Taiwan

I'm probably the most relaxed traveler in the world. I view an international flight as a fantastic opportunity to catch up on my reading, watch movies, nap... and best of all, people deliver food right to my seat. It doesn't get any better than that. I thoroughly enjoyed a recent 10 hour, 55 minute flight to Tokyo, followed by a four-and-a-half hour flight to Taipei. Chris and I spent four days in the city where I was born. He met my aunts and uncles and cousins, and most importantly, my 96-year-old grandfather. He tasted all the foods I grew up eating, tried out a few Mandarin phrases, observed my cousins dodging the sun. (Tans are highly undesirable in Taiwan!) In a nutshell, he experienced all the things that make me the crazy person I am. The funny thing about being in a foreign city is that I didn't feel compelled to make any pictures. Taipei is too dirty, too crowded, too chaotic for me to see any beauty. The one time I felt like making pictures was on the 91st floor of Taipei 101. (Taipei 101 was the tallest building in the world, until Dubai built one even taller.) Yes, the observation deck was super touristy, but the views were amazing. Taipei actually looked beautiful. I could see how the city is nestled into a ring of mountains, and the polluted air cloaked the landscape in mystery. So here it is, Taipei from the air: taipei1_lo And here is the 96-year-old grandpa I mentioned earlier. He's 100 percent Chinese, but oddly, he looks more like my Irish-Polish counterpart than me! yeayea

Early spring

It feels like spring already -- it's February! -- and the flowers seem to agree. Our cherry blossoms have been enjoying the mild temperatures for a week or two now. Global warming is sad for the polar bears, but it's pretty darn nice for the people in Seattle. cherry_lo The days are getting noticeably longer too, which is nice, because it's still light out when I get off work. Below is this evening's stunning sunset, seen from Volunteer Park. That's Isamu Noguchi's Black Sun in front of the reservoir, and way on the other side of Lake Union is the Space Needle. vp_lo

Morning frost

The East Coast is getting blasted with a wintry mix, and I'm ever so thankful I live in balmy Seattle. A recent cold spell brought freezing temperatures and frosty mornings. Something we Seattle-ites don't often see: frost1_lo frost2_lo frost3_lo

Volunteer Park Conservatory

One of the nicest things about working at the Seattle Asian Art Museum is that it's located inside a big city park. On my lunch break, I try to get down to the Volunteer Park Conservatory. It's just at the end of the drive, past a row of chestnut trees. I have a black thumb myself -- I can even kill bamboo -- and I'm just in awe of people who can nurture plants. Each room of the conservatory features a different theme: palms, orchids, cacti, etc. My favorites are the carnivorous plants and the massive jade tree. The conservatory gets decked out for the holidays. conservatory_lo Silver torch cactus cactus_lo

Mapplethorpe at the Henry

Provocative pictures will draw fame, or at least notoriety. I get it. In the '70s and '80s, Robert Mapplethorpe was trying to push buttons with his bondage pictures, but now the shock value's worn off. (Visit the Seattle Erotic Art Festival and you'll know what I mean.) Mapplethorpe's Polaroid portraits in the Henry's new show, however, were gorgeous studies. Each small composition was a joy to examine up close. Continue reading

In her shoes

Chris gives me a hard time about my silly shoes, made for looking cute, not for walking. Pointy toes, pencil heels, four-inch platforms -- I know they're ridiculous, but I can't help loving them.

I saw these shoes at the Henry, and even I had to agree, they don't look very comfortable.

Woman's stilted sandals from the 19th century, probably made in Syria.



From the description:

"Chopine is a term used by costume historians to refer to extraordinarily high platform shoes that were worn in Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. Venetian women were particularly enamored of the style, allegedly adapted from similar shoes called kabkab worn by Turkish women in the bathhouse. ... Like the Turkish women who wished to keep their feet high and dry above wet bathhouse floors, Venetian women perhaps likewise wanted to protect their feet and clothing from the infamous high water of their city.

"The shoes that had modest origins in public bathhouses as purely functional footwear were increasingly used to represent a woman's social standing. The shoe's height enabled women to wear longer dresses displaying more fine fabrics and embroidery, resulting in a clear demonstration of wealth."

Look back: Skaneateles

I started out in photography on the journalism track, telling stories through pictures. This story is about a woman named Candy who works at a dairy farm in Upstate New York.

Looking back, I'm amazed how open Candy was, letting me photograph her work and her life. In school, they teach you that photojournalists are supposed to be "flies on the wall." But let's get real -- who can ignore a click-click-clicking shadow following you everywhere? I'm grateful for the opportunity she gave me to make these pictures, and also for the glimpse she gave me into the hard work at a dairy farm.

Candy yanks on chains around the baby's legs to help a mother give birth to her first. The calf died.

cow1

Continue reading

Discovery Park

Seattle was blessed with a beautiful fall Sunday, sunny and breezy, perfect for a walk. After living in the area more than four years, I visited Discovery Park for the first time. Chris and I hoped to spot a cougar, but the closest thing we saw was a lady in a WSU hat. A bald eagle flew directly overhead, low, while we sat at the beach. My initial reaction was, "It looks just like the eagles in pictures! Continue reading