Lately ...

Lately, so much has happened that I seem to have lost my ability to process it all ... and to write the stories.  I so very much want to write the stories.  From Genova, Lake Como, and Norway.

Italy was intense, followed by a stint at home where I played 'catch-up' ... which was intense.  Before flying out to Norway, to give a photography workshop that was all about more intensity and more beauty.  Day after day after day when the electricity of a life lived intensely hummed inside of me.

Home again to an impressive 'to-do' list that has me dreaming of two weeks of doing absolutely nothing.  But I think the problem is mine, no one else's.  I suspect, even if I were set down on a deserted island, a castaway or two would wash up and we'd talk for days and nights until rescued. 

I'm like that.  Intensely curious, intensely interested, in almost everything.  I'm beginning to understand this thing about me.  I don't rest but it's my fault.

Kim and AP came over from England last week and that was so good.  Then I caught up with Marcia, my lovely Irish colour therapist friend, from Brussels.  We had another kind of day filled with a different intensity ...  one that involved everything from walking and singing to her 8 week old baby, to talking of e-courses and all kinds of other things too.

In-between times I photographed two lovely Belgian families, laughing but intense as we worked with the bright light and 5 beautiful children under 8 years of age.  I rode home on the tram, jeans splattered with mud, exhausted but happy.

Then today ... an unplanned visit to the city, because I was almost out of coffee beans, netted an unexpected bonus.  5 fabulous books! 

A  Mountain in Tibet by Colin Thubron.

Tim Parks, Dreams of Rivers and Seas.  A novel.  I already loved his book, A Season With Verona.

Then, Jon Snow, one of my favourite journalists wrote a book i didn't know about.  Lately I've been finding so many good books by and about war journalists and photographers.   His book, Shooting History, was published in 2004.  Jon had already spent 25 years reporting and is  'one of the most highly regarded newsmen of our time, renowned for his independence of mind and his unerring ability to get to the heart of the matter.'

I particularly love this, 'he presents his uncensored views on the new world order: how the West's constant search for an enemy has helped unhinge the world, and why the media have been less than helpful in drawing attention to key political and global developments'.

And then there was a book I had forgotten I was waiting for.  Daniel Pearl's wife wrote about her husband's life and death in A Mighty Heart.   ' A journalist in her own right, Mariane is, as was her husband, profoundly committed to the idea that a more informed public makes for a better world, and to the idea that risks have to be taken to uncover a story.'

And the final book, before I stepped away from that dangerous 50% off shelf is one by New Zealander, William Brandt.   Titled The Book of the Film of the Story of my Life, I couldn't resist.

It's been a good day here in the flatlands of Belgium.  I'm also working on the very first A New Way of Seeing Newsletter.  And processing the family photography session, and trying to decide which book I should begin reading while knowing that, at this very moment in time, I should step away from the computer and go organise dinner.

Magical Events ...

Genova is this magical place ... and already I imagine the Genovese doubting me but it happened like this.  My lovely friend, Barbara, invited me to attend Teatro Carlo Felice's ballet - Biancaneve (Snow White in English).

I went along, no idea what to expect and honestly, after the show my mind was completely blown.  I have borrowed one of the photographs from the Teatro Carlo Felice website here in Genova, hoping that nobody minds, giving full credit to the photographer Marcello Orselli.  You can see more of his work here.

The photograph I'm posting was just one of many spectacular scenes.  In it you see the Seven Dwarves leaving work.  They dance on that 'rockface' using ropes  they simply took our breath away.

Other breath-stealing scenes included the wicked witch forcing the apple into Snow White's mouth. It was brutal and yet it was dance and somehow that made it beautiful.  And the scene where the prince danced with his dead princess. 

We were all 5 years old again ... believing all that we saw.  Aching for all of the characters.

I left the theatre both exhausted and exhilarated, feeling so fortunate that I had witnessed so much beauty.  I have no more words besides telling you ... it was sublime.

Things Found ...

I use Facebook.  It works for clients who want to come along for the ride, it works as a place to escape for a few minutes when I'm alone here at the desk for days on end. 

And I find and share things there but they're lost, quite fast, as that world scrolls through the days, weeks and months.

So I might start noting my best finds here once a week. 

I loved this story about two anonymous artists known as Dangerdust.  Art students who, once a week, sneak in a create a chalk masterpiece at Columbus College of Art and Design.  There's an interview with them over here, one where they retain their anonimity.  

Jaron Gilinsky writes an important article titled When a Kidnapped Journalist is a Freelancer.  Freelancers are often people driven to tell the story, capture a truth, however this was sobering: 'Like most freelancers, Ricardo went into war zones sans insurance. The reason has more to do with cold, hard economics than with bravado.

Photos rarely sell for the price of a train ticket. Videos rarely sell for more than the cost of a plane ticket. Trusted insurance policies that cover death, terrorism, kidnapping, extortion, etc. cost thousands of dollars over the course of a year. For the majority of freelancers who are living hand to mouth, such policies are simply unaffordable.'

I was introduced to the work of Tyler Knott, author, poet, photographer and artist.  A visit to his website felt like a rather lovely gift to myself.

I rediscovered one of Germany’s most famous anti-Nazi heroes, Sophie Scholl.  She was born in 1921 and while she was a university student in Munich, she and her brother, Hans formed a non-violent, anti-Nazi resistance group with several friends.  They called it the White Rose. The group ran a leaflet and graffiti campaign calling on their fellow Germans to resist Hilter's regime.

At her execution, Scholl made this final statement: "How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"

There's a movie.

And that reminds me, I discovered a website called A Mighty Girl.  Having grown without the influence of strong role models this seems like a gift to pass around.

Then there was the story of The Missing in the Mediterranean.  Every month, hundreds in north Africa and the Middle East leave by boat to seek new lives in Europe. But many vanish without trace.  Immigrants are very much a political football in our time but I suspect that many of those violently opposed to freedom of movement in times of danger and difficulties would be first to flee countries where violence and poverty reign.

The New Zealand Movie, Pa Boys, is finally out on dvd.  I've been desperate to view it but so very stuck on the other side of the world.  I just need to order it now.  They're also running a talent search for unpublished music for the sequel.  I'm rapt.

There is so much more but this is more than enough for a first listing of things I've read and enjoyed. I hope there's something for you too.