shutter to think

i made a book...pacific park

snaps from a quick trip to la last year with a friend....thanks Missy!

PACIFIC PARK by LIANNE MILTON | Make Your Own Book

the devilettes

A few months ago I photographed a friend's dance troupe in San Francisco, the Devilettes, during one of their last shows of the year...it was something i had been meaning to photograph for awhile and finally got around to doing it...and what fun! Shooting small events or mini projects is a good way to give myself a break from "the work," to shoot and wander freely without thinking of the storyline. Now i want to go back and shoot more! Thanks Melissa, and the Devilettes, for having me there!! {music by Link Wray: Ace of Spades}

Los Barriletes....the kites

Here in Guatemala on Dia de los Muertos, or otherwise known as Todos Santos - All Saints Day - families get together and fly kites, have picnics, drink, and be merry at the cemetaries of their deceased. On Monday I went with a friend to check out the kites at Santiago Sacatepequez....to the cemetary where it overlooks a lush green valley.

various shades of blue

a home project i recently began working on projects and seeing the light throughout different times of the day in my living room. film, digital, blue, blue grey, just trying it out. if only i can wrap up this and take it with me to other assignments! will update with more as it comes along...

Project on morality and drug addiction featured on Verve Photo

Recently Geoffery Hiller of Verve Photo blog featured a photograph from a personal project I began working on it in 2009 about morality and addiction in Cambodia. I'm stoked to be a part of a very long list of talented photographers, colleagues, and friends in the photojournalism community.

The project is largely self-funded. And i've been back to Cambodia several times to work on a variety of stories, including this one. (The project not yet on my website).

Please click on the link above to read about the photograph and project. And feel free to leave comments here!

archive: a dip in the bucket

Many people don't know this but I would love a 1961 2-door convertible Ford Falcon. Thats right. Specifically. One that runs well, and not a pimped out hot rod. The color would be blue. or white, but definitely not red. My first car was almost a mid-1970s bmw. it was orange. we saw it on Mission Blvd in Fremont, but my mother thought that the diesel gas it took was too impractical and worried that this cute little car would leave me stranded, out of gas, somewhere. So she bought me a 1983 mint green Honda Civic. For $100. It was the closest thing to a vintage automobile that i could get. and that was in 1993. damn. It didn't last long, after I blew the head gasket. ah well. I also have a thing for vintage motorcycles, but thats a story for another time.

Here's a portrait of a short, surreal moment. As I looked down into the viewfinder (hasselblad), I felt like I was taken back in time. It reminded me of my family pictures - my mother's side. The stoic, for the record, kind of portraiture. This is a quinceneara I photographed in Napa. Originally I was suppose to photograph a family that I had met prior but I couldn't find them. So this family let me photograph them.

and from the sidelines, they watched:

Toxic Tour - Boyle Heights, Los Angeles

Toxic Tour is an environmental investigative journalism project supported by the California Endowment. I'm excited to be collaborating with audio producer and reporter Jasmin Lopez, and several other outstanding journalists and community activist -- photo/multimedia Suzy Salazar, photographer Zackary Canepari, videographer/photographer Sandra Garcia, and non-profit director Lucia Torres

"Dissected by five major freeways and neighbor to several industries, the residents of Boyle Heights face significant amounts of noise, air, industrial and traffic pollutants every day.  As part of the award-winning “Toxic Tour” reporting project sponsored by Newsdesk.org and Spot.Us, this project will bring you coverage from this underreported community highlighting the detrimental effects caused by pollution and other harmful environmental health factors."

 

Please click on the link to read more about All Roads Lead to Boyle Heights and help support independent journalists bring these stories to light. Their issues and stories need to be shared so that it can stimulate change in policies. Please share this post or the Boyle Heights link.

My Year in Pictures 2010

Well here it is. I've been procrasting on posting my 2010 year in pictures because I've had such a hard time editing, but thanks to friend and photographer Kevin German who helped pretty much edited my selects from the year. And also because i've been absurdly obssesed with this particular song to go with the slideshow. For me, it sort of articulated the mood of this edit. I ended up having to cut it short, poor song, but in the end it really doesn't matter because its not about the song as it is about these pictures. Right? So if you are over it, go ahead and hit mute. Otherwise, the song is untitled, by an Icelandic band called Sigur Rós.

This is my second year working as a freelance photojournalist. It's been a year of tremendous growth in the way I photograph, what I look for, and opening my eyes up to see beyond the immediate. I especially thank my closest friends and mentors for the support and for pushing my vision. Without an agency, or a collective, or really even any proper marketing, I've managed to successfully obtain new clients, from assignment work to resales. While its great to have the support and annual get togethers, in my opinion, you don't have to be a part of a collective to make it as a photographer. You just need trusted friends, colleagues and mentors. And a home for your archive.

