regain/regrowth

It's All Over

2009-09-21T20:18:00.003-04:00

yo dawgs. i'm starting my life over. (and my blog over). i'm crossing over to the other side and you can still stalk me on the internet if you'd like by visiting: http://dyurchinkonis.wordpress.com/
or www.yurchinkonis.com

prints/pots

2009-09-05T01:18:00.011-04:00

I have been in and out of state for most of August so haven't checked in for a while...

However, I did hang out with May and Louie today and made my very first piece of pottery!:

A little lopsided but I'm still pretty excited. Hopefully many more will follow in the near future.

In other news, I also recently ran a few test prints for a small print edition I hope to release some time in the next few weeks. Hopefully to be an ongoing series, all of the images are based around nonsensical mechanics and animals. Below are some quick shots I snapped of the prints this evening. Inkjet prints produced on 11"x17" Hahnemuhle William Turner. I'm still unsure about the number for each edition, but it'll most likely be something quite small between 10-20 prints of each image and relatively inexpensively priced and sold through an etsy account.

The originals are Bic ball point pen drawings on terrible paper. I'll have some better images when I release them.

pen pals #5; part one

2009-07-14T20:36:00.003-04:00

text message from Chad:

"Draw caricatures of all the guys in pianos." - Fri, July 10th, 12:31PM

from me:

Chad:

the creature is sort of an inside joke...

Kyle:

the rest will have to follow soon...

Pen Pals #4

2009-07-10T18:20:00.001-04:00

Text message from Chad:

"Kyle wants to see a jet towing a trailer." - Thurs, July 9th, 11:40AM

From me:

Pen Pals #3

2009-07-09T02:06:00.003-04:00

text message from Chad:
"Draw a woman wearing head gear braces" - Weds. July 8th, 2:01PM

from me:

Pen Pals, Correspondence #2

2009-07-07T19:27:00.002-04:00

text message from Chad:
"Draw an 800 pound drummer who kind of looks like Moe from the three stooges behind a tiny drumset." Tues, July 7th, 10:43 AM

my drawing:

ok. so i'm already behind in this.

Pen Pals, Correspondence #1

2009-07-04T12:23:00.004-04:00

So, while Chad is away on tour we decided to do a little project together. Every day, he will somehow send me an idea, object, thing, etc that he wants me to draw. In turn, I'm posting them to his blog. It's going to be good practice for me to get back to drawing and a nice way for us to feel a little connected. I'll post some of them here throughout the coming weeks. The first was received yesterday via text message.

From Chad: "an aristocratic kangaroo" received at 3:03pm, July 3rd.

From me:

you will move in great ways

2009-07-04T09:45:00.003-04:00

tearsheet from my sketchbook. progress on the second image in a small series of editioned prints i'm hoping to eventually have up for sale. the first was a rhino i gave to my sweetheart.

2009-06-27T11:16:00.007-04:00

tried to make a new website but it always feels awkward. i just want someone to come over and browse through boxes of prints with me but i guess that isnt the most logical way to show your work.

recent acquisitions:

andrea offerman

andy kehoe

justin santora
first two giclees, last one a screenprint.

i've been trying to draw a bit more and also slowly get acclimated to using a wacom tablet. i think i was supposed to be an illustration major. maybe it isnt too late.

looking up

2009-04-18T19:55:00.001-04:00

2009-04-17T09:32:00.001-04:00

Satisfied

2009-04-14T21:23:00.018-04:00

The opening and relative life of the show have been a success. So maybe two frames have dropped off the walls within it's reigning weeks but hey, we've been keeping the power drill in my car for these few weeks for just that reason. Just how things go, I didn't really get many images from the opening itself or when the room was full but you get the point.

We had a ton of food- a lot of which had ethnic ties to the country in some way or another and great company. I've received so much great feedback, and really appreciate the depth some people went into in the comments they've left so far. I've had a lot of people with Eastern European roots exhibit a strong emotional response- often identifying with the undertones of the residue of occupation/violence which I attempted to explore in the photographs. The show has actually been extended until this Sunday, so still a chance for anyone to see it if they haven't had the chance. Congratulations to Georgi Ivanov, who is the grant recipient for this coming year.

Here's the final selection of images, as well as a peek at my gallery guides which were on hand to offer some further background information on the content of the shots.

All of the prints (26.5"x38.5" on Fuji Crystal Archive Type-C photo paper) are available for purchase/trade. I also have some smaller prints available with an image size of 9"x13" which are digital c-prints also.

I've never been a huge one to update frequently or even observe the 'blogosphere' that often. In recent times I do admit that I feel an artist's validity seems to be questioned if they don't have a sufficient journal or web database of their work. I'm attempting to at least get a decent web page up soon. I do intend to still use this space to update with bits of my own work here and there. As well as post more images from my time abroad. As for small bits of internet writing on other artists/subjects, I've recently started to aid Chad in maintaining his own blog project over at Stoking The Roots. I usually post there about 2 days a week if you care to take a look.

Finally up!!

2009-03-24T17:02:00.008-04:00

so, after a long and grueling 12+ hours installation/building session, Chad and I managed to get all of the pieces finished and hung on the gallery walls last Friday. Sunday I came in with the help of some family and finished up some details, arranged all of my information, and hung my title plaques and now the show is finally finished! (for the most part).

Only the second official day of the show, I've already received a lot of great feedback. The reception is this Friday, where a new MICA photo Senior will be announced as the recipient of the same grant for this year.
If you'd like to come by, the address is:

1300 Mount Royal Ave.
Baltimore, MD 21217
(that big giant white marble building)
in the Main Gallery
(which is on the basement floor of the building)

The reception will be this Friday, the 27th- from 5pm-7pm. We'll be serving light refreshment, hopefully including a few selections of Latvian goodies as well.

If you cannot make it to the reception, the show will be on display from March 23rd - April 12th.

continuing on a lighter path...

2009-02-26T02:19:00.010-05:00

here are some 35mm portraits.

i also received postcards for the show in the mail last week- for some of you, those are already in your hands, but for the others... if you'd like one, just shoot me an e-mail with your address and i would be very happy to send one out to you.

a break from Eastern Europe

2009-02-17T22:44:00.018-05:00

travels with nicole. UK mostly.

all over the place

2009-02-14T16:05:00.012-05:00

some scans along the way. I'll be making a lot more mass photo posts in the next few weeks. All of these are scanned on a flatbed scanner while I was at work..

Dana in the woods behind her family's house.

Erika's kitchen.

by the lake in Liepaja.

National Song and Dance Festival in Riga.

Long exposure of the camp fire spot we made along the beach. Outside of Ventspils.

