Journey Back to NZ - 'In Transit' Exhibition

'I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.'

- Duane Michals, Photographer

'In Transit' Exhibition Photos
  
I had a 10 hour layover in L.A. via Vancouver to New Zealand, which gave me the opportunity to meet up with Mark Hanauer, a wicked awesome commercial photographer in Santa Monica. He had been a fantastic mentor to me while creating my photo book and putting my exhibition together. Mark, his girlfriend, Tracey Shiffman, a book designer, and his dog, Shaq hung out with me on the Santa Monica promenade. This made my layover fly by and I definitely feel like I have some new friends there:)

I boarded my flight that night to learn that they had put me in an aisle seat. Not cool for an umpteen hour over nighter. So I went and laid claim to the last row in the plane hoping no one would get the same idea and I could stretch out eventually. To my chagrin, a male passenger came along just as we were about to take off and sat at the end of the row, dashing my hopes! Right after dinner, while I was in the bathroom, he took it upon himself to stretch right out across all 3 seats. Um. First of all, I was there first Buck-o. Second of all, how RUDE!! He could of at least asked if it was OK to put his smelly feet beside me!! I was running on little sleep from waking up to Sigurd (my cat) puking on my bed at 3 AM that morning when I had to get up at 4 AM to catch my flight. To add to this, I couldn't eat my delicious 'looking' vegetarian meal because they couldn't tell me if there was any alcohol in the sauce (if this is your first time reading this blog, even a drop of alcohol can make me sick for up to 10 days). So I ate the bun with all the butter that came in the packet to sustain myself for the duration of the flight.

12 hours later, we were landing in the southern hemisphere, 5 AM New Zealand time. I had to kill 3 hours before the rental car place was to open so I freshened up, got tea and wrote on my laptop. I went outside and waited a half an hour before calling. They said that the shuttle should be circling any minute. So I waited another half hour before calling again. This time, I asked if I was perhaps in the wrong place. I was.

So I went to the right place. I waited there for another half hour. When I finally got to the rental place, I waited another 2 hours before the car was finally ready. After a whole lot of waiting and hullabuloo, I finally drove away at NOON. 7 hours after landing! For some reason, I was too tired for this to upset me and went on my merry way surprisingly unfazed.

I arrived at Cait's old digs a short time later. I had stayed with her in Auckland while looking for work there last year. She had since returned to her home in NY but her awesome set of roomies offered up a bed for me to sleep in while I was there for the exhibition. This was such a blessing considering how broke I was and didn't have to add the expense of accommodations to my ever growing debt.

Some Kiwi-isms that I had forgotten but came back to me after being back for a few days:

'Flash' - When something is a bit pricey or really nice.

'It's all right' - You're welcome.

'Sweet as' - Cool (that's right, there is no noun after 'as' – another example would be if it was chilly outside, 'It's cold as!').

'Yep' - Yes

'Aye' - Don't you think? (similar to the Canadian 'eh')

'Lolli' - Candy

'Mmm' - Used when on the listening end of a conversation...with an inquisitive tone.

'Fine' - used to describe the weather, meaning 'it's not raining'.

I went off to get my prints framed the next morning and pick up fliers at The Depot (the gallery I was exhibiting at) to promote 'In Transit - A Meeting Point: 3 Women, 3 Strangers, 3 Journeys' to potential consumers of travel photography. 

This was the content for the promo:  

In Transit is an exhibition by three women who, though strangers to each other, share a passion for exploration; each capturing the fleeting moment of her journey as 'tourist' and photographer.  The artists - Samantha Bech, Tracey Tomtene and Karen Williamson, converse with the viewer through still image, inviting access to a culture, place or event outside their own turf.

It was a glorious day to do it; the sun was shining and I had always loved downtown Auckland on foot. I headed south to the Bay of Plenty for a blissful 4 hour drive amid grazing sheep, rolling green hills and winding roads. I had made 2 CDs to groove to and that I did! I hadn't taken a good solo road trip in months and it was so good to get behind the wheel again with just me, my music and the countryside (and espresso, of course!).

