The Grotto by Niki de Saint Phalle

Here are some pictures from my trip to Germany some months ago. This unassuming building is part of the Royal Herrenhaeuser Gardens, a large Baroque garden in Hannover. Once there was a castle too but it was destroyed in the Second World War, I seem to remember. The remaining gardens are very beautiful and open to the public. It was just across the street from my former art school.

I wasn't here for at least 12 years, and I remember this small building always closed. This time I went with my good friend Heide and she said "Let's see the Grotto". I had no idea what was waiting for me. I went inside and was shear overwhelmed by the colors, light and the sparkle I was surrounded with.



The artist Niki de Saint Phalle created this piece of art you can walk into. It's magical. There was this surprise in me that it is possible to totally “follow your bliss,” no stops in going for your own sense of beauty. It makes you dance. The room around you becomes an inner one.









It is remarkable to me that this was her last project the last project she completed herself * before she died in 2002. There is this feeling of going into another world…

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And here we go again into the historical part of the garden.

It's amazing how it all works together and complements each other, the old and the new, the formal and the playful.





* ETA: Someone left a comment pointing to this: Queen Califia's Magical Circle in Escondido, California which started after The Grotto and completed posthumously. Well worth a look

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Amalia Martino, owner of BlueShoes Media

I recently photographed beautiful Amalia Martino.

Amalia is the owner of BlueShoes Media, offering publicity, marketing and business consultation for music groups.

www.blueshoesmedia.com/blueshoesmedia/Welcome.html

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Cover Shot: Megan Griffiths, Film Director

Writer and director Megan Griffiths.

From Left to Right are Off Hours Producers Mischa Jakupcak, Joy Saez, Megan Griffiths and Lacey Leavitt.

Megan with the three women she brought together to produce The Off Hours, a new indie film starring Alicia Silverstone and Aidan Quinn.

Ingrid did this shoot at Randy’s Restaurant, an all-night diner on Seattle's E. Marginal Way and the primary set for the film. It's often frequented by test pilots and crew from nearby Boeing Field and well worth the quick detour off I-5.

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Plates Clicking Against The Table

This year Frank and I were invited to spend Thanksgiving at the house of our good friends Jaxie and Bob, together with their daughters Isabel and Eve and invited friends. We had a wonderful meal and a peaceful and playful time together.

Eve is 7 years old . She made this poem for Thanksgiving:



Quite amazing, these observations and thoughts of a seven year old girl. It keeps me speechless.

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Thanksgiving was also Eve's birthday.

Part of my birthday present for her this year was a big piece of silky red fabric. It's one of the last pieces of my big collection of fabric dreams I acquired in Germany. Most of it I left behind when I moved to the America ten years ago.

I thought it might be of use in all kinds of ways for a girl like Eve, and I am glad to see it becoming and giving wings...

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Cover Shot: Luly Yang

Luly Yang for Seattle Woman Magazine

Luly is Seattle's top designer for bridal and evening gowns and just won the Nellie Cashmann Award as the Business Owner of the Year. She has an exquisite store full of sparkle on 4th and University Street.

I was very much looking forward to this photo shoot, though, like all of them, this one had its challenges. There was no time to meet Luly beforehand or to check out the location. Also, I unfortunately missed her amazing fashion show a week before the shoot, because I was still in Germany.

Karen, the editor of Seattle woman, was there with me and started with the interview. It's a different thing, the atmosphere of an interview and the atmosphere of a shoot. The first one is words and so an act of expression. What I do is something else: a feeling or mood at least is allowed to enter and, with patience, a fundamental quality of the person or situation comes to light.

For me it's important that the person to be photographed is fully present and part of the photographic dialog. That, of course, includes myself. I had probably still a little bit of jet lag and realized that I did not fully arrive yet in my surroundings. There is this interesting mixture in a photo portrait session, the need to be active and push things forward, to be in control. At the same time, you need to be receptive and open, aware so you see what is falling in your lap. Suddenly something hits you, a certain constellation of body posture in relation to the surroundings, a certain something in the eyes, a fleeting moment... Letting go is required, on the side of the person to be photographed as well as on the side of the photographer, if the real beauty is to come out.

Luly is a charming and graceful woman. What impressed me strongly is how she combines a child-like playful enthusiasm and joy about colors and shapes along with a strong business sense. In the shoot, I wanted to get through this business consciousness and was waiting for something that really spoke to me and exited me, and woke me up.



We got there, I feel. Luly was patient and went through the choreography of the shoot with me without complaint. Suddenly, after hard work, it was there. A certain mystery, an expression that you cannot pin down, knowing eyes, strength and softness at the same time, a Mona Lisa gaze that draws you in.

Thank you, Luly, for staying with me in this.

In the end we gave each other a hug, and I had finally "arrived" back in Seattle.

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A few more that were not in the magazine that show the different sides of Luly:



A shot in between shots of an exuberant young woman...




...and the queen who reigns over her empire.

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Friederike

This is Friederike, the daughter of my very dear friend Barbara T. in Hamburg, Germany. I visited them when I was in Germany some weeks ago. There was only time to spend together for one evening.