Marta, Janis, and Daina in a field near their family's home in Sigulda.

My grandfather's mother and brother. near Liepaja.

The hill of crosses, Lithuania.

in front of the Museum of the Occupation in Riga.

in a box factory in Jelgava. I believe the little sign in the machine is some sort of joke telling the workers they can't sleep inside.

Block housing outside of Riga. the dim hallways of the block houses I stayed in always kind of intimidated me.

Eastern Latvia in the countryside. A very old method of firing pottery inside of the earth. The man smiles for a photo opp as he lights the wood, starting the night long process.

decisions

2009-02-12T00:06:00.008-05:00

...are being made. but you know, that still doesn't mean they're final. or finished.

a broken bus stop on the city streets of Lithuania at night.

a jail cell in an old Soviet prison in Karosta, outside of Liepaja (Latvia). Prisoners were have said to use their finger nails or teeth they had punched out to make the markings. Now the prison is open for tours- you can sign a waiver and even experience a few hours of being treated like a prisoner by your uniformed officers.. well you know, within reason. Oh yeah, they also offer Bachelor and Bachelorette parties.

man on a train. Several of the trains still in use are also from the Soviet era, hissing and whining they offer a hot clattering experience in the summer that certainly was unique. The man sits in a seat that scrawled on the wall in pink marker as the Conductor's seat.

Ilze outside of her home. We could hardly speak one word to eachother but she was truly one of the warmest people I met on my entire trip.

Karlis on the wave boulders on the Baltic Coast in Liepaja. This was one of my last days in Latvia and before a going away party with my few relatives, we walked the coast with his mother and father to get one last look at the sea.

Ice creams I still can't wrap my mind around. Nostalgic? I don't really know. But the Soviet Union dubbed frozen treats were simply vanilla ice cream within a chocolate shell-- just in case you were wondering.

Ash tree berries crushed on the dirt road. A somewhat uneventful photo- it has become somewhat of an extended metaphor for the feelings I felt towards Latvia's conflicted and somewhat recent occupational periods. These berries also adorned the passageways of Erika's home- warding off bad spirits from entering. More lighthearted than an actual prevention, they are a warm representation of Latvia's natural cultural roots.

i'm still constantly scanning negatives and don't see an end in the immediate future. i'll be posting more updates with some of the images that i'm working through as they pop up. Postcards are ordered and my dates are set for my show. More details as things approach.

slow progression

2009-01-31T20:23:00.019-05:00

Inauguration day I found myself in Ruiner's van on the way to DC around 10AM (they played a show later that night). Miraculously, we hit absolutely no traffic and actually got to DC in time to walk to the mall and see Obama's address. Everyone knows there was a gigantic crowd that day, so thats not much news, but it was exciting. I've never seen so much merchandise for a government figure in my life. Everything from t-shirts to handbags and earrings.

Some photo updates- Chad and I are currently working on building the frames for my show of the work I made in the Baltics. My work will be displayed from March 23- April 12th, with that Friday in March being the reception. I am still in the process of narrowing down my selection and printing the final pieces- which will probably continue right on through the end of February. However, the frames are under way and very exciting.

Some of the themes I continually came across when living in and shooting daily life in Latvia dealt with the traditional vs modern, natural vs constructed, independent vs controlled, etc. This, mixed with the interest I found in the country's history of fine craftsmanship and labor, led me to the decision to make the frames of my show as much of a created craft as the prints and shots are themselves. So, with Chad's HUGE help, the frames are all going to be completely self-constructed from wood from his family's farm in Ohio.
Each frame is cut down from planks of ash (an added bonus to my feelings of connection with the mountain ash trees that flanked the passageways to my grandmother's home in Latvia), sanded, routed too many times, cut to size, sanded again, cut to exact corner fit, and then assembled and stained. At this point the frame itself is ready but just needs to be fitted with plexiglass, frame spacers, mounted print, and a secured back of some sort. Sounds like an easy process, but even for the simple design of these frames, it ends up being quite a long process.

Thanks again to Chad for eternally holding me together and supporting my work.

And speaking of him, a few other kind of cool design things. I screenprinted some CDs for Pianos and also released a t-shirt design that has now been printed on brown and gray for purchase. Pictured below are a few of the CDs- which are previews for their upcoming 7" split and a photo of the design on brown.

And, a bit late to post I suppose- but I did recently receive my copy of the 2008 MICA photography department book and it turned out quite beautiful. I have 4 photos featured from my "Progress" series-

oh. and today is the last day you can submit your vote for the Baker Artist Awards.

the baker artist awards

2008-12-09T02:11:00.004-05:00

about a month or two ago i entered my work into a self-nominated art competition based in baltimore called the Baker Artist Awards. Artists from Baltimore and the surrounding areas are invited to compete for several grants to be awarded after the turn of the new year. the first of the awards, the Baltimore's Choice Awards will be awarded to artists among the group who have accumulated the most online votes. From this pool of people, a board of jurors will then decide who the winners of the Mary Sawyers Baker prizes will be (up to 3 artists will be awarded around $20,000). A pretty big purse.

anyway, it's about that time to start promoting for votes (as of today, 54 days remain in the voting calendar) and so here i am. the money and consideration would mean a lot to me in terms of funding the continuation of my project. you don't have to be from the area so if you would like to vote, please follow the link below. it does require that you register yourself, but isn't much of a hassle. and by all means, please look around at all of the entries in the competition- there is a huge variety of art and this website is exactly what Baltimore needs to try and bring the community a little bit more collected. if you browse other profiles while you're logged in, you accumulate more votes also.

my profile
explanation of the awards

excerpt #4

2008-12-07T20:17:00.017-05:00

"June 21st, 2008

So much good has happened since the last time i have written. I feel much better being on the outskirts of Riga and out of the tourist hot spot. I met Antra at the train station and we made our way to a co-workers house of hers. Apparently they had been out for drinks and her co-worker had invited us back to her home for food and to hang out. As i enter each threshold of someone's home here i am much happier about the fact that i have yet to use a hostel or hotel. i think it helps me to understand a person much more thoroughly if i can see them inhabiting their own space.
The homes here, in general, seem to be below what a middle class standard in western culture is but it is wonderful to feel the age of a building so strongly and the warm ways in which people work around the restrictions their buildings sometimes present them. Antra and I dropped my pack and made our way around Jelgava. I saw some of the parks and churches and a particularly beautiful university building. i learned something about a kind of Latvian tradition that two individuals perform when they are married. i was a little unclear of what it exactly meant, but something along the lines of crossing over several bridges together and locking a padlock to one of the bridges. Often couples have the locks inscribed with their names and the date. After a nice stroll we found ourselves back at her coworkers house for some food- fried potatoes, vegetables with sour cream, sausages, and a kind of vodka cocktail. The afternoon light poured into her kitchen and was absolutely beautiful. We stuck around for a while, ate fresh strawberries Antra and I got from a street vendor on our walk and then walked home to Antra's while her coworker's boyfriend carried my pack and rode his bicycle.

