circle me confused

checking in

2012-01-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

From time to time I will go back to the small town of Blanco where I grew up. Since my parents moved from there almost 7 years ago, I have lost touch with the place. But it is so fascinating and satisfying to go back to the places that I have trekked over, made a memory in, worked at, or observed in quietness. The grocery store, Super S Foods, is a place that has not changed much over the years, and I wandered in and was immediately swept up with old visions and smells. I was lucky to get the checker, Randall, to pose for me. Perception and memory is a concept I'm interested in, and hope to shoot more things revolving around this personal experience.

Poem 1.9.12

2012-01-09T16:07:00.000-08:00

Time & Place

I wake up, a two hour nap. To soft music through the walls

Inside another room. The lights on the floor, the fading gray rain

Winter light coming down. What time is it?

Dreams dreams, states of here and there. What is the past?

I search for you, to make sure you are safe and that you recognize me.

Being drawn down the old dirt road, in between two worlds that

I know well. All confused, all clear.

Awake now, quiet whispers as the night rises up and says

Goodbye to the eve. Always beginning again, perfect timing

And indecision. Love of one good thing can be enough.

scissortail savories & sweets is here!

2012-01-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

I took these for my friend KJ, her real name is unpronounceable, for her new business Scissortail Savories & Sweets. I much prefer taking pictures of people, but she asked if I'd take a few of her baked goods as well so I said of course. She makes the best dag gun crust you've ever had, as well as a lemon cream pie. I'm very proud of her for launching out on her own, takes a lot of you know what. We had a great time doing this, and that's all that matters to me.

long time gone

2012-01-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

This time last year, I was struggling with happiness and being back from Armenia. No one can watch time float by until it's appropriate to look back on it. And even then, it's always frightening at how fast it goes and sometimes how little things change. But it has been a full year, and looking back feels necessary.

I wrote this back in late January or early February 2011. It is the very first, and only, poem I've written. I want to continue writing poetry this year and experience the magic that happens when the attempt is made.

Poem No. 1

My brain tired, from too much to process

memories and lives lived, it is a beautiful mess.

A road merges with the fork I had to take.

Something from the past comes back to hold my hand,

but I don't know who or what it is. I don't know where to stand.

My center is protected, but that feels lonely.

Those who do not know, cannot fully

make me laugh brightly or lie down in comfort.

And the search carries on, for more, for less. For calm winds

and wild adventure. For wet passion, for perfect control.

For secrets, for the missing.

Ava

2011-12-26T21:52:00.001-08:00

My year and a half old niece, Ava. She is coming into her personality with full force, and watching it unfold is an experience I'm happy to be a part of. I caught her taking a bath - splashing, laughing and generally rejoicing to be in the bathtub. I had just as much fun taking her picture.

nau's now + the others i took

2011-11-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

This is what I have so far. Some days I didn't take a photo at all, some days I did. I gave up being strict on myself, and considered that taking a photo a day can be a process too. A trial and error process. I'm not exactly done, a few more days to go yet, but it's certainly been a good reminder to take the camera with you.

albert

2011-11-09T13:45:00.000-08:00

Albert. He's 19, and an artist. I have been wanting to take his picture for awhile now. So glad I got to.

curious

2011-11-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

She brought her son out on the track while she studied a spiral notebook. It's like a park after 5, and all kinds of people use this track like it was one. Staying safe behind his Mom.

sleepy morning

2011-11-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

Cherokee in the morning, big yawn, big stretch. Thank you Patrick for bringing her to me. I really love this little girl.

old fashioned

2011-11-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

This is Corey - I work with him at the Paramount Theatre. He was combing his hair before the show, getting ready for the crowd. He has a very cartoon like face, sweet eyes, and an old fashioned way about him. Wears his Grandfather's shirts and tie clips, bringing back the magic.

november photo a day

2011-11-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'm doing it again. It's off to a great start already....I'll be posting soon to catch up. Ah, November.

mirror mirror

2011-10-29T22:17:00.000-07:00

Trying on outfits for Halloween. Looking in the mirror, watching how time shows up on our faces and in our lives. Another October just about come and gone. On to the next reason to celebrate, the next event to remember.

beers with ms morris

2011-09-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Having a few beers with my friend Emily Morris last night. I met her last year at a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer happy hour. We have completely opposite stories as she served in Senegal and never experienced a frozen toilet and wells of vodka, but there's a lot of similar thoughts and emotions around development and lifestyles that we share from having done it. She's getting her Masters in Public Health here at UT, and just smokes away on American Spirits. I love it.

a little time in oregon

2011-09-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

It was great to see my friend Emily from Peace Corps, but even better to see her in her own environment and witness the beauty of Oregon. She took me on a tour of the Western/Central part of the state from the very sleepy but hip city of Portland, through the Columbia River Gorge, down to the Willamette Valley where dozens of perfectly arched vineyards poured over the hills, and then to the rugged coastal town of Newport where the Pacific's cold waves launched into the shore. Totally gorgeous.

I'm getting around America, slowly, sort of in awe that ever part of our country has a different feel and vibe - searching for a place to call home one of these days.

late night street

2011-09-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

I was getting off work, late, walking to my car parked downtown as I passed this group of people huddled and laying around together in the heat passing the night away. I asked to take their picture, they gladly accepted. I'm not sure what they were pointing at. It could have been anything.

kids on the field

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

Just some very friendly kids I met while driving around my hometown of Blanco, TX one evening. I used to play softball on this field in high school, now the field has gone to weeds and red sand. The air was dry and windy, the sky almost retired, but the last few minutes of light I took a few photos of them hitting tennis balls to the outfield and then put my camera down and stepped up to bat. I had a blast. Special thanks to the Magical Mr. Brown for helping these pictures come to life.

water gun skier

2011-04-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Toni invited me out to go water skiing with her today. Her son Conner, 5, also came with us. He sat in the back of the boat playing with a water gun, aiming it at the skier, and made general use of his time pretending he was King of the boat while intermittently probing me to jump in the freezing cold lake water so we could "freeze to death." I didn't get to ski too much, but I hope to get out there again soon.

a nephew's 3rd birthday

2011-04-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Photographing my own family is difficult for me - I have a hard time trying to be an outsider looking for moments in between moments, mostly because they are my family: I know them well. So trying to catch an unfolding scene isn't easy, and most of the time I just don't shoot very much at all. But it was my nephew's birthday party, 3 years!, and my brother and sister in law rented a gigantic blow up jump around thing, and it was a good reason to look, watch, wait for some backyard birthday moments to come around.

SlideShow - ShowSlide

2011-02-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've been interested in putting anything up on this blog, so it goes sometimes. I made this slideshow for the small community of Armenians in Austin - many of whom have never seen Armenia. I had a great response from them when I presented it two weeks ago at their monthly gathering. So I thought I would share this with the World Wide Web. This is an "intro to my PC experience" - pretty basic, but to the point. I hope you enjoy.