I love this picture. It might be not perfect, technically. I photographed her just after I arrived. She was standing there, in the door, watching me in her quiet way. It was a little dark.

I love her eyes. There is a certain poetic quality around this girl. She has her inner world that she has to protect a little and keep it for herself or to share it only with a view friends.

I sent this picture to Barbara, her mother. She called me back the next day and told me that she was very touched. She felt relieved because she saw in it a quality she felt might not be there anymore or that she would not see anymore, something in her daughter that tends to get invisible in the day-to-day routine.

It was beautiful to hear Barbara describe what she saw in the photo, and once again I am amazed what a photograph can do.

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Pepper Schwartz at WBE

You have the chance to see and hear Pepper Schwartz, who I recently photographed, talking about her book Prime. She will be at the Women's Business Exchange Breakfast on this coming Thursday morning, that is, October 11th, 2007.

The Women's Business Exchange is one of Seattle's largest networking organizations. Each month on the 2nd Thursday they have the breakfast meeting from 7 to 9am at the Washington Athletic Club downtown.

I still remember the first time I went to a breakfast around 4 years ago. I was impressed by seeing ca. 150 business women buzzing around. The air was full of sparkle and energy. Everything seemed possible.

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Here again is the picture of Pepper Schwartz for the cover, this time without the text:


I love the light on the wall. It was not easy to find the right spot to take the photos in and around her house. We looked at everything, Pepper's horse stable, the beautiful garden and rooms in the house. In spite of being beautiful, it all did not seem to be the right spot. So many things have to come together: the light, the colors, not distracting from the person, working for the cover and the text position, and in the end, it has to give the person the right "frame" and make them feel comfortable. All of this will affect the position of the body and the expressions.

I finally decided for this small spot in the kitchen. The warm yellow color and the streams of light seemed to be the right background for Pepper. I felt it connected with her ability to enjoy the moment, being exuberant and glowing from inside.

The dog who peeks in on the bottom of the picture contributed to the fun as well. Meanwhile her other big dog was lying on the opposite side under my tripod and between my feet. They wanted to take part too.

By the way, the cherries in the other picture were just there, we were eating them. They tasted so good. No bigger meaning, I just liked the little splash of red color...

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Cover Shot: Pepper Schwartz

I was away for a while, in Germany. Some good photos came from this trip, and I will put them up later. Meanwhile, I did these photos of Dr. Pepper Schwartz for an article in Seattle Woman Magazine:



They did an especially great job on the layout this time. The one below was used for the article inside:



Seattle Woman is a print magazine, but you can also download the latest issue here.

I did them at her ranch, about an hour's drive from Seattle. A beautiful place inside and out. Pepper raises horses there, but is more widely known as a sociology professor at the University of Washington and now as the author of Prime.

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Cover Shot: Laura Love

Laura Love Cover

Cover I did for September 2007 Seattle Woman Magazine. Laura is a wonderfully unique singer and musician.

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Cover Shot: Ashley Lodree

This is Ashley Lodree, an amazing athlete. I photographed her for the cover of Seattle Woman Magazine in July. Not sure why the faint lines are there; they appeared when I downloaded the online version. I wanted to show the cover as it was laid out. This July edition is no longer available, but the latest one can be downloaded and is usually displayed in the upper left corner at Seattle Woman Magazine's site . I did the cover for the August issue as well.

[ETA: at least for now, the July issue can still be downloaded directly from this link . <-Fixed this link and some other things on 8/30/07]

I have to say that I am not really a sports photographer, and I don't know a lot about sports or the well known outstanding sports VIPs, but there was something special about her that touched me very much. When I worked on the photo I did of her in post production on the computer, where she is on the starting track looking into the camera with her hands on the ground, I could not stop looking. I think it was the combination of the softness in her eyes and the strength that showed in her arms that moved me so much. I think for the first time, consciously, I saw the commitment to reach a goal in her body. I had a glimpse at it, what it can mean for somebody to make a decision and then to follow up on it and not to give up.

You can see her beautiful soft eyes also in the close up:



This shot, made just a moment after starting, shows what a good athlete she is:



In the moment where she collects all her strength to push forward and get out of the blocks, it looks nearly as if she is flying forward without investing her own energy: yet her face is totally relaxed, nearly as if she is surrendering to another force which would carry her.

[ETA: Some of the photos here are not always showing up, perhaps from being viewed too many times on Flickr. Will see what we can do to resolve this. 8/30/07]

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Eleanor

A while ago I had the pleasure to do a photo shoot with Eleanor for her new and first CD. (I did not see it yet. It will be available this evening)

It's her jump into presenting herself to the world as a singer on her own, after years of being in the corporate world "working for the man".

She has a beautiful voice and I love her writing for her songs. I admire to be able to create poetry out of your life.

Much luck and love to you Eleanor!

The release party is today, Friday evening, at Victor's Coffee Company in Redmond:

July, 6 2007 at Victor's (CD release party!)
7993 Gilman St., Redmond, Washington 98052
Cost : free

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