There are things i am leaving out, but just for the sake of brevity. Antra was living on the top floor of a soviet era block housing complex. Dana later informed me that these buildings were constructed for workers during the occupation and were usually free. How big your apartment was depended on the number of children in your household. In the morning Antra had already gone to work and called on her lunch break. Her boss and several of her coworkers picked me up and we al went to lunch together. Eating out is sometimes awkward for me, with a group of people there is usually some sort of odd split between who will speak in English and whom in Latvian. At some points the whole group will speak Latvian and then return to English when they feel i am left out. ordering is also awkward because my pronunciation is so far off that people often don't understand the words i am saying in their language.

After lunch i traveled back with them to their work place: a box factory which cuts, labels/paints/prints, and ships boxes for other products around the world. i got a tour and then was set loose to take photos as i wished. i took images of the huge machines but also tried to convince workers with my gestures to let me take their photos as well. this was the first mark of me trip where i began to worry that sometimes may go wrong with my film because what i was seeing was very important to me. some workers were agreeable but many declined my wishes for them to appear in front of my camera.

After this, equipped with a map from the internet Antra gave me, i walked out into the outskirts of Jelgava, into an industrial section. My first stop was an abandoned sports stadium across the street from their business park. Three old ladies were sitting in the field and greeted me as i went walking in with my camera. as we gestured back and forth and i explained i was a student from the US they agreed to let me photograph them. i hadn't met someone of an older generation that i could get a positive response from so these ladies were some of my first. They sat smiling, one holding a stick in the air for their dog as i snapped 3 photos. i think i should have moved closer but i am still tense photographing people here.

the rest of the day i spent walking around marveling mostly at architecture that felt very different from home, trying to understand what it feels like to have so many physical reminders of a nation's occupation in previous years. i saw a prison that day as well. apparently it will be closing soon- in the next few years- because of problems with being able to throw the inmates things over the fence?? it was absolutely the polar opposite of what prisons back home feel to me. as i sauntered down the road carrying my tripod i was waiting to reach this prison (antra pointed it out on the map earlier). as i was walking in this small residential community it was suddenly upon me, right next to all of the houses. there was no barbed wire, except for a few tangled coils on top of the roofs of some of the buildings. perhaps 3 or 4 blocked buildings, white and dingy with a similarly colored wall around the campus to match. a small fence was on top of the outer wall, but that- and the small bars over the prisoner's rooms, were all i could see holding the inmates in.. they could be seen, sitting at their windows smoking- one even shouted out something to me. i knew i wasn't allowed to take photos but i snuck a few when i pretended to be loading film on the ground anyway. (* i haven't reached these scans yet in my film, but will post them eventually)

the rest of my day was carried out in a similar fashion, walking place to place- often following my intuition. when on my own, i eat from supermarkets when i can find them. the food is cheaper and i feel less pressure because i can look at each product for a long time- deciding what i actually think it might be. the end of the day i met several young boys on a small dirt road. they were honest and i paid them to help me translate to an old woman and for their help guiding me to some other places. i took their photo while they awkwardly stood in front of me and then later regretted not photographing them further. the two eldest were who could speak english and had faces so bright. i think my grant explanation wasn't totally understood and i come off more as a photographer for National Geographic than the reality of the situation (perhaps that is why they were so excited). That night i spent alone catching up in e-mails and trying to write postcards. Antra was out to a party of some sort and it felt kind of nice to spend a night alone writing to everyone back home. I still feel exhausted from the trip here. "

oh. as always, clicking on any images will make them BIG on your screen.

Pianos Become the Teeth/Ezra Joyce split

2008-12-05T01:16:00.010-05:00

i recently had the chance to design the album artwork for a 7" split being released by Pianos Become the Teeth and Ezra Joyce. The above is the example of the jacket of the EP unfolded completely, poster style. When folded, the album will be packaged with either half of the design being shown, thus the "cover". (such as either below)

the cover was drawn by hand and then pieced together and tweaked through photoshop. The majority of the illustration is a mix of ballpoint pen, gesso, and ink on butcher's paper. The jackets are to be printed double sided with lyrics hand drawn for each band. It should be pressed and released hopefully sometime in January. I'm pretty excited to see it turn out in print. I may have some other projects similar to this i'll be posting on here during the next month. If you care to check out either band (Houses We Die In by Pianos is one of my favorite songs) you can find tracks at:

Pianos Become the Teeth

Ezra Joyce

excerpts #3

2008-12-05T00:16:00.011-05:00

"June 18th, 2008 17:42
On a train that is hopefully headed for Jelgava. i thought that being around another language would be interesting to communicate with other means. i'm so tired i cannot write correctly. right now the language barrier is very frustrating. announcements that are probably important to know, menu items, directions on the street- nothing do i understand. people look at me strange when i speak english. i think i am unwanted here. the funny thing is, all of their ringtones are american songs and so is the music out at the bars. it's so weird to crave some sort of linguistic companionship when it's also being broadcasted around you- like some sort of taunt.

small houses roll by in the countryside- i guess they're actually considered suburbs here- and the walls are covered in bright graffiti. i read things like "dog town" and the word "fuck" used in various ways, sort of reminiscent to the way i feel about the radio music. i walked from Laasma's to the train station and couldn't even figure out where the buses left from. i couldn't find help from any of the older window attendants but eventually found two little girls in the station to help me understand the large billboard of train information. you buy a ticket and find the appropriate train, your boarding ticket will be checked after you're already in motion. when i sat on the train, i simply asked "Jelgava?" and pointed to the ground and the spectators just stared at me for a while before understanding what i wanted to know- i can't even say town names correctly at this point. the only real way i am surviving is through the couchsurfing contacts i made. and even those may eventually run out as this is a very large expanse of time. i left some belongings at Laasma's apartment to lighten my load, so at least i'll see her again.

things aren't all bad. last night i went to meet my future host Antra at a pub. I met several other couch surfing participants- hosts and travelers. Two i spoke to for quite a while; Emma, a girl from Canada, had a similar situation to me where her parents were Latvian but lived in the US. She, however, learned Latvian at home and is now coming here to stay for a year. I also met Lauris, a very talkative and cheerful individual. i have a feeling that both could become important on this trip.