Nov. 25

2010-12-01T20:31:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : Pies for my second Thanksgiving spent away from my family. Though we may live in Armenia, no trimmings were spared, stuffing, twice-baked potatoes, carrot souffle and many more.

Right - Me: Sitting in a hot tub with my sister, at the golf course my parent's live on. There was also a group of Muslim girls on a break from school taking advantage of the same warm, bubbly water.

Nov. 24

2010-12-01T20:28:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : This year I will be spending my second Thanksgiving away from home with some good friends in Shaghat, a village in Syunik marz. We went for a nice walk in the mountains yesterday around sunset. After heading back our little gaggle of Americans drew a lot of attention in a village of only a few hundred people.

Right - Me : Driving to my parent's house for Thanksgiving. Dark Texas roads, solitude at last.

Nov. 23

2010-11-24T07:02:00.000-08:00

Left - Emily : Inside "Gitelik Hamalsaran" or "The University of Knowledge" in Yeghegnadzor.

Right - Me : You are always being watched by "Juan in the Water" (the name I have given this painting) when you eat at Taqueria Jaliscos #2 on Cesar Chavez Street in Austin, TX. I didn't mind the first time, I actually drove back there just to take his picture.

Nov. 22

2010-11-23T21:52:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : This time of year the sun sets right as people are getting off work and picking up groceries before heading home. I was caught today by the nice fading light the movement of people and cars around the city and the chance encounters with friends in the street.

Right - Me : Dogs are so prevalent in the world, some places as animals that roam around practically unnoticed by people and other places like members of the family. Their characters are easily personified, which is why I like reading 'The Adventures of Hank the Cowdog' books which are made for kids, but driven to make us all laugh. I was watching my friend Nadia's dog tonight while they were cooking dinner; watching him wait, watch, wait, hope, watch.

Nov. 21

2010-11-23T21:50:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : For the last year I have been working with a few other PCVs making a movie for the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps. This weekend Zoe came up from Goris and with the help of Meag we busted out a 3.5 minute clip to show the other volunteers at the upcoming All-Vol conference. We spent three nights awake until 3 a.m. slamming coffee munching on popcorn and chocolate and joking about our volunteer experience.

Right - Me : This little monkey was only 25 cents at a thrift store sale today. He was just sitting there on the ground waiting for the right kid to take him. My childhood doll was "Kimmie", and I cut her hair so many times that she was bald when I stopped carrying her around. Bald, sporting ratty oversized t-shirts but well loved.

Nov. 20

2010-11-23T21:49:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : Lately I have busy working with some ladies in Vayots Dzor trying to help them market and sell their beautiful crafts. I became associated with Tim Straight of Homeland Handicrafts, who has been helping these women get started by supplying them with material and thread for embroidery and a network in which to sell their goods. Meag and I have been working on designs and finally I was able to pay them for their first completed piece and give them more projects to work on. It has been an exciting and very rewarding experience.

Right - Me : I met Gayane at the Armenian Dance Party/Fundraising Dinner tonight at a church here in Austin. She talked my head off. She grew up in Tbilisi, Georgia, and speaks Georgian as well as Armenian (which is extremely rare). She feels a big part of herself is actually Georgian although she is Armenian, and we had a really interesting conversation about her life here, her feelings about her identity through her ethnic upbringing, and her bleach blonde hair. When she left she wanted a picture of the two of us as well as my phone number. I'm sure I'll hear from her soon, at least I hope so. It felt great to be there.

Nov. 19

2010-11-20T13:47:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : Construction continues on the three houses just above mine, even late into the evening.

Right - Me: Chores. Changing the sheets, cleaning the bathroom. Weekend work in America.

Nov. 18

2010-11-20T13:46:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : The stairways in the old soviet apartment buildings here are always a sight to see. The exposed and incredibly complicated electrical system, the usually constant smell of natural gas coming from some mystery pipe and the lack of lights in the evening are all things normal to this set of stairs.

Right - Me : Its always is late in Texas, and sometimes just a few weeks long, but winter is almost here if you ask the trees.

Nov. 17

2010-11-20T13:44:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : Shady whispered dealings in an old dusty office. This woman has been doing the same job for 40 years, no wonder she knows how to work the system.

Right - Me: A downtown church in Austin.

Nov. 16

2010-11-20T13:41:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : Downtown big city Yeghegnadzor.

Right - Me: I love lamp.

Nov. 15

2010-11-16T06:38:00.000-08:00

Right - Emily : Zoya works in a small room just off the shortcut I take into town every day. She says she learned how to sew when she was 17 at classes she the cultural house in Yeghegnadzor over 30 years ago. She along with her soviet era sewing machine patch up dozens of articles of clothing a day.

Left - Me : I need to read Ulysses. There's only so many hours in a day though.

Nov. 14

2010-11-15T06:55:00.001-08:00

Right - Emily

Left - Me

Nov. 13

2010-11-14T14:29:00.001-08:00

Right - Emily : Artush is my landlord Samvel's son. Trying to be just like his handyman dad, Artush is always following Samvel around hammering nails, washing the car and shoveling piles of dirt.

Left - Me : I never really liked palm trees. I thought they looked cheap, too much 80's nostalgia or somethting. But all it took was my friend Jon's love of them and his way of describing them as "silhouetted explosions in the sky" for me to think about it another way. I also saw some new Bruce Davidson work, he's specifically photographing these trees in black and white - and of course they are beautiful. I was walking around this evening and I thought I would try my own hand at foliage photography.

Nov. 11

2010-11-12T15:42:00.001-08:00

Left - Emily : My counterpart's mother, Gaya, always cracks me up when I go to visit them. I brought my camera along with me the other day, as I am working on this project, and started to take her picture. She obliged, then left the room for a few minutes and came back dressed in her finest clothes and asked me to take her "death picture." That is, when a person in the family dies, they place a photo in a black frame on the wall in remembrance. I couldn't get her to break out of a pose, nor to laugh so I kept telling her smile, don't stand so still don't stare at the camera but she wouldn't break, she would just give me a little slap on the face and smirk.

Right - Me : Everyone brings their dog everywhere in Austin. Maybe if I still had a dog I'd do the same, but for now I just observe. I've been thinking about getting a puppy, but it just isn't the same. Old dogs, while stinky and blind, are still the best.

Nov. 10

2010-11-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

Left - Emily: Serian, the guard at the university, is one face I see almost every day. He sits in a small room with just a table, phone, chair and a small bed at the bottom of the stairs of Gitelik University, also the building that houses the NGO I am working for. Every morning before I head up the stairs we exchange a greeting and a wide smile with each other.

Right - Me: The Broken Spoke, Ladies Night! There's always a good crowd at the Spoke on Wednesday nights, and it doesn't matter if you didn't bring anyone to dance with or if you don't know what you're doing on the dance floor. The circulation of people asking each other to dance is enough to make up for it. I always feel a slight return to my childhood when I am at a country western dance hall. Good honest people, good enough music.

