New Stuff

January 5, 2009

Images of Hope, Against Aids with People and Our lenses

Normally, I don't photograph outside of the forest often. But, here in KL I had a chance to band together with other photographers for the STOP AIDS - Snapshots for Support event in Bangsar Village this past weekend. It was my turn to sit back as my friends, The Signature Seven photographers of Malaysia, sold their gallery prints. While people wandered through the exhibit, I volunteered to make portraits of families along with a great support team. We had support from the Malaysia Nikon Academy, some other great lighting help and Epson. All the proceeds of our work went to the Rumah Ozanam home for women and children with HIV. This was a real cross-cultural event, with Indians, Malays, Chinese, and various other international families coming through the booth.

I was also reminded how much fun I have photographing weddings, interacting with people, and playing with movement, light, and non-verbal communication. Photography is really about humanity and intamcy. The idea of people supporting one another, AIDS, and bonding worked really well. Do drop me a line if you have a friend who is getting married so I can send you some information. I could use the cash, my work supports my work with forest communities, and my rates are often a bit below other full-time photographers.

December 31, 2008 - Dawn of the New Year, Free 8x10 image (for non-commerical printing)

We dream and we march forward. We cannot always see the horizon that we call or home or what we are searching for. It might be ocean, forest, or the skyline we call home. It might just be a simple life, free from worries.

We know that we must reach it; our feet and minds help us navigate the landscapes of our lives and this thing we call time. We can become our own heros, learning to lean on one anthers' shoulders and making friends by reaching and by believing in both the possible and impossible. We teach one another through smiles, the lines we make in the sand, and our efforts of determination. And by sharing all that we can. As we move, pieces of the landscape stick to us. This free 8x10 print is available as a download for personal printing and display.

This is a portrait of a two-day old male Green Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) as it tests the sand for the first time. Later, in the early evening, it will be released by Malaysian Fisheries and National Park staff in a batch of several of hundred. The young turtles, under the cover of dwindling light, will make their way to the ocean guided by instinct and the faint light from a horizon beyond sight. Many will have a life of open-ocean foraging in tropical waters before making their way back this patch of beach that will serve as its nesting grounds. Commerical use is not permitted.

Download 8x10 print and text here. Donations support projects with forest communities and the maintence of this website.

December 23, 2008

My new work is posted. I'm calling this series, which has been in the making for the past five months, Islands of Trees, Landscapes of People. Without people who have guided me and served as teachers during this period, the work would not have been possible. I thought this title is also fitting to the work since people have shaped, managed and protected the landscapes in which I continue to work.

I believe this is the strongest series I have made to date. I am grateful for partial support provided by The Christensen Fund and the Darwin initiative that allowed me to conduct participatory community photography workshops in The Crocker Range of Sabah. Funds were used for both community workshops and printmaking for some of the images to appear in a photographic gallery I produced for The World Conservation Congress held in Barcelona, Spain this past October.

The text that precedes this work is here; to go right to the gallery, click here.

December 22, 2008

Two images are shown below mounted with freshly harvested and dried breadfruit bark paper. Work attached to this thick bark paper with acid-free mounting board. Most larger pieces work very well with these mounting matierals. I am now shipping 18x24 and 20x30 matted pieces this way. I will also continue my standard black and white double matted mounting.

December 15, 2008

I still feel a bit homeless in Malaysia but as I show my work this week and give slide talks and shows in KL, I find that I'm being welcomed. Thank You! As part of my campaign to raise awareness and promote forest communities, I have begun a series of slide talks. The images below are respectively from a recent talk to the 5th Graders at ISKL Melawati and the Arts for Grabs event at the Central Market. For those of you who couldn't make it, contact me on my handphone to setup an appointment to see some work or to schedule a presentation (014-239-6640). If you live overseas, please send me an email and we can setup a virtual meeting using Skype or Apple's iChat.

December 10, 2008

It's official! We've just been given a WildAsia seed grant that will fund part of a Forest Tree Seed sharing network project in Sarawak. We're starting to plan, purchase some supplies, and recruit some volunteers for this work in the upper and middle Baram! You can check out WildAsia's good work (and see some of my images and essays) on their website.

In other good news, The Nafziger family, longtime supporters and collectors in the mountais of Logan, Utah (USA) have won a matted and mounted 13x19 inch print from the last print sale. If you'd like to be entered in the next printsale give-away, just sign up for my mailing list via the homepage. Of course, no purchase is necessary.

December 9, 2008

My holiday printsale is launched with some fresh new work. All proceeds are donated to Forest Voices, a startup non-profit that strives to document Forest Knowlede and help promote it's use and practice with and among forest communities. Stay tuned for more information about this and our schedule for 2009!

Art gift vouchers are available and include free shipping. Information about the sale is here.

December 1, 2008

All work is now carbon-neutral. Carbon credits have been purchased through ClearSky Solutions .

The contributors and partners to this site have also been updated.

November 2nd, 2008

On the edges of forest, time can stand still. From time to time, I'm led and given access to some incredible parcels of forest. 

While writing and re-visioning the website this week I spent time camped on a Borneo peninsula.   Storms raged. The sun and  moon continued to rise.  I thought of the courage to act, dreams that planted me here. The courage to live in the present and plan as we naviage forests, shorelines, and oceans.    New work and writing is still on the way as I attend to some deadlines.  The homepage image has also been updated.

