“Waitress on Channel 3” is a self-portrait born from memory and imagination. Posed like the classic diner waitress from American Graffiti, I stand in my father’s basement near the remnants of his darkroom, holding the little black-and-white TV he once kept there. My lower body fades into monochrome, echoing the era of grainy broadcasts and the way memory itself flickers between clarity and static. The patched wall behind me tells its own story of time, repair, and resilience, while the pose and vintage dress channel both personal history and pop culture iconography. It is a work about nostalgia, inheritance, and how the past transmits itself to us—sometimes in color, sometimes only in black and white.
Pages and Screens
A self-portrait exploring the weight of memory, connection, and the way eras collapse into one another. The phone book, the rotary dial, even the stump I sit upon—all remnants of what was once essential. Today, our gaze has shifted, but the posture remains the same.
This work is part nostalgia, part commentary—an invitation to consider what we carry forward, and what we leave behind.
#FineArtPhotography #ConceptualArt #SelfPortraiture #ArtForCollectors #FineArtForSale #ArtAdvisory #PhotoArtistry #FineArtPortrait #CollectibleArt #ModernNostalgia #SurrealPhotography #PhotographyCollectors #NewInCollection #ArtInvestment #AliCottonArt
Tethered Connections
Tethered Connections
This self-portrait reflects the afternoons of my youth, when conversations were bound to a wall phone and every word carried the weight of distance, waiting, and time. For Gen X, connection wasn’t instant or mobile — it was tethered, deliberate, and often stolen in quiet hours after school. Today’s world may never know the intimacy of those cords, but for me, they remain a lifeline to memory, friendship, and the shape of growing up.
Junking Our Couch
Once a kingdom of cushions,
a keeper of naps,
you held every secret,
every joke, every collapse.
Children bounced kingdoms
into your springs,
lovers sank quiet
into your seams.
Now you sit exiled,
your glory threadbare,
watching the woods breathe
their green, heavy air.
Soon the junkyard will claim you,
with rust and with stacks,
yet you’ll rattle with laughter
on the flatbed’s cracked tracks.
Because memory lingers
where fabric has torn—
a couch never dies,
it just gets reborn.
Anchor Bay Portrait Sessions
It’s been such a fun summer kicking off my Anchor Bay Underwater Portrait Sessions. Here are some of my favorites. Please reach out for my availability.
Northeast Airlines Crash on Moose Mountain - Photos from my archives
When I was a teen, I must have asked my dad what one of his worst times at the police department was. He told me that he had to spend the night by himself up on the side of Moose Mountain. He guarded the wreckage of an airplane overnight until crews could come at sunrise.
He said something that still haunts me. He told me that there were bodies up there, and at one point, in the cold and dark, they moved. It was rigor mortis setting in. He specifically said that one deceased person sat up. I am not a forensic pathologist…so I do not know if his mind exaggerated, under the circumstance, as he was in his early 20s, new on the force, and alone on a mountain in the dark after a horrific event.
My dad was also the police dept photographer. He had his medium format camera on him to photograph crime scenes and accidents. I never thought I would see the negatives he took…but guess what I found today….
These negatives have been in a box I shipped back from NH after his death. I finally went through this box, and saw an envelope in his handwriting that said NE Air Crash. I immediately pulled out my scanner and scanned them. (beats doing my quarterly sales tax I was supposed to be working on today.)
No dead bodies, but it was emotional looking at the wreckage. Here are three poignant images… wow. Since Dad died many years ago, I cannot ask him more about this tragedy. I wondered how I could investigate the details of these photos. Believe it or not, this is what I found on chat GTP. Check it out below. I love going through my dad and grandfathers historic images. This set of negatives brings me chills as I time travel 57 years ago to this tragic event.
My dad was not mentioned in any of the coverage, but when I read “Darkness delayed rescue efforts significantly”…I know it was my dad who stayed with the plane until recovery could resume at daylight.
