Random Thoughts and Words from the Street

Ecuametal 2011

2011-11-19T15:59:00.000-08:00

I am a gringa who is in love with the music scene of a small country far from my home. Throughout the years, I cannot stay away. The people captivate me, the music moves me, and I am addicted. Addicted to the people, the music, the place. I come here with respect, and with respect I take you with me.

Soy una gringa que se enamoró de una escena de musica de un pais pequeño, muy lejos de mi casa. Con los años, no puedo estar lejos. La gente me cautiva, la musica me mueve, y soy adicta. A la gente, a la musica, y a lugar. Vengo aqui con respeto, y con respeto los llevo conmigo.

Browns Game!

2011-11-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

I took the opportunity to go to a Browns game that last time I was in Cleveland. These following images are from the amazing tailgating before the game in Muni Lot, and from wandering around the stadium talking and laughing with people. You may asked if I watched the game or not, but that is not what's important. The important thing was making connections with strangers and feeling that open warmth that the Cleveland peeps are so good at offering.

USA

2011-10-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

Seattle 2007

Cuba 2010

2011-10-13T12:55:00.001-07:00

Seattle 2011

2011-10-13T12:53:00.001-07:00

Aurora, September 2011

2011-09-26T23:08:00.000-07:00

I've been photographing along Aurora Road (WA State Highway 99) for the past few years. The road used to be the main highway going north and south through Washington State to Vancouver BC. I started documenting the area as a part of a class photographing the motels along the old freeway. This project has opened up to be an ongoing look of a place that I consider to be the last frontier in Seattle. Many of the hotels have been converted to apartments, and many of these tenants have fascinating stories that they are more than willing to share. I consider telling their stories with words to be an impossible task, therefore I allow my camera to do the talking for all of us.

Slayer. Quito June 2011

2011-09-22T12:11:00.001-07:00

Ecuadorffff June 2011

2011-09-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Georgetown Party!

2011-09-19T09:53:00.000-07:00

A quiet moment during the DeadBaby Downhill Afterparty summer 2011.

Kentucky 2011

2011-09-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

Taken in Nancy Kentucky, my family has been coming to Lake Cumberland for around 50 years. My grandparents came camping here many years before deciding to build a house in the 60's. My Grandfather paid about $2,000 for the land around 1963! I wouldn't even want to think about what it would cost today. Here's a snippet of what it looks like in August 2011.

Seattle Summertime!!

2011-09-14T00:07:00.001-07:00

These are a few random photos I have taken over the summer months!

Mad Houses Exhibit
Guy on pay phone Aurora Ave
One of my more favorite places, Cal Anderson
Jessie and Julia at Alki
Alki cloud view
Nightfall on Aurora Ave
Crane Hill
Dead Baby Downhill After Party

Portraits of some Amigos circa 2007/2008

2011-05-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Prayer time in Sarajevo 2008

2011-05-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

Sodo Seattle 2011

2011-05-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

New Stuff! These images are from a night shoot in Sodo.

Mesa, AZ 2007

2011-05-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

Harmonica Kings 2008

2011-05-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

2011-05-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

2011-05-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

2011-05-14T09:46:00.000-07:00

Seattle

2011-05-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

Quito

2011-05-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

Seattle Dan

2011-05-13T16:04:00.001-07:00

Seattle circa 2008

2011-05-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

Quitofest 09

2011-04-29T00:20:00.000-07:00

Some peeps.

Tulcan, Ecuador

2011-04-28T00:20:00.000-07:00

Kentucky, USA

2011-04-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Walls and Such

2011-04-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

Diptychs 2008

2011-04-13T14:32:00.000-07:00

Three of my favorite Quito bands! 2009/2010

2011-03-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

Descomunal
Sarcoma
Colapso

Homies en Quito 2010

2011-03-31T01:17:00.000-07:00

Cat, Lion, y Diegui
Alushe, the great cornholio!

