Published at Nine to Five magazine in Australia, Mar 30, 2009.
Today I am skipping the usual Photography Inspiration post to bring you some exciting news!
There is an article about me published on the hip lifestyle Magazine Nine to Five in Sydney! That is right: Sydney, Australia. :) I am so flattered, because Nine to Five features high quality photography and great interviews with up-and-coming creative women, such as filmmaker Gracie Otto, who was recently nominated for the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards; the hot newly discovered fashion designer, Anna Plunket, who is one of the geniuses behind Romance was Born (a must see link for inspiration), celebrity Stylist, Kelly Smythe and more…
I am head over hills and doing a little dance (can you see?)… I am indeed short of words, but I want to especially thank journalist and editor Elise Pitt for finding me and putting together such a great feature on my Gypsy Life. Thank you, dear Elise! The article looks beautiful and it’s everything I could have hoped for. You can click on the image on this post to see it large and to read the article as it appears on the print magazine, or you can check it also on the Nine To Five’s online publication. If you are in Sydney or Central Coast Australia, please grab a copy of the print issue and let me know how it looks. I can’t wait to receive my own issue in the mail!
Finally, I’m going to share a song from lovely Abby Dobson, also featured on the latest issue of Nine to Five. She has a song titled “Shining Star”, which seems like the perfect theme song for my Shining Star portrait sessions, which by the way, are rocking my world right now (email me at gypsygirlsguide@gmail.com if you are interested in finding out more).
Here is the Shining Star music video. Consider it my message of love and thanks to you, dear readers, and to you, my fabulous editor Elise:
Shining Star by Abby Dobson
*** oh one more thing ***
To celebrate the love received from Australia, I am offering a special deal for aussie customers on my Etsy store. Take a look here.

Dog Eared Bookstore, San Francisco, 2009.

I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn’t quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet. ~ Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar ~
I’d read some of Sylvia Plath’s poems before, but it wasn’t until recently, when I watched the movie Sylvia, that I really became curious about her work. This is not one of those films I can easily recommend, as it has a very melancholic and slow pace, combined with a depressing plot. But it is a film for those of us who are fascinated by the lives of artists, the complex inner workings of the creative process, and those who are familiar with experiencing emotions and longings on a deeper level than most. Those of us will watch and respect it, for it portrays a certain bitter beauty that is usually intangible.
If you’ve seen the movie and know a bit about the poet, you understand what I am talking about. But for those of you who haven’t seen or read much about her, I just wanted to share something I took from discovering Sylvia’s work and life. Sylvia Plath was a talented writer who married another brilliant poet, Ted Hughes. Their story is about their passion for writing and for each other, and it is also about their transition from being exceptional individuals to becoming a couple, and later, a family with 2 children. At the same measure that Ted gained attention for his literary work, Sylvia felt crushed and overshadowed about her own. They then started to go separate ways, and only in that distance, she was able to channel her voice, producing some of her best writing. Unfortunately, during those same years, she let herself be consumed by her mind completely, and as the tag line for the film suggests, “life was too small to contain her”, so she sadly committed suicide.
Her tragic story just made me think about the choices we make and for “who” we make them. It made me think of how being around people that are successfully doing what WE want to do, can work for us both in good and bad ways (obviously not necessarily with such dramatic outcome).
It made me think of how hard it is to claim that we want to be a painter, writer, photographer, dancer, mother, to those in our lives who are already “living” the life we want to live. I’ve been wondering why I’ve felt that way before. Maybe it was a feeling of infringing a certain sense of originality. Now I cannot be “that”, because my friend, husband, sister already is such. Maybe is a fear of comparison? Fear of not being accepted? Or is it the fear of commitment and accountability? Fear of picking the wrong “fig”, or picking one and loosing another? Have you ever experienced that? In my case, this was a giant concrete block preventing me from claiming what I wanted.
I still keep asking myself daily, as things unfold for me: Why is it that we feel that there is not enough room for all of us to do what we want to do, and do it “well” and “as well” as others? What makes someone else worthier? Is that really it or are we just afraid of the dynamics of choosing and loosing?
Is there someone blocking your sunshine? Come forward in your life and claim exactly who you want to be. In my experience it does get easier once you do so.
***
And on a happier note, I wanted to celebrate my friend Stef who recently claimed her love for photography and writing by creating her own Fine Art book. Stef is gathering sale funds to go to Squam. So support her work and send her off to Blue Poppy land!

photograph by Blake Fitch, Wonderful Machine
It’s a glorious and sunny Monday in San Francisco, but I am hiding in my studio for a good reason! I’m working on an exciting project that combines photography + courage + teenage girls and I am beyond excited about it…(More on that soon…)
With that said, I can’t help but take little breaks and browse the work of talented photographers who studied adolescent girls. Sally Mann, Lauren Greenfield, Jock Sturges and Rineke Dijkstra are a few of them. But truly, ever since I saw the work of Blake Fitch in “Expectations of Adolescence”, I was completely smitten.
After reading a bit about the photographer, I learned that in high school, photography provided her with an outlet for someone who “felt like a quirky girl who was trying to fit in.” And that is precisely what I am trying to draw into my project. God knows how I wish I had a camera in my teen years. I wander what kind of photos I would have taken… or how much it could have healed me… I know that later in life, Photography is in a lot of ways what brought me the power and confidence to travel on my own. It really is such a grounding and nourishing activity.

photograph by Blake Fitch, Wonderful Machine
The other inspiring aspect about Blake’s work is that she documented her sister Kate and cousin Julia over a decade, as they went from childhood into young adulthood. Isn’t it magical that we always have the possibility of finding amazing images right next to us, in all the sparkling ordinary moments of our days?
I am also absolutely intrigued by work that is done over a lengthy period of time and still looks so fresh. It shows such vitality and commitment to the artist’s vision. What a profound respect for the creative process! In my humble opinion, to build something continuously for ten years is a most admirable task, don’t you think?
photograph by Blake Fitch, Wonderful Machine
So for those of you, working on your poetry books, paintings, photo essays or novels…
Keep going ~
Time brings the work a certain maturity and intimacy, that most definitely comes through in the final product.
And nobody can really fully respect YOUR process.
Only YOU can.
Believe me: You are doing good.
Now just do some more of it. :)
***
More of Blake’s evocative and ethereal work can be seen here.