The FritzPhoto Blog Has Moved!

I've moved my blog to my own domain, and created it afresh with a WordPress template. It allows me more flexibility and control, and much larger photos!

The new blog is located at http://www.fritzphoto.com/blog. Please make a note of it, and update your RSS feeds and bookmarks.

Along the way, I discovered some interesting sites related to WordPress blogs. Let me share a few with you:

If you're looking into a photography blog (or any blog, really), the ProPhoto Theme is more than just a theme. It's really an extensive control panel for creating a customized blog, or a whole website, built on the WordPress foundation. I built my new blog on it, and also just built a whole new site for my Skeleton in the Closet documentary on eating disorders on it.

If you're in the market for a ProPhoto website/blog theme, they do offer a discount, if you have the code. And the discount code for the ProPhoto Wordpress Theme is FRILIE238. Use it and save a few dollars!

You can learn more about the ProPhoto WordPress Theme here:




I also found a cool site that allows you to create your own tileable wallpaper backgrounds. I used it on my new blog for the pattern on the left and right side of the screen. It's called the Tiled Backgrounds Designer, from BG Patterns, and it's free to use.

Again, please note my new blog address, and enjoy the free eye candy!

The Petersen Hicks

The Petersen family are some of my favorite people. I've traveled and worked and prayed and served and struggled and talked and photographed with them, from France to Florida to Portland. They're great folks.

So whenever I get the chance to photograph their family, I jump at the chance. They commissioned me to photograph their 2 grown daughters and son-in-law at their 5 acre 'homestead' outside of Beaverton. We took a lot of sweet portraits, like the one above. But the fun really started after we'd finished the pretty portraits. That's when the hick kicked in, and we started photographing at their trash pile and porta-potty.

You can view the whole set in a flash slideshow here!

Hamlet asking his questions of a...deer skull.

Artist Emily Hyde

Emily Hyde is an award-winning artist. If you look at her stunning prints, you'll see why. You can view images of her lovely drawings, prints, and etchings here and here and here.

You'd think, from meeting her, that she was Scandinavian. But in truth, she hails from Estacada, Oregon. I had the privilege of photographing her in the letterpress studio at Pacific NW College of Art recently.

Slideluck Potshow on Saturday

PhotoLucida is going very well. And I was just notified that my work will be in the Portland Slideluck Potshow this Saturday, April 25. Come! Here's the lowdown:

The space is amazing. The slideshow is world-class. The weather is looking good. Both our master of ceremonies and our disc jockey are geniuses. The potluck will be off the hook. The crowd will be hot. And the afterparty is but a few steps away.

All that is missing is you and yours. Come join us on Saturday, April 25th, for night for an unforgettable multimedia slideshow and potluck dinner.

SLIDELUCK POTSHOW PDX III
Saturday, April 25, 2009
7pm Potluck | 9pm Slideshow
Sandbox Studio | 420 NE 9th Avenue | Portland, OR 97232 | http://sandboxstudio.com

RSVP Strongly Suggested: http://network.slideluckpotshow.com/events/slps-portland-iii
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=60422528982&ref=ts

Keep in mind that this is a potluck, so bring on that big pot of Hoppin’ John, those scrumptious little dumplings, that crunchy green papaya salad, those Krismer Family nachos, that spicy eggplant lasagna, or those red-velvety cupcakes. And please don’t forget a bottle of wine or some ice cold brew.

What makes this show unique is our collaboration with the participants of Photo Lucida. We want to extend a special invitation to everyone who’s come into town for the portfolio review. If you are not able to contribute to the potluck, which is understandable, you may be asked to make a small donation. In any case, it’s only an 8-minute cab ride, a 27-minute walk, or 15-minute bus ride across the Burnside Bridge. http://maps.google.com

PhotoLucida 2009

This is an intense week for me, as I head into the PhotoLucida Portfolio Reviews here in Portland, Thur-Sun, April 23-26. There will be 160 photographers (of whom I am one) meeting with over 60 reviewers: curators, book publishers, gallery owners, photographers, magazine editors, etc. It's 4 straight days of reviews, lectures, shows, and more.

I'll be showing my Skeleton in the Closet series, both as a book dummy, and as a custom portfolio which I designed and created this past year.

I'd like to invite you to the Portfolio Walk, this Thursday evening, from 6-9 pm. Held at the Portland Art Museum's gorgeous Sunken Ballroom, you can view the work of all 160 photographers, spread out on a room full of tables. We'll have our work out in 3 1-hour shifts, beginning at 6 pm. I and my work will be out from 7-8 pm. Please come by! It's free, and should be quite inspiring and enjoyable.

Jake, Bikes, and the White Stripes

One thing I enjoy about photographing high school senior portraits is the variety. Every student is different, and I aim to create portraits that are unique to them. We chat quite a bit while photographing, and I'm always looking for particular qualities in the senior that I can portray in my images.

Jake, I discovered, loves photography, especially alternative forms of photography such as the Holga and cross-processing. So in addition to a lot of clean and pretty portraits, I also created quite a few that were a little more edgy. And we included his limited edition, red and white White Stripes JACK Holga in a few as well.