Venice 2008

2011-03-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

West Seattle 2009

2011-03-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Seattle 2008/2009

2011-03-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

José, Quito 2008

2011-03-21T19:06:00.001-07:00

Seattle Street Scenes

2011-03-15T12:51:00.001-07:00

2011-03-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Bologna, Italy 2008

2011-03-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

Venice 2008

Siena 2008

Some guys and their lady. Venice 2008

2011-03-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Deano. Siena 2008

2011-03-13T20:13:00.001-07:00

Andy. Willoughby, Ohio 2007

2011-03-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

Valerio and his Pup. Napoli 2008

2011-03-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Mas doors.

2011-03-10T00:40:00.000-08:00

2011-03-08T00:22:00.000-08:00

Paris 2008
Siena 2008

Humanoid Statues. Siena, Italy

2011-03-07T00:54:00.000-08:00

Some cats and a guy. Split, Croatia

2011-03-07T00:53:00.000-08:00

2011-03-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

Seattle 2007
Seattle 2007
Seattle 2007
Cleveland 2007

2011-03-01T00:36:00.000-08:00

2011-02-27T22:35:00.000-08:00

A few peoples on the late night in my neighborhood Capitol Hill. These are from a few years back.

2011-02-23T23:28:00.000-08:00

A few of our neighbors in Siena, Italy. We were all quite skeptical of each other in the beginning, but definitely warmed up by the end of our tenure there.

2011-02-23T23:25:00.000-08:00

Street side. Napoli, Italy.

Brother Rufus and the Septic Tank Ministry (and family)

2011-02-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

I came upon this bus a few summers back, and was immediately intrigued by the devotion put into the paint job alone, much less the ideals spewed within it! I managed to weasel my way on the bus, and had an interesting experience talking and photographing Brother Rufus. Even though our opinions conflict greatly, we got along fine and there was a great deal of respect reciprocated throughout our encounter.

Quitofest 2009

2011-02-21T00:25:00.000-08:00

Another night at Shortys

2011-02-20T00:49:00.001-08:00

AJ IS Willoughby

2011-02-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

2011-02-16T01:13:00.000-08:00

2011-02-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

A guy on a bike in the middle of the night on a bridge in Verona.

2011-02-12T00:54:00.000-08:00

2011-02-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

These are a few images that didn't make the final edit for my series Synergism. They were a few of the harder ones to get rid of, and I still feel strongly connected with them as images, just not in the context with that particular series.

2011-02-09T23:39:00.000-08:00

Tuuuura circa 2007

2011-02-09T00:38:00.000-08:00

2011-02-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

Fill in the Blank.

2011-02-03T18:40:00.000-08:00

Just a few babes holding stuff.

2011-02-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

Linsey's a baller! Shot caller!

Anna and her dinosaurs.

Ballard Outlaws

2011-01-20T01:33:00.000-08:00

Some guys hanging out in Ballard one afternoon that I just happened to be there. I forget exactly what we talked about, but I feel like it had something to do with living an outlaw lifestyle. They were pretty bad ass.

Olympic Peninsula Kids

2011-01-18T20:03:00.000-08:00

A few kids on the side of the road help their mother sell wood. A natural extrovert, this little girl was more than happy to pose for a few photos.

PAC NW babe!

2011-01-17T23:37:00.000-08:00

Seattle rocks it!!!

With really small (or no) pants. Whenever possible. Taken after the Dyke March, Pride Weekend 2009.

Niños de Zumbahua (Ecuador)

2011-01-16T21:39:00.001-08:00

Note the almost heavy metal hand thing going on on the left. He was trying!

Palio

2011-01-15T01:34:00.000-08:00

This image was taken during a practice run of the annual medieval horse race Il Palio di Siena. The race is a competition between the city's 17 contrades, resulting with the winner walking away with bragging rights and an obligation to party and chant around the city banging drums and causing a general ruckus. Now that is stuff I can get down with!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena

Wilson

2011-01-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

We met Wilson on the street outside the corner store next to the rock show on a sunday afternoon, and pretty soon ended up in his office where he modeled his most fabulous lucha libre get up! It's amazing what a few cerveza's on the street corner will lead you in to.

Show Me Your Roosters

2011-01-13T01:02:00.000-08:00

These images are from a cock fight I went to in Medellín over the summer of 2008. Up in the hills of the city sat this ring in the back of a possibly sketchy bar. A few dollars at the door got you all night entertainment. As bottles of Aguardiente flowed, bets were hedged on chickens lives and I was caught up in the fun of it all. I gambled on a life or two and came away even.