Nov. 9

2010-11-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

Left - Emily : My neighbors operate a lavash bakery and I often go there in the winter time to hang out because the ladies are always good for a fun conversation and it is nice and warm in there. The process is fascinating to watch, obviously these women have had a lot of practice. They can roll out hundreds of perfectly sized, perfectly baked and perfectly delicious pieces in just a few hours. My favorite bread they make is called "bocon" they use the same dough as lavash but instead of rolling it out, they stretch it with their hands into a round and bake it a little longer. I always head home from here with a smile, a belly full of fresh bread and a few more pieces to eat later.

Right - Me : I read a review of Dan's Hamburgers, "Dan's is like a second home to me. ... You can taste the history in the grease, and it tastes delicious." The history in the grease might be something worth trying to take a picture of? This is the best I think I'll do.

Nov. 8

2010-11-09T07:01:00.000-08:00

Left - Emily : This "golf ball" and abandoned hotel are at a high vantage point over Yeghgnadzor and can also be seen from the village Malishka. From this point you can also see all the abandoned Soviet factories that litter the south end of town. I've heard the golf ball was a weather station, but I also heard someone say it used to be a satellite monitoring device. Now on this lonely ridge all you can find are some broken beer bottles and evidence of once well maintained roads all while being harassed by a flock of crows.

Right - Me : Laundry has become as easy as 123 again. My hand-washing days are over.I have no problem going to a laundry mat and plugging it with quarters and letting it do the work. Instead of half a day, it takes an hour and a half. These girls told me they were playing "bus" underneath the table while their Mom folded their clothes.

Nov 7

2010-11-08T09:56:00.000-08:00

Left - Me : My friend Kristi's adorable son, Cypress. I went to visit them this evening in Burnet, TX. Cypress loved playing hide and seek in his playhouse, and so did I. Days like this, I wish lasted a little longer.

Right - Emily : One thing I love about walking around in the streets here is that around any corner you can find a small group of men sitting around, smoking cigarettes, playing nardi and joking with each other.

Nov. 6

2010-11-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

Left - Emily : My house sits right in the part of town that the sun hits just before it tucks itself under the mountain for the evening. This time of year, as the light spills across my once abundant garden, over the yellow crunchy leaves and right through my front door, is my favorite.

Right - Me : My mailbox, at 1102 Mahan. The sun was setting quick as I was taking the picture, and it reminded me of watching sunsets while my Mother counted down from 10 until they were gone. I bought a new CD today, it's so good. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. "Home" is the best track on the record, and rightly so. As it goes..."Home is wherever I'm alone with you."

Nov. 5

2010-11-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

Left - Emily : For the past month I have been helping Meag, my site mate, brew beer and finally tonight we bottled them. Sadly, in Armenia the only beer you can get tastes something like a wet dog that just got sprayed by a skunk. Needless to say, I am pretty excited to taste this beer in just 2 weeks!

Right - Me : It is still a little dizzying for me to walk into a grocery store here in America. The pace is fast and there is an unspoken shouting of messages trying to get your attention. I wanted to capture that feeling with this picture. There is also a huge population of Latinos here, and "Gracias! " is just an example of how embedded the Spanish language is within our frame of normal everyday interactions.

Nov. 4

2010-11-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

Left - Me : I haven't been bowling in a long time, but I have seen The Big Lebowski recently so it kind of felt like it hadn't been that long since I ran one in the gutter. My game has improved though, a double strike was witnessed and revered from my fellow bowlers tonight.

Right - Emily : This hand gesture, accompanied with the sound "eeeeyaah," is one of the many things I have picked up in Armenia. I even find myself doing it to the ATM when it refuses to give me cash. I'm sure when I come back to America, this, along with many other odd things will, at least for a while, single me out as someone that spent the last 2+ years in a foreign culture.

Nov.3

2010-11-04T06:41:00.001-07:00

Left - Emily : Armen owns the store we foreigners like to call "Bah Vonts." Bah vonts in Armenian means "of course," and we call his store as such because anytime you ask if he has something in stock, he says "bah vonts," or something like "of course we have what you're asking for, what kind of store do you think I run?!" Armen also makes the best homemade wine you can buy. Every time I walk in the door he greets me with an ear to ear smile, throws in a reference to how we are "barekam" or relatives and asks if I want four liters of wine today or ten.

Right - Me : A friendly reminder.

Nov. 2

2010-11-03T06:37:00.001-07:00

Emily: Everyday on the walk into town I pass these tatiks sitting on their bench outside their homes. Satik, left, lives alone and after a year of saying hello to her every day she has just now started saying hello back. Emma, right, is notorious for cornering me on the street or in the store while munching on walnuts and telling me stories about her relatives that live all over the world. The two are always very curious about me, my activities and the numerous foreign guests I bring by their bench. This is the first time I've taken their portraits.

Me: I've known Glen since I was 8 years old when he worked for my Dad's construction business as a framer. He still frames houses, and he still calls me Paigey Waigey or most of the time just P-Wage. I go to his house in Austin about once a month and we'll cook dinner (and if it's not chicken then it's sausage), drink beer, and I'll listen to him tell me about something I should know that I don't know. He perpetually jokes with me that knowing Armenian is going to give me a leg up in the world. It's always a good conversation, despite his misunderstandings of my linguistic wealth and power.

Nov. 1

2010-11-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

Emily: Catching a cold in Armenia, according to Armenians can happen a lot of ways. As a result, most Armenians are very weary about getting cold themselves. Slippers and socks must be worn at all times, when sitting on cement you must put something under you for fear of becoming sterile and an open window in a house causing a draft could be one of the biggest contributing factors to colds in Armenia.

Me: It has been a really a busy Monday and time moves fast, especially in America. The light this man was working under with the dust and the leaves was the prettiest thing I saw all day while on my way to get groceries this evening.

October 31st

2010-10-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

Emily and I have decided it would be fun to take daily pictures of our lives and post them on both our blogs.We will be swapping photos about twice a week (due to the long time difference and unpredictable lines of communication between Armenia and America) and posting them with some short words about what was/is significant about the picture. We're going to keep this up for the month of November.

