Ice Caves

This is my latest formation of a piece of Italian white alabaster. I call it Ice Caves. It has manifested itself closely to what I envisioned. There are 6 different angles and distances from the stone (below).

ROP’s First Photo Exhibition

Rwandan Orphan’s Project First Photo Exhibition
Rwanda, October 14, 2013 by Jenny Clover
ROP Stories

As you may have read here our boys have been getting weekly lessons in photography from American teacher Amber for the last few months. We’ve all be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the work the kids have been producing and are often amazed at the shots they take, which show the Rwandan Orphans Project through their eyes. Last week Amber organised an exhibition at a communal office space in Kigali – called The Office – to show off some of the photos the kids have produced.

We picked 9 names out of a hat, they got dressed up in their best clothes, and we all excitedly set off in a bus from the ROP to town.

The kids’ photos were mounted around the large office space, everything from close-ups of their friends’ faces, to the acrobatics the boys are so good at, to documenting daily life at the ROP. One wall was dedicated to photos the boys had taken of their own bodies, which they’d colored in and written over. Some chose to write about themselves or their bodies, others about their hopes and aspirations. For us to see them writing about their dreams for the future when we’ve seen how hopeless some of them can be at their lowest point was really nice.

The evening was packed from start to finish. Hundreds of people came to see the boys’ photos and ask them questions about their work and their lives. The kids told us that at first they were nervous and didn’t know what to say to all these adults. But gradually, and probably with the help of the multiple sugar-ey drinks people kept buying them, they opened up and were confident enough to go round pointing out their photos and explaining them.

When not busy playing on the table football and ping-pong table and slurping their drinks, the kids were happy mingling, meeting different people and showing off their photos. They told us afterwards that they held a meeting around the football table where they discussed how nervous they were. One of them pointed out that all these people were here for them, and to see their work, and they agreed that they shouldn’t be nervous and should instead enjoy it. It’s great to see our kids developing into mature, proud, open-minded little people before our eyes and it makes us very proud of them.

Read complete story, with additional photos at ROP Stories.
Donate to the Rwandan Orphan’s Project HERE.

Back To Back

Back to Back

These two rock creatures are stuck together like glue (actually with glue). I shaped them from a piece of Oregon river rock (granite) and orange fluorescent alabaster.

It is called Back To Back. Hope you enjoy the photos. They don’t quite bring out the clarity or grain as some close-ups would have done.

Cubs Swimming To Death

Dear Gabriel,

A few days ago, my colleague Heather sent you an online-photo gallery in honor of International Polar Bear Day, Wednesday, February 27th. One of the photos really broke my heart. It was this one here: a mother swimming with her cubs. It broke my heart because so many polar bear cubs die in long distance swims like this one — as many as 45% in one observational study.

This photo was a vivid example to me of the real impact of climate change.

Please make an emergency donation of $15 or more today to support our work to save these threatened Polar Bears.

At an alarming rate, global warming is melting the Arctic sea ice that polar bears depend on to hunt for food … threatening this noble Arctic creature with extinction.

Here are the sobering facts:

According to experts, two-thirds of the world’s polar bear populations could be lost by mid-century as sea ice continues to retreat.

Less Arctic sea ice forced 40% more Alaskan polar bear moms to den on land — away from food sources.

As sea ice disappears, bear mortality rises. In the Beaufort Sea region about 1/3 fewer polar bear cubs are surviving their first year of life.

The last ten years (2004 to 2013) have seen the ten lowest January sea ice extents (total area covered by sea ice) on the record.

Gabriel, we we urgently need your help to continue the fight to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change and save irreplaceable wildlife and their habitats.

Donate as little as $15 today to support our work will help make sure that our beloved wildlife can continue to be found in the wild, and NOT just in nature photographs.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Emily Stevenson
Manager, Online Membership
Environmental Defense Fund

The Galaxy Stone

The Galaxy

Here are a few views of my latest stone carving.

It is from a block of black Mongolian marble.

It’s getting better all the time.

Photographing Iran

From The Globalist

Recording the Truth in Iran
Photographs by Kaveh Goldestan
Reviewed by Ruchi Shukla

While on assignment for the BBC in the Northern Iraqi town of Kifri in 2003, Iranian photographer Kaveh Golestan died after stepping on a land mine.

Since before the Islamic Revolution of 1979, he was the only Iranian photojournalist who had a continuing presence in the country until his death in 2003.

Variety of images

In his book “Recording the Truth in Iran,” some of his most famous images from different collections have been selected so as to give a historical explanation for the present situation in Iran.

The collections vary in their timeframe as well as their subjects. Although he was primarily a war photographer, Golestan also covered such subjects as the prostitutes in Tehran, children in a mental asylum, the laborers of Tehran — and the Qaderi Dervishes of Kurdistan.

Besides his war-time images, these photographs give us a glimpse into the life of Iran.

History of Iran

Kaveh Golestan has covered all the major political upheavals in his country. His photographs tell the stories of the Iranian Revolution, the Iran-Iraq War, the first Gulf War, the U.S.-led war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and the current war in Iraq.

In 1988, Kaveh Golestan was one of the only photographers who captured the nerve gas attacks outside of the village of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Recording the truth

While most Western media did not cover the attacks because they were compliant towards Saddam Hussein — who at that time was still a U.S. ally — Golestan was furious when his images did not make it into any major media besides Time Magazine.

Even while working in London, Golestan made several trips every year to Tehran to photograph and chronicle the happenings in the country.

He was there in 1979 when the Ayatollah Khomeini came back to power — and captured his funeral in 1989. His pictures told the story of the people behind the war lines.

Read entire review and see photos at The Globalist.

