The problem with the later situation however, is that when life gets busy, your brain is also busy. And when my head is so stuffed with ideas, it either must find expression or I go through days where the frustration is almost palpable. I file away ideas for shoots, ideas for blog entries and all sorts of adventures. But I don’t think I am the type of person who can be content with just ideas. No matter how neatly filed they are.

I am immensely enjoying law school. Immensely. I realize how crazy that makes me sound, but the feeling at times is like when I’m behind the lens. When I am fully engaged in something that feels so natural and is an extension of my interests and talents. It doesn’t mean I think I’m good at it, but much like photography, I can’t suppress the urge to learn more about it.

I came across this amazing video the other day. If you have a few minutes, it’s really worth watching. It’s beautifully shot, makes you think and in my case, it makes me dream. People are always surprised when they find out I’m a law student and a serious photographer. More often then not, they’re looking to talk me out of at least one of those fields. But to me… it makes perfect sense. Photographs exist because we want to remember. We want to remember the experiences and individuals that are important to us. When you photograph a person, it is an affirmation of their inherent worth. When I photograph, I champion a cause. An individual. The value of their voice and story. It is the same passion that drives my interest in advocacy and law.

Projects like this, remind me that life is too short to do anything that you don’t love so much it hurts. Sometimes that means going to the frontiers with a camera. And sometimes it means being stubborn enough to insist that it’s possible to reconcile a dichotomy such as law and photography.

I hope the title of this entry doesn’t come off as overly vain, but for weeks (nay, months) I’ve been trying to think of a way of showcasing some of the enormous body of inspiration that I have come to rely on for inspiration and learning as a growing photographer. While in high school and college, I took photography classes (mostly to get to use the darkroom) and found that this was a kind of education I couldn’t get in the classroom. Most of what I learned while studying in New York, consisted of hanging out by the local camera store where I became best buddies with one of the staff, an elderly gentleman who took me under his photographic wing. Vance taught me everything I knew about lighting, working with models, and learning to see the image in my mind before clicking the shutter. That is, until I started tapping into teh intarweb for this stuff.

Since then, I can honestly say my photography has grown by leaps and bounds. Part of it is seriously studying other photographers’ work. Sometimes I’ll see images that blow my mind and challenge preconceived notions of art or push me (sometimes in envy!) to strive towards a higher standard, and to not be so easily satisfied with my work. I read voraciously and track on average at least 30 prolific photographers, who blog about their latest work, inspiration and photographic techniques, among others.

I use Google Reader as an RSS aggregator and recently figured out how to create (an RSS) page to hi-light specific articles I want to share. Pros: I don’t spam peoples’ inbox, you get to opt out with privacy, and you get all the low-down from yours truly. Cons:…. I can’t think of any.

If you have an RSS reader, you can add it to your reading list. Otherwise you can just check back periodically for updates like a regular blog. Heck, you can even add comments!

Most of what I’ll be sharing is photography related (from my reading list at large). I can’t guarantee that it will be all that’s there though There might be the occasional news/economics article, possibly a geeky one on the newest gadget I’m drooling over.. but by and large, it’ll be photo-inspiration worthy.

My RSS page
OR
add me at http://www.google.com/reader/shared/eva.y.chan

Photography has become one of my life’s biggest passions. In my travels, it is a tool that I use to capture stories, but it’s also become a means of bridging language and cultural divides, and a way to give a voice to someone on a totally different platform. I am constantly amazed by the transformation that happens with a subject in front of a lens, and marvel at the stories that unfold because I stopped to take a second look at someone. I’m not idealistically saying that photography alone can change the world. But I think it’s important to use whatever gifts we have to make a difference.

I hope this inspires you.

Long exposures, photos of Canada. I don’t remember seeing the country like this when I lived there. Just stunning.

It seems I’ve been looking at a lot of surrealist photography lately. They keep popping up on the “interestingness” page on Flickr. Some of the photographers are so good (and so young it makes me wonder what the heck I was doing when I was fifteen, like this girl seriously. Fifteen?!? WOW)

I am absolutely dying to try self-portraiture, but my vanity only goes so far. As in, maybe the mirror. I’m far happier behind the lens than in front of it. In fact, I’m not quite sure I would know what to do with myself standing in front of a blinking timer. But taking a break from some of the images I’ve been browsing, I came across this collection and I e-mailed my brother the star wars nut. What a great sense of humor

Some favorites:

“A cunning plan”

“Like father like son”

“For the last time, there’s no magical wardrobe!”

Some of these images reminds me of David Levinthal’s work with figurines, ranging from cowboys in the wild west, Hitler to romance and even erotic images, all with toys! Suffice to this gives me due cause to play with (my brother’s) legos..

There are so many times where I come across images on Flickr that just leaves me utterly astounded at how much talent and creativity is out there.

I’m not sure whose work I came across first, Rosie’s or Aaron’s, but I found it amazing all the same. Individually they are both incredibly talented but put them together and… wow. Holy dynamic duo, batman!

Some of Rosie’s work reminds me of Francesca Woodman’s in its ethereal nature and themes. Aaron’s is just out of this world

But the romantic in me found their compilation Sunday photographs the most touching. From the description, Rosie lives in England and Aaron lives in the States. Every Sunday they each take a picture and “put themselves together.” For anyone who’s ever been in a long distance relationship, particularly one separated by multiple timezones or an ocean, I think we can all relate to this. All together now: “..aww…!”

Now I’m not sure whether Flickr has made some changes to the images properties, but I can’t seem to imbed images into my post. So I’ll leave you to peruse their awesome work on your own. But this has definitely moved and inspired me. I wish I were brave enough to actually stand in front of the camera like that. I’m sure I’m not the only photographer who’s actually camera shy. But who knows, maybe one of these days.

My Strobist DVDs arrived a few days ago! I’ve only watched the first one, but I feel like I’ve gotten more out of it then perhaps half a semester of sitting inside a classroom. I’ve gotten a few ideas for potential projects – I need to learn the discipline of picking up the camera and creating something regularly. I still haven’t figured out my personal style.. it ranges very much from Steve McCurry-ish (ha! well, I wish) portraits to well.. I’m not entirely sure what. But I sincerely can’t remember the last time I caught the bug – where my mind gets completely obsessed with a creative project, be it writing, web design on photography and how awesome it feels to execute and be satisfied with it. Rosie and Aaron, you’ve definitely inspired me!