I know I’m supposed to keep these things vaulted, but Nola is my favorite girl name in the world…. I guess I’m going to have to change that now, not because I can’t have a child with the same name as somebody else, but because little Nola Greenwald is so gorgeous and perfect that my poor little girl would have a lot to live up to! And of course she is beautiful—look at Ashley and Matt! Let me also mention that Nola is the sweetest thing, too? She coos and smiles and reaches out her little hand to be held. I’m sure that as with any baby, there are times that aren’t as easy others, but Nola put on a good show for me and appeared to be an angel. Congratulations, Ashley and Matt!
I don’t know if I was ashamed or if my feelings were hurt when Caleb of Kings of Leon said tonight, “I don’t know if we would still be a band if it weren’t for this part of the world (this part being the UK). Americans will probably one day come around and most likely say, “yeah, I liked them all along”. It was mockery but it was true. Where is the American love for Kings of Leon? I swore I wouldn’t blog while I was here in Ireland, but I couldn’t contain my excitement after this rockin’ concert. Jesse surprised me with a trip to Ireland for 10 days (I know, life is rough) and then surprised me again while we were here with tickets to see Kings of Leon. What a man! He has gone above and beyond to give me the “down time” of my life!
We got to see the Kings of Leon at the O2; a music venue in Dublin that seriously just opened last Friday! Kings of Leon was the first band to officially play the venue…. and I have to brag just a bit more; Caleb (the lead singer) also said, that although this was the hardest touring season of their career, that this was their best performance yet! And I was there! The photograph isn’t the best, I know but it’s from an i-phone…
If you aren’t familiar with the Kings of Leon ,then shame on you! Check them out! My personal favorite song is “Holy Roller, Novocaine” or “Arizona”, or “Charmer”…. or, well—you get the point! I love the Kings of Leon!
Check out this video
Ashley and Nate have been amazing—are amazing! I can’t believe how patient they have been with me in terms of this wedding turn around. Nate sent me an email while I was in Paris and told me to “not to worry about editing their wedding and to enjoy my vacation.” I did just that, and am just now getting to blogging their wedding day—which was absolutely stunning, by the way!
It was a photographers dream—fog, autumn colors, deer, and an art deco theme! I also couldn’t have had more fun with a wedding party. The last images posted here are my favorites. Photographing this crowd was cake. They were hams! I didn’t have to do a thing–they simply played and I stayed back and documented.
Thank you, Ashley and Nate, for being such a super cool couple! From the engagement photos to the sparkler departure, I was thrilled to be working with you! What a great end to a wedding season….
It’s always so great this time of year when I get a call to do another season’s family portrait. The Elson’s used me last year and I was honored to go back to their home in Centennial to document their 2008 Holiday photos. Jake, Emma, and Molly have all grown up so much in just one year, but it was Reese that I was blown away by. She’s two now— that’s a lot bigger than 1! (you might recognize her from the “cake” photos on my portrait site)….
This was hands down my favorite shot of the day. Emma was exhausted and so “over it” by the end of the hour. I don’t blame her… It’s a lot of work for these little guys to behave for that long!
I’ve known Andrea for a long time. Her brother Alan is one of my best friends and I even shot Andrea’s senior portraits about 6 years ago–(one of my first seniors, actually)! Andrea and Brian are high school sweethearts and I am so happy for them—they are truly a perfect couple—they are best friends and exude life when they are in each other’s presence. This wedding day was full of so many emotions—excitement, humor, a few tears and an abundance of love. Congratulations you two! It was such a pleasure to be a part of this day! Can’t wait for our premier on Friday!
So, my comment system hasn’t been working for a week but it is now fixed. Supposedly. I love it when people leave comments so if your comment hasn’t been going through, please try it again. If it doesn’t work, email me at julie at julieharrisphotography.com so I can get Jesse to do something about it. Also, we put in a spam catching filter so let me know if that gives you any trouble too.
I’m excited to say that a wedding I shot is featured on the wedding blog, Style Me Pretty! Check it out at : http://www.stylemepretty.com/2008/11/24/the-white-dress-by-the-shore-ii/
And, I wrote an article for photographik. It’s really long but worth the read (I hope!). It’s basically about how I lost my soul this summer by working WAY TOO MUCH and how my sabbatical in Paris has revived my spirit.