As a true Portlander, Jake's also into single speed bikes, and has a pretty sweet LeMond...

And since he loves the city, we decided to shoot in the Pearl District. Art, urban, bikes. It all fit in the Pearl, and we both like the images quite well.

Carissa's Curls: Modeling Hair and Makeup

Over the years, I've worked with AJ's Hair Design and Makeup many times. She's done hair and makeup on everything from brides and wedding parties, to high school senior portraits, model portfolio shoots, and commercial photography shoots. She does a great job, and she and her team are a lot of fun to have around. You can visit them online at www.portlandhairandmakeup.com.

Yesterday we did a little test shoot with a model named Carissa. She has gorgeous long hair, which AJ put up into these lovely little 1940's-esque curls. Add the trench coat, and we had ourselves a little Vogue cover shoot, right here in Portland's Alberta Arts District.

Speaking of model photography, we just went through and did an edit to all the images on our website. If you haven't browsed www.fritzphoto.com in a while, feel free to do so! There's a lot to see. In fact, the hardest part of putting together a photography website is selecting images from the thousands upon thousands in our photo library.

And as usual, we always welcome your referrals, comments, and feedback!

Introducing the Lovely Laia

A very enjoyable photo shoot on Saturday with a lovely young lady named Laia. Shooting modeling test shoots for portfolios is a real delight. We photographed on the east side of the Willamette here in Portland in a variety of locations. I think the photos speak for themselves.

Sara and Jesse's Wedding Storybook

I love to design wedding albums. With a history in graphic design, fine art, and photography, the album is a culmination of over a year’s work in telling someone’s wedding story. So for Sara and Jesse’s wedding, I wanted to show both the beautiful venue, and the fun the wedding party and family have together.

Incorporating colorful image backgrounds behind the unfolding wedding story, and published in one of our stunning Fine Art Coffee Table Books, Sara and Jesse now have an heirloom their children and grandchildren will enjoying for decades to come.

Their storybook was just featured on the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers' Real Weddings series. You can view their wedding storybook here.

You can also see their wedding story on my photography website. Crazy dancing! Beautiful location (Youngberg Hill Vineyards and Inn in Yamhill County, Oregon)! Beautiful bride and handsome groom!

Interview with Kamela Cody of Modern Girl Style

Well, it's been quite the month for awards and interviews.

Kamela Cody writes an interesting blog about fashion, art, style, design, etc, called Modern Girl Style. She recently approached me, after seeing my photography online, and asked if she could interview me for her site. I was happy to oblige.

In this interview, I share stories about how I started in photography, talk about collaborating with stylists and models and art directors for lifestyle photo shoots, and talk about some fun weddings I've photographed. I also introduce some of my personal documentary projects, such as the series on eating disorders and adolescence. You can read the interview here, on the Modern Girl Style blog!

Interview on PNCA's Website

As you may know, I teach occasional photography and art workshops at Pacific Northwest College of Art. This past week, PNCA just published a brief interview with me, as I talk about teaching Photography and Art. I talk a little about artists and photographers who influence my work, the way I like to teach, and more. Enjoy.

Fritz Photography wins Bride's Choice Award at WeddingWire!

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Fritz Photography has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Portland, Oregon Wedding Photography!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means Fritz Photography is one of the very best Wedding Photographers in the Portland, Oregon area!

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

I would like to thank our past wedding photography clients for speaking on our behalf and helping us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award! If you are a past wedding client of FritzPhoto, and would like to leave us a review, please do so here at WeddingWire.

Fritz Interviewed on the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers

Would you like to hear the story about how I saved a girl's life at a wedding? Or about my addiction? Or about my trip around the US in a turquoise Datsun B210 with my dad? Or about the fire-breathing bride and her Cheez Whiz? I tell all these stories, and give a lot of good advice about how to hire a great wedding photographer, in a new interview.

The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers just published an interview with me on their blog. Check it out! There are a lot of great stories, good information about wedding photography, and beautiful photographs. You'll get to know me and my passion for photography a little better, and there are lots of links to other photographs and stories you can view online.

Enjoy!

Cambria and Chantael on the Beach in Florida

Models Cambria and Chantael, of Ft Myers, Florida, did some modeling work with me while I was photographing there. We were aiming for a lifestyle look to the photographs: that warm, light, natural light look that I enjoy creating. Reminds me of a J Jill catalog.







I'm regularly posting new images in my website, of model portfolio photography in Portland, Oregon. They also make it into my travel and editorial photography website. Take a look!

On the Beach in Florida

I spent the last week in Florida, photographing alligators and models. Never together, mind you. Which is a disappointment.

Nonetheless, it was an interesting time. The light on the beach was fantastic. And the resulting photographs have a wonderful glow.

Working with a model that can handle strange weather patterns, flying sand, high winds, and a bit of a chill, and still keep her cool and look great, sure makes my job a lot easier. Shannon did a great job on all fronts, and we're all pleased with the results.