i'm regretting my choice to pack so much- the weight is unbearable but i don't know what else to do since i want to have my photo equipment. i'm dragging a little and it's only my second full day here. Some teenage girls turned around just now to make fun of me. it's kind of amazing how universal body language is. i think i'm just tired. once i let go of my self-consciousness and perhaps my extreme guardedness of my belongings or safety i may start to feel better."

rhino

2008-12-04T04:13:00.003-05:00

had a go at my first scratch board the other day.

excerpts #2

2008-12-04T03:03:00.000-05:00

"June 17, 2008 12:08 PM

sitting in a cafe. Laasma was nice enough to give me her keys to her apartment last night so that i may wander around the city today as i wish. i was pretty discouraged on my journey from the airport to her apartment. lugging my extremely heavy luggage around was hard enough but it was difficult finding someone who spoke english and was willing to help me. i never thought the US was an overly hospitable country but i'm starting to feel alienated at moments when people are clearly and openly not happy that i have approached them. i managed to get on the right bus at the airport but then felt baffled as i could not find myself at all on the guidebook's map. The sights were honestly kind of depressing. Buildings are much more run down than i had expected, though there is some sort of attractiveness about the outskirts of the city. The city itself has a familiar European set up as the more major parts of Ireland i traveled years ago. a woman heard me struggling to ask directions from two Russian boys around my age and took pity on me when we were off of the bus. She called a taxi and waited with me and gave him directions in Latvian on where to take me. After then knocking on the wrong apartment door, i finally found Laasma's apartment and felt much much better to have a place of safety. i went to dinner with her and her roommate later joined for a drink. Both have a quiet sort of manner about htem- at least upon first encounter. They are extremely amiable and have a sort of shy playful nature.
The apartment is large and, as a comparison to my western experience, very bare. All of the rooms are very basic, with little on the walls and several belongings neatly stacked together. This morning i got up and showered and tried to gather my things together. It has been raining all morning and so just brought one camera out with me. Even so, i have been turned down to photograph the only thing i really attempted so far today-- a man about to carve a very large pig carcass on a table in a local market. i had wandered into the market off the street but felt much too shy around the older crowd to ask to photograph. The older generation here generally does not seem to know english, and when i attempt- well, so far they seem unhappy. i'm excited to be on this journey but i feel discouraged by how unwelcome i feel. i don't feel as though the people of the city necessarily do not like me because i am American, i feel it has to do with crossing some sort of comfort zone in being left alone. these are only first impressions anyway, and could very well change with time. it is so strange to be surrounded by mouths moving and chattering and not being able to discern different words. everything is blurring together. The language sounds relatively harsh, much like a Russian dialog sounds to an American. It is relatively sing-song though, sort of melodic or smooth in a way spanish reminds me of. i realized i left all of my language books at home.

Typical temp. in Latvia:
June 15.5 deg. C = 59.9 deg F
July 18.1 deg. C = 64.58 deg F
Aug 18.2 deg C = 64.76 deg F
Sept 11.2 deg C = 52.16 deg F

i'm going to be so much colder than i had anticipated.

Oh, and what's with the change plate they give you your money back on after a purchase?Is it hygiene? i've reached my hand out seneral times already only to look like a chump when they dump it on a plate in front of me.
and i haven't seen any other races so far. unless you count Russians, and two German men i met at the Hotel Latvia when trying to see the overlook on the top floor"

excerpt from my travel log

2008-12-03T00:48:00.000-05:00

Riga airport- about 8 km from Riga.
Bus #22 goes to the city center
Bus #22A goes to the Orthodox Cathedral in the center.

.60 for the #22 at the info. booth at the terminal building (incorrect)
2-4 buses per hour

Riga estimated pop= 727,578 (2007)
42.4% Latvian
42.3% Russian

in flight, June 16th 2008 7:24 PM Riga (12:24 PM Balto.) -- it's been over 15 hours since i've left DC.

"There should only about 30 minutes left until my arrival in Latvia. The time in the Dublin airport was very slow yet manageable. i've had a headache since my flight from home. i had hoped to sleep during this short flight from ireland to latvia since i had to stay awake at the airport to watch my bags, but unfortunately i'm situated next to a couple with an infant that's quite vocal to say the least. The passenger in front of us has already complained and was met with harsh words from the father of the child. This and a few other snaps have already led me to believe that Latvians seem a bit curt in their expression. Coupled with their accent, it makes for a somewhat harsh impression thugh i feel this is simply an indication that they are more quick to assert themselves and not that they are unkind. still, when it happened i thought of the way my mother used to describe her father and understood where his quiet and stern mannerisms fit into his descent.
i had wished that i would've been paired with another flight companion equal in disposition to the amiable southern woman i sat beside on my initial flight out of DC, so that i might attempt to get a clear picture of where i am to make my way in the city tonight. all i have is a small map i printed out of google, some maps in my guidebooks, and an address my guide wrote to me on the internet. I am staying with a woman named Laasma though don't know much about her."

the reason God gave us gynos.

2008-11-20T14:15:00.000-05:00

so, a bit of bad news. my yearly visit to my obgyn last month showed some irregular results on my pap. after some further testing, and a biopsy in which some samples were taken to study the irregular cells, i've been informed that i have severe dysplasia on the outside of my cervix. though dysplasia itself shouldn't cause me any health problems, it's a precancerous condition that could eventually develop into cervical cancer if left untreated. fortunately i've scheduled to have a procedure next week that should basically burn off the offending areas and allow new healthy cells to generate. we're doing a lot of reading to study up on my options, and hopefully it won't cause any problems in child bearing later for me because the area is actually right outside of my cervix. i'm lucky to have caught everything early, and hopefully next week goes well for my procedure. we're all just a little freaked out on this end, but trying to stay positive.

my eventual return

2008-11-17T03:25:00.000-05:00

i dial the downstairs house phone to call Chad back. My cell phone doesn't seem to have reception at my house at select times, and his forever refuses to offer me an audible volume of his voice. this particular brown house phone has been in our basement since i can remember, complete with faded and torn "Dial 9-1-1 in Emergency" stickers and mysterious coded clicking procedure that follows with each number punched. As we talk, i watch the tangled cord balance on the shelf of the bookcase it was placed on and eventually fall. Glancing up at the contents of the shelves, i notice two thin blue books and recognize them as the quarter collecting folders my grandmother used to try and keep up with. this is my father's mother, and she passed away at the beginning of my junior year in college. eventually saying goodnight to my boyfriend, i pull the two small books from the shelf and bring them upstairs.