You can read it here: Stocking the Pond
It’s snowing in Paris today. I woke up to that completely silent sound of snow– no chatter outside, no cars whizzing by and nobody climbing the stairs of this historic building. It was such a gift! Sundays in France are days of cocooning anyhow, but when it’s cold like it is today and also a Sunday, nobody moves. I thought about going out to do some shooting at Luxembourg gardens but, like everybody else here I stayed in bed all day long. I read, I prayed, I meditated. I drank hot black coffee and ate homemade chocolate crepes and cocooned. It was a good healthy choice, although I did take some photos from my window.
I’m only here for another 2 days. November 26th has been a landmark that I have both looked forward to, and dreaded for the entire 6 weeks that I’ve been here. I feel like this sabbatical has been like rehab— a time of regathering my strength, creativity and sense of self. But there is a life at home waiting for me that I’m eager to get back to.
What a journey this six weeks has been. Even looking back to that first day here, I am shocked at my spiritual growth. I’ve actually been making some self-portraits (probably won’t be blogging those), I look ten years younger today, and there is life in my eyes that wasn’t there on October 15th…. I’ve read about 6 books, gone through a journal and 1/2 and have taken over 2000 digital photos and 7 rolls of film. I’ve gone to many exhibits including the best one last night that included bodies of work from Mary Ellen Mark, Diane Arbus, and Walker Evans and have rested. Ahhhhh, the rest has been the best. I don’t even know how to conclude this season other than to say thank you to all who supported me in this venture and to those clients who have been patient enough to wait for their wedding photos. The images attached are just a potpourri of some more street photography that I’ve taken along the way…. I’ll probably post a few more images from the film that I’ve gone through in the next week or two, but for now—Merci et a bientot!
I couldn’t leave Paris without doing a little night shooting in Pigalle, although it took some guts to go out there at night with my 70-200mm and photograph the sex district of Paris (Pigalle by the way, means pig alley)—serious guts. So, I took along some friends and we “created” Pigalle through my eyes with a few set up shots and some models ( thanks to Cayetana, and Cayetan).
Prostitution is legal in France and Pigalle is the red light district adorned with sex shops, strip clubs and “champagne bars” where a glass of champagne –depending on the type, is actually a sexual act. It’s colorful, intimidating and wonderful all at once, if you can get stomach the prostitutes and pimp’s constant persuasion to get you to come into their clubs. Nan Goldin must love this place. I thought of her during the entire shoot. Sorry there aren’t more images here, but like I said I was pretty nervous shooting, and standing still and shooting with my telephoto felt overly conspicuous and, well rude. This will be something I’ll have to work on if I want to continue shooting the underbellies of society. Because this little collection truly is, a pathetic depiction of Pigalle….
I don’t think this image needs an explanation…..
These images should be pretty easy on the eye…. they are nothing more than tourist photos, but hopefully beautiful tourist photos none the less. One of my favorite things to do in Paris is the barge tour down the Seine. It’s super cliche, I know but I can’t do it enough! I always bring a bottle of wine in my purse and nurse it while I look out at this splendid city—wind on my face or at my back, it doesn’t make difference—I get so happy! The best time to do this is at night–because Paris seriously is a city that should be seen by night. Enjoy the tour!
I think Jesse was in awe…..
The weather is unpredictable in Paris. It was totally beautiful out, and then the clouds just opened up and starting pouring….
and pouring!
this is the color of the sky right after it rains…. I love it here!
Where do I begin with this one?…. All I can say is that this may be the first day I have felt grounded in months—months! I’m always busy in the summer with weddings and portraits—it’s the “beef” of my work year. But for some reason, this year things seemed to spill over and I got so caught up and swamped in work that I lost a sense of self. I stopped taking care of myself and as for my marriage —well, let’s just say it suffered. Jesse must have been terrified to be around me as I was volatile as anything—my emotions were over the top—be it happy, mad, sad, etc, etc… I truly was “bat shit crazy” (pardon my French)
This sabbatical in Paris had to be about me getting alone to wrap my head around what happened to me and why all of a sudden, my life had almost fallen apart at the seams. I had to miss my life to fall in love with it again. And that is exactly what is happening. Having Jesse out here for 10 days is a miracle in and of itself—he’s not much on traveling and has never been to Europe before. Jesse is the practical “rock” in our relationship (I’m the crazy, artist wife who can’t sit still and needs constant adventure). I guess it took me having a meltdown for Jesse to get on a plane and taste this world with me. But if this craziness is what it took for my husband to come out and live this dream with me, then it was all worth it! BTW: Jesse is loving it out here and I always thought he would!!!
