Photographer Geoff Johnson lived in this house until he turned 17. Behind the Door is series of photos he took when he had to go back to this place, after his mother passed and the house was left to him and his sister. Their mother was a hoarder, and living between piles of stuff and broken appliances had a deep psychological impact on both Johnson and his sister. To face their old feelings of shame, they photographed the place and then used Photoshop to super impose their own children into the photos.
Archive for April, 2015
The 6 AM project, decluttering and some other enthusiastic experiments
There are no other enthusiastic plans. Just these two, but it sounded good for the title. Anyway, these two are quite a handful. Let me tell.
The 6 AM project means I will wake up at 6 AM every day, or at least every week day, in an attempt to enlarge my day, my perception of time and bottom line my writing, reading and other things that I actually love time. Running included. Having this time is essential for my inner peace and balance, and since lately my schedule got so cluttered, well, I plan to de-clutter it. I had so little time lately that when I actually did get some space to do something, I got so stressed out, wanting to maximize those moments that in the end… I didn’t do much. So 6 AM. You know all that theory about habit forming, give it 30 days, etc. Well, I don’t know that.
Now decluttering is my new favorite word. It’s because I really am doing that. I have too many of many things and I am in the process of selecting them and donating them. Now my heart doesn’t do well with these things. Objects make me remember, they literally lock stories for me and unlock them when I look at them. They keep the stories I forget and then I keep them to keep the stories. And yet, there should always be new space, for new stories, right?
Now here’s the thing, I actually bought a book to help me in this process. Yes, someone actually wrote a book about cleaning and tidying with skill and grace, it’s a Japanese woman that cuts through people’s labyrinth of stuff and won’t stop until it’s all finished, labyrinth gone. The book is called prophetically – The Life-changing Magic of Tidying – and her name is Marie Kondo and she actually patented her method of cleaning. Imagine that I’ve only been reading the first chapter and I already got rid of two huge bags of clothes. So it works. It’s magic. It’s Marie Kondo who loved housewives magazines since she was a kid. Admitting that and making cleaning a job…how eccentric is that in a housewives-are-not-cool world?
You’d Never Guess: an Animation Lars von Trier Made When He Was 11
Here’s a question: after watching Dancer in the Dark, Melancholia and Nymphomaniac (or whatever other films of his you watched)… can you imagine Lars von Trier as a kid? I…can’t. It makes sense that he was a kid at a point, but watching this surprising stop motion animation he made when he was 11… something doesn’t click. He is one of those people who feels like he was born the way he is now. It would make sense if as a kid he made Little-Dancer in the Dark and another version of Melancholia based on kids. But no.
Books I Read: Some Advice from a Dear Lady
The title makes it sound like a self-help book but it’s not. It’s ex US president Franklin’ D. Roosevelt’s wife, a smart, remarkable and privileged lady, sharing some of the things she learned throughout her life.
Through the pages you can feel who she is and her background, a background I am fairly sure few of us share. But that’s really not the point. The point is that she’s so honest and warm in what she says and so human and honest. And she’s not afraid to be vulnerable and tell true stories. And yes, there’s a tone of good advice in this book.
As you can see I have been studying it intensely: it rained on it, my lunch box leaked on it and many other stuff. But it stays strong just as the lady who wrote it.
Picture This: a Photoseries of Metal Fans and Their Cats
I started learning English when I really really wanted to understand Metallica’s lyrics. There was a long time in my life of metal music and dark outfits. And there was also a long friendship I had with a cat named Getzoo. I found her in the forest and man, was she a character… So Alexandra Crockett’s photo series (she was also a metal fan some time ago) really speaks to me.
Arctic Magic: Evgenia Arbugaeva’s Idyllic Photos of a Place Called Tiksi
Wait, I know what you’re going to say: it’s spring already and you’re not so much in the mood for photos from the Arctic. But these are not just any photos, they are a magical portrayal a photographer made when she returned to the place where she grew up and which she missed.
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