i decided to try and fill in some of the gaps, it was only around 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning, and since i'm still out of work i've lapsed back into my habit of staying up late and knew i wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon. somehow the sight of the two open coin books laying side by side hit me hard in the stomach. coins for most years and mints had been pushed into the small recessed slots in both books until they met an abrupt stop and didn't continue past 2005. there are two books to begin with because my grandmother wanted to collect a book full of these commemorative state coins for both my brother and i, the coins stop after 2005 because of her death. somehow seeing her collection end so cleanly and easily made me feel guilty for never really appreciating these seemingly trivial gifts she would lay out for us. as i retrieved a plastic container of coins from a shelf in the living room upstairs to attempt and continue her task, i realized they were for the most part sorted and separated-- an activity given to my other grandmother last year in the month before her death by my parents because the progression of her Alzheimer's had all but exhausted any chance at reading, following television shows/movies, knitting, or any of the other activities she used to enjoy. it almost seemed too tragically perfect, as i sat down with a container full of quarters separated by one grandmother to sift through and plug into the empty holes the other grandmother left behind.

Though i have no particular point or ending for this story, it seems like the appropriate time to finally pick up and start up the process of piecing together some of my thoughts from my trip over the summer. it's funny how the residue from the people around you can linger on in small token or arrangements after they're gone. these details have been a big inspiration when looking at the photos that have come out so far, and i welcome anyone in my audience to please share any ideas, criticisms, or anecdotes they may have when looking at the work being posted in weeks to come.

coming home.

2008-09-21T12:04:00.000-04:00

i arrive back to the dear United States tomorrow afternoon. be ready for some photos and stories to soon follow. myself in ireland in the photo above, and in scotland in the one below.

viss.

2008-08-25T11:29:00.001-04:00

i am leaving Latvija in 2 days. my time here has been both one of the most beneficial and one of the most difficult periods of my life that i have ever experienced. i have learned so much that i won't know where to begin until i have a moment to sit and breathe. i am traveling in ireland/scotland/england for the next 3 weeks on vacation with one of my best friends so i think i should be prepared to tackle everything straight away upon my return to the united states in september. i plan on trying to attempt a more thorough examination of my time here, step by step, at that point. i will be posting my entire journey, together with the film images i work on.

the last few weeks have been particularly stressful for me- some of the harder aspects of life in this country really started to slam me but i think its been good. my head is filled with a lot of questions and ideas- the rise and fall of a sense of culture, the great machine of russia, nationalism, and the tragedies of family history/collective unconsciousness.

to everyone in my life who has ever supported me, and to all of the people that i have been blessed with the opportunity to meet here-- thank you.

i miss home.

2008-08-05T06:16:00.000-04:00

Erika clasps my face in her hands. Firmly pressing my forehead against hers she tells me not to feel bad. “I know its hard, don’t be sick for home” and hands me a chocolate bar she came downstairs to give me. She has come to be a second mother to me and in turn tells me i'm her youngest child in Latvia. I’m trying so hard to understand this journey, to do this right and get what I need out of my travels. Often I think the people I meet don’t understand that a trip like this is not common for me- that my parents break themselves in half giving me the financial ability to travel across the ocean and explore the cultures that they themselves should have the privilege to experience. the grant I received has helped me, but certainly would not have been enough to support me for such a long time. I’m well aware that im living the comforts of a life someone else should have. I’m slowly acclimating myself to being totally honest about my time here. I think it’s the only way you’ll understand a fraction of how this feels. Sometimes I turn on the only Bob Dylan song I have on my computer to try and taste home.
It's not like I'm ever unhappy to be here. I think I could just use a break to breathe and look over some of my photos. It's hard to build upon my work because it sits in heaps of undeveloped rolls of film and in collections of hazy memories of shots I attempted. It's hard for me to build upon what I'm making when I can't be positive of what I have.

Šiauliai, Lithuania

2008-08-05T05:55:00.000-04:00

Siauliai has been a destination I have aimed for since I first saw images of the Hill of Crosses 3 years ago. I believe it’s

Lithuania

’s 4^th largest city but it’s ‘downtown’ area is not much more than a short strip of shops and restaurants that line charming brick walkways. Young boys zip around in cars, blaring a mix of electronic and rap music and the long summer days create this beautiful warm glow across the café fronts during the evening hours.

I arrived to town not having a place to stay. At the bus station I followed a small map in my guidebook that pointed me to a youth hostel on the outskirts of the city- the only hostel listed in my book for the city. After some confusion, and an awful lot of sweating, I found myself in a neighborhood of dirt roads and hard looks from the locals. An older man, covered in dust, glares at me hard as he walks past me and then turns to drink water from a roadside water pump. These photos pass me every week, but I always submit to caution for my safety rather than raising my camera: it’s on this trip that I’ve figured out that I’m not really a photographer at heart. Carrying all of my belongings, I also felt afraid for my equipment and own well-being for one of the first times after my arrival in the Baltics. This neighborhood was left undocumented.

I finally found my destination- an attractive home set off of the main road which must be home to some sort of youth program. A Russian woman opened the door- I enquired about a free bed. Even though she couldn’t speak Latvian or English, it’s pretty obvious what I was asking about. Walking past me and clicking her tongue as she checks some sort of small notebook, she simply says “niet” and opens the door for me to leave. I find myself back out into the world with no where to stay and the hours getting late.

I walk all the way back into town, stopping at one point to sit down and consult my book about any other places I could find to sleep. I finally give in and decide to go to a hotel that interested me. Every attempt I had made to find a host in Šiauliai before this hadn’t worked out and so this hotel was a surrender for me. It is a Soviet-era block house that has been renovated and made quite comfortable. As I’ve perhaps mentioned before, these large box buildings line most every Latvian or Lithuanian city and are the mark of swift economical ways of housing workers during this occupational period. They still draw my attention each time I pass and are usually quoted as being the poorer sections of town. The idea of transforming one into a hotel is fascinating on so many symbolic or cultural levels. For my own personal well-being it did me quite well to store my things safely and sleep in a large bed for two nights.

In the morning I went to the tourist information office to find out how to get to the Hill of Crosses and overheard a woman asking for driving directions. I spoke to her and was offered a ride from her and her husband to the landmark mound covered in wooden symbols of faith. I will later go into the history of the site, but the main attraction to me stems from a period of the occupation when it was repeatedly bulldozed and then resurrected by the people as an act of faith, resistance, and persistence. My impression was mixed. It was quite moving to see the aesthetic of so many of these figures brought from all over the world yet the commercial haze that hung over the area from the souvenir vendors in the parking lot tainted the experience. Each cart offered a variety of small crucifixes you can purchase and then walk over to the hill with.

