Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
Happy Chinese New Year, From Paris
Paris is a postcard city.
Even if you have never been to Paris, you have a vision of what the streets and people look like. From books and movies, you have garnered what the ambience in a bistro must feel like. From paintings you know that there are cobblestones. From history class you probably know a thing or two about the Bastille and maybe even the Eiffel Tower.
There are so many people that never come to Paris, and yet they have a view of it etched into their minds.
But while Paris is beautiful, romantic and all those other things you always want it to be, it’s also much more than that. In fact, it is so often completely different than the postcard view.
Traveling on The Ghan: Australia’s Transcontinental Railway
Last fall I spent a couple of months in Australia, and while I have had great intentions of sharing some photos from that trip, this has yet to happen. In the meantime though, I am excited about a piece I wrote for Roads & Kingdoms about taking The Ghan, a train that goes all the ay from Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the south, crossing through Australia’s Red Centre.
The Ghan is anything but fast. With an average speed of about 53 miles per hour, this is the definition of slow travel, but the train’s snail’s pace is perfect for taking in the desolate, unforgettable landscape outside the window: dusty red ground and dry desert foliage well adapted to the arid environment. We pass a pile of old timber, what looks to be a former cattle loading area. The pieces of wood are dark with age, left to bake under the Australian sun.
Read the whole article here. And check out some of my photos from the trip below.
Find Moments of Beauty
It was a long week. Yesterday we rallied, with millions around us.
There’s so much to say. So much to decide moving forward.
But what Paris reminded me of last night is that there is still beauty to be found in the world. Let’s keep searching for it.
Je Suis Charlie: Thoughts and Photos from Paris
“Silence is never the answer, and when we ask ourselves what we can do tomorrow and the next day and the next day, it’s to continue to speak out. It’s to continue to do what we do, live our lives without fear, but also do our best so that those around us don’t have to live in fear either. We do not meet hate with hate, we meet it with compassion. We work hard to build tolerance. We create that space where all people feel safe and can congregate. Where they feel welcome and at home.”
I wrote that in an essay for Sprudge on the recent days in Paris. I am finding that all I can do in the midst of this tragedy is write. And if this week has taught us anything it’s that we must fight with our pens.
Friday Photo: Simple Life in the French Countryside
There is beauty in simplicity. A glass bottle for water. A table in the sun. Weather worn chairs.
In the heart of the French Riviera, I’m taken to explore an organic farm. The earth tilled by horses, the rows of grapevines and olive trees soaking up the southern French sun. There’s a picnic table at the top of the hill, overlooking the valley that the house and farm sits on. Everything stops. The only sounds that of the chickens in the coop and the occasional goat. This is beautiful simple living.
Friday Photo: The Good Life
Sometimes cold mountain air does more for a creative work brainstorm than a desk could ever do. Well, all of the time actually.
Reminders for a New Year
“I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me. ” – Anaïs Nin.
New Year’s certainly shouldn’t be about criticizing oneself, but it does happen to be a good time for reflection on what’s important. That’s what New Year’s resolutions should be: reminders about how to live well and embrace life.
