In Siberia.

'...accelerated urbanisation over the past century has distanced humanity from the very animal and plant sources of life itself. We are living in disharmony with the elements that comprise the universe, as if we too were not similarly formed, as if we were purely rational beings. We are disregarding the spiritual and instinctive qualities that until now have ensured our survival. We assume grave risks when we distance ourselves from our natural roots, roots which in the past always made us feel part of the whole.' Sebastião Salgado 

These photos from Sebastião Salgado's Genesis project (a huge project spanning 6 years) took my breath away when I was flicking through last weekend's Guardian magazine. Salgado spent 40 days living with the Netets, nomadic reindeer herders of northern Siberia. The pictures he took are epic and yet intimate, painterly and yet distinctly documentary photography.  It's the first time in a long time that I've felt inspired by contemporary photography and the first time in as long as I can remember that I've eagerly awaited a gallery exhibition. Which I'll be able to go to, because I live in London now. 

Photographs: Photograph: Sebastião Salgado/Amazonas/nbpictures, via The Guardian. 

Flower Floret Farm

Do you know Flower Floret Farm? If not, you probably need them in your life (or their blog, at least). They're an organic flower farm north of Seattle and their life makes my heart ache for a world of sunsets and dahlias and wheelbarrows of soil and baby chickens at my feet and fairies in the foxgloves (because I'm sure that's exactly what running a flower farm is like. All of the time.)  While the chances of me running away to start a flower farm are slim, I am all kinds of excited about the beautiful things we will grow in our garden, if we ever find it.

images by Erin Benzakein of Floret Flower Farms

A sigh of relief and tears of disappointment....

It hasn't quite sunk in for me what it means that Barack Obama won the American presidential election, it is bigger than I can take it. Big enough to make me cry into my dinner tonight as the delectable Jon Snow spoke to this girl on the news tonight.

Tears of rage also filled my eyes as I watched the results come in on Propositions 8 and 102 and Arkansas' Initiative 1 and any joy I may feel over the presidential victory is tempered by the passing of these enormous abuses of human rights. I don't have words for how angry and physically ill this makes me, but LGBTQ friends and those who stand by them, please know that in my household tonight anger and sadness beat any ability to celebrate.

Keep fighting. But god, I wish you didn't have to.

Galle lace...

These hand made lace bracelets would make gorgeous and unique bridal jewellery. Jewellery with a conscience...

"Each purchase provides much needed funds to those who have begun the long process of rebuilding their lives. Our Lace Bracelet is designed to be a decorative adornment to any wrist whilst making a visual statement of your support for the women who make them."

In December 2004 Sri Lanka was among the countries hit by the Tsunami, which killed between 265,000 and 310,000 people and decimated the homes and livelihoods of many of the survivors.
The Power of Hands Foundation was set up by Andrea Galer, a film and television costume designer who also designs bridal wear and who has sought to use materials from uniquely skilled craftspeople around the world. The Galle region in the south of Sri Lanka has long been renowned for its crafts, particularly its lace making which was introduced by the Portuguese in the 1th century.

Andrea set up the Foundation to help try to repair the livelihoods of the Sri Lankan lace makers whose lives had been devastated by the Tsunami and the loss of the tourist industry which has all but vanished in its aftermath.

The Power of Hands Foundation sells beautiful lace bracelets and lace by the meter online and Andrea uses it extensively in her costume designs for the BBC and in her bridal designs.

Images from The Power of Hands Foundation.

Kenyan portraits

El Molo Woman. El Molo, Lake Turkana, Kenya

"The El Molo are the smallest ethnic group in Kenya, numbering about 300 people. They live on lava rock of the southeast shore of Lake Turkana. Their dwellings resemble igloos, built from what scrub vegetation of the volcanic wasteland has to offer.

The tiny population fishes the lake for giant Nile perch; occasionally they hunt crocodiles and hippos. The El Molo drink water directly from the lake which brings them many medical problems."

Samburu Woman

"The Samburu are related to he Masai although they live just above the equator where the foothills of Mount Kenya merge into the northern desert. They are semi-nomadic pastoralists whose lives revolve around their cows, sheep, goats, and camels. Milk is their main stay; sometimes it is mixed with blood. Meat is only eaten on special occasions. Generally they make soups from roots and barks and eat vegetables if living in an area where they can be grown."

El Molo Woman. El Molo, Lake Turkana, Kenya






Samburu Man resting outside a butchery in South Horr.





Turkana Woman. Loyangalani, Kenya.

"The Turkana are Kenya's third-largest tribe and the second largest group of nomadic pastoralists (aftter Maasai). The majority live in Turkana District of Rift Valley in the arid northwest of Kenya. Most of Turkana are cattle herders, some engage in small-scale agriculture and fishing on Lake Turkana. They speak Turkana which is similar to the Maasai language and is considered to be of Nilotic in origin."

Incidentally the images are completely wrong for the book cover, but they are gorgeous none the less.

Frantisek Staud has also taken photographs of the (tiny) Scottish island I grew up on, which amuses me given the big wide world he has travelled and photographed. My island is not on the average list of 'must-see' places, even among the 'must-see' Scottish islands. It should be, but it's not. It's too hard to get to, the tourist industry is too under-developed and no celebrities have been married or opened restaurants there. But it is heaven on earth and one day I will share some pictures of it.

All images and italicised words from www.phototravels.net and copyright of Frantisek Staud

Moroccan colours

(all images by me)

Three years ago The Boy and I spent 8 weeks in Morocco. We hadn't been together long, about 6 months. We had met at art school, both studying for photography degrees and neither of us liked it very much. So we ran away. We took a year off and for 6 months we saved every penny we could scrape together which wasn't very much as we were both rather ill at the time and unable to work the long hours we would have liked. 

When we had enough we hopped on a plane to Spain, grabbed a bus to Algeciras and with more excitement than I had ever known we boarded a ferry to Africa. 

We spent 8 weeks travelling around the country, very slowly. A lot of the time we spent very still, very quiet as we really were not too well. But oh how we loved it. The people so warm, the smells so exotic, the children so playful. The sun warming our weary bones and revitalising us, the colours inspiring us to love taking pictures again. 

Most people think of Morocco and see vivid bright sunshine colours, deep red ochres and rich north African blues. Those were the colours we photographed but in a moment of naive excitement we handed 15 rolls of film and too many of our carefully hoarded pennies into a Moroccan shop to be processed, the negatives we got back were all but ruined. Deep scratches ran through every image, the colours were faded and oddly tinted, our memories made blurry and distorted. I cried, The Boy shouted but our precious negatives were not to be repaired. 

How heartbreaking for a photographer to lose negatives, I can't even begin to describe...
In time however, I have grown to love the pictures that we trusted to that deceptively professional seeming shop in Taroudant. The colours are not accurate but the moments are ones we lived and loved and the watery images remind me of memory itself, faded and never quite exactly how the moment was in truth. And scratches can be removed, with patience and overpriced photo editing software.