These images aren’t typical of what I’ve been shooting out here but I hope they evoke the sense of love and pure joy that is radiating from both Jesse and I as we are together, living in the present and once again sharing life.
I love these next two images of Jesse trying to startle and scare the pigeons… and then revealing an evil little grin afterwards!
I love markets—be it Fisherman’s wharf in San Fransisco, or Pike’s Market in Seattle. But can I just tell you how amazing the markets are in France?! The cheese, the eggs, the fresh produce, the honey, the antiques, and did I mention the cheese? I was in photographic heaven…. I’ve always loved photographing in markets because of the people, of course—you get a little of everybody, but I also love all the vibrant colors. The market in Dijon was a schmorgesbord of all of these variables….. enjoy!
Actually, I have no idea what “burgundy” is in the liquor stores at home…. It might just be a table red, or cooking wine, because the region of Burgundy only produces two grapes—Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Every true Burgundy wine is made from these two grapes and is 100% pure. I’m not a chardonnay girl, but I loved the Pinot Noir wines in this region—very different than a California Pinot Noir– quite earthy, like I like them.
We lucked out because it was only Audrey and I, and the guide on the tour. The guide’s name was Nicolas, and he seriously kept his head set on the entire trip, while he talked—even though the tour was in a van, and Audrey and I were in the seat behind him. I got a kick out of this—especially on the way back after I had tasted 8 glasses of wine (small glasses, of course). The tour itself was disappointing (aside from the fact that it was pouring rain) in that it cost about $80, and we drove through all these amazing vineyards and tiny little medieval villages, only to arrive at a commercial wine cellar where they tried to sell us more. I asked the driver if he wouldn’t mind, seeing as it was only the three of us, stopping the car so I could do some photographing. Apparently, for insurance reasons they could not do that. So, I was a caged bird in the backseat of a van with all this beauty buzzing by me. Seriously—these villages were straight out of the film, “Chocolat” with Johnny Depp.
Unfortunately, all of the photos that you see here (aside from the images taken in the cellar) were taken from inside the van. Like I said in my last post, the next time I visit France I plan to rent a car and tour this area on my own—with a designated driver!
That’s right….home to “Dijon mustard” which might I say, is quite different here—very strong and wonderful! I brought home about 6 varieties and have been making everything with mustard—-forget Nutella—I’ve been dipping my bread in Dijon. Last night I even made risotto, and instead of salting it, I just stirred in some mustard. I know it sounds gross, but I’ve adapted some strange eating habits here. (I’m still really enjoying the canned peas)!
Anyhow my friend Audrey and I decided to take the train down to wine country. Dijon is in Burgundy, and I thought I might like to drink some burgundy in Burgundy (I’ll post some of those images later)! The town was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, but nice. My only regret is that we didn’t rent a car and drive to some of the smaller medieval villages—as these were how I imagined this area, and Dijon to be. I promised myself I would come back and do just that. None the less, I had a good time soaking up the town’s energy—the people in Dijon are super friendly—especially compared to Parisians!
Meet my friend, Audrey. She lives in Paris and works for Air France, so her schedule is free a lot of the time to travel. I was excited to have company, and she’s also a photographer, http://www.oneandonlyparisphotography.com/ so I didn’t feel so bad all those times I stopped to take a hundred photos, or had to go back to the same spot at a different time of day for better light—she empathized!
Who’d have thought? I wasn’t really planning on photographing the Eiffel tower in all her glory until I had the timing, lighting, mood, etc, right. However, I was at Trocadero yesterday and simply had to send a couple of gloating email images to my friends back home. It wasn’t until I got home last night and really looked at the images, that I realized how much I love them. I love that they are grainy, moody, and totally made with no thought at all. Sometimes this is the best way to shoot–completely intuitively–without too much thought–technically and even compositionally.
If I visited an exhibit for an hour for every hour that I were here (1008 hours), I would not even come close to seeing all there is to see art wise in this amazing city! There simply isn’t enough time. However, I am literally around the corner from The Henri Cartier-Bresson foundation. Lucky me! The current exhibit is a showing of street photography documenting the “American Dream in the 30s and 40s” by the man himself and his inspiration, Walker Evans. I don’t know if you know this, but Henri Cartier-Bresson is my biggest influence and in the top five of my all time favorite photographers. He actually coined the phrase the “decisive moment’. He also said: “In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv.” and “We photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing, and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth can make them come back again. We cannot develop and print a memory.“ He was obviously a brilliant man of deep pathos, and I love about everything he says in relation to the craft of photography, but this last quote is probably my favorite and the most freeing from the confinements of perceived perfection: ” The photograph itself doesn’t interest me. I want only to capture a minute part of reality.” The images that I made today are a tribute to this quote and to getting back to the soul of my work—which has always been and always will be, about documenting and seizing time and the human condition—I have always been a street photographer at heart.