Me: This is my sister, taken at night at my Grandmother's house. We used to share a bed when we were little and always at least a room after sharing a bed. We are night and day in personality, but when we are both together like this, alone, we end up talking until the both of us eventually don't have to say anything about being too tired and then we turn over and fall asleep. It's also about the moment that we get before we turn off the lights, the half hour or so that magazines and books soothe us into a slumber and we think about all that is possible

Emily: The first snow of the year on the mountains above Yeghegnadzor.

wednesday night

2010-10-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

I took this picture this past Spring in Armenia, and now that the weather is beginning to turn and the winds are picking up I start to think about how cold I was there and how many nights I spent in my clothes and how many mornings I huddled around my gas oven staring at the wall hoping for the clouds to break. I always liked this picture, but I never got around to using it. It's incredibly weird how distant my past existence there seems now. Anyway my friend Emily (who is still in Armenia) and I have a project we are going to announce in a week, it will be pretty cool so I hope you come back to see. Till then.....drink good coffee and smile more often.

seeing

2010-10-12T12:23:00.001-07:00

I came across this quote from a photographer's blog site that I like, Matt Eich. His blog is much much cooler than mine and he gushes his soul in it as well as puts up beautiful photos. I have been busy, and while I know I want to get out and take pictures I just haven't lately. It's not to this blog that I feel loyalty, but to myself - I just choose to say that here and maybe that's a contradiction but I hope to do something about this soon. Anyways, read this because it's
Great. And if you feel like it, you can go to Matt's blog too.

“At first, it appears that nothing could be easier than seeing. We just point our eyes where we want to go, and gather in whatever there is to see. Nothing could be less in need of explanation. The world is flooded with light, and everything is available to be seen. We can see people, pictures, landscapes, and whatever else we need to see, and with the help of science we can see galaxies, viruses, and the insides of our own bodies. Seeing does not interfere with the world or take anything from it, and it does not hurt or damage anything. Seeing is detached and efficient and rational. Unlike the stomach or the heart, eyes are our own to command: they obey every desire and thought.

Each one of those ideas is completely wrong. The truth is more difficult: seeing is irrational, inconsistent, and undependable. It is immensely troubled, cousin to blindness and sexuality, and caught up in the threads of the unconscious. Our eyes are not ours to command; they roam where they will and then tell us they have only been where we have sent them. No matter how hard we look, we see very little of what we look at. If we imagine the eyes as navigational devices, we do so in order not to come to terms with what seeing really is. Seeing is like hunting and like dreaming, and even like falling in love. It is entangled in passions–jealousy, violence, possessiveness; and it is soaked in an affect–in pleasure and displeasure, and in pain. Ultimately, seeing alters the thing that is seen and transforms the seer. Seeing is metamorphosis not mechanism.” - James Elkins, The Object Stares Back

yellow plastic chairs

2010-09-17T17:58:00.000-07:00

My previous backyard mountain view I had in Armenia has dwindled in scale and impressiveness from just that - mountains, to an urban lawn with a shed and a tree. A big change I am still waking up to every morning. But today while sitting outside listening to the rain come down these two yellow chairs hit me with something. They looked pretty all of a sudden. I like chairs sitting next to each other, I think they are personally animated in a way. Two chairs hold two people and when they leave, the chairs hold their past - the story. Easy enough. I hope you, as well as me, get a chance to sit with someone this weekend, tell a story or just listen to one.

rodeo

2010-09-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

I am not necessarily on a Texan cowboy theme, but it just has happened that the most interesting people and places I have been around since I've been home have been outside the city where life slows down, and consequently, to me, becomes more appealing. It might be because the rodeo represents a subculture of people, not the everyday worker but people who rally around something and live a little differently. Maybe I'm just more comfortable around a group of people like this, I certainly am curious about it.

So it was a small town rodeo and fair, and it was a moving place - full of teenagers out on the prowl, cowboys standing in line for another can of beer, horses wide eyed in prancing nervousness, kids of all ages just running around. A nice place to be with a camera.

I grew up this way. My Mother was more than encouraging for my siblings and I to get into riding horses, we had at least 4 around at all times to "help us also love them" as much as she did. I am still a little frightened by a horse, but at the same time in awe of their power, gentleness and constant smell.

Of course the workers at the fair are just as novel, perhaps, for their lifestyle choice and pleading with kids to keep taking whacks at a some balloon that will never result in them winning a giant stuffed animal.

I watched this girl's face as she watched her friends ride the Zipper. You should know this ride, it's loopy and sickening to look at - her face lit up by the glow of thrill was too much to pass up.

A great place to be for a night, the rodeo. And no better destination than your own small town in Texas.

barn hand luke

2010-08-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

Luke is the barn hand at the boarding ranch my mother uses for her horse. I've only "known" him for about 2 years, and have been interested in photographing him for about as long. Single, he lives alone on this ranch tending to the horses 7 days a week.

He wakes up at 5, begins feeding and turning the horses out from their stalls, goes back home for breakfast and a shave, and returns to begin cleaning up after them and all the duties in between. He says the worst part of his job is when he has to help put a horse down.

Originally from a small town in North Carolina, Luke left his family farm at age 20 after his father died and hasn't returned. His sense of humor rivals the day in day out work of caring for horses as he jokes about being kidnapped by a pretty woman and never returning.

He doesn't leave the ranch very often, in fact he says he would like to drive in to San Antonio (45 minutes down the highway) to see his old friends but that that would cost him too much in gas, and he just "don't" have the time or money for that. With a heavy draw of a southern accent, he fits right in this scene and for the last 25 years says he is happy to be doing what he does with the horses - making sure they're alright.

summer celebs

2010-08-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

There are no limits of personal boundary or curiousity with this girl. A young girl, 7 years old, although she will tell you she is in her late twenties and is the so called pop celebrity star Hannah Montana. I have had a blast talking to her, answering her questions like, "you're so skinny, are you this skinny in real life?" and asking a few of my own. I'm glad I could jump in on the tail end of summer in Texas, to dive in a body of water that is clean, to teach a kid how to swim and be privy to summer celebrities in my own backyard.

readjustment

2010-08-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

It has only been 2 or 3 weeks since I left Armenia, and I find myself perplexed at how fast it has become a memory. While I am happy to be home, to be with my family and good friends, to sleep in air conditioning, to eat anything I want anytime - I miss the landscape of Armenia, the spoken language and just being there. After compiling about 30 of my favorite images from my 2 years there (I should have way more, but inch anem?) I am thinking about ways to exhibit them and introduce Americans to the social and cultural world of Armenia. But mostly I just wanted to post another photo, to create something, maybe to hold on to something, to find a tiny escape from the tumbling change that my life is going through. These pictures come from a small village near the Georgian border, Bagratashen.

and just like that, it's over.

2010-07-17T05:04:00.000-07:00

There is so much of this experience that cannot be translated into the language of someone who hasn't been through it - but it has certainly been the best thing I have done so far. It's an interesting process, living outside your country for a few years and noticing the kinds of changes that brings about in you. The kind of duality you can feel for two very different places, both familiar to you like the home you were brought up in, has amazed me and taught me good things about how much a person can adapt to. I wanted to take a photo of something for you, something that would be more cornerstone-ish to the way I feel right now. But my computer has been sold, and is going through a Russian makeover tomorrow and I will not have anymore time or access to post to this blog. So I decided this image would do. The Armenian writing on the mustache says "Congratulations every day", but translated further into an understandable English phrase would say "Every day is a day to celebrate."And from what I have learned here, it is. A Tuesday afternoon is just as good as a Friday night and there are a million reasons to be thankful as well as to slow down. I don't know how much longer I will keep this blog, it's a nice place to breathe, but I don't know. In any case, thank you for taking the time to read it and look at my photos. I hope to take photography more seriously when I return. I have had the time to read many books - like everyone in PC - and the last paragraph I read in "Interpreter of Maladies" really struck an obvious yet ineffably important chord with me and what I can't say I think Jhumpa Lahiri says perfectly.

