Stories from Nepal.

As we approach the one year anniversary of the earthquake in Nepal that killed many, and left many more injured and homeless. I am in Nepal working on a variety of projects documenting some of the reconstruction efforts. I am excited to be working with Americares documenting some of their reconstruction efforts in Nepal. As a personal project, I am working on creating stories of Kids of Kathmandu's efforts in Nepal rebuilding schools and supporting orphans. I have worked with them in the past and I am a big fan of their work. I also admire and respect its founders Andrew and Jami who pour immense amounts of love, and tireless work to the success of the organization, and the children.  I am lucky to have teamed up with Chris Lynch a friend, a Sony Artisan, accomplished film maker, and a fellow photographer. He is helping me create content that will help them get the word out on the great work these organizations are doing.  Big thanks to Sony Artisans for their support. Stay tuned for more!

You want to donate to a cause there is none better than Kids of Kathmandu.

This is the most amazing Samjhana. She was so patient with us, smart and quite the charmer.

Trekking to Everest Base camp one

I Trekked 60 miles over 2 weeks and climbed more than 9000 vertical net feet. There were lots of ups and downs both literally and figuatively on this trek.  Nine strangers and myself started this together, and we finished together.  I learned a few things that would come in handy. Things like you should be very wary of passing Yaks, always wear a headlamp when visiting the toilet at night, watch out from up above for falling 50 pound sacks of potatoes on narrow mountain trails (thanks Tikie for helping me miss that one), bring wipes that have a fresh scent, and sometimes a snickers bar is the only thing that will help you climb that last 1000 feet. All kidding aside it was a great opportunity to raise funds for an orphanage, the main reason for the trek (more on that in another post) and to visit one of the rarer, mythical places in the world. I miss my fellow trekkers after spending 24/7 time with them for two plus weeks.

This is a bunch of images from my Instagram feed shot on my iPhone from the trek. The best camera to have is the one that you have with you. I will post other shots that I did as I liberate them from my real camera, even some black and white twin lens Rollie shots.

Something Different

This one shot of a series I plan to use for an installation that I have been commissioned to do.

In my travels I see all sorts of things that I would love to photograph but don't have the time, the right equipment, or I missed the opportunity (the story of my life!) So I file it away for future projects (the list keeps growing). Some of these projects have a commercial aspect, or is something I find interesting and want to explore. A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to photograph some fighting roosters while in the Dominican Republic on a different project. The whole thing was set up on the spur of the moment, and I was not prepared conceptually or equipment wise.  I created some photographs, but with the intention of coming back and doing something different. One of the hardest things about these kind of projects is being able to get access to things whether its people, places, or situations.

I always found the roosters to be beautiful and their movements visually stunning.  Also the passions that are aroused by their fighting I found alien to me, but observing the people around me it is pretty amazing.

Here is the set in a private fighting ring at the Trava (fighting rooster ranch).

No animals were harmed for the photo shoot.