On the Personal Side.

Last Week I returned to my first home in Northern New Mexico, near the Four Corners. I dropped everything and left rather quicklly, you see I spent a large portion of my life(practicaly raised) with my grandmother and grandfather. My grandfather had passed when I was a teenager and at the time I lived in Wyoming and wasn't able to see him. So when I heard that my grandmother was very ill I left to return home. With fear lingering in the back of my mind I grabbed what I could, including my son and left. The six hour drive didn't help very much, having to much time to think can be a bit exhausting.

Before I left I had called the hospital where she was being treated. I spoke with the doctor Briefly and he had told me she had pnuemonia, was recovering but had been hospitalized for 4 days and was being released but would not share any other information about her condition over the phone. UGh!!!

I arrived at her home in the evening, my heart sunk when I saw her. She was absolutely exhausted and could barely speak. She had lost soo much weight, she had told me that she had just been in bed all day. I was absolutely floored that the hospital released her like this!! But she told me she was fine and she wanted to just stay home. I respected her wishes.

The next day, I couldn't believe it, She was up and walking around and seemed soo much better than the day before!! It seemed as though she wasn't even sick!! And she hadn't even picked up her meds from the pharmacy yet. My brother had come in the previous evening and our plan was just to spend as much time as possible with my grandmother and stock her up for the coming winter.

The next few days I found myself walking around the property and photographing the things that I've never really noticed before. Things that I knew had alot of meaning and value but things that as a child and a teenager I took for granted.

As a photographer I have the explicit privilge of capturing moments in people's lives. These moments are sometimes very personal and private, others they are full of joy and pride. These images that I create are deeply rooted in emotion and personal history, they are treasured by the people that I share them with. Often I find myself in a position that allows me safety because rarely do I share my personal memories with anyone other than my family. This blog is our chance at sharing some of the emotion and personal history in our lives. It gives people a chance to look at the things that we cherish and love. Behind the camera there is a human being, a story to be told. This is my story.







A few facts on my grandmother; she has 2 birthdays and 2 birth certificates. She grew up on the Navajo reservation before Social security numbers, or birth certificates were used (on the Rez). Her aunt who raised her said she was born around the same time the lambs were being born. She had come through the "old" boarding schools where they cut off your hair and made you speak only english. She could shoot a Coyote from 500 yds away. The things most important in her life is her family, land, and sheep. The Navajo Rugs that she makes are considered to be done in the "old way" and are rarely found these days. Everything in her rugs are hand crafted including the wool she spins from sheering her own sheep. She can live on less than $200 a month, and still have an abundance of food. She still tends her crops and her livestock. Shes worked all her life and refuses to rest! She and my grandfather refused a large uranium mine settlement because the believed the money would cause conflict among family members.