Tucky

2011-01-03T20:43:00.000-08:00

Another day in Kentucky. I like those kind of days.

Up in tha casino!!

2011-01-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

I met this guy in the Poulsbo casino after some of my friends got hitched this past September. He was pretty awesome. And FYI, never, EVER drink liquor that comes from a soda gun. It will NOT get you drunk. Bottles only friends!

Rome 2008

2010-12-28T07:54:00.000-08:00

Sarajevo

2010-12-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

These are some urban landscapes I took while traveling in Sarajevo a few summers back. I believe it was 2008.

I was creeping around an abandoned bombed out building when I ran into this graffiti.

Chi Town!

2010-12-26T20:28:00.000-08:00

So I will now be posting images from all over the place here. I no longer have any chronological order of any sort going on, so I will be sure to tell you what you are looking at from what time period!

These following images I took while in Chicago this past summer. It was a fun filled time with much flat land bike riding, Julie, bricks, freaking tacos, 40's and PBR's! Oh yeah, and walls and doors.

Turtle chillaxing!
chinatown

View from on top of Julie's

It's a chicken's planet

2010-12-03T00:02:00.000-08:00

CUIDADO MIS AMIGOS!

2010-12-02T23:47:00.000-08:00

En esta temporada de fiestas, canelazo, vielas, y explosivos, cuidado con tus manos! Son importantes! Fuegos pirotecnicos son sooooooo tan PELIGROSO!!!!

Noche en Salinas

2010-11-16T15:56:00.000-08:00

Desfile de Fiestas de Quito

2010-11-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

Your Guaranda News Source

2010-11-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

Tear Gas

2010-11-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

Tear gas is no joke. Education law protests.

Some Scenes of Rock n Roll

2010-11-08T22:32:00.000-08:00

Here are a few random images from a few random rock shows in Quito. (and hip-hop)

OZZY!!!!!

Zaturno and crew, bad ass artist from Chile.

Some Peeps From Cuenca!

2010-10-19T22:53:00.000-07:00

Vencino!

2010-10-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

One of Goro's charming neighbors I would never have gotten to meet if I would have made my original flight. I had admired him for months and months, and on my last day in Ecuador, we finally met. Bonus tracks.

Some nights on the town.

2010-09-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

Machala y Jambeli

2010-09-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

El Oro

2010-09-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Loja y Vilcabamba

2010-09-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Toros de Pueblo, Saliñas

2010-09-26T16:46:00.001-07:00

On a trip around the country we stopped at a favorite spot, the mountain cheese town of Saliñas, for their annual fiestas. The highlight of that stop was the Toros de Pueblo, which is basically drunk people chasing and getting chased by bulls. I made many friends with the locals by the end of the event, as the pajaro azul was flowing! When drunk people who like other drunk people meet, fun is had! And if I'm in the equation, you can guarantee that fun is documented so it can be shared, relived, and enjoyed.

Mas cosas! De cosas!

2010-09-04T00:51:00.001-07:00

Quito. Centro!

Some stuff! Of Stuff!

2010-09-04T00:43:00.001-07:00

All of these images are from Quito.

Mi hombre de chifa. Super ricoooofff style.

Tulcan!

2010-08-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

So life has been a bit insane for the past few months. I am back in the USA, working on edits from Ecuador all while visiting other places and shooting a decent amount in Seattle. Needless to say, I am way backed up on my editing! I am in Cleveland until Wednesday and after that it is time to get to serious business.

That being said, these photos are from a trip Goro and I took to a northern border town, Tulcan. I had been through a few other times going to and coming from Colombia and really wanted to go explore and photograph. I find the aesthetics of the town visually appealing and the people that we talked to were super nice. I would like to go back and spend a little more time at some point because there were so many forests and fun nature things to do, not to mention the Colombian side of the border, but we were a little short on time at this point. We did stop by a cave that has been turned into a religious sanctuary containing a virgin that people pray to. I look forward to going back and hiking and looking for bears!

Aloe drink that is slimy. I never tasted it. I think I was nervous about the texture..