One other interesting note: Neither Shannon nor I are based in Florida; we converged from very different places for this shoot. She's from frigid Toronto, Canada, while my photography business is based in Portland, Oregon. So we made a neat little triangle, coming from 2 different countries, to merge for a job in sunny Florida.

FritzPhoto Wins in ISPWP Photo Competition

I was privileged recently to be accepted into the exclusive International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers. As the ISPWP describes itself: "The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers is a rarity among online wedding photography directories. We’re small. We’re exclusive. We’re picky. We are a worldwide group of top professional wedding photographers who have the experience, talent, and reputation to deliver outstanding wedding photography to our clients."

The ISPWP has quarterly contests for its members, and I just received noticed that the entry I submitted placed in the top 10 of my category, Movement and Motion. The image is from a wedding I photographed this past summer at Youngberg Hill Vineyard, in Yamhill County, Oregon. (This wedding's photographs are also featured on my new photography website.) These folks could dance!

Vote for Fritz Photography on Oregon Bride!

Oregon Bride Magazine is currently accepting votes for the Best Wedding Vendors 2009. Anyone can vote! I'd be honored if you'd take a moment to vote for Fritz Photography. The winners will be featured in their next issue, and I'd love to be one of them.

You can go here to vote!

Environmental Portraits Class at PNCA

Travel Writer Rolf Potts

This February and March, I'll be teaching my popular course The Environmental Portrait at Pacific NW College of Art. I love shooting location portraits, and enjoy teaching others how to do it well. Here's the class description:

The Environmental Portrait places a person in the context of their natural surroundings, and communicates more about them than is possible in a studio or simple headshot. Photographers use environmental portraiture to document figures in popular culture (Annie Liebowitz), make social commentary and documentary (Dorothea Lange), and more. In this class we will look at master location portrait photographers; review and critique each others work; and discuss how location portraits say much about the subject, as well as their social and political context in which they live. We will be working with models, available and artificial lighting, composition, camera and media choices, output and presentation. Both film and digital are welcome. The class will culminate with a portrait series as a final project.

You can read more, and sign up, at the Continuing Education portion of the PNCA website.

Learn to Design Your Own Photography Books

This term at Newspace Center for Photography in Portland, I'll be teaching a 5-week workshop on book design and self-publishing.

In this class, you'll have the chance to make your very own photography book - from start to finish! Personal photography books make magnificent gifts, are great complements to portfolio presentations, and can tremendously aid in marketing your work.

Through a hands-on process of editing and sequencing your work, sizing your images for printing, and experimenting with basic design, layout, and digital printing options, you'll learn how to create a beautiful presentation piece that expresses your artistic vision. The best part? At the end of class, you'll have a finished book, fresh from the print shop!

I'll be helping fashion a concept for your finished book, prepare your images, and produce a volume that truly represents your artistic vision.

Read more, and sign up, at Newspace.

Amanda and John taken to The Cleaners

We had some fun photographing at the new Ace Hotel in downtown Portland this past weekend. John and Amanda were married in their event space called The Cleaners (yes, a converted dry cleaners, complete with the faded Peacock Clenaers sign still hanging outside). The wedding was cozy and intimate, and the Ace staff were super friendly.

We also had fun at their wedding photographing people in our PhotoBooth. We set up a simple studio in the corner, and people come and goof around in front of the camera all they want. It's a lot of fun. People love it!

New Model Portfolio Images: How Old Are These Kids?

You'd probably never guess this lovely young lady is only 12. It still amazes me how mature an older child can appear when photographed right.

In the past couple weeks I've had several new model portfolio photography sessions, both on location in NE Portland, and in the studio in the Pearl District. I love working with young people; it's refreshing (if a bit chaotic at times) and the resulting photographs are always fun to review.

If you haven't had opportunity, visit and browse the updated modeling portfolio photography section of my new website. It's perty!

John Weinland at Transitions' Awareness Event

Last night I photographed an awareness event put on by Transitions Global, regarding their work here in Portland to help girls trapped in sex slavery and prostitution. We were privileged to have Weinland playing music for the event. Beautiful music; check it out on their MySpace page. They're likened to Neil Young (in a good way), and I hear a little of Iron and Wine in there as well. Good stuff.

Shooting Meredith in the Snow

With the record levels of snow we've been getting around here lately, I've been wanting to get out and photograph in it. I was blessed to have a young lady I've photographed with in the past volunteer to work with me again this past weekend. So we went to the highest point in Portland--Council Crest--where it was still 32 degrees and very covered in snow. Meredith was a real trooper, wearing a party dress in this kind of weather for quite a while. And it paid off. We photographed some great, quirky images for her fashion photography portfolio, and were treated to a beautiful sunset at the very end.

2008 Cosmic Paper Redux

When I was in high school, my English teacher, Mr. Demkowicz, had us write Cosmic Papers a couple times a year. A Cosmic Paper was something of a personal review of one’s life, a way of taking stock of what we’d learned so far in his class, how we might have grown and changed, and how it related to everything and anything. Thus the “Cosmic” portion of the title.

For a number of years after high school, I would sit down at the end of the year and write my own cosmic paper. It was a good, reflective discipline.

