L'ART DE VIVRE

A darkened balcony at the opulent Palais Garnier in Paris. Guilded architecture soars in accompaniment to the dancers of the ballet russe on stage. Every emotion wrung out of their faces and bodies in the stories playing out. The makeup, the sweat, the lighting, the swish and gleam of costumes. A microcosm of the beauty and complexity of life. A guilded spark of the Palais broke off in me like the Snow Queen. I continue to consider the way - hard and dramatic - or soft and sweet and delicate - every scene was different, but above all exceptional and in service to the story. 

As a child I was an observer. I remember a meal in the french countryside. A small family farm with a cluster of ripening pear trees around a table. Peonies scattered with ease amidst provincial dishes. Crispy bread, cheese, and glistening tarte tatin on ancestral porcelain. The company was fun and clever. Jovial conversations in both french and english became more jovial as the wine flowed. Though linguistic barriers prevented me from understanding every word - I’ll never forget the way that ambiance and friendship wrapped me up as the candles burned into evening on our summer table. 

01: a family table

02 drama & intrigue

the Moments that shaped my work

There is a balance which epitomizes the art de vivre. And it's where life and photography live together. The authenticity of an honest life with raw, real moments - and the artifice of getting to decide who you want to be as far and as wide as your heart desires. Those things are not opposites. Both lay together to get at something true. Not truth in facts, but truth in spirit. Art and soul. Let your friendships wrap you up and let your candles burn into the night on your summer table. And that, to me, is the essence of life and photography. 

I have observed that weddings are woven together with stories big and small, and in ways that are profound and beautiful. 

After the ceremony: Two mothers who don’t speak the same language hold each other and cry as their children depart, freshly married and beaming with joy.

The ceremony: friends and family hold candles and each other in the warm Cartagena night. They whisper prayers and vows and the couple glows in the warmth of their love.

Music echoes in the garden. The wedding party laughing and swaying around the couple on the dance floor. The silk swish of her dress, the gleam of his sleek tux, the sweat as they dance. They cling together in radiant joy as colorful confetti swirls in the air amidst the sparkling stars above them. 

03: my clients are my people

04: the essence of life = the essence of photography