If you are reading this and you have interest in sharing info or retrieving prints from me…please message me here. I guess I missed the 50th anniversary of this sad event a few years ago to share these images. But, here are some details that I found…
Northeast Airlines Flight 946, which crashed into Moose Mountain—a small, wooded mountain just northeast of Hanover, NH—on October 25, 1968 .
Crash Details
Northeast Airlines Flight 946
• Date: October 25, 1968, around 6:17 p.m. EDT
• Aircraft: Fairchild‑Hiller FH‑227C (tail number N380NE)
• Route: Boston → Lebanon, NH (stopover) → Montpelier, VT
• Location: South Peak of Moose Mountain, Etna, Town of Hanover, Grafton County, NH, about 3.8 NM northeast of the Lebanon VOR at ~2,237 ft MSL—approximately 60 ft below the summit (~2,290 ft)
Cause & Conditions
• The aircraft was descending too early during an instrument approach in dense fog and low clouds.
• Faulty VOR beacon signals and confusing instrument readings led to the crew starting descent prematurely.
• It resulted in the plane striking the treeline mid‑flight, shearing off the tail and rear fuselage. The remainder of the aircraft broke apart and ignited amid rocks and trees .
🧑✈️ Casualties and Survivors
• Total aboard: 42 (39 passengers, 3 crew)
• Fatalities: 32
• Survivors: 10 (primarily seated in the rear of the aircraft)
🏞️ Crash Site & Remains
• Located along a steep, wooded ridge roughly 45 minutes’ hike from the nearest road. Wreckage like twisted aluminum and aircraft parts remain visible near the summit of Moose Mountain’s South Peak .
⚖️ Significance
• This remains the deadliest commercial aircraft accident in New Hampshire history .
• The crash led to investigations and safety recommendations regarding VOR navigation systems and non‑standard instrument approaches in mountainous terrain .
Here’s a more detailed look at the experiences of survivors and others affected by Northeast Airlines Flight 946, which crashed on Moose Mountain near Hanover, NH on October 25, 1968.
🧑✈️ Survivors’ Experiences
“A Gentle Impact”
Survivors seated near the rear described the impact as surprisingly smooth:
“The initial impact … felt gentle and seemed no more severe than a normal touchdown … not a crash but more of a settling,” said one unnamed passenger .
Others echoed this description, calling it “not a crash, but more of a settling” or “a rough landing” .
Calvin Osha’s Story
Calvin Osha, a Texas-based insurance executive aged 41 at the time, survived largely by sitting in the rear of the aircraft. The front section exploded in flames, while the tail remained somewhat intact:
“I retrieved my glasses, and then noticed a piece of fabric burning near my feet. … The front end was destroyed—but the rear remained more or less intact.”
Osha witnessed mud inside the cabin, parts of the plane scraping, and then the fire ahead of him .
Ten survivors escaped—nine passengers and stewardess Betty Frail—all seated in the rear. They exited through the rear service door or openings in the broken fuselage. Tragically, while 17 initially escaped the fire, seven later succumbed to their injuries before rescue could arrive .
🚑 Rescue & Conditions
• Terrain & weather: The crash site sat about )57 feet below the summit of Moose Mountain (~2,237 ft MSL), in dense fog, rain, freezing temperatures, and rugged terrain. Darkness delayed rescue efforts significantly .
• Rescue efforts: Some survivors managed to walk down the mountain to get help. Others were evacuated by helicopter, with airlifting beginning at Dartmouth College Green and transport to Mary Hitchcock Hospital in Hanover .
🧠 Family Reflections & Legacy
Jeff Rapsis — Pilot’s Son
Jeff Rapsis, the son of Captain John A. “Jack” Rapsis (the pilot who perished in the crash), became a journalist and later the inaugural director of the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire. He often revisited the crash site to honor the event and advocate for aviation safety .
