June 9th I was in Watts and that was the day I found a little brown puppy.  She was laying in the sun, emaciated and not moving.  She had cuts and bite marks on her face and she didn’t make a sound or struggle as I picked her up.  She lay on the front seat and barely moved the entire drive back to Venice (which took extra long because of ridiculous traffic and freeway closures).  My plan was to bring her to the vet, they’d get some fluids in her and make her healthy and I’d bring her home and take care of the rest.  Again, my naivety kicked in.

After doing some preliminary blood work and other tests, the vet called and told me the puppy had parvo.  She was given an 85% chance of survival.  She was on an intense antibiotic treatment, in addition to being on two IV’s – one for fluids and one for vitamins.  They started treatment the afternoon of June 9th.  I would visit her every day, which meant putting on scrubs and gloves if I wanted to touch her or pick her up.  I brought her toys and talked to her but she would rarely, if ever lift her head and only follow my movements with her eyes.  On more than one occasion I would leave the vet’s office in tears – with the thought of her dying without ever knowing what it was like to be loved by someone.  By the 15th, she was still in isolation and hadn’t eaten yet.  The vets were concerned with not only her physical state but her mental state as well – she was a depressed little puppy, and she was going downhill.  It just seemed like she had lost the will to live.

On the 16th, while I was at the vet they asked me to try and feed her some baby food – just to get something into her system.  At this point they had tried everything – a variety of both dry and wet dog foods, cold cuts, and force feeding – all of which she either turned away from or threw up after.  They gave me a jar of $0.69 turkey baby food.  I stuck my gloved finger into the jar and then under the puppy’s nose and her ears perked up a little as her tongue came out and licked the food off my finger.  I was beyond excited!  She ended up eating about 1/3 of the jar before deciding she didn’t want anymore.  Between the 17th and the 22nd (when I brought her home), she continued to eat and get more energetic.  It’s hard to believe that a tiny jar of turkey baby food ended up being the thing that gave her a will to live – even though I like to tell myself that it was me.

Now not only is she on her way to becoming a healthy puppy but she has a home, a big brother (in the form of my 5-yr old husky mix, Phantom), more toys than she knows what to do with, and people who love her.  And I no longer have that little girl wish of finding a puppy while I’m walking down the street.

Victor and Lenore are a brother and sister who were pulled from the shelter hours before euthanasia.  They were 2 1/2 weeks old (born around April 1st) when they were dropped off but the shelter couldn’t keep them/take care of them for the remaining 6 weeks it would take until they were old enough to be adopted.  I had spoken with Danella previously about fostering so when these little ones were almost 4 weeks old, she asked me if I could take them.  I had never owned a cat before but I said yes and it has been awesome.  They were still being bottle fed when I got them, and having a kitten that barely weighs a pound crawl up on you to drink milk out of a bottle just about breaks your heart.  In the past 4 weeks, I’ve watched them almost double in size and I’ve got to see their personalities emerging.  Lenore (second image, below) is cautious yet brave, whereas Victor (first image, below) is more of a sweetheart.

It will break my heart to see these little ones go, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed having them for the last 4 weeks. To find out more about becoming a foster parent to orphaned puppies and kittens, please contact the Los Angeles Animal Services.

(Brooklyn Bridge – January 2010)

This Saturday (March 20th), I’ve been invited to show work at the monthly Santa Ana art walk.  It will be the first time I’ve shown work in California in over a year, so if you’re in southern California, come check it out!

Migration: Portraits of Human Abandonment
Saturday March 20th, 2010
7-10 pm
Tight Space gallery at the Santiago Street lofts
729 North Poinsettia Street
Santa Ana CA 92701

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” – Seneca (Roman philosopher)

I have always been drawn to vacated buildings, anywhere people once worked, lived, or spent any significant amount of time. These places, which may once have been hubs – of cities, towns, neighborhoods, or maybe just families – are now forgotten. Things that once marked a new life – like a new home, or a new car, or the possessions collected over the years – were ultimately discarded in favor of a fresh start somewhere else; a new beginning. But to me, it’s the things left behind that tell the story….an old car left in the garage, a teapot left on the stove, or a rocking chair slowly moving back and forth in the breeze, all in an arrested state – all waiting for the owners who once cherished them to return.

By focusing on interiors and specific objects left behind, I am attempting to capture the essence of the former inhabitants, almost as if I were taking their portrait. I have always loved that, shown only a person’s belongings, each viewer will perceive that person in a different manner. The “portraits” in this body of work allow the viewer to do just that – make up their own minds about the people to whom these objects once belonged.

With that being said, welcome to my photography world.  This is where I’ll talk about inspiration, different processes I’m trying (both modern and historical), new projects and assignments, as well as the ever popular topic – lighting.  So stay tuned!  Until next time, I’ll leave you with an image I shot in September of Dan, a security guard who works in South Central.