I love the rain—really…. I don’t think I could ever get too much of it. I’m one of those people who could easily live in the Northwest and soak it all up. A day of sunshine every now and then would be great, of course but there is something so quite and calming about the rain and it seems to allow one to move a little slower, sleep in a little later, bundle up a little more, and take a day to themselves. That is what this entire trip is for me, so the rain on Tuesday was just the icing on the cake.
I lost my passport—not sure where, but I’m thinking I must have dropped it in the airport or in the cab to my flat. So Tuesday, I went to the American Embassy to fill out paper work to get a new one. To make a long story short, my passport was turned in (by some angel) and I simply walked out of the place unscathed. The American Embassy is in the 1st arr of Paris—one of my favorites! It’s the same arrondissement where the Louvre and Jardin des Tuileries is—probably the most toured and famous area in Paris. So, because it was raining, and I was hungry, and the park was right there, I went to a little Italian restaurant right in the middle of the park for a cafe au lait, some risotto and of course, a glass of wine. It was a splurge, to say the least, but how often does one get a restaurant like that to herself in the middle of a deserted park on a rainy afteroon in Paris? It was heaven! I sat there, inside and cozy and looked out at the empty park. Then I walked it in the rain and played a little child’s game with myself. Because this park is so famous and toured, I was afraid of creating images that were cliche or had been done a thousand times before…. (even by me). But then I tried to get in my heart a little, and ask myself, what do I love about this day? What do I love about this park? What do I see–thus the title of this post. Yes, Julie. But what do you see? Even if it’s cliche—or even if it’s what other people are seeing too…. So I walked around for a couple hours talking to myself like a child, “I see the rain on the leaves”. “I see empty chairs”, etc, etc. En francais. These are the images that I “saw”, and that left me feeling how the rain makes me feel—like I can move a little slower and just breathe….
Je vois la belle consolation
Je vois l’éternité
Je vois le majestueux
Je vois les cycles de vie
Je vois lonliness
Je vois la liberté absolue
Je vois la nostalgie
quelquefois, je vois la chose peu évidemment
Je me vois
Je vois l’harmonie et la balance
Je vois le confort amoureux
Je vois la couleur
Je vois la vie que je veux
Yesterday was, well…. it was another day here. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. Maybe still a little jet lagged, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night for a few hours and just staring up at the ceiling in my tiny little flat in what feels like another universe. Of course all the things that I was supposed to finish up work wise, before I left come screaming at me like a train, and then I think about Jesse, or my brother Rob….
But that’s aside the point. The point, is that I slept until noon on Sunday, and then wandered over to get a much needed coffee at a little cafe across from Gare Montparnasse. I was sitting in the shade, and could seriously smell urine and very dirty people around me (they don’t call in Urine town for nothing) Needless to say,I was feeling pretty depressed. I journaled for a bit, and then decided that I needed to get out of the shade, away from the transients, and into the sun. I planned to walk to the Luxembourg Gardens and do some shooting. Along with not getting much sleep, I am also still very disoriented here (but getting better each day). I thought I knew exactly how to get to the gardens because I get quite cocky when it comes to traveling, but I got lost…. (of course) and ended up at Cimetière de Montparnasse. (No, it is not where Jim Morrison is buried).
Here’s the redemtive beauty of my day….. Once I lost myself in the moment and started to really look at the graves and the grave tombs at Cimetière de Monparnasse, and completely forgot about the burden to make photographs and the smell of urine, my alpha state kicked in and suddenly I was seeing things in a new light. I started to notice all the old door knobs on the grave tombs, and without thinking twice, got lost in a world of creating images based on the detail of this old place. It was invigorating and also exciting. Who would have thought? Me making work at a cemetery? (I’m not really into the whole goth, cemetery photography thing).