Men who landscape the cemetery in the next few images. The cemetery is considered a public park and they have been sculpting the bushes since the 50's. Who knows how long these guys have been doing this! They do a good job!

I love this guy! He was very nice, and asked me if I wanted to take a bunch of pictures of his horse and cart. He asked me! That never happens! I like the top one a lot as opposed to the bottom. Something spontaneous that holds my interest longer. Anyone else? Opinion?

Virgin in the cave. She is said to grant miracles in response to prayers.

Door in a very small town at the top of the mountain by the virgin.

Lago Agrio and the Petrol Damaged Lands. Oil Jerks.

2010-06-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

There is an area in the jungle of Ecuador about the size of Rhode Island that is severely damaged due to malpractice of Chevron/Texaco. There is a massive lawsuit against the oil company that the Ecuadorians are fighting with three lawyers vs about 25 of Chevron's top notch lawyers. There are over a thousand oil pools in the area, most that have just been covered up by a thick layer of dirt. The cancer rates in these parts of the country are significantly higher than anywhere else in the country. Chevron blames PetroEcuador claiming that the environment was damaged before they took over decades ago. If you would like more information about this, there is a great documentary called Crude.

http://www.crudethemovie.com/

So as we have tens of thousands of barrels of oil leaking into the ocean daily, just remember that these environmental atrocities have been occurring all over the world since oil became our newest form of gold. Sucks that it has to hot close to home for many people to realize. I think it is time that we try to figure out how to market and make alternatives widely available.

Oh yeah, and if you must buy gasoline, can you please avoid purchasing it from Chevron/Texaco? Stop giving them your money when they won't pay up to clean up their mess.

This water had been filtered like 7 times or something ridiculous, and still reeked of gasoline.
Oil pool so thick our guide could stand on it.

Mass oil pool.

Petrol taken from the ground.

Pablo Fajardo the lawyer from the case featured in Crude, was very gracious to grant us some of his time. Great guy.

Oil worker.
Pipes.

More oil workers.

Future cancer victims? Let's hope not.

Mindo LOVE!

2010-05-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

I went to a small town in the cloud forest named Mindo, to visit a few friends from Seattle. They are each working on individual projects in the community all while working on an organic garden project. I helped on the farm, and with the kiddies art classes and had a great great time! Met a ton of great people, and was sad when it was time to go. It was not too relaxing, but fun nonetheless!

Life on the Rancho.

2010-05-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Goro's parents have a house type deal, el rancho, a few hours away from Quito. It's close to a little town called El Quinche. Here are some resulting images from a few days spent there and a long walk up the mountain. I unfortunately suck and can't remember the name of the pueblo. Ah well!

I love the countryside. Cows and clouds, swoooon.

Graffiti protesting the new water law. I need to research it, not too sure what it is all about.

"This is the house of Gods, the door to heaven," says the church.

Chicken mouth dog.

Some kids wanted a photo. I of course obliged.

"No drunks driving."

Big temple in El Quinche where many people go for pilgrimages because the virgin is said to grant miracles. Huh.

Random Random

2010-05-19T10:24:00.001-07:00

Some random stuff from all around.

On the way to the hospital I did my therapy at.
Church in Cotacachi.
Lady in Otavalo.
Door in Quito.
Man in Mindo.
Man and friends in Mindo. They shared booze with me and Cat. And then touched her boob. Men are jerks.
Clouds from my old rooms view.

Latacunga y Saquisilí

2010-05-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

I FINALLY made it to a livestock market! They start and end so early, I had always just missed or slept through them! It was everything I hoped it would be, so many animals, so much fun! I took a short overnight trip to the nearby cities of Latacunga and Saquisilí, stopping in Latacunga on the way to transfer buses and photograph a bit. I got up bright and early in the morning after spending the night in Saquisilí, ready for a fun filled day of photos, animals and friends!

View from my hotel room balcony in Saquisilí.

Cotopaxi in the background. The worlds tallest active volcano! I hadn't seen it in months until this evening. I am glad it showed it's face!

I was in for a surprise when I learned that the Thursday market in Saquisilí actually began on Wednesday afternoon and went late into the night, only to start again on Thursday morning!
I love me some juice.
Slanging chicken innards by the moon light!