"I know that my achievement is quite ordinary. I am not the only person to seek their fortune far from home, and certainly I am not the first. Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination."

De Hajo bolorine...
Paige

e. rabbit haas

2010-07-16T04:27:00.000-07:00

I was really glad Emily came around for my second year in Peace Corps - it turned out we had a lot in common and we both share a love for the camera. It has been fortuitous that I have had the luck I have had with site mates- and I am very grateful for these friendships . A goofball extraordinaire - I'll miss her company and silly laugh.

arman the barber

2010-07-08T02:35:00.000-07:00

When my hair was longer in the beginning, I'd sometimes go see Arman the Barber and have him straighten it out. He's a marine looking hair stylist that likes to drink homeade vodka while working. I never let him cut my hair, in fear that it would end up like that haircut I got when I was 7 - sad and embarrassing. But I liked sitting in his chair sipping some of the stuff myself and talking to him about things in Vayk, and now that my hair has grown out again I decided to go pay him a visit. He gave me an Armenian music disc and I told him I'd bring him this Michael Jackson cd I have in exchange. Should have seen the grin on his face...

jon m.

2010-07-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

I can easily say that if it weren't for Jon, I don't think I would or could have stayed here for 2 years. It's hard enough to work and live here, it's so much harder without good friends close by . We've spent a lot of time together, talking our way through this experience. It's difficult to explain the friend I've found in Jon - but my soul is lighter because of it.

faces & voices

2010-07-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to post as many of these as I can, don't expect too much, but I thought it would be fun to put together some audio recordings along with the faces that I will miss when I leave. This is Rubik and Aygestan, my second host family. I lived with them for 7 months. I asked her what she would remember about that time, and she said she'd remember the time she knocked on my door in the middle of a winter day and found me sleeping in all my clothes, jacket, and hat on under all the blankets. I'd forgotten about that, but she recalls well as told in the audio. Mostly I remember how many things I said wrong around the dinner table that caused everyone to nearly spew drinks from their mouth in laughter, and the times I had to wake them up at 3 or 4 in the morning because a water pipe bust in the bathroom or when I was locked out of the house in the snow from wanting to see how cold it was outside. It was, as I recall, cold enough.

lav k'lini

2010-07-06T02:50:00.000-07:00

I have about 2 weeks left in Armenia, the end has come. I am photographing the little things that I have found oddly charming but never thought they could really tell anyone much about Armenia. Like this bed, that struck me as a possible metaphor for what I've come to know about this country, which carries a simple austere beauty that reflects the waiting I feel like people are doing here. Waiting for the day to pass, the seeds to grow, a job to materialize, a child to be born, the next pension paycheck to arrive. It's a post Soviet country that has been torn apart by Communism and is still struggling to recover from the abandonment. Slowly things are getting better, but not for everyone. Outside of Yerevan, the people of this country sit waiting.....for something to happen.

I finally finished reading Robert Kaplan's "Eastward to Tartary" which is a great geo-political travel book about this part of the world. In it he says this, which I think echoes the status quo regardless of the fact the book was published 10 years ago, "Americans are triumphant about the collapse of the Soviet Union. But throughout the Caucasus and beyond, I experienced firsthand how the Soviet collapse, while a blessing in the long run, has meanwhile ruined millions of real lives. Communism, however disastrous, was still a system that provided pensions, schooling, social peace, and physical security for a multitude of people who often had no recollection of anything better. The collapse of that system has left a chaotic void that, so far, has made life here much worse."
There is still a wonderful spirit here - an identity that is very strong and persistent. And with this, I hope, there will be more on the coming horizon.

all grown up

2010-06-29T03:32:00.000-07:00

14 going on 15. An age that drives most parents crazy, I think I was guilty of the same. I talked my parents into letting me date a boy they said I couldn't - and these girls are just coming in to the realm of all that. My neighbor's daughter, Narine, feels more comfortable behind a pair of sunglasses or her own hand, but at the same time is really interested in her own image. I took these today to illustrate that time in a girls life of becoming a woman, and also just to take some for them to have. I know these girls well, they are always gossiping in the street texting on their cell phones and knocking on my door - so it wasn't particularly hard to get them in the frame. They're so grown up.

camera broken

2010-06-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

Kids are fun to photograph, they love the camera. But they desperately want to try to take a photo with it, all by themselves, like little adults. I learned a good lesson today - don't let them. My lens already a little broken from my own mistake is now hardly hanging on the body of my camera as it was dropped out of the hands of a little girl today. Ay kez ban, at least I have a trip to the States coming up soon. Repair? I wonder how much $$ I am looking at.

kghstoop continued

2010-06-25T07:29:00.001-07:00

It's always nice when other people take pictures of you, for you. I didn't have very many of myself here until Emily came along. Apres akchik, all photos are courtesy of my pal Emily Haas. These are a little added perspective from the trip we made to Mt. Kghstoop. This morning I woke up to a body that has never been so sore, ever. I'm still walking slow and funny....

mt. kghstoop

2010-06-24T05:55:00.001-07:00

Can't pronounce that mountain's name? Take a knife and jam it in your throat and you'll come out saying it right. It's the rocky peak in the distance in the top picture. We almost conquered the reigning mountain at 3,200 and something meters - but it won out in the end. A small group of us started at 7:30 in the morning and climbed about 7,000 ft for 7 hours and reached this jaw dropping mountain village where we camped out for the night in a shepherd's concrete floor shack with intentions to finish the last 2 hours in the morning. But we all slept awful and decided we were satisfied with how close we had gotten to the mountain and descended. We came across this old lady who loaned us her bbq skewers, she had one hell of a dialect that I could hardly understand and told us when we asked how many people live up here, 2 - her and her grandson. Incredible. And so so beautiful, the alpine view, the isolation, the storms, and the clouds that would intermittenly show us the peak of Kghstoop. Check out Emily's blog also, I know she took some great shots of this trip.

sheep jam

2010-06-21T00:12:00.000-07:00

I scanned this photo in, that's why it looks a little.....ancient. I've passed a lot of these traffic jams of livestock in the last 2 years, and have always wanted to get a picture. They walk these animals not on small roads, but on the main highways (if you could call them that) through the country. The semi trucks coming from Iran and all kinds of varying degrees of cars must wait and honk to get through this domestic force of a sight. No one thinks it's cool, the drivers are annoyed they have to slow down and weave through animal traffic as are the passengers who make these "ugh"and "aiygh" noises. So this is it, and this particular time there must have been about 4 or 5 hundred sheep on the road. Even the people who scanned this photo in for me asked me why I took this picture. And then they laugh when I tell them how interesting I think it is.

afternoon hitch hiking

2010-06-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Emily and I hitch hiked back home today and we got lucky and bounced around 4 different rides within a short amount of time. This man was driving from one village to the next and offered us his back seat - the car smelled of fresh bread as he was taking it to be sold. It was a good moment, and so I had to take a photo. Thanks to Emily for looking like a Russian doll, we got rides no problem.

care for a smoke?