I also had this really cheesy thought about the whole process of making art—and bear with me, I’ve been alone for a week… I started to think that creating art is like kissing. You obviously have to be passionate about it from the get go, but sometimes it takes a little letting go to really get into the groove of it and let nature take over. Especially when it’s a first kiss or kissing a new lover—It can be awkward at first, but with enough passion, the kissing becomes less about kissing, and more about getting lost in the kiss…. This is how the day felt to me. It was as if I was kissing a new lover—photographing a new subject—Once I let go, the moment was totally unexpected and divine….
So this image isn’t even about being a good photograph. It’s just so romantic! If I die before Jesse, I hope that he engraves my tombstone with an image like this….. ahhhh, L’amour! Maybe it was seeing this tombstone that made me think about kissing!
….and then I discovered the grave-tomb door knobs and their intricacy.
Aren’t they adorable? Sharon was such a dear to work with—super laid back and sweet as pie. I didn’t get the chance to know Sharon and Craig that well, (in fact, I met Craig on the wedding day) but I am looking forward to working with them this winter and will be posting more images when we do a post-engagement/wedding shoot. The wedding at the Larkspur in Vail was splendid, with perfect weather—great light, a great party and a killer band. I even ran into a few friends from high school—it’s true that it’s a small world, and I’m guessing that Sharon and Craig and I probably have more in common than we know at this point!
Congratulations you two!
Gratitude is the first word that comes to my mind as I blog this wedding—I’m so grateful that I get to do what I love in life which is make photographs and to still time—I’m also so grateful that I get to travel a lot while doing this and get to see the wedding world with fresh eyes every now and then. So thank you Britt and Neal, (and Kirsten and Glen) for flying Rachael and I out to Decorah, Iowa to photograph your wedding. I would have to say that this has been my favorite destination wedding so far, simply because Iowa surprised me with how stunningly beautiful she is. And the people in Decorah were amazingly down to earth and cool—and I won’t even mention your friends, who were a riot to hang with (special thanks to your friend with a breathalizer). Ahhhh…. good times at the Corner Bar.
Britt and Neal’s wedding ceremony was held at the cutest little Lutheran church out in the country amidst rolling hills and ripe fields of corn and soybeans. The colors were fantastic and there is something about the afternoon light in the mid-west that I couldn’t get enough of…. it was a beautiful, beautiful day with a beautiful, wonderful bunch of people. I am thankful for this experience….
Britt’s “Man of Honor”, Aaron was wonderful—he took his job very seriously and was clearly the guy for the job. He adores Britt…. you can see that in his face as he watches her prep for her wedding day.
I love the next series of images with Britt and her Father, Glen. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a father so in awe, and so proud of his daughter. He was quite emotional the entire weekend, but these next few images say it all….
Will you check out the light and color in this beautiful place? This field behind Britt was a field of soybeans. We actually went into the field, but grasshoppers were getting up Britt’s dress! wish I would have gotten a photo of her freaking out about that, but Britt is simply too chill and down to earth—she just lifted up the overlay of her dress and let them out.
After the ceremony, the wedding party and I hopped on a blue school bus to take us around to do some photos. And yes…. drink beer….
One of Neal’s groomsmen knew of this spot for photos—it is the private land of somebody that he knows from town. The family was gracious enough to let this wild wedding party out on to their lawn for some group shots. Check out those views!
The two guys in the blue shirts were the dudes that lived in the home—We gave them beer and they sat out and watched as we “played”. I bet they never thought they would spend their afternoon like this! They were great!
Britt and Neal actually met at the bar where this next image was taken—The Corner Bar. We spent a lot of time here hootin’ it up—it was only sensible to take a photo like this!
How could I not have fun with this engagement shoot?! When Crystal walked up in those heels, I was like “cha-ching!” I obviously had to play them up. Plus Crystal and Fred, if you can’t tell by the images, are a riot! They are load of fun and clearly enjoy each other’s company—Crystal laughed the entire shoot, which is always a good thing for me. I never want to leave a session wondering if I was pulling teeth to get a smile…
You might recognize this bubbly little couple from an engagement session I posted last spring—Courtney and Mark are unforgettable —-they are so fun to look at in photographs, because they are completely unaware of the camera, and totally enthralled with each other. This was a fun wedding to photograph because it was indoors at the Cherry Hills Community church (don’t get me wrong, I love outdoor ceremonies, but it’s fun to switch it up). I got to work with all sorts of fun lighting situations. This was also the first wedding that I played with a lens baby. The key here is moderation—I’ve seen this overused way too much!
Congratulations Courtney and Mark! And thank you for being the super cool couple that you are! ….. I hope to see some babies in the future. They’ll be beautiful
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