Afterwards I decided to hitchhike back to the city. Hitchhiking is not illegal here as it is in the United States and is quite common amongst young adults as a fast and cheap mode of transportation. I’ve met several travelers boasting about their trips throughout all of Europe using this method. I was picked up quite quickly by a man with a large pot belly, gold tooth, and silver cobra stick shift handle. After talking for a while (he had worked in Ireland a few years ago and so happened to know English), he told me about his dream to own horses and to visit the United States. After I told him that I had lived on a farm for a bit of time training horses we got along great. He also said he really liked cowboy hats.

Klaipeda

2008-08-05T05:17:00.000-04:00

I enter the Lithuanian territory in a car with Gatis, his sister, and Dana. Driving in the small white VW feels refreshing to me. Public transportation is sometimes frustrating to try and navigate as a non-native. For the most part I have given up any sense of control over the matters of how ill get somewhere. I usually show up at the station of the town I’m in, try to figure out the wall’s schedule and simply say the name of the city I want to go to at the window of the ticket office. I’ve been ridiculously lucky so far but was happy to take a break from these methods and ride stress-free in a car of friendly people. Reminiscent to car trips with friends back in the States, we glide our way to our destination- of course stopping along the coast to take a swim in the Baltic Sea. The beach is shallow; walking out 25-50 meters and being able to stand and look back at the shore is common. The water feels good- cool, but refreshing. It has a greenish hue and the waves are always smaller than those that I’ve known back home.

--Walking along the coast with Ērika a week or two earlier, she tells me not to pick up the stones that look like amber (Amber actually does wash up on the shore, and is often where craftsmen go to collect the material after storms to make jewelry). She says that there is some sort of substance from the war period which resembles amber but is phosphorous and sometimes ends up burning the people who collect it when they place it in their pockets and walk the beach. The top photo is actually from a Latvian beach where Ērika explains this to me--

In Klaipeda we walk through the narrow streets and stop at a café themed with Beatles paraphernalia to eat. Boys crowd the basketball courts and sea gulls crowd the sky. Commercialization and industry are a big part of my impression of Lithuania so far, perhaps due to the ever present construction or shipping cranes (but i'm in a port city, it's to be expected). Maxima stores, a Lithuanian equivalent to our Big-K or Super Walmart, are somewhat startling to see compared to the gentle countryside and flat fields I had stared at during the car ride here. We curl up on 4 beds in a room in Gatis's dorms. My companions watch a movie in Russian as i snap photos or write in my journal.

for Aigars

2008-08-05T04:26:00.000-04:00

We make our way past the market place, heading out of the center of the city. We have a few hours of daylight left, and so I’ve convinced Aigars to accompany me to Moscatchka. Quoted as the absolute worst section of town by almost every Latvian living in Riga that I have met, some made jokes about me not coming back alive. Aigars and I had spent the previous hour or two in his fraternity house taking photos. All in film, I have no digital photos which I can post of either experience at the moment.

As I walk in my flip-flops, I ache from the day’s earlier hours of searching for a photo shop to develop 120 film (thanks Janis and Marta). Aigars takes turns walking beside his bicycle and sort of scooting it along with one foot on the ground to keep pace with me. He is a few years older than me and has had the feeling of an older brother since we first met. His strong build and positive nature makes him a good candidate to trust with my safety as we travel along. He rides with my medium format camera in his backpack and I squint against the sun at the buildings and people we slowly pass. I look for evidence of the heavy drinking, theft, and violence which had been described to me.

I’ve been told that to visit this neighborhood during the day time is safe- but evening brings these qualities to surface. In some ways, my years in Baltimore instilled in me the belief that these “rough” neighborhoods carry a certain weight no matter what time of day. Somehow physically, there’s a presence I suppose I am looking for. I’m not naïve, and certainly am not looking for trouble, but feel that I want to understand this just like I want to understand anything else here. And people are people, and places are places, so I want to approach the areas I visit as neutrally as possible. Something I have been hyper-sensitive to since my time here is my avoidance in photographing people or places as zoo exhibits. Sometimes it interrupts my natural process of looking and causes me to miss documenting really moving moments. But, it also keeps me in check to search for the more subtle connections between relations here.

2008-07-19T04:18:00.000-04:00

i've unofficially decided that this blog is going to be impossible to keep up with while i am currently traveling. a bare minimum of photos are posted randomly on my flickr account which you can find here.
a recent letter from sammy convinced me that it is useless to try to remain politically correct about so many of the issues that i have been thinking about during my time here in latvia. i have avoided writing about them online because i want to treat them with respect, but often call my family and boyfriend frustrated because i cannot find a way to successfully document or visually explore the split between people here. strains between the latvian and russian population are fascinating to me, especially as i place myself and my family into this conflict in history. there is a large divide here, and often controversy surrounding issues of language or sometimes monuments or celebrations.
my grandparents left during "the Terrible Year" of the Soviet Occupation- and i am slowly learning from the people here or my Latvian relatives what they had fled from. sometimes enormously violent, it is a topic hard for me to explore because of my distance in speech and identity as an "american"- but it is something that i patiently make strides towards every day. it has become abundantly clear to me that this project would have been impossible to conduct over a shorter period of time.

My First View of the Coast

2008-06-29T03:34:00.000-04:00

Ivo lets out a small whimper and curls up next to Dana. The warmth from the beer we drank during the car ride here has long since worn off. The cold coastal air cuts through our clothes despite the fact that we’re nestled between sand dunes and sit next to a fire made from kindling we gathered an hour before. Linda’s father, and her boyfriend, Janis, are off fishing in the moonlight on the beach and return later for some fire roasted pork. We sit and I listen to their melodic voices in conversation. Feeling much more sensitive to tonality and body language than when I arrived in this country, sometimes I like to imagine conversation topics between groups of people for my own entertainment. We watch the emergence of a bright orange moon between clouds and then its disappearance a few moments later. I set up my medium format camera for a long exposure, and remark that I hope the moon makes one more appearance. Dana replies by telling me some things are not meant for photographing, only for eyes. I think to myself that somehow, in some way, I can’t let myself agree. But some things are not so easily explained, and thus can’t simply hide themselves from a photograph.

The past few days were spent with the above individuals: Ivo, Dana, Linda, and Janis. It's really great to feel like I made friends in Latvia. Back home I never thought I would feel so great here or meet so many people. I think the people are making this trip more worth it than anything else.