These 25 pictures are a cumulation of assigment and personal work. The resilency of these people i've met and photographed will always make me a stronger person. This year I continued my projects on addiction in Cambodia and Sharia law in Aceh. In Cambodia, I gained rare access to a drug detention center (or re-education center) that had been reported on for human rights abuses. I also had several incredible travel assignments from the NY Times, here in San Francisco, throughout wine country Northern California, Indonesia, and Cambodia. Foto8 featured a collaborative story on dam issues in the Mekong delta, and twice Slideluck Potshow DC selected two stories for their events.

My goal for 2011 is to refine the kind of photographer I want to be; telling stories about people and places affected by politics on a social level. I've always believed in the power of journalism, and the still image. I know that at the very least, it engages people into discussion. I prefer not to cover stories where there are dozens of photographers already there because other just-as-important stories go forgotten. And I don't have to travel (far) but I do, because these journeys have always been a part of my existence, since my first breath of life.

Archive: Community

In trying to find new ways to show whats in my archive, I typed in the word "community" to see what i had under that keyword. I discovered pictures from an Afghan engagement party in Fremont, California, and selected this image:

A recently engaged couple fill their plates with traditional Afghan food, at the Diamond Palace, in Fremont, Ca., on Saturday, March 7, 2009. I would never imagine this place being in California, in particular with the formality of the buffet room, and the isolation of the young couple serving themselves before the guests at their party.

FotoVisura Finalist

I recently learned that my work in Aceh, Indonesia received an honorable mention in the FotoVisura Grant Photo Contest for Personal Work along with many talented photographers in both art and photojournalism communities: fotovisura

I rarely apply for contests so i'm quite honored to have been nominated as a finalist. Congrats to my colleagues and the grant winner Justin Maxon!

Leaving Aceh

My time in Aceh has been bittersweet. The first time I came to Aceh was about this time last year...I photographed the 5th anniversary of the 2004 tsunami and life post conflict. I had a number of stories I wanted to work on, and for the most part, had a very productive 2 weeks, many thanks to my fixer/translator. I guess I had the same expectation this time around. Only I found myself on a plane two days after arriving in Aceh, to Thailand, to cover a colleague who fell ill in the hospital and could not photograph a job for several days. Thankful for this unexpected job and extra cash, I did however loose 4 days that I would have spent otherwise working on my project on Sharia law....returning to Aceh and realizing it just wouldn't be enough time to gain access and time to photograph, i stayed in Banda Aceh trying to scratch at the surface of other ideas for my project.

The most challenging part is that i came across many obstacles for stories. I don't know if it was me expecting too much to accomplish, or it was the mystery of the universe telling me to slow down. Some times, some things just don't click right away. Its all about timing. So until next spring, I'll be planning better, and saving, for yet another return. And maybe with a little bahasa Indonesian.

Foto8 picture story of the week

Photojournalism magazine Foto 8 is featuring a collaborative story, produced by writer Fiona MacGregor and myself, on the effects of hydraulic dams in Vietnam have on the lives of ethnic minorities living in Cambodia's Mekong Delta. Please click here to read a synopsis of Fiona's story and my slideshow: downstream

Lands' End - urban wilderness of the outer sunset

Since our move back to SF, I'll be taking on a new project documenting the small community out in my neighborhood, the Outer Sunset, and its enigmatic coastline which lies along the western stretch of San Francisco facing the wide open Pacific Ocean. Its no southern california thats for sure, and we like it just the way it is.

 

 

film: cambodia

i'm falling in love with shooting film again! for me, in particular, its the format and texture. here's a scene from the angkor area of siem reap, cambodia. what i'm wondering: whats your favorite medium format camera? why? how does it make you work differently? are you running around with a light meter around your neck? This summer I'll be experimenting with more 6x6. even with this holga, from which I shot this frame, the concept of timing and moment is moreso emphasized for me when i shoot film. sadly 220 will be gone. so the idea to make 12 perfect shots (if possible with 120) is a good challenge.

AAJA National Journalism Award for Five Years Later project

My project on the Fifth Year Anniversary of the Tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia was recently recognized by the Asian American Journalist Association for the National Journalism Awards in Photography. This was a self-funded project, which took me to Aceh Province on the island of Sumatra in the fall of 2009.

See my mug: AAJA

Many thanks to Paul Sakuma and Albert Lee for helping me send my application and project while I was working in Cambodia.

See project: Five Years Later

NPR's The Picture Show