I don’t intend to write a complete Cosmic Paper here, but I have been thinking about the year past, and want to take a few minutes to reflect on it.

Ten years ago, it was hard to imagine a year like 2008.

In 1998, I was still struggling with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and was living in subsidized housing. But things were looking up; I’d just traveled to Taiwan to photograph a wedding, was looking into finishing a BFA in Art, was best friends with a wonderful girl, and was planning our wedding.

Fast forward 10 years:

I’m now preparing for my 10 year wedding anniversary, which is hard to believe. Shannon and I are better friends than ever, and we’ve racked up some precious memories in a short stint of time.

In the past year, I’ve photographed in 10 countries outside of the USA. (Mexico, England, France, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Spain, Morocco, Cambodia, and Thailand.) That’s an incredible dream come true. I’ve photographed for magazines and stock, weddings and models, street shooting, documentaries, and portraits. I’ve met many wonderful people and been able to tell some interesting and meaningful stories. I wrote my first travel magazine article on Bicycling in Budapest. I’ve been vomited on in airplanes, hiked the Yorkshire Dales, explored the Bories of southern France, worked with women struggling with eating disorders and the aftershocks of sex slavery, and come to enjoy chocolate.

Back at home in the past year, I’ve photographed some beautiful weddings and portraits, created some new websites, moved on from a leadership position at church, sent my wife to nursing school, and submitted my Skeleton in the Closet series to book publishers. It’s been a year of ups and downs in both photography and real estate investing, but overall a year of rest, growth, and discovery.

That’s a long ways from subsidized housing and CFS.

I say none of this to gloat. I'm sure plenty of people are jealous of what I've been able to do this past year, just as I remain jealous of what others are able to do that I'm not. So counting one's blessings, and expressing gratitude, are good practices. I have a lot to be grateful for, and I am blessed. (Although it’s also true that I had a lot to be grateful for and was just as blessed 10 years ago.) God is good.

Liya's Story

I’ve been struggling to know what to post about my actual work in Cambodia and Thailand, related to human trafficking and child sex slavery. I’ve talked about it only briefly in previous posts, regarding red light districts and some of the outreaches for whom I was creating imagery.

In preparing for this trip, I spent a lot of time talking with Seth Johnson (of For Their Rescue), James Pond (of Transitions Global), and Brenda Dolan (also of FTR). I also did other research, reading, and viewing of other documentaries on the subject, including Tim Matsui's photographic work there. It became difficult to think of the issue--and of portraying it--without seeing everything in dark and depressing hues. The atrocities humans commit against other humans is mind-boggling and gut-wrenching. And the statistics are overwhelming: 27 million people are currently enslaved around the world. Human trafficking is the third most profitable crime in the world, right after dealing in drugs and weapons; billions of dollars a year are made in the trade of human lives.

Yet I’ve been frequently reminded of a quote from, of all people, Josef Stalin, in which he said, “One death is a tragedy. A million is a statistic.” And it’s true: any number more than one is an abstract statistic to us. To say that six million Jews died in the Holocaust is a number we grimace at; but to watch the life of Wladek and his family in The Pianist makes us weep and have nightmares. We empathize, and think to ourselves, “That could have been me, or my family. What would I have done?”

Liya ran into her mom as we were filming outside of the slum where she grew up.

This has been my approach to the brief documentary I’ve been working on during this trip. Among other things, I have endeavored to tell the story of one girl, Liya. Her story is both common in its elements, and uniquely hers in its particulars. She grew up in a slum, was tricked and sold into a brothel at 16, was forced to service men who paid for her every day and night, was beaten and drugged and abandoned and abused. One day the police raided the brothel, and she was pulled from its grip, abused by the police, put in the system, and eventually placed at Transitions. A year later, I met her.

Liya at the slum where she grew up and worked at the brothel, also known as The Gray Buildings, and Anarchy.

To hear her tell her story is painful. Yet even as we interviewed her and recorded her story, in the background we could clearly hear the other 14 girls and staff giggling and playing and reciting their ABCs. It was a beautiful meld of the past and present.

As I spent a couple weeks with the girls and staff at the house, it became difficult to view these 14-19 year olds as victims or prey or prostitutes, and not just average teenagers who like to listen to music, make braided bracelets, and dream about their futures. In fact, the only visible reminder of their past in the house are the scars on their faces and arms, and the drawings in the Counseling Room depicting beatings by pimps and being chained to their brothels.


As I hung out in their schoolroom listening to their English practice, and in the yoga studio watching them learn medical basics and yoga instruction, I found myself thinking a lot more about their futures than their pasts. While they certainly carry around the scars of their past, at least they have counseling to help begin the healing process, and education and support to help them move forward. I begin to see why so many agencies make photographers sign forms promising not to portray their kids as victims. They aren’t victims, they’re people.

Last weekend, Liya moved from the Transitions house into an apartment with one of the other ‘graduates’ of the house. She has a job, she’s still going to school, and some day she wants to be able to afford to have her family move in with her. She’s not defined by her horrendous past, nor is her story really all that unique in her world.