Love Makes A Family

Dear MoveOn members,

Wow, you are incredible!!

Over 15 million people have seen my testimony about my two moms before the Iowa legislature, after MoveOn sent it out last Thursday. I can’t tell you how much that means to me, my moms, and my little sister, and families like ours all across the country.

I think that one of the reasons my video resonated with people is that it embodies a simple truth: love is what makes a family. It’s what binds us together as we work through the hard times, so we can enjoy the good ones.

I’m going to keep telling that truth. But I’m only one guy. Every single person has an incredible amount of power to shape and change our world for the better, but imagine what we can do together. That’s why I am asking for your help in telling this simple truth.

The folks at MoveOn and I had an idea: get as many people as possible to take their family holiday photos holding signs that say ‘Love Makes a Family,’ and ‘Equality for ALL Families in 2012’. This time of year is all about family, so let’s use our holiday photos to send a message of love for ALL families.

MoveOn has created a special Tumblr site where you can post your holiday pictures. It’s really easy, and they are going to make a video out of all of these Love Makes a Family photos.

Just click this link to upload your photo. There are also signs that you can download and print.

You can see everyone’s photos by clicking here.

While we won the battle in Iowa, my moms’ rights as a married couple stop at our state’s border. And I know that hundreds of thousands of other families like mine aren’t lucky enough to live in a state where their parents can be married. Instead, they have to spend thousands of dollars to adopt their own kids and get power of attorney to take care of everyday life if or when something bad happens.

A lot of people out there just don’t know and haven’t met families like mine. And that’s why I’ve been traveling around speaking about my two moms, and why I’m writing a book about my family.

Now I’m asking you and other folks to show the people you love that you believe in equality for all.

Will you take a family holiday photo while holding an ‘Equality for ALL Families in 2012’ or ‘Love Makes a Family sign? Just click here for more instructions and a form to upload your family’s picture:

http://lovemakesafamily.tumblr.com/submit

And check out all of the photos others have submitted.

Thanks for all the love and support.

Onward.

–Zach

P.S. I’ve been so honored that so many people shared the video of my testimony, and I’m working overtime to finish my book about all of this, appropriately titled “My Two Moms”—please check it out!

Strong Sense of Self

Excerpt from Transfigurations by Jana Marcus.

You must have a very strong sense of self to transition. (Tiffany, 42)

If I were able to transition when I was in my teens, like youth can today, I would have been socialized as other young girls are. But would I have been forced to buy into stereotypical behavior, attributes, and social norms that most young women are raised with? Would I be a cookie-cutter conformist with a very narrow idea of what a girl is and what kind of woman she should be? Would I have been raised to be a good girl, find a white knight, and raise a family?

It would have been beneficial to my physical appearance to be on estrogen before so many male features became permanent. It’s much harder to transition later in life, and I have had to rid myself of male baggage and socialization. But when that process was done I had a semi-blank slate to create my own idea of what a woman can be, instead of what society thinks she should be. By constructing the woman I am today, I was able to become my own creation, with healthier ideas and qualities I wanted to embody, such as intelligence, humor, individuality, strength, grace and class, as well as my own sense of style and unique place in the world.

I’m proud to be trans; it’s who I am. The outcome of my struggles is what makes me special, not whether I’ve had surgery to create a vagina. Millions of women have a vagina and it doesn’t make them special. What makes a person special is who they are inside, what they do with their lives, and how they make a difference in the world. That’s the kind of woman I am – always aiming to make a difference.

A Woman +

Excerpt from Transfigurations by Jana Marcus.

I am more than just a woman.
By Danielle (30)
See accompanying photo.

I used to be very scared of being transgendered. I didn’t want to fit into that community, and I lived my life as a woman. Only those very close to me knew otherwise. When Gwen Araujo was murdered I realized that I could no longer pretend to be what I was not. Gwen’s death could have been mine. I was in her situation so many times – deceiving people that I was a natural woman. I was really just deceiving myself. This was difficult for me to come to terms with, but I realized that I’m not a biological woman and I never will be. There is more than just male and female – gender is fluid. I realized that the world was messed up, not me, so I decided to turn my anger into a passion for change. Now I’m dedicated to providing services which were not available when I was young.

There’s an emotional and spiritual evolutionary process that we all must go through to accept ourselves for who we really are. I am a transgendered woman and that’s how I identify. For many years I refused to accept having been male. Now I recognize that I am of two spirits, and I’m trying to get in touch with the man inside of me. This is part of embracing my transgenderism as a whole. I’m no longer trying to be something I’m not. I’m just trying to be who I am, and to love myself.

Danielle

Praise for Transfigurations

Here’s what people are saying about Transfigurations by Jana Marcus.

Transfigurations is a bold, gutsy visual feast – not just for the eyes, but for the heart and soul. In her courageous endeavor to explore gender, Jana Marcus takes us along a hypnotic ride that invites us to question everything we think we might know about “man,” “woman” and the typically uncharted water in between. Stunning!

–Greg Archer, San Francisco Examiner and Huffington Post

Jana Marcus’s Transfigurations is revelatory. A series of larger-than-life-size black and white portraits that – perhaps as a function of a wide-open camera lens or the fine quality of printing, but more likely because the eye of the photographer has called forth a deep veracity from the subjects – make available the human essence.

–Mareen Davidson, Art Critic, Santa Cruz Weekly.

This is powerful stuff! Transfigurations is deeply moving. Marcus captures the dignity of people with clarity and honesty, calling forth the hope that many closed minds may be opened and many faint hearts be mended.

–Dennis J. Dunleavy, Ph.D., Department of Communication, Southern Oregon University