I got to Tash's in Whakatane and we had hot homemade soup and warm bread with Jono while catching up by the fireplace. It was such a cozy, warm feeling being there – like coming home. When I snuggled into the bed I used to sleep in that night, the familiar texture of the soft billowy pillows, duvet..and Chloe the cat, all came joyfully rushing back! I had missed the comfort of going to bed knowing there were other sleeping homo sapiens nearby, especially good friends like Tash and Jono that feel more like family.

The next morning, everything changed. I started to feel a bit groggy but ignored it and didn't give it a lot of thought because there was no reason for me to think I could be sick. I was so careful not to eat anything that might have alcohol or extracts. I was to meet Feliciano that day, a fellow traveller who was living in New Zealand, from Patagonia, that I had met on couchsurfing.com. By the time I was on my way to see him after lunch, I knew that I was not well. Despite that, I had a lovely visit with Feli. An aspiring photographer and world traveller, Feli was on his way to tour India and Asia for 3 months. We chatted the afternoon away over hot tea but I just felt cloudier and sicker as minutes passed.

I drove back to Whakatane while having a big pity party for myself knowing that I was not going to feel well for at least 4 more days. Most of the next day was spent in a housecoat on the couch while Tash and I caught up on the last 6 months. It was so nice to have someone around that I don't have to pretend to feel normal with, when I'm feeling like hot garbage. 

 

I drove back up to Auckland the next day to hang the exhibition and meet with the 2 other photographers I would be exhibiting with, Samantha Bech and Karen Williamson. We had been planning the whole exhibition remotely with Hahna, the Exhibition Co-ordinator, so it was great to finally see everyone in person. 

 

The opening (June 6^th) went swimmingly! Unfortunately, Sam couldn't make it at the last minute as she was shooting a wedding that day and her bride needed her to meet with her earlier than scheduled. She is originally from Canada but has been in NZ for several years with her husband. It is funny how you feel such an affinity with people from your homeland when you are in a foreign country.

The show went on, with just Karen and I doing the Q and A with Lizzy, another Gallery Co-ordinator, in front of a live audience of gallery patrons. I had rehearsed how I would answer each question and had my answers in front of me on a piece of paper. In the end, everything was pulled out of my ass and I barely remember a thing that I said! Before I knew it, we were cleaning up empty wine bottles and dishes and the place had vacated. It was over. Five months of hard work and anticipation and finit! With that, brought a sense of relief, accomplishment and anticipation for more. The show would not have meant as much to me if Tash and Jono did not attend. It meant so much to me to have friends there, especially ones that have been a big part of this crazy, life altering journey I've been taking.

As an exhibiting artist, one is required to volunteer at the gallery for a day. I loved it! And it was bustling due to a Sunday market going on next door. Tash and Jono came and met me for lunch before departing back to Whakatane. It is a sad goodbye when you don't know how long it will be before meeting again, but Tash and I have known one another since we were 20. No matter where we are in the world, we still manage to stay close.

I turned in early that night, still feeling like a bag of poo. I had to get up at 2:30 AM, that's right AM, to drop off my rental car and take a shuttle to the airport for my 6 AM flight to Australia, en route to Bali, the Land of the Gods...and SURFING! 

'The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.'

- Julia Margaret Cameron, Photographer (1815-1879) 

Travelers Reunited and the NY Photo Festival

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” 

– Miriam Beard

See photo albums below: 

Cait, Ro and Dunc Visit Vancouver


New York Photo Festival

After I returned from California, I decided to attend the New York Photo Festival. I was not in any kind of financial condition to go, but decided that I really couldn't afford not to go either. There were opportunities for me to show my work to photo editors and gallerists during the festival so I decided to create a book filled with my favourite images from '07 and '08. This proved to be a much more time consuming task than I bargained for but definitely a rewarding one in the end. See a digital version here.

During this time, Cait paid me a visit on her way home to New York from New Zealand. We had met in Chiang Mai, Thailand on a jungle trek. She was traveling with her friend Ada. The three of us went on to Pai together for a week of yoga, Reiki, banana pancakes, swimming, bon fires, gypsy bars, meditation, wheat grass juice and goodness.  We met up again in Bangkok later and crossed the border into Cambodia together, which you can read more about here:

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

The Killing Fields, Cambodia

We went our separate ways after Cambodia. Cait headed south of Bangkok to a meditation retreat before starting a teaching gig in Thailand and I went on to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. We kept in touch over the next several months and come October ('08), we found ourselves both in New Zealand where we got to explore a little more of the world together again.

