Fritz Photography

Summer seems long ago. At least now we’re past the solstice, and on are wending our slow way back to more sunlight. Speaking of which, here are a couple of summer portraits, of a young lady from Lake Oswego. Doesn’t that sunlight on her shoulders make you warm all over? It makes me want to head to Mexico for a while…. Want to see her slideshow? Here it is.

Every Saturday night for the last couple of years I’ve driven out to East Portland to Sarah Modrall’s house. Within a short time, 30-50 street kids converge on her house, and we spend the next several hours eating a good meal, talking, studying the Bible, singing, hanging out. It’s an amazing time, really.

This weekend we had our annual Christmas party. What a hoot! We played games, ate food, and had a gift exchange. A fun celebration of relationships built and hope restored at this special time of year.

The kids find it hilarious that I am able to take the group pictures, and be in them at the same time….

Back in August I applied for a visual arts grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC). It was the first real grant I’ve applied for, requiring extensive preparation, a couple classes, lots of thought, calculations, and organization. You submit all of this, along with samples of your work, and then you wait. Three to four months. Wondering if you should be making plans for the following year, but not quite sure.

Well, I got home from rock climbing this afternoon, opened the mail, and…I got the grant.

I applied so I could pursue the documentary work on eating disorders (see posting below on anorexia and bulimia) which I began this past year. I have some goals set out in the grant, which need to be met by the end of 2007. Now I can (once the holidays pass…) jump in and get moving. Pretty exciting stuff. Can’t wait to show you what I come up with.

Getting a grant is exciting and moving, not just to have the money to work with, but moreso to have the recognition from people you respect. It’s more of a pat on the back that says, “What you’re doing is valid and important. Keep moving.”

A grant also seems to give validity to others that what you’re doing is bonafide, genuine. I hope it might open some other doors as I move forward. Stay tuned.

Goatherder, Nellore, India

In the spring of 2005, I had the opportunity to travel to southeast India to photograph medical teams working in coastal villages hit by the tsunami. I documented teams giving free medical clinics; helping rebuild (from the ground up) a destroyed, relocated village; dedicating new wells; and working in an orphanage in Nellore, India. I was with a group from Open Arms International. It was a hot, exhausting, and exhilarating two weeks. You can see a selection of images from India here.

I just received notice that I will be accompanying Open Arms again, this spring, to Kenya, Africa, and to Israel. They will be doing similar work in Kenya, as well as dedicating a site they have been preparing to build a medical clinic and orphanage. The trip will be in March.

Do Kenya and Israel seem like an odd combination? I think so, too, but I’m sure excited to go.

Here are a few more images from India:

Awaiting medical aid, a woman watches as Jodhi writes her a prescription.

I’ve been working for almost 2 years now on a photographic project about anorexia and bulimia. I’ll give the overview of the project another time. For the moment, though, I have some new images about which I’m excited, and wanted to post one or two to share. There’s nothing like having something beautiful in your back pocket, with no one to show it to….

The above image is new. This young lady, in our interview, shared how she both wants to garner attention by being the skinniest, most flexible dancer in her studio, while at the same time hates to garner attention from people concerned about her weight. A true Catch-22.

If this is something you struggle with, and you live in Portland or the Pacific NorthWest, I would like to talk with you. Please contact me; I would like to know your story, and consider including you in this project.

Alternately, if you have a strong interest in this subject as a writer or publisher, I would also be interested in talking with you. While I will soon be in the process of showing the work to publishers, I am open to discussing the matter with all interested parties. Please contact me.

More work in this continuing series may be seen on my fine art website, under the title thIncontrol.

This sign was posted along the boardwalk at regular intervals. It reads:

The light was so beautiful on the water, warm and soft and silky….