God said God love you

I found this Christian screed glued to a light pole near the Cerritos Promenade. Apparently, God said God love you very…

Coachella Valley Farm Workers

I found an interesting photography project: Coachella Valley Farm Workers.
It’s full of wonderful photos and great stories, including a few videos. The site was profiled on LA Weekly - Photographer Noé Montes' Portraits of Coachella Valley Farm Workers Shed Light on the Unseen
The photographer, Noé Montes, is on Instagram as @noemontesla

A microphotography insect obsession

Christian wtf car

I found this car in East Lakewood yesterday. I was afraid there might be a dead body inside. No! Just big piles of garbage.

Rare Photos From the Early Days of Blondie

Now I feel really old…

Rare Photos From the Early Days of Blondie:

"This year marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of Blondie, and to celebrate, the band’s co-founder, guitarist, and songwriter, Chris Stein, has released a new photography book remembering its glory days."

Driving in September in Los Angeles

Every September in Los Angeles the daily rush hours go from bad to worse, it all happens over one weekend When sumer vacations end and the kids start school. Traffic grinds to a halt. It's enough to drive you insane.

My summer drive time is 20 to 30 minutes for a 17 mile commute in the morning and 30 to 40 minutes in the afternoon. My route is the 91 to the 710 to the 405. (Translated: Riverside, Long Beach, San Diego)

Stats from my week:

• Monday: Morning drive was 1 hour 10 minutes, the afternoon was 1 hour 22 minutes. 
• Tuesday: Morning 1 hour (all side streets), the afternoon was 1 hour 34 minutes. 
• Wednesday: Morning 1 hour 15 minutes (all side streets), the afternoon was 1 hour 40 minutes. 
• Thursday: Morning 1 hour (all sides streets), the afternoon was a mind-numbing 1 hour 55 minutes. 
• Friday: Morning 22 minutes (all freeways), the afternoon was an hour (mix of side streets and the 405)

It’s the same every year. This pattern will last into December and ease off for the holidays. It will pick up again in late January and will last until June. We tend to forget our problems because of the good times in summer, but this just sucks and after 25 years of it, I’ve had enough. 

It helps to have a title

2014 has been a hard year. A combination of heath issues has prevented any sustained effort at shooting photos. I'm finally back at it.

I saw this woman while sitting in the drive thru of Fantastic Burger in Long Beach. She smiled at me as she walked by. We connected briefly. I look the combination of her skin tone and odd dress. Later, while I was pulling away to head into work, I saw her again and noticed the tattoo. I shot a quick photo. A friend though she was a hooker. I don’t think so. Instead, I though of her a nice lady with an odd fashion sense. 

A month is a long time

Michael Wolf's Paris Abstraction

I am a fan of abstract photography. Photographer Michael Wolf has his Paris Abstraction project up at Juxtapoz.com and its good. I will see Wolf's work in person. All I have to do is find an excuse to jump up to San Francisco. Enjoy.

Portraits of Drag Queens in Half Drag

I've always wanted to make a photo project comparing the public and private faces of my subjects. These portraits by Leland Bobbé do this within the drag queen community. The results are fascinating and beautiful. Enjoy.

The danger of stifling creativity

I wrote a small post recently called Thought Crimes and the Atheist Movement. In it I talked about the role people have who are offended by the creative efforts of others. I pissed off a few people who thought my photography projects that dealt with the homeless was something I should not do because I might offend the homeless (or others). I feel otherwise. My work has helped others and helped bring attention to the problem. If I had listened to critics, I would have never taken the photos. It's a horrible thought.

I recently watched a video by photographer Brenda Ann Kenneally and poet Susan B.A. Sommers-Willet. This multi-media project explores poverty in Troy, New York using photography, video and poetry. Take a moment and watch the video.

It is uncomfortable to watch. Poverty is ugly, although I find photos hard to view, I do so anyway and I am made better by the experience. The individual photos are even harder to look at, but they serve a purpose. The project, called Update Girls, has attacked a lot of criticism. If photographer Brenda Ann Kenneally had listened to her critics, this 10-year-long project would have never happened. 

Ms. Kenneally’s forceful images drew a lot of attention. More than eighteen thousand people shared the Slate article on Facebook and hundreds commented on Slate’s Facebook page. Another 387 commented on the original post. Tweets criticized the subjects and the photographer.

The comments were harsh. Many expressed outrage that Kayla would smoke while holding her baby. (This photograph, singled out with especially virulent criticism, has since been taken down at Ms. Kenneally’s request.) Others remarked that poor people couldn’t afford to waste their money on cigarettes, that the houses pictured were filthy and the occupants slovenly, and that the food visible in some shots was unhealthy. Commenters wondered how poor families had money to buy their children video games. There were accusations about welfare checks and snide remarks about contraception.