2010-06-09T00:16:00.000-07:00

A month or two ago, I can't exactly remember - time is something that escapes me here, Jon and I went for a long walk around Yeghenadzor. We happened to come across this old man and proceeded to get pleasantly drunk with him while he talked our ears off about his life. He poured us homeade vodka, 3 or 4 shots too many, and more or less forced us to drink with him. I watched him talk to a rapidly buzzed Jon while I tried to successfully focus as many pictures as possible, but only one or two came out clear (I have no idea why). We left laughing hard at ourselves and kept talking about how cool and beautiful this old man was. He had a face I briefly fell in love with, and something about his nature was familiar. It's on my list of things to do before leaving....come back to see this one.

window

2010-06-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

I checked the weather in Armenia daily before coming, wincing that it was below 50 in April thinking this was going to be the worst decision. But the cold is like pain, you know you went through it but you can't remember exactly what it felt like because it's gone. And now the heat has come - the rattling sound of afternoon cicadas and sticky morning sweat that assure you it's hot. My bedroom window curtain was blowing from the breeze today and it just looked.....pretty. I've had a good weekend - I hope you have too.

holding on

2010-05-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

I was walking to a friend's birthday party this evening as I passed the basketball court, where these boys were hooping it up. They had more fun posing for me than actually playing I think. Before coming to Armenia, my friend Nadia who had done Peace Corps in Panama told me that part of the experience was finding something you could hold on to - because it wasn't going to be easy. I haven't forgotten her words, they are ever true. Photography has been the thing I have gripped on to, and I have used it at times to force myself to stay engaged here. Finding photography to be more important to me now than it was before has been just one of the gifts I've been given for having held on this long.

the chickens

2010-05-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

Her husband died years ago, and she has been helping raise her son's children and tending to the chickens and garden since. Her family says she has made pets out of the chickens, talks to them and spends more time than is really necessary feeding and what not. Widows and widowers don't remarry in this country, what was once was once. Anyone with a heart can put this story together. I've always liked barns and farm animals, hope to have my own someday too, and so I didn't mind helping her out this evening getting the 37 chickens back in their coop. And I don't think she minded the attention either, as she told me all about them and let me take her photo.

greens

2010-05-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

I spend probably an abnormal amount of time at my neighbor Hranush's house. She's always outside doing something with her hands - and I like coming over just to see what's up. Like I said though, a lot. I took these today under her house soaking up the last of the day's light while she toiled about planting things. The green braided strands of grass come from the fields, and once dried are good eating in the winter time. I didn't like them at all in the beginning. As an American kid who once endured awful frozen spinach with dinners caught slipping them into my glass of milk hoping it would go unseen instead of eaten, I had bad memories of cooked greens. But the Armenians in their magical ways make the stuff taste great. Nostalgia has set in deep for me now. I wish there were a pleasant way around not having to think about, and actually, leaving soon.

river wild

2010-05-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

It's been raining for forever now. I don't remember the last day of real sunshine - where it wasn't a half hour tease of warmth followed by the clouds taking over. The river near my house is raging. I love walking back there, and the last time I did I met these 10 year old boys who wanted to come with. We had a blast together - throwing rocks in the water to test the depth, jumping from one part to the next, soaking our shoes and pants. I never can get enough of water play time.

mother & daughter

2010-05-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Arusyik, and her daughter Angelina. I'm at their house a lot, particularly in their blue kitchen watching the window light on faces drinking tea or eating something. I've taken many pictures of this family - they are my best Armenian friends. I was immediately hooked on their home environment the first few times and have had to come back since: the phone always ringing, someone usually crying, the door being opened and closed a thousand times, food laying out ready for someone else to graze on, people coming in and out and sporatic small parties over a half bottle of wine because it's Tuesday. It's the kind of home I hope to have someday - open to anyone, a little messy, full of the good things.

going home

2010-05-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

lkl

I just got home from the last conference, thank God, of my Peace Corps service. It was mostly a load of paperwork to be completed and information about life after this: jobs, readjusting to American life, etc. I recorded a few of my fellow volunteers who haven't been home in 2 years on what they were most looking forward to about it. Home is a concept, it is more than a permanent address or even a country of familiarity - and unlike some volunteers who are anxious as hell to get Home, I feel like I will be leaving Home to find and create another one.

cotton candy

2010-04-28T23:41:00.001-07:00

I was looking back at my vacation pictures from Georgia and Turkey, feeling very spring loaded to be somewhere else, somewhere new. In the Peace Corps, I think it is important to travel out of country every so often, as often as you can actually, because these small developing countries have a way of blocking your vision to what else exists. Of course memory is still strong, but even being in a big international airport after 7 or 8 months of just being in Armenia is a little overwhelming. This picture is from Batumi, Georgia - a small beach town on the Black Sea coast that I really liked. I think this was the last roll of it for the day, and I watched these kids' nervous faces hoping this lady could spin more. Cotton candy days aren't too far down the road...

a little of both

2010-04-24T05:17:00.001-07:00

This woman is a math teacher at the school I work at, and she also shares my birthday. So she's immediately cool with me. She's lives close to the small corner store that once was a small soviet style refugee trailer that served someone's living needs but is now my favorite place to pick up eggs, bread, or more phone credit. The owner is a lush, is always seen to have a few shots of something near by and willing to share with anyone he can persuade to drink with him at 1:30 in the afternoon. And it's the only place I feel comfortable having a little debt at. He'll just write my name down in the small paper notebook that is filled with years of pages of people who haven't paid, and in a day or two I'll give him the 2 bucks. I don't know why I even ask, I think it makes me feel more like a local maybe. Last night I was down there around dusk and took this picture. I like seeing pictures with 2 kinds of different light in them, it has always grabbed my interest. I know it's on the dark side a little, so put on your glasses and forgive.

play your part

2010-04-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

A photo I took when we were working on our women's day exhibit that I think is an accurate representation of the standard gender roles in Armenia. It's a system that works well, is protected, and actually sought after - as getting married and having children is the biggest priority in life here. Even children in the schools, when asked questions about gender roles, agree with the kind of norms that embraced American society 50 or more years ago. It is old as time, these kinds of expectations and limitations, and the pattern doesn't break easily (or should be broken at all) here.