The last afternoon I spent with her, Liya told me this: “Before I came here, I didn’t know who I was. I couldn’t control my emotions. Sometimes I get really angry and I want to let it out. But now I can control my feelings, and I know who I am. It’s all because of my ‘Mom’ Jaya [the director at TLC].” Jaya had just told me the same thing: when Liya first arrived, she was mean to everyone. As the year went on, she became more mature and calm. Now she’s a real sweetheart.

I’m looking forward to creating this little video documentary, telling her story. For me, it feels like a way of fighting back against the darkness by letting her voice speak into it. It’s a way of humanizing an otherwise impersonal ‘issue.’ It’s a way of drawing out from the mass of statistics a single tragedy, and finding that it doesn’t end with tragedy, but with hope.

People on the Streets in Bangkok

I'll post an amalgam of images from Bangkok here, with accompanying notes. Much of these were shot while walking the streets with Iven and Kashmira. I was grateful (and a bit in awe) that they spoke Thai; and frequently, the locals were also surprised to hear their native tongue on the lips of a couple of white folks. We stopped and chatted with people frequently, including this beautiful grandmother above.


Tuk-tuks are a way of life in SE Asia. These little motorized carts (in Phnom Penh, they are like a burro and cart, except that the burro is an overworked motorcycle) take you wherever you need to go, for relatively cheap. The drivers are quite industrious, to the point that you literally cannot walk more than about 10 yards, or appear out of any doorway, without at least one guy saying, "Tuk-tuk, sir?"




One of my assignments while in SE Asia was to photograph images that in some way show Buddhism in the modern, urban context. One of the most visible and prevalent forms of this was the amulets and good luck charms found everywhere, especially in taxi cabs.








Not only was I blessed with the purchase of a new Canon 5D MkII just before leaving for this trip, but the good folks at LensBaby also sent something with me. They graciously offered to lend me their new Composer lens, which is their best invention yet. I shot some stills with it (such as this one, above, at a park in Bangkok), but was most excited to use it for some of my video work.



People in Bangkok can, and do, sleep anywhere and everywhere.






A young lady working the streets in the middle of the day.




This gardener cares for the landscaping along one stretch of a canal in Bangkok. Iven had me photograph some of the signs that he put up, that clearly indicated where the tuk-tuk drivers who stop by should and should not pee. He was tired of them killing all his potted plants.




One of the hilights of Bangkok life are the street vendors, which are everywhere. You can buy everything from fresh-cooked meat on a stick (deliciously marinated), to coconut ice cream, to fried bugs. The papaya we were purchasing from the vendor above cost 10 baht, which is about 27 cents.

Well, this isn't on the streets of Bangkok, but in the airplane on the way over.


My last night in BKK consisted of walking the streets late at night with Iven and Kashmira. We stopped by this street vendor, whom they know, and chatted for a few moments. She didn't like the pictures I took of her (she was 50, and didn't like how old she looked), so I took one last shot of myself with her. Notice the artificial flower behind my ear, which was her gift to me.

Animals of Bangkok

I'm not usually an animal photographer kind of guy. I like animals, but am allergic. I had some hamsters as a kid, and wanted a dog, but couldn't have one. And stray animals or pets usually don't pique my interest when out photographing. But in Bangkok they did. I'm not sure why. But at the end of the day of shooting, I had a ton of animal photos. Especially dogs. You find them everywhere, usually lying asleep on the pavement. Funny looking dogs. And the really funny part: their owners would clothe them in a shirt to keep them warm during the chilly eighty degree days of winter. Oh, to be a dog.

But it wasn't just dogs that caught my attention. Cats too. And chickens. Or, rather, fighting cocks. I came upon a sidewalk laden with wicker cages, full of fighting cocks, and their owners, such as the prize gamecock above.

Working the Streets in Bangkok

It’s challenging to travel and work, and post to a blog at the same time. It’s challenging enough to find time to edit.

I’ve been in Bangkok for 4 days. Never have I seen a city quite like this. Over 12 million people, in a sprawling metropolis right out of Bladerunner. I’ve walked through hovels and massive malls, taken tuk-tuks and SkyRail, eaten from street vendors (now that I know what they're selling) and Starbucks (a Tazo from Portland), walked in the golden smog-filtered sunlight and the neon-lit night, among Christians in skirts and prostitutes in bikinis.

Every night I’ve been out shooting for various assignments, all related to the sex trade in some way.

I’ve been staying with my dear friends Iven and Kashmira. I photographed their wedding several years ago in Seattle, and they must have 50 photographs on their walls from their wedding. (Plus a constantly revolving slideshow on their laptop. ) Considering their triangular apartment in Bangkok is about 150 square feet, that’s one photo for every 3 square feet of apartment. Surely that’s the highest ratio of photo-to-square-feet of any customer I’ve ever had. I should give them an award of some sort; maybe some new pictures.


And that’s just what I’m going to do. I’ve been photographing some things for them, and for others, in support of their work. These people--both foreigners and Thais--are working to offer people in the sex industry some hope of a way out. They build relationships, slowly, and look for opportunities to help. It’s both intimidating and amazing to walk the streets with these people, and watch them approach these men and women with smiles and conversation. And cookies. The other night I was out with about 50 people, singing Christmas carols and offering home-made cookies to men working in the bars and clubs. Their response was frequently moving. We were greeted with smiles (and a few tears), and several men told us they’d never had anything like this happen to them.