In October 2018, Jeff and his brothers hiked to the crash site and led a commemoration. He described a distinct ledge of red‑tinted, heat‑charred rock near the summit as “ground zero” for the impact zone. Many trees and debris from the disaster were gone, though discoloration in the bedrock remained visible to hikers .
Commemorations
On the 50th anniversary, dozens joined Jeff and others—including survivors and rescue personnel—to mark the site. Local fire department members recounted creating a makeshift landing pad on Dartmouth Green and coping with physically exhausting terrain in freezing, rainy conditions.
We Didn't Start the Fire
Burn It Down: A Reflection on Change, Rage, and a Hundred-Year-Old House
How often do you get to witness a century-old house on your childhood street go up in flames—intentionally set ablaze by a local church group, no less? The house was sacrificed, they said, to make way for a mega-church that few on the block actually want. The irony of that moment wasn’t lost on me. It felt like a scene out of a surreal, slow-burning film. Allegedly unwelcome, unquestionably real.
It was a cold winter day. I stood and watched, fascinated and furious. What I saw wasn’t just a house burning—it was a symbol of the time we’re living in. A time of erasure, of loud ambition that drowns out quiet history. Of power cloaked in righteousness.
This fire became fuel for something inside me. I began creating images that embodied the Angry Woman—a spirit channeling the grief, the rage, and maybe even a touch of Carrie White energy from Carrie. I paired them with Billy Joel's haunting song that echoed everything I was feeling in that chapter of my life. My own personal reckoning, captured through the lens.
Because this moment wasn’t born today. What we’re experiencing now—this unraveling, this blind momentum—started decades ago. We’re just seeing the flames reach the edges now.
And maybe that’s why a meme I saw recently hit so hard: God peering down from the clouds, the caption reading simply, “Next time, no humans.”
Some days, it’s hard not to understand that sentiment
11 years happens like THAT (Picture me snapping my fingers)....
Fisher and Logan became friends in 2014, and I loved taking them to adventures like the Long Beach Grand Prix, Zombie Fest, and our annual Santa visits. Logan moved away in 2020 but recently came back to visit, and it was an honor to capture a quick session with them. These two have grown into incredible young men—it feels like just yesterday I was introducing them to Dr. Demento and taking them to the OC Fair. Time flies… photography is the closest thing we have to time travel. 📸✨ #ProudMoments #TimeFlies #PhotographyMagic
Headshot fun!
It was really cool to photograph Tim Weisberg, last month, who is a radio host from Massachusetts. He had one of the first paranormal podcasts I listened to when podcasts started appearing on iphones around 2006.
Living in California, but growing up in New Hampshire, it was really cool to listen to a New Englander on his “Spooky SouthCoast” show. Here is one of the final images from our session last month.
“These are amazing! You make me look waaaay better than I really do haha. I'll be back for more”. - Tim Weisberg
Thank you, for hiring me to update your branding!
Don't box me in!
What a fun session with my son and grandkiddos. Contact me for a session like this! :)
Art Attack Halloween Sessions are in full Swing!
I have truly been having a great time with my newest sessions. They can be called a “Pop Up” Session or a “Mini Session”…I call them my “Art Attack Sessions”. I coined this phrase after I had an anxiety attack one weekend due to me stressing about life and work and money, and forgetting about using my heart in a better way than worry and stress.
So, this month my Halloween Art Attack Sessions are seriously the BEST investment and the pricing will be a cup of tea for you! Call me, tell me your costume, and I will plan with you the perfect way to transform yourself into a piece of art.
The final product can be as simple as a web file, or as cool as a 15x30 LONG THIN Wrapped canvas print. We also can create a mock up Record Album for you to proudly display on an easel in the corner of your favorite room of your home.
When it comes to using YOU as part of an art piece, you will realize how unique you are. It will help you think out of the box, and you will use this method in your work, your family life, and even as a method to pull you out of anxiety or depression.