Tiny sores remain on my hands, reminding me of the yardwork from a few days earlier. Itchy bumps remain on my legs and remind me of the beach and attempts to sleep in a truck full of hungry mosquitos, pinned behind two front seats reclined containing two beautiful travel companions. Or maybe just of how much I fucking hate mosquitos.

Jani

2008-06-26T05:35:00.001-04:00

I met Dana at the Riga bus station after a short journey from Jelgava and a few hectic phone calls. From the bus station to her family’s home in the countryside, I talked with Dana about Latvia’s history, her experience in art school, and our plans for the next few days. She is a bright and positive girl and certainly one of the best people I could have hoped to meet on this journey. It feels comfortable to be in the company of an artist. Arriving at her family’s home I was met with a hot and delicious dinner, smiles, and a nice walk in the woods. The next day was filled with yardwork in preparation for the Jani celebration, a lot of photography, and my first experience with an outdoor bath (well, at least one of this sort).

Jani is a holiday for the Summer Solstice and so obviously has a strong focus on nature. the morning we awoke at 6 or 7 and went to a local farm to buy milk (this was also my first experience drinking milk straight from a cow) and on the way home stopped to cut flowers on the side of the road to later be made into crowns. Dana’s father cut oak branches for the men’s crowns. At home, we all got ready and Dana’s mother gave me some handmade traditional clothing to wear for the evening. The way of life in the countryside is relaxing and pure; working hard but taking time to nap midday. The celebration included baking traditional dishes, making Jani cheese, drinking beer, a large bonfire, songs, flower crowns, and good conversation.

I feel that I have been rushing through posts. The time I get access to the internet on my own computer is very infrequent and unpredictable. I have much more to write about, especially about the people here and the cultural differences I am experiencing. Both, I know, deserve much more attention and time and so will have to wait for another day.

still alive in Jelgava.

2008-06-19T15:31:00.000-04:00

so today was a much better day for me. i spent the entire day out with my fuji 6x9 camera and feel a lot better about having a back of exposed film that i am excited about. i am, however, a bit nervous about burning through my film because i have not seen one single photo store which sells 120 film and so i think what i have will be all i use for the trip.
i got some rest today and then joined Antra and her coworkers for lunch. The food here is very good, and generally cheaper than a U.S. meal. it surprised me, because most of their dishes seem very nicely laid out and in big portions yet cost about half of what they might back home. public transportation is also much cheaper here yet prices for most other goods usually are around the same as the U.S.
After a nice lunch, i saw Antras work place- a box factory in which she works in the office of. i got a nice tour and then took some photos of the machinery and any worker that i could convince with wild hand gestures and smiles to let me take their photo. afterwards i headed out into a more industrial section of the city with my camera and tripod. i already felt good that i had seen something more real about latvian life. its nice to see architecture and tourist areas but im more interested in what it feels like to go about everyday living. i spent the rest of the day walking with my camera. i immediately met three ladies when i walked into a field of an abandoned sports stadium. they were sitting with a dog playing fetch and smiled and greeted me in latvian. after doing my normal dance of "Student- USA", "Dont speak Latvian or Russian", "Photo", etc etc with a bit more embellishment they agreed to let me photograph them. and it was a big relief!
it sounds odd, but it felt good to semi-communicate with someone of an older generation- it had been one of the only times since i have been here that i have been able to. they were a big exception for most of the tendencies i have seen here. it is a somewhat more honest and private way of living i think- it isnt normal to smile at one another on the street or to say hello, nor is it common to ever be greeted or spoken to by a cashier. at first it was something very intimidating for me but i am learning more and more that it is just a way of life and does not necessarily mean anything. ill still keep trying.
the most useful tool, i have learned, are young children. children in latvia are extremely impressive, as well as the crowd of my peers. most young adults and children seem to be able to speak a minimum of 3 languages, and often more. walking down a small dirt road in a residential section today i came across several young boys- one said something to me in latvian. when i explained i couldnt speak anything but english and asked if he knew the language another small voice chimed in "i do!" at which point i found my buddies for the next 20 min or so. i had about 4 or 5 young boys following me around as i employed the 2 that could translate for me to ask a woman for her photograph. i indicated where she was- in her garden and they told me that she was "stupid". after searching for a better word they settled on "weird". they also explained to me that she spoke russian and after a brief question they told me "she doesnt care". she never looked up at me, and never stopped talking to herself as she picked vegetables behind the fence. i think my memory of the whole experience is going to outlive the photograph. after a little more conversation and snapping a few photos of them awkwardly standing in a group, i paid them 2 lats (which translates roughly to a little more than $4.00 USD). they then decided to join me on my way to the supermarket- fresh with their new wealth so they could buy snacks. they explained to me that they were trying to find jobs but that work was very hard to come by and no one wanted them. something about shops taking priority to families that are in more need? or perhaps something else about age also? it was hard to understand.
i will stay in Jelgava tomorrow also, instead of journeying to Lithuania as i had originally intended. i think it will be better this way, because the reality of becoming stranded in smaller towns is becoming very apparent and i think i should wait for a host or a better understanding of how to communicate. Jelgava is Latvias 4th largest town and one of the hardest hit from the Soviet Occupation. my host today also left me her keys and i am staying alone in her apartment. i cant believe how trusting people are here.

(please excuse the lack of punctuation... most times when i try to add apostrophes or other changes the keyboards here add accent marks that i dont know how to get around).

alive in Jelgava.

2008-06-18T17:14:00.001-04:00

so i still can't reach the internet with my laptop, so i will have to continue my posts photo-less. (**updated later: the above is a shot of Riga) the language barrier is really starting to stress me out at times. today i had to find my way on a train to a town south of Riga. i couldnt even find the bus station, so settled on the crowded terminal in downtown Riga where after asking several people i finally found two little girls who could help me. i havent felt too positive about the photos i have been taking so far but i hope that will change soon as i move away from the more metropolitan areas. my backpack nearly broke me today as i walked with it for around 25 minutes through the city. things have got to pick up. there are positive things happening- couchsurfing has saved my life. ive met some very nice and accommodating people. 2 last night at a bar and i am staying with a very cheery girl named Antra right now here:

alive in Riga.

2008-06-16T18:13:00.000-04:00

so, i got here in one piece. i have many things to post about already though am going to save the majority of it for tomorrow when i have a bit more energy. its about 1:15AM here (Latvia is 7 hours ahead of you east coast USAers) and i'm drained from not sleeping since my departure. all in all, i believe the trip was around 19 hours including my layover and factoring in the time zone shifts. basically my flight left the DC airport at 7:00PM Eastern Pacific and landed in Riga around 9:00PM for their time.