Another evening we were out photographing images for a woman who runs a home for females wanting a way out of the sex industry. Oftentimes, she explained, these girls are fourth or fifth generation prostitutes, and don’t know anything else. Often they are forced into the work by cultural expectations (as I mentioned in a previous post, they are obligated to help support their family, or to pay for their brothers to go to school). So this woman goes into bars regularly, gets to know the girls, and offers them a way out. They help them go to school, get vocational training, etc.

As I’ve worked and met people the last couple of weeks, I’ve frequently wished someone would go and make a book, telling the stories of these men and women on the streets (similar to what I’ve done with Skeleton in the Closet, telling the stories of people struggling with eating disorders). On the street they are numbers, toys. With a story, they are real people, to be respected and cherished.

That’s a brief overview of my work here. I head back to Phnom Penh later today for another day and a half, and then home. I wish I could pack some sunshine with me when I return home to snow and ice.

Pimps, Prostitutes, and Drug Dealers

Seth and I were talking over dinner about how we could tell people about what we’ve been doing, and at the same time give them entirely the wrong impression. And yet these stories are worth telling, because they are integral parts of this trip.

Last night we stood on a street corner talking with a drug dealer. Our tuk-tuk driver was late (or we were early), and this guy in a baby-blue jacket with white furry trim starts asking us if we want any marijuana, or coke. “Coca-Cola, maybe,” I said, smirking. He laughed. Seth and I started talking with him about his work: how many customers a night (6-8), who buys (mostly Westerners), how long he’s there (all night long--thus the coat; sleeps during the day); what and how he sells. Eventually we wandered off to find our driver.

Two nights before, Athena (of Transitions Global) took us on a tour of the trade. We went for drinks at a girlie bar, where mostly western men go for drinks and to hang out with girls, and potentially to take them back to their hotel. It was a relatively sleezy joint, with girls who, as Athena pointed out, were frequently the leftover or washed-up brothel workers. With the big western men, the little Asian women reminded me of rootbeer popsicles for some reason.

We then proceeded across the street to another bar, where we noticed a sign on the guards’ desk that read, “Please leave all guns with guards.” Inside there were probably 40 girls packed in the bar, talking with customers. We took a seat at a booth, and immediately there were 4 girls lined up at our booth, welcoming us and asking about our drinks order. We ordered dinner, and since the girls were there, I started talking with one girl who spoke good English. We talked about her life, about why she worked there, about her family and their poverty. She was an intelligent, sweet girl, who had worked for an NGO working with orphans as a volunteer, and then learned accounting there as well. But the pay was not good, and culturally she was obligated to help provide for her family. So she started working as a waitress at these bars, where she earns $40/month, and makes up the rest with the men who take her home. In doing so, she’s enabling her brother to go to college. Doesn’t seem like a fair trade to me.

Toward the end of the tour, we drove through the Gray Buildings (also dubbed ‘Anarchy‘ by the locals), the infamous brothel slum. A number of the girls living at the shelter we’ve been working with grew up there. Driving by after dark, you see lines of girls sitting and standing, and groups of thugs (’gangsters’ is how our local friends describe them) sitting nearby. As we rolled slowly along, a young man hopped up from the ground, ran across the street, and called out to Seth, “You want lady tonight, sir?”

“No lady tonight, thanks,” Seth replied.

I’ve been waiting to tell someone that all week.

So, conversations with pimps, prostitutes, and drug dealers have constituted a fair amount of our experience here. We’ve both also struck up friendships with a number of the tuk-tuk drivers on our street, and have enjoyed talking with them about their lives and families and dreams. And we have had the privilege of working with the staff and girls at the transitional home, who also have amazing stories, including how they lived through the nightmare of the Khmer Ruge. (One of the women told us the story of how she talked a soldier out of killing her. The number of stories she can tell of facing death and escaping are amazing.)

Finally, I must mention how in awe we are of the women we’ve met who are pouring their lives into their work here. They’ve started and run amazing programs to help women and girls wanting to get out of (or who have been rescued from) sex slavery. We’ve met with Helen of Chab Dai, Ruth of Daughters of Cambodia, Kristen of World Hope, all Christians who pour all their energies into this work, but also have a vision for (and are succeeding at) working themselves out of jobs. Their vision is to train local people to do what they are doing, to run shelters, start sustainable small businesses, to train counselors and advocates, to work with government on legislative issues, etc etc. Their hard work and sweet spirits are truly humbling to behold.

At work in Phnom Penh

My posts so far have been mostly non-work related. But we have been working. Some of what we are doing involves confidentiality, so the images I can post are limited.

I’ve spent the last few days with a transitional home for girls who have been rescued from child sex slavery. They range in age from 14-19. Three of them have volunteered to tell their stories, and let me film them.

Their stories are heartbreakingly typical: tricked or sold into a brothel, forced to ‘service’ clients all hours of the day and night, regularly beaten or threatened at gunpoint. Friends who tried to run were killed.

