Welcome to the world little man! Isaac was just a couple weeks old when I had the pleasure of holding his little strawberry-sized hand. Throughout the shoot he went in and out of sleep, sometimes opening his eyes wide and scanning the room, and other times closing his eyes, and twisting his lips up into a smile. Here’s a few photos from our casual family shoot last weekend.
Documentary
Tonight I was digging through hard drives of years past and ran across one of my most beloved portraits. This was taken atop the hillside of a little Greek island called Hydra (or the most wonderful place on Earth). Free from cars (people get around via donkey), colorful and slow paced, I was absolutely fascinated and entranced with the beautiful people and landscape of this place. The people I met and photographed here tell the story of a truly balanced life. Some of the women I met were in their 90′s yet looked to be at least thirty years younger than that. When I think of Hydra, I can’t help but sigh, smile and posit, “That’s the way life should be lived.” On a gorgeous island surrounded by turquoise waters, without cars, filled with tiny bookstores and restaurants stalked full of fava beans and dolmades. 
What happens when you put some of the most fabulous people in Seattle in a gorgeous house catered with some of the best food and drinks around? You get one classy/fantastic/hilarious gathering! Marie’s “La Dolce Vita” birthday bash was a lovely evening of amazing drinks (Marie even made up her own fruity champagne birthday drink!) food catered by Cantinetta (the most incredible northern Italian restaurant in Seattle) and some killer music from the 70′s. So many great moments from the evening, but I was most touched when the birthday girl, Marie (who owns the exquisite Veritables Decor) toasted her friends for just being straight up awesome people. The house was beating with serious love vibes throughout the night. That’s the way (uh huh, uh huh) I like it!
She sat in the back seat of an old car tucked in beside her siblings. Pulling up to the coast, as the seagull scape horizon came into focus the little girl squealed with joy at the thought of running down the beach with her family. Her feet hit the wet sand creating an imprint of ten little toes the size of jelly beans. And she ran.
I treasure this town and it’s people like I do my favorite childhood story book. Closing my eyes I try to go back. Back to the smell of sediment and lime, children skipping down the lane and walks on cobblestone set in the early 1600′s. The pace of life here, slow and sweet, like a sauce you let simmer all day long on the stove, struck my American go-go-go lifestyle like lighting. I left with a new appreciation for time. I realized, time can pass as I’d like. Fast, or slow.
All of the images below were taken in 2006.
The story behind these pictures will be up soon. For now, see a bit of what I saw in Yangshuo, China.
