Let’s start with gratitude…
Greetings friends. It is my sense that 2019 & 2020 have been transformative for us all. In looking back over the past year, for me personally… I see a beautiful, terrible, upside-down, inside-out, throw-up, rebirth, find-a-new-way, honor-the-old-way, kind of year. A dig-deep, travel-far, hibernate, adventure, lean-on-friends, ask-the-hard-questions, sit-with-the-pain, awaken-the-Goddess, kind of year. A grow-bigger-than-ever-before, work-hard, save-money, dream-big, cry-some-more, vagabonding, perspective-shifting year. And I am grateful.
Grateful for this beautiful community, for all the tiny moments that have made me into who I am, for the opportunity to move into 2020 with eyes wide open, and for the ferocious drive I now feel to complete and share "Where There Once Was Water" with the world. Thank you, as always, for your support & love on this wild ride.
““She decided to free herself, dance into the wind, create a new language. And birds fluttered around her, writing “yes” in the sky.”
- Monique Duval”
For over a year now, I have been working on a long-form project for a client up in the California Delta that has serendipitously tied in beautifully with the production of my own film. This winter has found me spending first and last light photographing the migrating Sandhill Cranes. (Somebody pinch me!). I am grateful for the opportunity to do this work that fills me so completely, and even-moreso for the farming family who has dedicated their life to creating habitat for these birds. Their commitment to practicing agriculture in the Delta in a way that benefits the sensitive peat soils, provides habitat for migrating waterfowl, and returns an impressive profit for the farmer, is a total inspiration.
I spent much of the summer of 2019 working on a huge project with DigDeep and the US Water Alliance, and it has truly been one of the greatest honors of my career thus far. My images supported and illustrated the first EVER national report on water access and sanitation, right here in the United States. This is huge, friends...
"Up until now, we had no idea how many people were living without access to clean water in the country. Why is that? Because up until now there has not been any formal data on this very critical issue. So we decided to take up that mantle and find out for ourselves. And the results are SHOCKING to say the least: Over 2 million Americans are currently living without access to clean running water or sanitation services. But here's the good news, now that we know how extensive the problem it is, we know what we need to do to solve it.” - DigDeep
I encourage you to read the first report on water poverty here in the U.S.and help #closethewatergap --> closethewatergap.org
And what else? Well, Earthships. of course! I’ve been fascinated by Earthships for quite sometime.... How are they built? Do they really work? What’s with all the cans & bottles & tires? It’s been a dream a long time coming to join a build at the Earthship Biotecture community in Taos, New Mexico, and it’s a dream that I chose to live out in the chilly month of December. These are the homes we need for the climate we are creating, folks - fully off-grid and designed to “encounter the phenomena of the planet”. Built from mostly garbage, the homes incorporate passive heating & cooling, rain water catchment, solar & wind energy, food production, and grey/black water treatment onsite. It's all there. The experience changed me. I remember telling a friend shortly afterwards... "It feels good to have done a thing that makes the sky feel bigger". To the artists, builders, and brilliant new friends who made it so - THANK YOU.
““I am here not only to evade for a while the clamor & filth and confusion of the cultural apparatus but also to confront, immediately & directly if it’s possible, the bare bones of existence, the elemental and fundamental, the bedrock which sustains us.”
- Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire”
Prints Now Available
Throughout this project I have created photographs at almost all of the locations I have visited. Many of you have requested access to these images, expressing your interest in purchasing prints. And so (drumroll please)... Prints are now available in a variety of sizes, at discounted rates, and ordering is easy through an online gallery. All money raised through print sales will be put directly towards post-production expenses. So, if you're looking to freshen up your walls, or you want to find unique gifts for friends, it's all right HERE.
The State of Water
“When it comes to our natural resources, we are in a time that demands of us advocacy for restoration over reclamation and for replenishment over extraction.”
- Obi Kaufman, The State of Water
In this brilliant and thoughtful book about California water, author Obi Kaufman digs deep and shares his journey with us all in a refreshingly authentic way. I have been grateful to Obi for being a light-post as I wade my own way through the complex web of California water issues. He has encouraged me to to think bigger, always.
Last but definitely not least, please watch (and share!)
our OFFICIAL TRAILER.
Until next time, much love to you all. Thank you for your continued support, patience and feedback. I literally couldn't be doing this without you.