Thankfully these girls have been rescued by police or other NGO raids, and have been placed in homes such as this one. Here they find counseling, encouragement, food, shelter, schooling, love, a future. It’s a beautiful contrast to be interviewing a girl in one room, listening to the horror of her young life, while in the background the other girls are laughing and playing and studying. There is hope.

Last night we were given a tour of some of the red light districts here in Phnom Penh: girlie bars (a sleezy one and an upscale one, across the street from each other), slums, brothels. The pathetic thing: these places are filled with foreign white males. It’s said that if these men didn’t come and pay for prostitution, that much of the trade would dry up. It makes me want to walk around taking their photos and posting them on the internet, but there are signs saying ‘no photos’ just for this reason. And there are a lot of guns.

The counseling room, with the girls' artwork.

One of the girls' drawings, showing how the brothel owner would beat her if she got out of line.



In school: hope for the future.

The Monkeys of Wat Phnom

Seth and I did some other sightseeing, taking in Cambodian culture as we prepare for the rest of our work. We spent some time at Wat Phnom, a Buddhist temple and park in Phnom Penh. As we were about to turn and leave, I saw, 50 yards down the hill, a monkey scamper across the grass and through the trees. We headed straight for it.

Lo and behold, there were probably 25 monkeys playing around there. A woman was walking about tossing them mangoes and bananas. And they were tame-ish. I inched my way toward them, photographing from as close as 2 feet, until one of the males bared his teeth at me. That was a hilight.

Tuol Sleng

Seth decided we needed to see The Killing Fields, and Tuol Sleng Prison. He was right: if we’re going to know Cambodia, you can’t skip the atrocity. The nation’s psyche has been formed by 30 years of it. It plays right into some of the causes of child sex slavery and human trafficking.

We spent a couple hours at Tuol Sleng, a former school compound, where the Khmer Ruge imprisoned, tortured, and murdered approximately 12,500 people in 4 years. Only a handful ever made it out alive. Most people were bludgeoned to death with shovels and other implements, usually by captors who were 10-15 years old. Men, women, children, young and old, were brought here, photographed, their history recorded, then tortured and murdered. It staggers the mind. It becomes hard to breathe.


The rooms full of photographs ask so many questions of the viewer: why these people? Why these mothers with their babies? These children? (These were my contemporaries, my age in the mid-to-late 1970s.) Why were the captors so vigilant to photograph each one of them? Their Nazi-like records seem such a waste: why document what you intend to eradicate? Their methods of chained imprisonment, torture, and physical murder make the European concentration camps and gas chambers look humane.


The photographs are beautiful. Many are even well-composed and beautifully lit. Who were the photographers with their TLRs? Why did they put such care into some of their images?


Perhaps the most vivid, moving rooms are the first we visited. They are small classrooms, some with green chalkboards still on the walls. In the center of the room is a single metal bed. A chain or shackle. A shovel. And a photograph on the wall of what the Vietnamese emancipators found: 14 bodies, one on each bed, recently tortured to death, blackened and bloated. The rooms are silent, yet they speak.

Cambodia

Monday, Dec 1, 2008

So this is how it begins: A week before we’re to leave, the Bangkok airport is overrun by protestors, shutting it down. Still locked down the day before we leave, our flight is cancelled. I search and search for alternate flights, and, miraculously find one: a flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the same price as our previous itinerary, for the exact same dates. All other date combinations are $600-2000 more. I book it 15 hours before we leave. A week of uncertainty about our itinerary finds closure. I finish packing.


Tuesday, Dec 2, 2008

Well, here we are, high above the Pacific, 6 hours into an 11 hour flight from SFO to Seoul.

In spite of only 3 and a half hours of sleep last night, and in spite of Tylenol PM and melatonin, I’ve not slept much. The screaming baby hasn’t helped. To my right, a Chinese-American man sleeps in front of a Meryl Streep musical. To my left, Seth sleeps off and on. He’s only arisen from his seat once in the last 6 hours. He also hasn’t thrown up in about 12 hours, so we’re making progress.

I woke up at 3 am this morning, unable to sleep. About 4:00 the phone rang, but when Shannon answered, no one was there. I was still awake at 5 when the phone rang again. Marlo was on the phone, telling us Seth had spent the night in the bathtub, with vomiting and diarrhea. He wanted to see if I could reschedule the trip a few days out. I said I’d try, and called the insurance I’d booked with our flight, but they said they’d pretty much only refund our flight costs, not pay for a reschedule.

I looked at Shannon, sitting on the floor in my office, and said: I don’t know what to do. Except call Marlo back.

When she got on the phone, she told me Seth was in the shower, and they were going to head to the airport. If he didn’t pass out on the way to the airport, he was going. That was good enough for me. I laid down for another 20 minutes, then we prepared and left.

Seth was moving slow, but moving, when he arrived at PDX. I got us all checked in, and we boarded the plane. As we sat there, waiting for the plane to load, he got quieter and quieter, picking up a paper barf bag and eyeing it. A few minutes later, as we backed out of the terminal, he slumped over, dropped the barf bag in his lap, and started to retch.