The cow section of the livestock market! I almost got trampled by many a cow.

Chanchos! I'm in love. I will have one one day, and NOT FOR EATING.

This guy smudged poo all over my lens.
Piggy Love. I want to make this a greeting card! A love greeting card!
Probably my favorite image from the outing. They had the biggest pigs and the biggest fistfuls of cash that I saw.

This guy sold pigs and owned a night club. Fascinating combo!

These people were way adorable and nice.

Probably my second favorite image.... she was darling.

Lady hand making knifes with a hacksaw. Bad assed.
Slanging chickens!
Couple from the jungle. They were selling natural remedies, and he gave me an awesome CD of him and a few others singing with jungle noises.

Botanical Gardens

2010-05-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... FLOWERS?!?! What the heck iSh?! Flowers!?! I went to the botanical gardens, and they have here in Quito one of the best displays of plants I have seen in any botanical garden. The best thing about it, is all the plants are native things you would find here. I figured I would share a few of the images I took with you guys. I went to a small town in the cloud forest called Mindo last week, and saw a bunch of these plants in the wild! Look for that blog SOON!

My Long Shot night/morning!

2010-05-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

The night of Long Shot turned into one of the most random fun nights I have had in a while! Since I could only turn in ten images for consideration for the exhibition, I have included the ones I turned in plus MANY many more! The evening began with my tripod breaking on an outing to photograph in Centro, the old part of town. It ended with me collapsing into my bed at about 3 in the afternoon after an early morning outing to the market town of Otavalo with a friend from Seattle, Marie-Theresa. Our plan was to get to the livestock market, but when we got there we had thought it was over. As we were leaving town we saw that we needed to walk another block and we would have been there. Drat. In between the beginning and the end was a stream of random characters and good good times. Here is a little blurb that I wrote explaining the night, which may be used on some promotional posters for the Long Shot exhibition on June 4th in Seattle.

Once upon a time on a Friday night, I was out drinking with some friends in the streets of Quito in an area known as La Zona. It was a night of interesting characters, starting with a Colombian who would not mind my, or our, personal space. We ditched “that guy” and then came upon a man named Mikhail, who happened to be from Mother Russia. He told us all we would have beautiful children and then went merrily on his way. After one bottle of booze came our next few randomoids, Christian from the beach town of Atacames, and the kid who twirls fire on the street. Some might call him a hippie. The rain proceeded to come down upon us as we sought shelter under an awning. We were joined by a curious boy selling cigarettes and chicles, a silent type whose presence went by unnoticed in the moment, but encapsulated forever with the camera’s eye. Felix from the metal band Vomitorium stumbled upon the scene and a few more bottles of booze were consumed and some new graffiti made. Hip-hop freestyles and beat boxes ensued as more friends came looking for refuge under the awning we claimed for the night. As the rain slowed and the bottles drained, people started trickling to their separate destinations, another memory made.

Enjoy! Go check out the show on the 4th in Seattle! Buy Art! Much love!

Lago Quilotoa y Zumbahua

2010-05-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

Probably one of the most beautiful places I have been in the world, a few short weeks ago Quilotoa stole my heart. A volcanic crater lake situated high in the Andes, this lake was formed about 800 years ago after the now inactive volcano exploded. The minerals found in the earth here give it it's beautiful color. I turn into the biggest hippie when in places like these. I am totally in love with the Earth.

We got into town late on Friday only to discover the closest town of Zumbahua has their weekly market on Saturday. Added bonus! We tried to get there for the livestock market, but those darn things end so early! Until today I have always slept through them... (I am getting a few blogs ahead of myself here!) Here are a few resulting images of the place in all of it's beauty! I have a few panos I am working on, I just don't have the patience for photoshop these days!

This needs a lot of work, but like I said. Photoshop holds my interest for 2 seconds lately.
At the market in Zumbahua. We missed the livestock market, but it's evidence was all over.

Precious lady with her brand new chancho!

Chicken piles pretty much rock.

Thanks guy for my peacock feather! And the ride back up the mountain!
Sell me some pirated stuff!

The place is so magical. It drastically changes along with the light. A photographer's dream.
My ode to our shoes.

Goro gets all hippie in the nature too! Imagine that.