Performing, Day 267

I have been in bed for the last two days with a spasm in my back. This has limited my picture making for the day. Nicolai and I played on the bed with my camera in hand using the camera as a source for some fun. We laughed and laughed and made the best of the situation.

Life, Day 257

My eyes could barely stay open last night. This is the last picture I took of the day, the last thing I saw as I turned out the light. It made me think about how messy my life appears, but at the same time it really is the most organized it has ever been.

Moni, Day 240

Thank God for moms!

Past made present, Day 201

This is a photograph of a photograph that I have on the wall of my bedroom. I tell my students that art has an amazing ability to change their lives as it changed mine. I often wonder what I would be doing if I hadn't made this photograph. But my question for the day is how will the new photograph of the old photograph lead me to tomorrow?

Beautiful or Grotesque?, Day 184

Most people who know me also know about my obsession with hair. Depending on the context it can be considered beautiful or grotesque. Not only does it contain our DNA, but it can represent a body when a person is absent. The best part about hair, in my opinion, is its one of the only parts of the body capable of painless amputation and endless regeneration.

7:18 a.m., Day 183

The first photo of the morning....my poor husband has to put up with me.

Love, Day 136

I sometimes wonder how many hours I have spent over the past five years watching my son sleep. As a newborn, babies sleep much of the time. Although I should have probably been resting too, I was in complete awe of the little guy lying next to me so it was difficult to not watch over him and contemplate the orgins of his life. The day Nicolai was born I really understood the meaning of love. How did I end up with this marvelous little person in my life? Parenting is such a mixed blessing- the most wonderfully challenging thing I have ever done (and continue to do). Although Nicolai is almost five years old with much more of a formed personality I still have these same thoughts running through my head as I did when he was just a few days old. This morning I watched him sleep and smiled to myself.

Listening, Day 93, (08.08.09)

Character lines, Day 53

Our house is over 100 years old. When we first bought it the wallpaper under the paint drove me crazy. I thought I could never get used to seeing the lumps in the walls and we would remove it completely. Who paints over wallpaper anyways? And who puts it on the ceiling? After attempting to remove MANY layers without destroying the plaster underneath we came to the realization that the wallpaper is what is probably holding the walls of our house in place...better to just leave it be. Now I just view it as one of the many unique characteristics of our unique little house. I wake up to a lumpy ceiling and an ugly light fixture every morning, but as I photograph my environment everyday I am really beginning to appreciate these unique qualities. With so many cookie cutter houses sitting in walled off subdivisions, wallpaper on the ceiling is a bit refreshing.

The toenail fairy, Day 19

Trimming my son's toenails has been a constant battle. At one point they were so long that they were dangerous weapons. So one night I snuck into his room with a headlamp and a pair of nail clippers and attempted to trim them while he was sleeping . It actually took me two nights to complete the task, but it happened. In the morning I told him the toenail fairy came and since then he asks me to call her and have her trim them again.

Thinking of Imogen, Day 17

I mentioned in a previous day's blog that I sleep with my camera next to the bed. Although I haven't posted many photos from early in the morning, I usually take a few before my feet touch the floor. I love the morning light that comes through the window in the a.m. hours. To get me in the swing of things for the day, photographing in bed is my new morning ritual. There is just something comforting in the quality of the light coming through my window. When I took this image this morning it immediately reminded me of Imogen Cunningham's famous unmade bed image. Although a bit more abstract and in color, I think the feeling is reminiscent of her image. She was a truly magnificent female photographer that made the everyday object extraordinary. This is the principal behind my daily visual treasure hunt.

White Rectangles, Day 3

I went to bed thinking about white rectangles and I woke up thinking about white rectangles. Since I now sleep with a camera next to my bed it was an obvious place to begin photographing this morning.