Printable Calendar: June | Juin 2013

à l'eau is French for "to the water" - with an exclamation mark, it becomes a resounding invitation to take to the ocean or the pool,... your bathtub even. So if you're enjoying warm weather where you are, as the official start of summer nears in many parts of the world, the June calendar enjoins you to take to the water: à l'eau!

Simply download the calendar by clicking on the link below, print and cut on the dotted line (there are two on one page). I like to use plain card stock but any paper will work. enjoy!

Download from my file cabinet: June | Juin 2013 (pdf: 340kb)

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Project 52: Time + Motion

Le temps passe si vite | Time goes by so quickly

As my youngest son races through his infancy, I catch myself in a rabid rush to capture moments with a fervor that wistfully recalls the speed at which my older son has grown, knowing that waiting for later sometimes means missing the chance completely. It's like observing a palpable thing called Time and watching it materialize then quickly disappear. Over and over again...

So the mundane and minutia of everyday become just as important as the milestones and monumental events of every year. Each moment begs the question, "will I experience this again?", which invites a sweeping sadness and in turn compels me to keep shooting.

Experience teaches that memories can dim and morph over time, but pictures remain and seldom lie... they allow us to summon what we felt at a single moment and fill in where Time had disappeared.

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Inside Out: The People's Art Project

Medellin, Colombia: Children dreaming big / Taking down imagined boundaries

Port au Prince, Haiti: Celebrating the resilience of the Haitian people

Johannesburg, South Africa: Portraying HIV/AIDS street children as the heroes they are / Removing the stigma  

Karachi, Pakistan: Exposing the persecution of minorities in Pakistan

Israel, Tel Aviv: Yalla

Yerevan, Armenia: Soldiers smiling for Justice

It's been two years since French street artist and photographer JR won the 2011 TED Prize and launched the "Inside Out" project - the largest global collaborative artistic work that displays large format portraits of everyday people onto public walls. By sharing these works of art - our personal identities - we become able to share our message, celebrate and engage with one another, highlight challenges, channel hope, give the invisible a face and the muted a voice. All of this from a simple raw photograph pasted within a community. Through Inside Out, JR's wish is "for everyone to stand up for what you care about by participating in [the] global art project, and together turn the world...INSIDE OUT."

Perhaps you've heard of it? If not (like me, until a few days ago by watching the documentary on HBO), it's certainly worth knowing about...

Over 120,000 people from more than 108 countries have participated since March 2011. Anyone can still participate, and is challenged to use photographic portraits to share the untold stories and images of people in our communities.


All images from insideoutproject.net.

Take a peek at JR's inspiring NYC studio.

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Project 52: Peonies | Pivoines

So much can be said (and has been said) about the irrefutable beauty and sublime allure of the bashful yet majestic peony... so I'll leave it there.

Have a wonderful week!

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Conversing with Paris...

I had my doubts about posting a pair of dirty Converse,... though they may not be very pretty or characteristically chic, they are a staple in many Parisian/European wardrobes (sitting comfortably beside dainty Repettos and Tropeziennes). This particular pair belongs to my friend, Florence, who visited the States last week from Paris (she's the one puzzled by large sneakers worn by cutely outfitted NYC women. Obviously Converse don't fall into that category).

What I love about this pair of shoes is that their life consists of climbing Paris' crowded metro stairwells and roaming her grand boulevards and lush sprawling gardens; lingering around buskers playing along the Seine and tapping to their swooning melodies. As they sat in my living room last week, Flo's worn and beloved Converse, I couldn't help but realize the dirt trapped in their soles were remnants of Paris herself...


p.s. This is not a personal or paid endorsement for Converse.

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Observations from a Parisienne...

Last week my family had the enormous pleasure of being host to three Français (my husband's best friend, his wife and their daughter) for the greater part of their vacation in the United States. It's always fascinating hearing the observations and first impressions of a first-time visitor to the States (which Florence was, she being a Parisienne). The family's first stop was New York City, and these were Flo's initial observations (with eyes and heart wide open):

- senior citizen discounts for things like movie tickets and food items (which she found practical and convenient for the elderly - and not so common in France)
- many people walking around with something to eat/drink
- the lack of obese people (that she was surprised not to see)
- walking ads/billboards for nearby shops (which she found very amusing)
- big athletic shoes on women (which utterly confused her as she wondered why/how they could dress in such cute outfits then sport big hulking sneakers)

She made many great comments and provided an opportunity to get a fresh vantage point on French-American cultural peculiarities...

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Words & Le Bon Mot

ailleurs [a yeur]: elsewhere, somewhere else

Tranquille et la tête ailleurs, c'était un petit rêveur...

[Tranquil and his mind elsewhere, he was a little dreamer]

- Eddy Mitchell, L'Esprit Grande Prairie

***

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Printable Calendar: May | Mai 2013

May is like the cream inside Oreo cookies, the best part of the Spring season (at least in Washington, DC).  It's when more sunlight drapes our mood and everything becomes abloom - flowers and foliage and our own natures alike... I hope your May is a splendid one!

Here's a calendar to enjoy and/or share. Simply download (below), print and cut on the dotted line. I like to use plain card stock but any paper will work :)

Download from my file cabinet: May | Mai 2013 (pdf: 485K)

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