Contact me for pricing and plans, starting at $195. It can be you alone, with a significant other, or with your best friends. Let’s open your mind and make art happen. And if you do know know what to wear, we can design ideas together. You may want to base it upon one piece of clothing, or a certain location. You may want to add a wig or a prop…the ideas are endless.
The above image truly is one of my recent favorite ones. I met these besties and we did a shoot. I brought along a very cool wispy piece of fabric and the entire time we were giggling and laughing at the energy it took to wrap all three friends together. Finally I had to literally tie them together with a knot in front. They reminded me of the sisters in Hocus Pocus, and that underlying force was how we designed this awesome image. Oh…and did I tell you that they are are team of paranormal investigators…wow! https://www.instagram.com/soulsisterssupernatural
Contact me at alison@bleucotton.com for your So Cal shoot. I also travel the globe for sessions and work at paranormal conventions for coverages including these sessions. If you plan to vacation here in So Cal, I offer Art Attack Camps which include a 2 day experience which will BLOW YOUR MIND! Reach out today! Thanks! ali
Photography at Virginia City, NV with Soul Circle Paranormal
I really do not understand why I am obsessing about my upcoming event in Virginia City, NV…
Actually, I do.
It is because this event is really an amazing weekend happening this November. I photographed it a year ago, and am going to photograph it again in less than two months. I cannot wait! Tara, Ryan and Shane are the ultimate hosts, and they have some incredible speakers, and lots of haunted locations to explore. It is an intimate event…and TOTALLY for those who want to experience an adventure!!
Last year, the group of attendees were people who you would become friends with and connect for the rest of your life. I really hope you will join me on this incredible journey of the PARANORMAL!
I photographed amazing portrait sessions, covered the event, and created event yearbooks. This year I will add on a cool way to receive your photos on a private site during the week! I cannot wait!
If you ARE going, let me know and we can book you a special Capturing Souls shoot. Bring a costume for even more fun!!!
https://soulcircleparanormal.com/ is the link for the event. You do not want to miss Aaron Sagers, Heather Taddy, Charlie Kryszewski, Janice Oberding, Michelle LeBaron, and Shane Pittman. Also, the antique stores in VC are amazing. The dress I wore in the first image was from Janice Oberding’s booth, which I bought right before my shoot called “There are Ghosts”.
Here are three Chameleon shoots I did during this event…wow…every one has an incredible backstory!!! I was blessed to have planned some shoots for my own portfolio…Ya know, smuggling my wigs in!… and the craziest thing about one of them as it was later described in a session, that I was transcribing some gal named Beatrice, with curly dark hair and white gown. Check out this image!
I also love Roxanne… this hat I wore had sooooooo much history…the mothball smell and the feel was insane! Here they are below. Enjoy, and join me in November!!!
There are Ghosts
Beatrice
Roxanne - Virginia City NV
Every Image has a Back Story - BTI
I have been thinking about my childhood a lot lately. My life seems to be going forward, but my memories keep going deeper back in time. Some of the images I create are based on a certain memory which I cherish, and I want to document while I can. The Hamilton quote has been sung in my head quite a bit lately.
“How do you write like you’re running out of time? Write day and night like you’re running out of time? How do you write like tomorrow won’t arrive? How do you write like you need it to survive?” I seem to create images like I need it to survive.
I am in the planning stages of writing a series of AliZines which share the backstories to many of these photographs.
I picture my work, hanging in the small art gallery at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College. A future middle school teacher (named Jan), selects only a small group of her students, who are excelling in art class, to spend a morning at the gallery (which distinctly smells like clay).
The students are taught how to analyze the photographs in the showcase, and discuss the meanings of each image. At the end of the session, the art teacher presents each student with an AliZine of the images and my interpretation of each piece created. The students grow up with a love for art, and make the world a better place expressing themselves with their creativity, too.
Here are three in a series about my schooling. I created all three pieces during different years, not in sequence, and with no intention of them fitting together perfectly to represent Elementary School, Middle School, and High School.
