“The Other Billion.”

Back in the summer of 2009, I had a chance to go with Tianjin International School to help lead a group of high schoolers into rural Yunnan. Most of the time I’ve spent in China has been in cities, so this was a rare experience for myself as well. Half of the trip consisted of a multi-day wilderness/backpacking trip into the mountains south of Tibet, and the other half involved helping out different villages with random things. The beauty was breathtaking, and one of the villages was fighting against efforts to develop it. I don’t know how much we actually “helped,” but I know for me, experiencing the disparate worlds of city versus countryside reminded me that behind all the smoke and mirrors of development, China’s “other billion” are still worlds apart.

Some of these were posted earlier, but a friend of mine wanted to order some prints from my trip, so I figured I’d toss the images up on here as well.

Kevin and Ellen Slideshow

I figured I’d do a quick post and put up Kevin and Ellen’s engagement slideshow. Less than a month til their wedding!

Amiee and Joe Wedding: Somers Point, NJ

I think it’s awesome when you can tell what the couple values just by being present at their wedding. For Joe and Amiee, they were surrounded by family who had worked hard to make everything happen, took communion at the altar, and had the drummer of their favorite band be their DJ. How awesome is that?

Aaaand We’re Off!

One of the refrains from Sufjan’s song “Chicago,” says, “I made a lot of mistakes, I made a lot of mistakes.” I try to live in a way that doesn’t encourage regret. If I live in the moment properly, then when that moment is over, I will have no regrets about what happened. It’s an axiom I try to live by. But sometimes, you do have regrets. Things aren’t always done perfectly, relationships aren’t always lived fully. Love is sometimes unreturned and guilt sometimes lingers in shadows. Running from those feelings would be a waste. They’re there to help nudge us towards reconciliation and hopefully, lives lived more fully in the future.

Don’t worry folks, I still travel to shoot. Just because I’m in Chicago doesn’t mean I can’t come visit you :). Some weddings coming up: Back in NJ, Detroit MI, Albany NY, and Philadelphia. It doesn’t really matter where I “live”!

Chicago. The windy city. Here are my two favorite songs about the place :)

“I’m Comin’ Home Again, Maybe We Can Start Again.”

Tomorrow, I make the trek out to Chicago. In my mind, I’ve always rather felt homeless, or at least rootless. It never bothered me to pack my life into my car and drive off to whatever called my name, wherever that might be. I thought it was a freedom I had to be rootless. But now, a small part of me realizes that depth in relationships require roots. A part of me wonders what my life would be like if I would just stay put.

If love, in all its rough edges, is what gives birth to vibrancy in life, then it too must root itself one day.

On my last day in New Jersey, I got to participate in roots grown deeper. Congratulations, Amiee and Joe!

[Thanks also to my assistant, Danielle, for the help today. And with that, my dear bed calls.]