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It's funny -- in this day and age where it seems everyone is a photographer, and despite the fact that I've been taking photos for 10 years now, I still never feel fully confident in my work. I take my job very seriously and my number one goal is to make each experience unique and different. But that's easier said than done! Below is a quote that I found several months ago that sums it up perfectly.
But all that said... when I got home from taking Jackson's two week portraits, I looked at the photos and for the first time I felt like I really nailed it. I'm proud of this particular shoot and hope you like them, too....
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"The thing that interests me about photography and why it’s different from all other media, is that it’s the only medium in which there is even the possibility of an accidental masterpiece. You cannot make an accidental masterpiece if you’re a painter or a sculptor. It’s just not going to happen. Something will be wrong.
This is simultaneously photography’s great advantage and its Achilles’ heel: it is the easiest medium in which to be competent. Anybody can be a marginally capable photographer, but it takes a lot of work to learn to become even a competent painter. Now, having said that, I think while photography is the easiest medium in which to be competent, it is probably the hardest one in which to develop an idiosyncratic personal vision. It’s the hardest medium in which to separate yourself from all those other people who are doing reasonably good stuff and to find a personal voice, your own vision, and to make something that is truly, memorably yours and not someone else’s. A recognized signature style of photography is an incredibly difficult thing to achieve.
It always amazes me that just when I think that there’s nothing left to do in photography and that all permutations and possibilities have been exhausted, someone comes along and puts the medium to a new use, and makes it his or her own, yanks it out of this kind of amateur status, and makes it as profound and moving and as formally interesting as any other medium. It’s like pushing something heavy uphill. Photography’s not an easy medium. It is, finally, perhaps the hardest of them all." ~ Chuck Close
. It was a staple at every. single. house party during the late 80's in Alaska. But while that album might have put the Beasties on the radar, I really connected with them on 
. It seems like yesterday that I bought my tape in the basement of Hoitt's Music. 
and 
years. {AHEM!} No comment. 
was the very last cassette tape I bought. I was too busy with a newborn to properly enjoy 
and I've used 
for ambient music at many a party or get-together. 
, is due for release sometime this year. It was supposed to come out last year, but was put on hold after Adam Yauch (MCA) was diagnosed with throat cancer. Release dates seem to be vague -- maybe September, possibly December? Either way, I just wanted to make sure you knew about it.
This is one of my personal favorites. I love the illustration so much I kind of want to buy another book to tear pages out and frame as artwork. (Have you ever done that? It's a great way to make inexpensive art.) Bonus: the story is charming and clever!
My daughter loves this one! I actually panicked a few months ago when I tried to buy more for gifts and it had sold out and was going for $45 on other sites! Even though it looks rather informal, Mouk takes you on some amazing adventures around the world and it's quite fun to let your budding reader read all the little captions. Bonus: stickers included!
As you can see from the next two books, we like Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman. Classically silly writing + equally amusing drawings = simply fun times!
See above!
This is a collection of quirky, rhyming poems and equally eccentric drawings. My children think they're pretty funny, especially since one poem uses the word "turd." Probably best for 5 yr. olds and up!
Written by graphic designer Paul Rand and his wife Ann, this definitely fits the eye candy bill for anyone interested in iconic "cut paper" graphics. The fact that it was first published in 1956 makes me like it even more! You'd almost never guess.
This book surprised all of us. At first I thought it might be too simple, but both of my children loved it. It reminded me of line drawing in art class! Follow one continuous line into several different scenarios and answer questions about what you see. (Sometimes I like to make my children work when we read!)
Definitely geared more towards younger children, this story presents the idea of what it would be like to live as something else for one day. I'm not going to lie, I love illustrator Marc Boutavant's work. 
I fully believe all children should be schooled in architecture and this book simply presents the idea of one boy's passion for building. Impeccable illustration, an unusual story line -- this will resonate within the builder of dreams in all of us! 
This was one of our random library finds. We were all instantly smitten! The pink refrigerator bestows amazing gifts and reminds us to to be creative in life. I think adults need to read this story just as much as children! 
My sister in-law (who happens to be a kindergarten teacher) bought us this book last Christmas and we all think it's hilarious. It's perfect for 3-7 year olds and there isn't a parent or child out there that won't laugh at the premise. I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it, but I do think this is a little gem.
to make proper Napoletana pizza dough. 