This first piece is called “Baggage”.
It started with me finding the dress at the local Savers. I had flashbacks to this outfit as a 1976 Kindergarten student. I wanted to transform myself back into my childhood self. I needed the portrait at my Elementary School, The Bernice A. Ray School. That one story building with the 1970’s designed “Multipurpose Room” sunken auditorium, was part of who I am today.
I also wanted to include what was part the identity of an elementary school student from K - 4. (Fifth Graders were too cool for it) …The lunch box. Yes, I own a collection of lunchboxes. They had been waiting for this moment all of their lives to be in a portrait, I am sure.
I created this, not only as a nod to my 90% excellent childhood, but also due to that 10% of not so good memories. This 10% is the baggage one takes with them from these years forward into adulthood.
It confronts that 10% of memories which causes one to have to go to therapy at age 50. One small memory which may be the root of a adult’s character. Why they are who they are. A memory of being an outcast for one month in 4th grade by their best friends, or maybe flipping upside down on a bike rack and banging up their head, so to miss the school bus going home, in kindergarten, or perhaps wondering if their eating problem stems from winning the donut on the string eating contest at Halloween one year.
We take a lot of baggage with us from our childhood, and this is my way to express not only the wonderful memories of my school days, but also how the spark of just a few negative moments are engrained in our lives and unconsciously form us as adults.
This second piece is called “Mall Rats.”
I am completely obsessed with indoor malls. It brings me back to my middle school years when my sisters and I yearned to shop at malls. You would think we were heading to Disneyland. I even wrote about every item I bought at the Mall, including what I paid for them and what stores they came from.
The closest Mall to us was about an hour and a half away. It was always an adventure going there for the day and shopping our hearts out for new outfits, jewelry, records, and decorations for my room. Our cousins on both sides of my family lived within minutes of their Malls…within minutes! Lucky dogs! The best school breaks were when I was in middle school and my mom would drop us off to the cousins house for vacation, and on a few of those days, my aunts would drop the 5 cousins off at the mall for the day.
The sound and smell of an indoor fountain running, the mainstay of stores such as Kay-Bee Toys, Joann’s Nut House, Claires, Brookstone, Sam Goody, Mrs Fields, Orange Julius, Tape World, B Dalton, Radio Shack, Benetton, Kinney Shoes, Pet Stores galore, Kmart, Ames, Bradlees, Deb, Musicland, and of course, Spencer Gifts with the naughty black light section in the back were heaven to me.
I now live 10 minutes from a few malls in Southern California, but they are outdoor malls full of high end stores. BLAH. But, I did not realize until a few years ago that I have been living near an indoor mall that still has an orange julius in it! When I found it I was extatic! But…I also learned that it was going to be sold and torn apart. NOOO. I decided I must document this magic before it would be lost to local future generations of Mall Rats.
So, this image represents my awkward yet cool middle school years, the first times I was out in a group of my sisters and cousins without parents. I would check out the guys in the mall, and freak out if they ever looked back. No cell phones, no internet, no teenage credit cards, no kids shopping who looked like super models, and the only over priced-store I remember was Benetton.
Indoor Malls will never be the same again, and I was blessed to have had them when I was a teen. I love that this group of friends I created are all trying to be the “In-Crowd.” Cool, copycatting each other, and all going through their awkward early teens differently. Yet they stick together in their matching tees and living their life simply yet to the fullest they know how, as they hang at the Indoor Mall.
This last image is called “The Prom”.
Not Prom…I would love to know why kids these days dropped the THE.
I grew up at a very cool High School. We did not have bells between classes, we did not have study halls, we were able to sign out of campus during our breaks, we wanted to change the mascot to a sloth, and we yearned to hang in the Senior Lounge when we hit Senior Year.