Since both of us were on a tight budget, as per usual, we spent most of the time walking around Vancouver: Yaletown, Gastown, Commercial Drive, Kitsilano and English Bay. This gave us oodles of time to catch up on all the happenings since our last goodbye at the Auckland airport. When I had to work on my photo book we just planted ourselves in a coffee shop for the afternoon.

A couple of weeks later (May '09), Rosie and Duncan also paid me a visit! I met them exactly a year before in the Perhentians, Malaysia. We shared a cab to Kota Bharu after getting off a flight from Kuala Lumpur. We spent a fantastic few days together on Besar, the bigger island of the Perhentians. We later met up again in July in Kuta, Bali. They had left England to go on a year long round the world trip and lucky for me, they not only included Vancouver on their North American itinerary, but also NY, where I got to meet with them again later that month.

The New York Photo Festival took place in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), Brooklyn, also known as the new photo district of New York. This was another time when I felt I was a part of something really big happening in the photography industry. I like that feeling.

I took in lectures and exhibitions from many photographers but the one I remember and was inspired by the most was Tim Hetherington. His exhibition called 'Sleeping Soldiers' used powerful audio, video and still images, extremely effective in bringing you to the steep hillsides of Afghanistan and the experience and emotion of war. It is photographers like Tim Hetherington and James Nachtwey that I hold in  such high regard, who  capture and share with us a reality that most would rather pretend didn't exist.

The hot topic at the festival was photography complimented by other forms of media. More and more photojournalists are incorporating video and especially audio into their repertoires, rendering their stories much more effective. Brian Storm from Media Storm suggested I do the same. His site features some of the most memorable photo essays I've seen in a long time. Jonathan Torgovnik's 'Intended Consequences' documents Tutsi women who had been raped by members of the Hutu militia, many of them contracting HIV as well as becoming pregnant, during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. View his multimedia presentation here, and you will see what I mean by 'effective'.

There were many events, lectures and moments worth noting but I will stop there, otherwise I might never finish this extremely delayed blog installment!

In the evenings I met up with Rosie and Duncan again who were staying only 3 blocks from my hostel before they departed back to England. Cait and I managed to squeeze in meeting in the East Village, Chinatown and Little Italy as well as having tapas with my favourite NY couple, Carolina and Rodrigo (from Brazil). We met on a boat in Halong Bay, Vietnam and had kept in touch ever since. Read more on our  Hanoi expedition here.

I returned from New York very glad that I had gone and feeling hopeful for the future of my career. I had just participated in a group exhibition at Exposure Gallery in Vancouver called 'Streets' and was about to exhibit in another called, 'Salon'. At the same time that 'Salon' was going on, my images went up at Ronda Shott Photography for the Camrose (AB) Artwalk (thanks to my Mom). I had less than 2 weeks left to make the final preparations for 'In Transit', which was to take place in Auckland, NZ with Sam Bech and Karen Williamson on June 6th, 2009. Needless to say, I was a very busy girl...which is hard to complain about when you are doing something you love so much!

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Home for Awhile...and Cali Road Trip!

 

 

'No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until one comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.'

 - Lin Yutang

See photo albums below:

Vancouver and Edmonton

Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach and L.A.

California Coast and San Francisco

Home was a seriously mixed bag of feelings. I gave myself 5 weeks to see everyone and get all my paperwork (work visa) in order before I was due back to NZ mid December ('08). I was really excited to see everyone but also had a dreaded feeling of going home. It guess it was the void of adventure that I wasn't so keen on but reveled in the comfort of arriving in a familiar airport, where you know the language and the best way to transport yourself from point A to B.  

I stopped in Vancouver briefly to say hi to the kitties and pick up some winter clothes and went off to Edmonton the next day. Visiting friends and family in Alberta was of course really great. My mom had a table at the Festival of Trees in Camrose to sell all her knitting wares so I joined her to sell some of my prints from NY, Hawaii and SE Asia...we had 3 full days of catching up and mother daughter bonding, which made it a more than worthwhile endeavour.

