburg.
Requiem for Morrison (2009)
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Time-Zero *expired*
Later that day, I shot more footage of the airship above the city, including this photo of it, high above the Golden Gate, from the top of Telegraph Hill:
Day of the Invasion (2009)
Camera: Polaroid 104
Film: UV-ID (expired)
It was a truly magical day for Polaroid photography! I was thrilled to be so fortunate as to get these satisfying photos as I prepare to bid adieu to my favorite Polaroid films. It also reminded me that patience is, indeed, a virtue...and that we should all carry cameras with us at all times! You never know what may appear before your eyes!
Signed prints, as always in my Etsy shop!
My 75-year-old mother has just opened her own Etsy shop! She makes these great hats for Blythe, and I take the photos. We'll be adding a lot more in the near future, including hats for PETEENA!
Love Blythe
Click the pics to visit her shop! Thanks for looking!
I hope this note finds everyone well and enjoying the holiday season! There are so many beautiful holidays of light at this time of year. Please accept my happy holiday wishes for you and yours!
Christmas Cheer (2008)
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Time-Zero (expired 2005)
BRRRRR....Winter is here! Winter is my favorite season--probably because I don't live in a place where we get a lot of snow! I grew up in California, in a town where snow is non-existent (it's only snowed one time in my hometown since I was born, and that was when I was six!), and I have lived the majority of my adult life in either Southern California, Florida, or Texas...and parts of the UK and Middle East where snow is also rare....so snow is an event for me, not a drudgery. Where I currently live, in North Texas, we get a few snowfalls a year. I find it's the perfect amount of snow to be super-fun without actually being inconvenienced. This is particularly the case since everything shuts down--there are no snow plows here!--and the snow and ice are gone within a day or two.
During my first winter in North Texas, we had a few snows. At the end of the first one, I went outside and took this Polaroid. It's one of my favorites...as the snow trickled to an end, the sun emerged right at the magic hour!
Frozen Sunset
Camera: Polaroid Spectra 1200FF
Film: Polaroid Spectra
signed prints at my Etsy shop
Stay Warm!
On the day after Thanksgiving, my mother and I took a little country drive in the rural areas near my home. We were excited to find this fun vernacular Thanksgiving decoration--a Texas Turkey made of hay! Fortunately, I had my Grandmother's Polaroid 104 camera in the car, so I just had to get a photo of this kitsch beauty!
Texas Turkey
Camera: Polaroid 104
Film: Polaroid UV-ID
Hand Manipulation
Gobble Gobble!
This is just a quick and shameless plug for my Etsy shop! There is still time for holiday gifts! Click to visit for signed prints!
Futurowoman Fotographie
New photos coming to my blog soon...as soon as I get all of my students' finals graded! :)
Happy Holidays! It's such a busy time for everyone these days! For me, the university semester is winding down, which means a flurry of grading, writing letters of recommendation, and taking care of last-minute committee business before the winter holiday. For so many of us, it's also a hectic time of preparations for Christmas, Hanukah, Eid, and other December holidays! In a time that is often an orgy of consumption, I thought I'd write a few words today about the pleasures of handmade goods.
My husband and I make a conscious effort to consume with careful understanding of where are goods are produced and how they are made. I can't say we boycott Target or Costco--far from it. However, we are particularly careful about things like the food we eat, the cleaning products we bring into our home, and the "luxury" goods we buy. Increasingly, we try to eat organic and/or natural and/or local foods (our dogs also eat a locally-made, natural food), and we are now exclusively natural in all of the cleaning products we use. (Fortunately, you can even buy some of those things at places like Target and Costco!)
We've also moved toward buying handmade goods, whenever possible, for things that are both luxuries and necessities. Buying handmade, direct from the maker, has a lot of advantages. For one thing, you're supporting a craftsperson/artist directly and helping to make it possible for them to make a living at what they enjoy doing. Also, you know exactly from where your product is coming, and you don't have to worry about exploiting the maker. Finally, handmade objects are often of far better quality than those things you can buy in common stores.
I'd like to share some of my favorite Etsy makers from whom I've bought goods. Etsy is the site from where I also sell my signed photo prints. Check out their shops--they are wonderful!
Valhalla Brooklyn!
Valhalla made me this amazing purse--I simply adore it! I selected the style, the leather, and the fabric for the lining, and she hand made the entire piece. It's gorgeous, beautifully made, and always attracts attention! I've had many purses over the years, including some "designer" ones that cost more than hers, but not since the days of classic Coach (before they made the terrible stuff they make now) have I seen any purse as nicely made and unique as this one at such a reasonable price!
Stonz!
Stonz makes gorgeous jewelry out of found stones and sea glass from the Great Lakes! This is one of the pieces I bought from her, and I adore it! I highly recommend her jewelry, for it is beautifully designed, perfectly crafted, and extremely unique and eye-catching! I love the notion of turning simple stones into coveted gems!
Modern Printed Matter!
I love paper products, and I really love buying nicely-designed and beautifully executed note cards that are functional for many occasions! I bought these cards--showing off my passion for Mid-Century Modern furniture!--and have enjoyed using them immensely!
Isotope!
I bought this t-shirt for my husband for Christmas last year, and I've since bought others from this awesome maker for him. Isotope prints all of their t-shirts by hand, using vegetable-based dyes and natural shirts. I love their quirky designs!
There are so many options out there for thoughtful, handmade products. Check out online sites, such as Etsy and Trunkt, to explore the world of indie artisans! It's exciting to support makers, and you end up with nicer products at more reasonable costs, too!
All photos in this post come from the shops cited.
As an historian and a photographer, I am always interested in primary documents that emerge from a camera. I just stumbled across a really interesting photo set on Flickr taken by an Australian woman named Wendy Tanner. She shot many gorgeous slides while traveling through Afghanistan in 1974. These startling images reflect elements of life in that country before the Soviet invasion and subsequent (coming up on) thirty years of war suffered by the Afghan people. I can't help but wonder about the people in her photos. What have they experienced since then? Are they still alive? Have they been forced from their homes? It's horrible to imagine, but I am grateful that she posted these primary documents for us to peruse and ponder.
This one may be my favorite. Blue Glass Kabul by Wendy Tanner