Although truthfully…I sat in the Senior Lounge once, (on a bean bag or carpet covered block), when I first became a Senior. I looked around at the other seniors sitting on beanbags looking back at me, and my awkward self never went back. Instead I would sign out of school, walk over to my grandmother’s apartment across the street, drink instant coffee, eat gingersnaps, watch “Hazel” on tv, and play cards with my Gram.
I had the BEST High school years, and I did not realize this until I became an adult.
In this image, I wanted to capture this moment that was never part of my BEST memories. Another interesting fact about Hanover High School is that we never had homecoming or a Prom Queen or King. Did I miss out on worrying about not winning the most votes, or worrying about what if I did win the most votes, having pig blood dumped on me? (ok, another fact about growing up during the 80’s was that we all read Stephen King WAY too young and it shaped our generation awesomely!)
No, I did not miss not having a Prom at all.
I think watching the anguish of Molly Ringwald in so many John Hughes movies allowed me to vicariously live through her, and get that drama out of my system. Don’t get me wrong, I still had my own drama. For example that weekend, on a dare, I called up a Junior I had a crush on when I was a freshmen, and two hours later bumping into him at the Record Store, and then on Monday, having my older sister tell me she heard all about it directly from him.
So, this image of a perfect prom moment is one I created for myself. As a 48 year old woman, I found a BNWT Prom Dress (that is Brand New With Tags, if you are not hip like me), at the Listen Center in my hometown. I ordered a Prom Queen Sash and a crown off of Amazon, and I asked my creative Aunt Carolyn, during a visit, if she had any extra flowers and ribbon I could make into a wrist corsage, (of course presented to me from my record store crush in this storyline, ha!).
I drove by my high school, took some photos of the classic brick exterior, and Voila! With a little magic, my imaginary moment was made, in front of my High School! A dream I never needed or wanted came true. :)
There you have it, some BTI from three of my favorite Chameleon Shoots about three stages of life. It is a joy to share a bit more about my work and how I create my pieces.
Thank you for reading this post and learning more about my art. Feel free to comment on this feed or on the Facebook link, if you found the article that way. I appreciate your appreciation for my photography.
Art Attack Portrait Sessions
March is Women’s History Month.
I am pleased to announce a new series of sessions available…Art Attack Portraits for Women. I will be traveling to New England and offering these one-of-a-kind sessions from March 13-16th in the Upper Valley.
The Session involves a bit of prep work from both of us, and then “your wildest dreams will come true”. I want to know your spirit animal, your favorite decade, your Hollywood icon, your favorite album cover, music video and MORE!
Can we ruin some clothes? Do you want to try a different hair color? How about being someone else for an hour?
LET’S MAKE ART!
The hour-long session plus one included retouched, art-worked, social media file is $295. You may purchase additional art pieces either in print or for social media. You may also choose to pre-purchase art. Let’s chat about your wall space and vision. Contact Ali at alison@bleucotton.com to hold your spot, and start the creative juices flowing!
13 Years Since MJ's Memorial
I cannot believe I was at Michael Jackson’s Memorial 13 years ago. And,that he died 13 years ago this year, and…that I still listen to the 1980s Apple Music lists and he pops up with the most amazing songs… he influenced the Gen Xers so much. I am heart broken by the drama and issues revealed in his later life, but he was a part of my growing up and who I am today, and to be at his public memorial was simply emotional.
I entered emails daily to get randomly chosen tickets and I was chosen for a set of two. My daughter-in-law and I were the ticket holders so we went to this moving event which was broadcasted internationally. These images are taken by a Canon G 11 camera… yes they are not the sharpest, but you can still see the coverage I got from it in nose-bleed seats.
It was very harmonious, and full of love, and an event I feel blessed to have attended. I am so sad he is gone. He was an artistic inspiration to me. I hope you enjoy these moments I captured. And I won’t even go into the story about how we forgot where we parked and it took three hours to find the parking structure we parked in.
Mariah Carey
Queen Latifah… I had her CD in college before she became a superstar on TV. Ladies First!