50mm love

2010-04-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

I hardly ever take pictures of things like apples and trees, but with this film camera I got as a gift last year (a 50mm Canon AV-1 old school), it's like putting on a pair of Life Is Beyond Beautiful pair of sunglasses and feeling really inspired by how it looks through the lens. I have been shooting old Russian slide film I got from a friend, plain 200 speed Kodak, here and there rolls of black and white from other volunteers who have lost their spark on taking pictures - it's been a lot of fun, and I while it's a little expensive to keep the developing and printing process up with my Peace Corps salary, I think I might let my digital camera take a break for awhile.

lunch and tourists

2010-04-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

A group of 4 Irishmen came to eat lunch at my old host family's house this afternoon as part of a home-stay tourist program run by a hostel in Yerevan. I came over around noon to help with the table setting and taste testing, and all 3 of my host mother's kids showed up to see what was going down as well. In typical Armenian style, the tour bus was about an hour late so we sat around looking at the table, and I took some pictures and later taught one of her sons what the term "that sucks" means while waiting for the giant Irishmen to come. They seemed to like the food as the gulfed it down without speaking. They asked me how long I had been in Vayk and looked completely astonished, half sympathetic, when I said almost 2 years. One of the coolest things about doing Peace Corps is not being a tourist, making friends and a life somewhere far from where you thought you could.

untitled

2010-04-04T01:08:00.000-07:00

I took this photo last night while waiting to eat dinner with a family whose son is leaving for Russia to work for a few months. Although this girl was staring at the music video on TV, she had a curious yet shy demeanor that reminded me of myself at that age. Later towards the end of the night, I had to talk her into taking a photo with my camera despite the small thrill I could see on her face. I told her as I left, "you're going to be a great little photographer some day." She didn't say anything, looked at me with simple eyes and grinned.

naps and worms

2010-04-01T01:35:00.000-07:00

I have been getting emails recently from new Peace Corps Armenia volunteers that will be coming in June. Their questions are understandable; I remember feeling like I was jumping off a cliff and not sure whether there was going to be water below. And so I have been asked things like "is there reliable electricity, how do I live, how cold does it get, how much Armenian I knew before hand" and so on. The answers to these questions really depends on where you are here, because the country varies from region to region. But I can tell you that of course it will be cold, sometimes there is no water or electricity, by some stroke of magic luck you will learn to speak this language, definitely you will want to quit more than once - but it is all worthwhile. It is a rich, esoteric experience few people will know about.

The audio is conversations between my friend Jon and I about the gastro-intestinal friends you will meet and 4 o'clock standard nap time.

So, if any new A-18's are reading/listening to this please know that we are excited for you and encourage the bold step you are about to make.

Preface of audio: first half - sitting on my roof eating awful dried peaches.

tony

2010-03-21T03:49:00.001-07:00

Tony. He belongs to my neighbors but likes to escape from his den as much as possible and run wildly through my backyard area pulling down my clothes I have hanging out to dry and scattering them in remote corners. He looks cute, but he is a little terror of a turd - the most undisciplined mutt ever. I was making lunch today, and he ran inside from the open back door quickly grabbed one of my boots near the front door and then stole off with it out the door again, down the stairs, made a successful leap and also dragged down my wet jeans that were hanging on the line and we played chase the boot around from Tony for a good 10 minutes before I got it back. I can't believe he let me take his photo, but I think he knows that I secretly adore him.

photo exhibit

2010-03-15T09:18:00.001-07:00

The photographs that Emily Haas and I displayed for the International Women's Day exhibit are being posted on Ms. Haas' blog daily until the end of March. I think there are about 30 images, 10 or 13 women total. Our opening day went well, a crowd of people came and I was happy to see some of the women we photographed there too. Of course if you happen to find yourself wandering the dusty streets of Yeghegnadzor, please come by. You can also just click here.

flaming prayer

2010-03-11T10:20:00.002-08:00

I took this photo at a bbq a few nights ago, when we were standing around enjoying the fire before the meat was added to it. My friend Armen was watching his son play around with a flaming stick while the rest of us were jumping out of the way to avoid being burned by the little trouble maker. Armen's pose was, for me, perfect.

future designers

2010-03-09T04:15:00.001-08:00

The faces of some design students I am teaching this semester. Although all of these kids like computers I can tell you that maybe only 4 wanted to be in the design department and have a real interest in art and design. It's a weird system and I don't ask too many questions that would further reveal the weirdness of it - I just teach what I can. So I (with the help of my pal Emily Haas) am teaching the baby steps of Photoshop to them. I hardly know my #$@ from second base about using Photoshop, but I too am learning as I go which is a win win for us all. I took their pictures last week, and hope to have them recreate this canvas lesson for the next class. You know a fraction about something here, and great! ...you can teach a whole semester of it.

touching you?

2010-03-06T07:10:00.002-08:00

This is Kristine, she is an English language student studying to become a teacher. Every time I see her she tries to get me to come to her family's house for coffee, or help her translate something for class like To Kill A Mockingbird ("aw shucks Jim" - that kind of stuff is puzzling). I took her picture today, while thinking back on the first time she tried to tell me that she wanted to keep in touch with me, to call me for things like English help. Obviously she had heard the phrase somewhere although it tumbled out of her mouth, "Paige, I want to be touching you." We were already sitting so close on the bus, I was lost. For a second. And then I laughed. Yes, I know you do Kristine.

arthur sakhalyan

2010-03-01T06:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to Yerevan and stopped in at my friend Arthur's apartment. He is a photographer, and we have been planning on sitting down and hanging out talking about photography for way too long - and I'm glad it finally happened. Arthur's pictures are serenely beautiful, he only shoots slide film and polaroid and has some neat, heavy, intimidating looking equipment that he hauls around Armenian villages and fields. We had some great discussions, and I hope to learn more from him. http://www.flickr.com/photos/36927491@N00/

lost in thought

2010-02-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

I'm really digging black and white photos lately - maybe it's because of the very insipid weather of gray skies and leafless trees, but it just feels right right now. These are some photos I took when we were shooting for our International Women's Day project in the village of Getap. We only ended up using the top image from my side of images taken, but I still like these and think they add up to something very contemplative about this woman. She stared off in thought a lot when we were there and I couldn't help watching and finding some beauty in it.

just another post

2010-02-18T06:06:00.000-08:00

One of the things that makes this country really hard to gauge in terms of well being and development is the superficial appearance of wealth. The amount of pride these people have extends itself to the street level where it is so hard to see the inside of the real culture - which is the almost miserly resourcefulness and preservation for the few nice things everyone owns. The obsession of having very basic pre-fab furniture and fake brand name clothing that are "pretty" can fool one to really knowing at what degree Armenia is developing. You won't see people dirty and poor on the streets, or begging for your money - but an average wage is about $150 dollars a month, with very few jobs to be had. I took this picture last week in a village - the two new chairs and bad wallpaper that is cracking next to this young boy seemed like a good contrast to what I know Armenia to be.