Chad was a champ getting me through the airport, i was incredibly nervous and never seemed to know the right way to go. i made one attendant hand inspect my checked luggage because i unfortunately had to pack my film in my main backpack due to space/weight. he pulled out all of the individual packs of film and felt them while i watched because i was freaked out someone wouldn't put something back together right. i think its worth it. i spent $700 on film alone.
i would post a few snaps from the airport but i am using my hosts computer and so cannot access my images. i can do this though: š.

tomorrow i am going to head out into the city alone. Laasma (my host) was kind enough to let me have her keys for the day so i can come and go as i please. i ate dinner with her and her roomate Reinis and felt much more encouraged than i had coming out of the airport. i had some difficulty finding someone who spoke english and wanted to help direct me to their apartment. the city is not at all what i had expected. living in baltimore, and only knowing east coast USA cities has built up a certain preconception of what a city will look like. the buildings here appear a bit more run down than i had pictured and the whole town breathes with this sort of backyard beauty. i'm surprised by the amount of graffiti i have seen as well as the sprawling nature of the city. tomorrow i will get a much better look outside of my short walk, bus, and cab ride.

at times i seem to sink and doubt my abilities to do this and at others i feel rejuvenated with the people that appear to help. on my flight from DC to Dublin i had the fortune of meeting Sandra, a rather large extremely amiable southern woman from Alabama. at the end of the flight we found ourselves well enough acquainted that we hugged goodbye. at other times of my journey i was met with thick hissing accents and rolling eyes when i asked for help. i guess i should expect a little bit of everything.

"Czech soccer federation apologizes for mistaking Lithuania for Latvia"

2008-06-10T00:35:00.000-04:00

...read the headline in the Herald Tribune Sports section on May 28th. The article can be found here. Apparently Latvia's soccer team photo and flag were printed in the program of a match in Prague. The Latvian national anthem was also played... the only problem was that the Czech Republic was faced off against Lithuania. well, you know... a different country. It's sort of difficult for me to articulate what i felt when i heard about this. Initially i thought it was humorous- the fact that such an enormous public mistake could be made. But then i considered how many people must have overlooked this error as all of the production went into the match. Differentiating between the two nations is something i expect to be difficult whenever i may bring the topic up to people i may meet in the United States. It really surprised me to find this same sort of blurred boundary and confusion coming from another small European nation. Perhaps i'm over analyzing a mistake that was due to something beyond my comprehension, though i imagine Lithuanian and Latvian citizens being disappointed considering their history as two nations struggling for recognition as independent.

working my way

2008-05-26T22:50:00.000-04:00

Many events in the past two weeks. A week after my 22nd birthday, I officially graduated from MICA with a BFA in photography. My parents, brother, and much loved significant other (Chad, pictured with me on the left) were there to join me. I recently had to say goodbye to Chad for the summer as he has left to tour with his band for the next 3 weeks. Their music can be found here if you feel so inclined to check them out. They actually are scheduled to return on the day that I fly out of DC. The notion that I am leaving soon is finally starting to set in- it's an awkward sensation due to the intended duration of my trip. I'm paired with feelings of it both being a long and short time period. I don't mean this in some shallow sense of comparing the freedom to the people i'll miss. it's certainly something else.

Two days prior I photographed my first wedding event- for a friend I have known for over 14 years. The ceremony was held out in the countryside of Virginia and was very beautiful. Though I was very happy to help Sabrina and James out, I don't know if I would like to pursue wedding photography much further than this experience.

A day after graduation, I had the opportunity to photograph for an organization called the Ploughshares Fund. The organization works to funding individuals and groups whose aim is to prevent the spread of the use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons in war. I had the privilege of attending the event at the Italian Embassador's residence in DC with a fellow friend and photographer who got me the job. There was a brief discussion between Michael Douglas, Joseph Cirincione, and Senator Chuck Hagel which I actually recorded with a new stereo recorder I have purchased for my trip to Latvia and Lithuania. More information on the organization can be found on their site here. I sort of regret not getting a picture of myself making a face behind Michael Douglas.

Rigas Sargi

2008-05-04T21:59:00.000-04:00

Today my mother and I headed to DC to view a film which had been recommended to me via a contact I had made through several e-mails to members of the ALA (American Latvian Association). After struggling with parking, we entered the Avalon to the sound of an older gentleman with a deep voice speaking in Latvian at a podium. After finding our seats my mother struggled to understand a few words and I finally had my first feeling of what it was going to be like to be immersed in this foreign language. He eventually recapped in English, and we heard his historical notes on the film which we were about to experience. The film was about the Latvian War of Independence, which was a period of military conflict between 1918-1920 in which Latvia struggled for recognition as an independent nation. Beautifully shot, and subtitled in English (to my delight), the story followed several individuals through their personal struggles in this trying time. Afterwards, the audience slowly ushered out, speaking in Latvian to eachother and were encouraged to sign a banner which was placed in the lobby on a table. After asking several people to explain the purpose of the banner, we were told that it was a sort of "Happy Birthday" or "Hello" to Latvia, and would be sent overseas to the country and most likely placed on display somewhere.
We spoke to several other individuals, including a particularly friendly gentleman who may allow me to meet up with him and his friends and family as they head to the song and dance festival this summer. I was greeted with a general enthusiasm for my trip overall. More and more, I'm starting to feel the opportunity presented to me in this grant was not only a big chance for myself, but a big accomplishment and opportunity for Latvia and Lithuania to gain recognition for the extreme struggle they both have endured. Though my project may not focus on specific historical accounts of these struggles, it seems like every generation I encounter from these countries carry some feeling of this history that will most likely be hard to divorce from my photographs.

just the beginning.

2008-04-29T21:04:00.000-04:00

Two more weeks until my graduation. My trip planning has been a bit stressful but is coming along slowly. As of right now, I am scheduled to leave the country on June 15th and arrive (after many hours on airplanes and between flights) at night on June 16th in Riga, the capital of Latvia. I will travel between the two countries for a duration of almost 11 weeks, after which point I am scheduled to fly out to Ireland to meet one of my best friends for another 3 weeks to ride horses and see the countryside.
In terms of shooting my series, I am the proud new owner of a fuji gw690-III, which I have decided will be the means of photographing the majority of my project overseas. I am also currently bidding on some personal recording devices which will hopefully allow me to capture, in stereo quality, some of the tradition folk music which is so important to Latvian and Lithuanian culture.
For the moment, I am trying to work through the last few odds and ends I need in order to graduate. I'm in the process of editing and printing the last few images in the series I initially began with my grandmother, as well as the photos from her funeral. I will update regularly on the planning process in my trip- as well as other activities I may be up to at the moment.