If she had listened to her critics, this important sociological work would have never been created. Why listen to critics? Why let them ruin your creative efforts? Why give them the power to derail individual creativity? I just don’t understand this type of thinking. I never will. 

Our creative efforts are our own private domain. If I listen to people who are offended by my work, I would never have written this blog. I would never have helped dozens of abused children and adults find justice. I would never have helped anyone out of a wrong-headed concern for Christians who might have been offended by being held responsible in some small way for their acts of hypocrisy.  My hate mail goes to the trash unread. I do the work I must do anyway. 

By the way - once small case, a young girl who was being abused by her pastor, made all ten years and 6000+ posts worth the effort. I was able to help the girl and her parents. I consider it one of my proudest moments and it is one of the reasons I’ve started to post again. 

True style in photography

Doing instead of just praying

Or in this case, doing while praying. Either way, this is a powerful image and something I applaud. 

Source: Ukrainian protesters occupy government buildings - Yahoo News: “”

Photo: Oasis in a windowsill

A photo by Mojoey

Shadows

A photo by Mojoey

#abstract #iphoneography

Happy Holidays!

via Mojoey

Photo - Two Shadows

This is a abstract photo of two shadows that I took yesterday. I'm working on a goal for 2014 of a photo a day from my iPhone. It seems worthwhile.

On being creative

I find it hard to explain how it feels to work hard all day but not be creative. I'm in the middle of an audit right now and feeling the exact opposite of creative. So, to help my mindset, I'm publishing a photo just because I can.

Plus... I want to figure out how to use Blogsy on my iPad. I had forgotten.

 

Posted with Blogsy

My first Christmas photo of 2013

My first Christmas photo of 2013, originally uploaded by mojoey.

And a story...

I stopped by a local Mcdonalds for some iced tea yesterday. I saw a Christmas Tree lot next door, so I jumped out of the car to shot a few quick photos. There was something about the photo above that caught my eye. I think it was the layers of Christmas and its overall tackiness. While I was shooting a woman yelled at me as she was walking into the restaurant. She called me a pervert. I was not surprised, nor did I respond. A moment later a Sheriff called to me as he walked out of the restaurant. He asked what I was doing and he did so nicely. I told him I was taking a few photos. He asked if I was shooting children. I said no and handed him my camera. He looked though a few shots and said, so really, what are you doing. I explained that I was an artist and that I liked the layered imagery of the tree lot. He smiled and said, “Can we keep this going another minute so that the crazy lady inside the restaurant thinks I've done my job? She thinks you are a pervert and is letting everyone inside the restaurant know about it.”

I glanced back towards the restaurant and saw a dozen people looking back at me. None of them looked amused. I’m suddenly pissed and disappointed at the same time. Friggen busybodies… 

I smiled a lot and nodded my head as we talked photography, beer and busybodies. He wagged a finger back at the restaurant and then handed me my camera. He also gave me his card and asked that I send him an email of the photo.

I don’t even like the photo, but I posted it here so I could tell the story. Good times.

Mormon Women Bare: An interesting photo project

I love photography, and of course, religion is hot topic here on my blog. When the two mix, I usually like the results. I found Mormon Women Bare via Reddit while browsing this afternoon. It's a photo project dedicated to active Mormon women, which I was not expecting. Here is what the artist said:

A young girl is shamed by her friends for not dressing “modestly” enough. A BYU student is chastised via note from a male student for wearing leggings. A BYU-Idaho student is not allowed to take a test because her jeans are “form fitting”. After hearing these stories and others in 2012, I threw up my hands in exasperation. What on earth is going on in this culture? I don’t remember it being like this when I was a child and teen growing up in the church. Why has the modesty culture of the LDS church gotten so extreme and what can we do about it?

Women around the world deal with objectification, body shame, and the burden of the male gaze. Mormon women have an added layer of complexity and heavy expectations: while being warned against becoming “walking pornography,” we also face immense pressure to be attractive and fit. We must both attract and protect against male desire.

Read more (this link is safe)

The Mormon girls I knew from back in the day (the late 70s), were modest but not overly so. I was a bit taken aback after reading about the project. I had no idea that this had become an issue. 

Mormon Women Bare is a NSFW website, but it is not porn. The photos are tasteful and beautiful depictions of women with all body types. This is what photography is about to me. I found the artist authentic and thoughtful. Again… not what I excepted from a Reddit link. I read the Reddit comment thread and was disappointing because it did not address my question. Instead, it digressed into a discussion on the values of the faith. I want to know what Mormons think of project. I’ll have to ask a few of my Mormon friends. 

What I learned… people sag, just like me.