“Seth, pick up the bag!” I said, pounding his arm. No response. “Seth, use the bag!” Still no response, just two full-on retches, spraying vomit all over himself, the seat back in front of him, and the paper bag sitting idly in his lap.

“Seth, what are you doing? Use the bag.” I hit the call button for a flight attendant. Slowly Seth lifted his head, barely responding. An attendant came over with paper towels and a large plastic bag. Seth whispered that he had a change of clothes in his bag. And that he’d be fine. But for the rest of the flight, he sat there, nearly comatose, propping the plastic bag open in his lap. At one point he turned to me and said, “If I black out again, wake me up.” “I’m not sure I can,” I responded. “You didn’t respond last time.“ I sat there, watching and praying, satisfied that as long as I could see the rise and fall of his breathing in the white plastic bag on his lap, he was still with me.

It’s been an eventful 36 hours. The monotony of long distance flight is almost a welcome relief. I can’t believe we’re actually here on the plane on our way.


Thursday, Dec 4

We made it. 30-some hours of travel, a drugged night’s sleep in our hotel room, and here we are.

Jaya, the director of Transitions Cambodia (the safe house/transitional home for girls rescued from sex slavery) surprised us by meeting us at the airport last night. We were just about to catch a cab to our hotel, when she walked up and began to ask us if we knew Fritz and Seth. I recognized her immediately from Transitions’ video (online on their website), and we were all very excited to meet each other. She introduced us to Meing, one of the house moms, as well. She told us her story as we drove by cab to our hotel.

Today we’ve rested and eaten well, figured out where to store/hide/lock gear, and hydrated ourselves. Then we started walking, exploring the city, learning how to dodge cars, cabs, motos, and tuk-tuks as pedestrians: look both ways, walk at a consistent pace, don’t get killed.

I start photographing right away.

Update on Asia: Bangkok Airport Shut Down

It's been an interesting week of preparations for my work in Thailand and Cambodia. The most recent news: the airports in Bangkok are entirely shut down, having been overtaken by protesters on Tuesday. Read about it on CNN. We are scheduled to leave this coming Tuesday. So if you're the praying type, this would be a good time to be in prayer for us and this trip.

Ileana and Liliana in the Studio

I had some extra-fun models to work with recently for headshots and updated portfolio photographs. Add in a ringlight to the mix, and we produced some pretty cool photos.

This was my first time working with 8-year old Liliana. She was squirmy and lovely at the same time, as 8-year olds tend to be. But who's complaining, with output like this?

You can also see this work on my new website portfolio of photography for Portland models and actors.





This was my third or fourth time working with Liliana, a local actress and model. She moved to Portland a couple years ago, and has been acting in the Portland area ever since.

I love working with redheads.

New Wedding and Portrait Website!

A couple months ago, one of my brides mentioned offhand, "You know, your website doesn't do your photography justice." And, I had to admit, she was right. My site is basically the same layout I've had, with various updates, for 7 years.

After a few months of consideration, and several days of work, I'm pleased to be able to introduce my new wedding and portrait photography website! It's flash, but there's also an html mirror site, accessible from the index page of my old wedding and portrait photography site.

The new site is prettier, cleaner, and easier to navigate. I have added a whole host of new portrait photographs, and included a new gallery for Portland area models and actors looking for headshots and expanded portfolio photographs and comp cards. Soon I'll be adding a link to a new page listing many of the beautiful locations at which I've photographed, to help brides with their wedding planning. And more!

It feels great to have a new site that better showcases my ever-evolving work.

Enjoy!

International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers

I'm pleased to announce I was recently accepted into the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers. This exclusive association accepts only the finest wedding photographers from the world over. You can see my listing at the ISPWP site.

Dave and Holly's Wedding with Gale Force Winds

If you keep up with dance, ballet, and culture in Portland, you may know Holly Tolbert. She is a dancer with Oregon Ballet Theater, and it's not uncommon to find her lovely figure in the paper or on a poster.

I had the privilege of being the photographer at Dave and Holly's wedding at Cannon Beach this past year.

(A side note: did you know that Oregon's Cannon Beach is famous the world over? While traveling in Europe this past year, it was not uncommon to see photos of Haystack Rock on the slideshows that run on video screens in airplanes....)

But back to the wedding. It was July, one of the most beautiful months in Oregon. The wedding was at the beach. Perfect. My kind of wedding: outdoors, summer, enjoying the awe-inspiring scenery Oregon has to offer.

But wouldn't you know it, as they set up the ceremony site, the winds just got stronger and stronger. And stronger. And stronger. After much debate, they made the decision to have the wedding on the beach in spite of the winds (which I respected; why have a beach wedding, and then not take what the beach gives you?). And it was quite a sight.

After they tied the windy knot, we all headed for Haystack Gardens for the reception. Even there, Dave and Holly were willing to brave a little misty rain for some portrait photographs.

I have to give them this: in spite of everything the day threw at them, they still had a beautiful wedding, and they still got married. And a memorable wedding day it was.