Lionel Ritchie
Stevie Wonder
Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant…I gulp realizing I never knew I got this shot of Kobe and he is now with MJ. And I met Magic Johnson again and was honored to have my photo taken with him.
Jennifer Hudson
Reverend Al Sharpton
Brooke Shields
Jermaine Jackson
Our view
The family… this image of Blanket Jackson on the far right just makes me so sad.
Swimming in Fans
I have this Tee, too.
Jesse Jackson. I remember my Aunt and Uncle supporting him for President. Here I am photographing him in 2009.
Memorial Outside Staples Center
Vendor Selling Stuff
Mixed Emotions 7-4-22
It is so ironic that the last post I made was in January and I spoke of John Hughes. Now I speak of Highland Park, Illinois, famous from his movie locations. This is where a senseless tragedy occurred at a 4th of July Parade.
I was already pissed about the SCOTUS decisions last week, and yesterday morning I created this series of images relaying the hurt myself and so many others felt this year. A day we are supposed to celebrate our country. This sequence of images are named “Mixed Emotions”…This truly has a deeper meaning as I watch the news and the aftermath of a violent day that did not have to occur.
I dedicate it to all of us who feel the pain. I tribute it to the “45 injured or deceased” and all who hurt and are broken.
Update - There were FIVE Mass Shootings on July 4th. We just only heard of ONE on the NEWS….we are broken.
John Hughes, You're My Hero
Lately, our family has been binge-ing on John Hughes Films. I realized they are a perfect way to bond with my 14 year old son. First we watched Breakfast Club. I forgot how heavy some parts were, and hoped I did not lose him with them. The next morning I heard him playing "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds, and I knew the movie resonated with him as it did for me in 1987.
So, the next night we watched 16 Candles. And a few nights later we watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Then we watched Some Kind of Wonderful.
Now, I have only watched SKofW a few times, as that movie was not as strong to me...the lead was a guy instead of a girl, no crazy quotable moments, and not a real romantic ending like you get with Pretty in Pink or 16 Candles, with a killer top song to listen to as I kiss my mirror or pillow pretending it was Jake or Blane.
So, when I watched it this time I really was focusing on it more than the others, which, by the way, I know almost line by line..."What's happening hot stuff?"...."Fred, she's gotten her boobies"...etc. etc...
One thing I really loved about watching SKofW, the other night, is that I really found the main character, Keith, as such an amazing soul. I was so happy Fisher could see how utterly sweet he was. I think for teen boys this is a a perfect film. It doesn't have the odd characters like Long Duck Dong, Duckie, or Principal Rooney, but that allowed us to be drawn to Keith a bit more. I also loved watching Watts as she struggled being the perfect friend, supporting Keith as he pursued Amanda Jones, although she loved him more than a friend.
The movie still seemed to rush through some poignant areas, like I realized Amanda Jones' boyfriend was a TOTAL ABUSIVE asshole, and her character learning how to stand up to him and walk away was missed before for me. My stomach turned when I watched Hardy, the ass, act the way he did. As a teen this did not stand out, but as an adult and having experienced jerks like this, it really triggered me.
The BEST thing about this movie, though, is I asked my son if he would like me to Chauffer him and his date to his winter formal. I would dress up in a suit and drive them, open the doors for them, sit in the parking lot all night until the dance was over, and drive them home....just like Watts did. He actually said I could...maybe... So that is a Win in my book. :)
This Chameleon Shoot was taken a few years back, but now that I look at it, I see Watt's, carrying her drumsticks wherever she went. They are her passion and part of her, as my camera is to me. I love looking back at my self portraits, and perhaps they don't have a deep meaning when I create them, but they gain more depth as time goes on.
Now, this image will remind me of the time I spent with my 14 year old son, sharing my teenage movies and how they taught me, knowing that he will be shaped by them, too.
Jack
I have been photographing my friend Jack for a few years now, whenever I am with him.