October 27th, 2008

Mythic Borneo. The latest article in National Geographic, titled "Borneo's Moment of Truth" discusses the tensions here that make Borneo wondeful, mystifying, and challenging. This is a good background article for some of the images on this website. You can read the online version here.

October 21th, 2008

Some comments on my latest printsale are forthcoming. Special thanks to Jane Goeffe, who helped with some of the matting and mounting in the US.  Her attention to detail is phenomenal. She is also a fine photographer and friend. You can see her work here.

October 16th, 2008

Back from a great trip to a forest community in Sabah, my gear is dried out and my notes are almost ready. After leading photography workshops, making prints for the World Conservation Congress, and answering emails, an update and announcement of my next print sale is almost ready. A new image from the Crocker Range is on the home page. Thanks for your patience. New work and an essay will be released next week. A sneak preview of images from the workshops is avaiable here.

September 6th, 2008

I'm off to the forest for the next three weeks in Sabah. This is my first trip to a forest-based community in two months. I'll be documenting local ecological knowledge and getting some material for the upcoming world conservation congress in Barcelona, Spain. This is going to be a rich, exciting trip. I'll post updates about this at the end of the month.

September 2nd, 2008

I'm now back in Malaysia with almost all of my gear. My images for the Freedom Film Festival are mounted. This is my first Malaysian exhibit, with the work being displayed in both Peninsular Malaysia and in Borneo. I have three images in this group exhibition.

August 23rd, 2008

I've received some emails from people who would like to help with camera donations. I've posted details here. Feel free to also check out at my favorite assistant who is helping with both the collections and the ongoing printsale.

August 17th, 2008

As promised, I have announced my work plans in a new photographic essay titled Finding Home. This essay features some of my most recent images.

August 10th, 2008

New images added to gallery. Printsale now includes all galleries so I can meet my goals and give a forest research grant. Sale is extended to larger 17x24 prints. New forest sounds are available as well. Feel free to signup for my mailing list. Forest notes #6 was sent today! You can read it here.

August 8th, 2008

The printsale continues! I'm close to meeting fifty percent of my printsale goal. I have decided to continue the printsale until next Friday, August 22nd. I have also decided to open this sale to include my other galleries, see The Western Gallery for some brand new work that is ready! Also check out my newest, personal favorite image!

July 31, 2008

A pre-release of my first collaborative book, A Dinner With Forest Friends, is now ready for viewing. In the coming days I will provide a list of which images are my own and which images were created by community members and kids I worked in the formal and informal workshops during my visits to Mangkuwagu (pronounced Mang-ku-wag-oo). You might be surprised. The cover image, which is my own, is on the home page.

July 25, 2008

July 24, 2008

GET BITTEN BY THE FOREST MONSTER LEECH!

Read about the transforming leech bite and the latest campaign. I'm putting together a photo essay that concerns the changing nature of rainforest trails. As part of this process I'm collecting testimony from forest walkers, workers, traders, and trekkers. Submit your own stories and photos for this project, a gallery of forest trails. Read more...

Share this website by FORWARDING SOME FOREST LOVE! Also, professional recording artist Greg Simmons from Australia has agreed to donate some of his recordings in Sarawak to those who purchase prints as part of print sale. We are still working on the copyright details and the benefits to the music makers. This includes making sure we have permission to share the music as an actual download. This involves some effort and expense on our part, so we can only do this if the print sale is successful. Check back in a day or two for a special sampler.

July 21, 2008

BORNEO BARK-TREE PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT SALE & CONTEST TO WIN A PRINT

I am now having a print sale to fund my work. This is a special offer good through the end of August good for all of my new Borneo work. If succesful, and I sell enough prints,I will give two $500 grants to other photographers or researchers working with forests and communities. One grant will go to someone working in Borneo, another to someone working in the US. All purchasers are entered in a contest to win a 17x24 inch print of any image in my galleries shipped anywhere in the world. By law, no purchase is necessary. Read about the details here.

July 20, 2008

Today I've posted two new images available for free download. Anyone can use them as a desktop wallpaper image. One of the images shows the merging of two forest edges in the Philippines. Another image is one of the first images I made in Sarawak. I think you'll find that the dark silhouette of the cave rim invites you from a place within out into the evening forest. A related image may be found in my Borneo gallery. These images are posted here, where you can also sign up for my mailing list.

July 19, 2008

SITE LAUNCH!

This website is officially launched. In the coming weeks I'll continue to add content, articles, and essays. This launch coincides with a photo spread of my images in Malaysia's largest national newspaper, The Star. The first image features an image of me all piled up with kids in a community garden. The photograph was made while working on my latest children's photographic book. More about these (yes, there are several!) in the coming weeks. This is also the page to bookmark for regular updates.

Forest Fellowship, Sarawak and The Congo (24-inchPanoramic Print)

July 17th, 2008

A Congolese man sang after hours well into the night at this year's Rainforest Music Festival, with haunting and beautiful chants about forests and life over campfire smoke. Tree branches moved in the moonlight. I lay down. I closed and opened my eyes trying to be present on the beach. The forest drifted in and out of focus. A soft rain began to fall. I thought of my waiting dry tent; my temporary forest home. Voices of song and chants and shadows of light ground me to the earth and forest, I made this one image and then crept back to my rocky perch.