Schlomo the Love Sponge

Horn blower,
cheerleader,
Bard reader,
ring leader,
love sponge,
funkateer,
fire walker,
temple builder,
love seeker,
booty shaker,
mighty, mighty
mitzvah maker,
our beloved Schlomo Waxler,
rest in peace.

To Do Good Work

Last night, an art reception at the new location of the 40-year old Freight and Salvage included images I shot of the awesome Chris Thile, the royal Taj Mahal, and the dazzling Patty Griffin....

....Later, I toasted three climate change activists, the current winners of the Project Slingshot Award with my buddy Jennifer Snyder and her co-workers at Clif Bar. The grantees big plans for the summer? Jesse will study an off-the-grid neighborhood in Portland, Oregon; Maya will build a rooftop garden at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, and Richard will produce five TV spots on nationwide youth activism. Ah, to do good work.

Enisa and Her Mother

Yesterday, I completed shooting a year-long project documenting the work of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. It's been amazing to bear witness to the love that drives so many nonprofits to do their deep and lasting community work day in and day out. Here's a shot of Enisa, a social worker, and her mother, refugees from Srebrenica, Bosnia. The audio capture was intense. Tears flowed from all of us. Husband gone. Brother gone. Dearest cousin gone. House in flames. Concentration camp escape. Lived as refugees in Montenegro, Macedonia, Austria, Berlin, and finally California. Rebuilding their lives as Americans. Helping countless other Bosnian refugees. Heros living among us, in spite of their ghosts. Or perhaps because of them.

Puerto Rico Frenzy

Traveled to San Juan last week with two other fab shooters to document an extravagant bat mitzvah complete with amazing merengue bands, acrobats and choreographed floor show. While editing my 1,500 pix, this frame rose from the depths of a collective, swirling throng. Here's to the power of passion, the joy of the circle, the frenzy of the hora.

A good photo is taken. A great photo is grooved. L'chaim!