the inside of winter

2010-02-08T09:52:00.001-08:00

Today we (Emily & I) began shooting a small project for International Women's Day - there will be a gallery of a few images to be placed in a local NGO for the month of March. It has been cold here the last few days with snow and frozen pipes, and with nothing really to do outside people stay inside and keep warm, eat and rest. This woman reminded me of the scene in the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie, when Charlie's grandparents are both lying in bed head to foot - eating, resting and keeping warm. It will be Spring soon, but not soon enough.

shape

2010-02-06T10:53:00.000-08:00

Making lasting impressions. What is more interesting than looking at a year old Shape magazine?

come in, please

2010-02-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

It takes a long time to really know people here and feel comfortable with them knowing you (partly because you have to sit through the usual long questionnaire about yourself) that when others invite you in to their house, it is easier sometimes to just decline. I know I not only speak for myself but for other Peace Corps Volunteers - we are somewhere in between living and coping and assimilation and detachment. But in any case, I try to say yes as much as I can. Today I was stopped by a woman I don't know too well and I decided to take up her coffee offer. I left with a feeling of serene discovery and here are a few pictures I took from the 45 minutes I stayed.

girl in the fence

2010-02-03T01:10:00.000-08:00

After some protest, she surrendered and let me take a few pictures. Vera - 9 years old. Loves playing 'futbol' and asking me questions.

?

2010-02-03T01:03:00.000-08:00

The curious kid and his nameless pose. I think he was crying.

the femme scene

2010-02-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've been here forever now, and finding interesting pictures is sometimes a challenge. So I have decided to skip out on some of my assigned work and take on a project about the attitude towards beauty in Armenia. I have been re-introduced to the American attitude and style regarding beauty just by being the outsider here. In general, I would say we (Americans) don't put a huge priority on our appearances and in some cases go out of our way to look like a slob. Never the case in Armenia. My torn jeans hardly get worn and when they do I have to admit to feeling slightly embarrassed. It's is something that I notice almost everyday - my outfit vs. their outfit. It's very cultural. I hope to have some good ones in the coming months.

the butcher bros

2010-01-25T05:10:00.000-08:00

Brothers, co-workers and very good friends of mine. They grind coffee and cut up meat and somehow manage to keep a very humble and elegant manner about themselves. I wanted to take some audio of the place, but then thought that the sound of knife on meat and coffee in the grind really wouldn't be all that cool. I'm sure that is easy enough to imagine. I wanted to get more of the process of them working together, but this is all that I could manage to take while not getting in the way - hanging carcass posed people portraits.

school

2010-01-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

Just by default, I help teach English with a local teacher at my school. I don't really mind it - but working in the schools here is tough. My first day I cried, called my Mom and couldn't believe how out of control it was. Now I'm pretty used to the level of discipline and chaos that I'd probably invite my Granny in to come see me there as I help teach. In general, the education system here is abysmal - from teachers' level of interest in teaching to the corrupt grading style. But so it goes. I tried to get some decent audio of the English class I go to - 7th grade. It just so happens that they were talking about punishment in schools that day; the irony. I've seen kids' pencils, protractors and books broken to pieces and scattered all over the room - and much more. It's not fair to compare what exists here and what I experienced as a child in school, but sometimes it's just all that comes to mind.

project assistance

2010-01-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

I have spent the last day and a half with cinematographer and Fulbright Scholar Thomas Burns, helping him with his project here by translating a little and introducing him to some nice people I know. Thomas is "producing a collection of black-and-white photographs that use techniques of portraiture to explore narratives of social transformation in the South Caucasus." I had a great time watching him work and learning more about his future exhibition. These are some of my pictures from the duration of the last day. Thomas is a great guy - very down to earth about photography and what he's doing. I'm looking forward to seeing his project on the wall soon. www.thomasburns.net (p.s. Also a fellow Texan, born and raised in Austin!)

elsewhere

2010-01-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

Tonight my neighbor Hranush's mother passed away - and while the body rests on top of a table inside with candles and cloth, the coffin stands outside in the snow to signify a death in the house. She had come over to tell me she thought tonight would be the night, and so I went over there to try to say my goodbyes - she was a fiery woman. It wasn't 10 minutes later that she let go. And while people were crying and singing, an infant on the floor starting playing hide and seek on his own trying to get me to notice him, giggling and smiling. As untimely a moment as it was, I like to think that there was a current of life sweeping by - celebrating somehow.

most beautiful chairs ever

2010-01-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

These three musty old chairs on my back porch where I have sat and watched the sun set a hundred times, shared a beer and a cup of coffee with good friends, or finished up the last of a book looked more nostalgic than usual. I'm happy to say though: There are only 6 more months!!! (when I didn't think I'd stay 6 weeks). I apologize, no interesting audio to accompany this - will try hard to find something neat for the next time.

a brand new year

2009-12-31T07:46:00.000-08:00

This picture comes from New Year's Eve last year. I was living with an Armenian family, following the patterns of their life and just getting a grip on speaking their language without coming across like a toddler: "Do you love water?"..... "I love water much right now." ....."No I don't eat because I much full, but thank you I love yours food." ..... "I think I must come to my house later right now is very late." It was worse than that - but anyhow New Year's is the biggest day of the year - gifts are given, people spend 5 days celebrating with all the food and drink they have gone into debt to give and share. The night begins at midnight, and lasts a good while. It's a bright full moon as well, which I can't help but think is a good sign for the start of a new year, around the world.

road side wine tasting

2009-12-27T01:23:00.000-08:00

The wine in Armenia isn't awful, but it's totally unpredictable. In my experience, one bottle of what I usually buy will be alright, the next slightly carbonated, and the next so sweet I have to spit it out. But the best wine here comes from the region I live in from a village called Areni in Vayots Dzor Region. On the side of the road there are small stands for about half a mile selling homeade wine in Coca-Cola bottles along with fruit, honey, and other things. My friends Emily, Henny, and I went wine tasting a few days ago in our preparation to buy 10 liters of the best roadside wine we could find for our Christmas party. So we walked from one stand to the next, testing all of it - getting happier and happier at each stop. We ended the day by carrying our 10 liters of wine up the steep hill to visit the church in the village, take a photo and celebrate on our success of getting 4 liters of wine for free. The audio is complete with drive by trucks, so listening to it twice might be a good idea.

and so it is christmas

2009-12-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago a few of us sat around a small table and drank homeade wine and hung out with an art professor from the university we teach at. He sang us an old traditional song while we held each others pinky fingers swaying back and forth like the way they dance here; I don't think the song has much to do with Christmas but it went well with the night. Merry Christmas to all!