I stopped by the island (Victoria) to see old friends: Stacey and Aron as well as Kelli. It was an awesome visit (as always) before going back to Vancouver to meet up with Marj. She came up from San Francisco for a week of visiting with myself and her friend Mirena. We caught up on all the happenings of the last 4 months since we said goodbye in Bali and of course had heaps of fun, as per usual.  

After spending such a great week with Marj in my home city and having some time to take a step back to look at the big picture. I got to thinking if going back to NZ was such a great idea. The pay is not overly high in NZ, the currency is quite weak and I didn't have a lot of luck finding work while I was already there for 3 months. I wanted to get ahead in my photography and the business of it all and could do that easier with a solid home base within my own country (definitely less red tape). I loved NZ but it is so far away from the mecca of photography, namely New York. So I cancelled my flight for the time being and decided to stay put in Canada, my home and native land...true, PATRIOT loooooove... 

This lead me back to my Dad's farm in Saskatchewan to see Tronn, my brother, and my Dad, then back to Edmonton for further visiting over Christmas. It was a good time for me to be home and I knew that I made the right decision to stay put.

In January ('09), I received an invitation from The Depot Artspace in Auckland, NZ, inviting me to exhibit with 2 other female photographers during the Auckland Photo Festival in June. I didn't really have to think about what my answer would be so I emailed back with a resounding YES! 

The next few weeks were spent in front of my laptop, continuing to market myself, preparing for the exhibition, looking for jobs and catching up on editing photos and various projects I had been working on until one night....I had the most horrible dream. I was in a bathroom tied up and couldn't move at all. I was trying to say something and a lady came in with my laptop and raised it high above her head and aimed the corner directly at my forehead before starting to bludgeon me until my entire frontal lobe became a gaping hole. Blood and brains were everywhere and when I tried to talk, all that came out was garble and drool. I woke up and laid there for 2 hours, completely freaked out.

  
The next morning I woke up feeling spent from that nightmare. I had received another email from Marj regarding coming to L.A. to meet Dan (we had met him in Bali, he is originally from Germany, and he was coming over from Australia). I had told her that I couldn't really justify a trip having no income and just getting back from the other side of the world but I took the dream as a cue that maybe I needed a mental health break (or rather a break from being glued to my laptop day and night), so I told her I would be there.

The bus driver had to shake me awake upon arrival at Seattle airport. I walked into the airport sporting an imprint of the texture of my camera bag on my cheek and wiping drool from my chin....classy! 

I had some time to kill so I went and got lunch. Eating isn't what it used to be. My sensitivity to alcohol had seriously progressed to a point of not being able to eat anything that had even the smallest amount in it (or I could count on being ill for 4 to 10 days). I had to learn the hard way that some extracts, like vanilla, actually contained pure alcohol. Really bad news for someone who loves her cookies with coffee – no more, unless someone could tell me exactly what was in it. Booooooo!

I landed in Long Beach where my surf sister Marj was waiting for me! She pulled up and we headed off to her sister's. We had a really good dinner and visit with her sister Beth and her husband John. A very warm and welcoming couple, but I would expect nothing less from someone related to Marj.  

Most of the next morning was spent catching up and hanging out. Dan had called so we headed in to L.A. to pick him up. He was in Pasadena couch surfing (www.couchsurfing.com). He hadn't changed a bit...besides his sun bleached hair from living in Perth, Australia the last few months. The three of us went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and explored. I got faux stabbed by Jason from Friday the 13^th and had a small heart attack. Later, we went bowling at Lucky Strike before calling it a night.

 

Marj and I headed off to Laguna Beach the next day. I loved driving down there by the ocean through all the cute little surf towns. We walked around to different galleries and had a super chill afternoon. When the light got good, we cruised as fast as we could to beat the sunset at Huntington Beach.  The next hour was spent photographing the pier, surfers and sea birds. A dreamy golden hour.