He is in a hospital rehab center after a fall, and I went to go visit him today.
One thing which I was blessed to witness was meeting his roommate, who became friends with Jack when he moved in to the same room at the rehab. Jack said I need to photograph him. I said, "Well, if he wants me to take his photo I will."
The man said, "Yes, and please take one of Jack, as we are good friends now. We want photos of each other."
This....
How incredible...that these two men have bonded as Nursing Home roommates, and it is important for them to capture this time in their lives to remember this friendship, not knowing how long it will last. Roommates don't last long in nursing homes.
I used the friend's phone to photograph the friend, (I pulled the divider over as a backdrop for his photo as he sat in his wheelchair by his bed, and used the window light for the main light). I also photographed Jack on the friend's phone. I then took a few of the men on my phone too, for Jack. I will make some physical prints for both of them, for each other to keep.
I absolutely love these images. Some of the finest portraits, full of depth. Simple I-phone photos, but their expressions are simply amazing, as they were posing to make memories for each other.
I could cry right now.
This image of Jack was one I took before the pandemic, when I had lunch with him at our weekly lunches. Oh how things change before you realize it... I am glad I have this image, too, and I cherish Jack..
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Future 40x60 Print
Over the weekend I scanned a few rolls of 35mm film out of my Dad's collection of negatives I have attained. There is always one on each roll which really take me back in time, and they are not always "posed at the camera". The images which are taken of life as it happened are my favorite.
This is the first image for my Virtual Gallery. When I was a kid, the living room in my Grandmother's home was the area where we all gathered in a circle to visit.
In this image, I believe my Grandmother sat down to chat in the corner of the L shaped couch, in the single seat, which allowed her to jump up and go into her kitchen around the corner to check on food in the oven.
This cushion seat on the corner of the couch was not the most comfortable spot to sit in, as you only had the funky wallpapered wall behind you for back support, unless you sat turned, so you could face the opposite tv, couch and recliner (where my uncle is sitting with his socked feet up comfortably). In that case you had no back support and just squatted and leaned forward on this corner spot in order to be a part of the circle of chat only, and not to lounge.
As a kid I hardly knew my Grandmother to visit in a seated position like this, hand up to her face, and enjoying the company with the her kids and significant others. This image shows her beautiful profile at an age I never knew her in. (I was probably born 6 year after this image was taken.)
I also love that my dad had his 35mm camera wherever he went, and he probably saw the way the natural lamp light hit her face. He and my mom probably claimed the long end of the L couch and were comfortably snuggled up together as they chatted with her older siblings across the small room. This angle which he shot this image reminds me of my many years sitting in this spot of that unusual couch with my sisters and cousins on holiday visits.
My Dad would tell me "shoot wide open at a 30th on manual with no flash" and that is what he did on this image. It came out beautiful and makes me want to pull out my old Canon AT-1 to keep 35mm on me wherever I go.
If and when I live in a huge home with lots of wall space, I will print this image as a 40x60 and place it on a wall of my private gallery to enjoy daily. Until then, it is part of my smaller print collection I have, and also it is my first digital file I am including in my "Virtual Gallery" online. I am so lucky to have the ability to time travel through his negatives. He would have never known this one click would inspire a future generation to write a piece on a 1960s L shaped couch and the memories of a grandmother.
Mourning Cat Young
My heart has been hurting since I learned of Cathy Young's passing on Sunday.
I was blessed to spend time with her and her daughter, Tess, when I met and photographed them in 2015.
We never reconnected except a few years ago when Cat called me out of the blue with a message she received from one of her clients who dreamed about me in a life or death situation...I am so thankful for her reaching out for me, knowing it was about something pretty far out there. (I still carry my "Cat" Self Defense Key Chain with me when I walk the dog and think of her call daily.)
Cat made such a difference to so many. I send her family and friends love and strength, and I am thankful I could capture her soul on that beautiful summer day in Pennsylvania. xoxo