A surfer told us about the Tuesday night market in town where we ended up running into a t-shirt vendor named Allen Scott. One of his t-shirts had 'Cardone' on them. I asked if he knew Ryan Cardone and it turned out that he used to design t-shirts with him for a skateboarding line they did together. Small world. I was meeting Ryan in a couple days to talk about putting my surf photography on his stock site (www.tidalstock.com). I loved every minute of that day. Sun, surf, art, coffee and one of my best friends in the world:)

The next morning, we went back to L.A., picked up Dan and went on a tour of Warner Bros. Studio. We got to see the set of E.R., Cold Case, The Ghost Whisperer, Friends, Gilmore Girls etc. It was pretty cool, although I don't think I have seen even one episode of any of the aforementioned, save for Friends! We really wanted to see Ellen but she was taping during the golden hour. We did see where she parks her Porsche though. We didn't see any stars but figured they were all hiding behind bushes and buildings and too intimidated to approach US. Ha ha ha. Our tour guide thought the story of the 3 of us meeting in Bali would make a good movie. When we were on the ER Emergency Entrance set – Marj had Dan pick me up and pretend he was running me in. Afterward he said my bones were REALLY heavy. Hmmmm? Lol! 
Other Danisms:

'Ooooooooh!' He just says this a lot...when he gets excited. 

'Look there's a hobo!' When seeing a homeless person in L.A.

'Where's the pee-pee box?' I think he picked this one up in Australia?!

We also had a lot of fun in the Friends room where all the paraphernalia from the set was. We got our picture taken in front of a green screen where Dan was pushing me and Marj was trying to stop him in front of the train from Harry Potter. So it went nicely with the photo of Dan carrying me into emergency after his attempt to kill me.

 

We headed to Venice Beach afterward to meet my friend Nell. She had recently moved back to California from Vancouver where she was a yoga instructor and back to her old job as a lifeguard while studying yoga therapy. We walked Venice Beach down to Santa Monica Pier where we did a lot of swinging (on swings!) and then to the pier. Nell took us to Mao's for dinner – a popular haunt with the locals. DAYUM it was good!

 

After we left, we were all shivering walking to the car. Dan said 'think warm thoughts' but I thought he said 'think warm farts'. We all laughed and thought it was a creative, albeit smelly, way for one to warm up!

 

We drove through Rodeo Drive and looked at some of the houses in Beverly Hills, then off to Sunset Boulevard. Whisky a Go Go wasn't at all what I expected. I kept trying to picture Jim Morrison on stage and it just wasn't working. There was a really good band playing though who sounded like a cross between Tool and Metallica (Scarlet Paradigm). We dropped Dan off and said our goodbyes. Oh where in the world will we see him next? 

The next day, we met Ryan Cardone just outside of L.A. He is a really great guy. We had a 2 hour meeting and mostly talked about surfing and photography. Loved it and am very excited to contribute his site (www.tidalstock.com). 

We got to Pismo Beach just in time for sunset but the sun disappeared behind the clouds literally as soon as we got our cameras out. The same thing happened at Venice Beach. It forces me to be more creative, but as most of you can probably surmise by now - I like my solar flares:) I love photographing with Marj. She does her thing and I do mine. I feel so good after a sunset photo session. I suppose it could be likened to taking a hit of your favourite drug.  I am addicted!

We drove into the college, coastal town of San Luis Obispo and checked into our hostel - $25 each a night? Yeeks! A far cry from Asia prices! We went to the farmer's market. It was SO All American. I felt like I was in a football movie. We went to an organic restaurant and had some really good eats before meeting Marj's friend at a little coffee shop where we chatted about all of our travels, dreams and future plans. Marj convinced us to continue the evening at a pub. It's a college town so I would imagine everyone was in their early to mid twenties...one is reminded of how old they really are when surrounded by a crowd that looks SO young! A guy from Mexico City came over and asked if we were from Germany? Hmmm. Perhaps Dan rubbed off on us a little?
 

The next morning we hit the road again, stopping in Cambria for coffee and loitering, San Simeon to see the elephant seals, the coastline to watch a storm linger above the Pacific and Monterey for a little taste of its charm.

We finally got to San Francisco just in time to make it to the Valentine's Day Bitter Ball Cruise! Marj got us tix for my birthday and we danced the night away in the San Francisco harbour with pretty much ALL gay men. It was fantastic! 

We spent the next few days cruising around San Fran. I was sick from something that I ate that must have had some kind of something in it but I tried to ignore it as best as possible and enjoy it all.

We met up with Goosh my last night there and had dinner together. I hadn't seen him since he and Suzanne got married and left Vancouver. We had a superb eve of catching up and talking about...what else? Photography!
 

'The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.'


 - St. Augustine