Follow the Sun

From the intro (written by Natalie J McCarthy) of She Took Her Own Picture..

There are approximately 3.3 billion women in the world, all of whom doubtlessly live a split existence: the person viewed by others, molded according to culture, and created for display to the rest of the world, and the true self, the woman who exists in, of, and for herself. When Laurel Fiszer started posting her photos on flickr.com a few years ago, she certainly did not imagine plunging into an existential debate. Instead, she noticed that female self-portrait photographers were often seen as narcissistic princesses who had to defend their work against an onslaught of criticism—most of which was not directed toward the photograph’s technical merits. When Laurel founded the Female Self Portrait Artists’ Support Group, her primary goal was to create a place online where female photographers could share self-portraits and receive constructive criticism in a supportive, encouraging, and non-judgmental environment.

Since its founding, the Group has grown to include hundreds of women from all over the globe–all of whom share a passion for interpreting, inventing and reinventing themselves through pictures. Despite this commonality, the artists come from different countries and cultures, demonstrate diverse worldviews in their photos, and have distinct artistic motivations. Members of the Group hail from Latin America, Europe, North America, Oceania, and the Caribbean. Some within the Group are professional photographers with an accomplished body of work; others only recently picked up a camera and are working out their own sense of focus, light, and composition. Moreover, not every artist is catapulted into self-portraiture for the same reason. Many do it for lack of other models. Other women appreciate the creative control that self-portraiture affords them, and some embark on a self-portrait series as a form of therapy, self-discovery, or self-empowerment. Still more women photograph themselves as a feminist statement; for them, self-portraiture is a way of removing themselves from a male-artist/female-object paradigm. These cultural, geographic, and artistic differences do more than add to the diversity of the Group; they more importantly highlight the diversity and complexity of all women, not just photographers, and not just women with access to computers, internet connections, and digital cameras. The Group’s photographic campaigns about women’s issues, such as domestic abuse and mental health, highlight each photographer’s quest to portray not only herself, but also her place within the world’s collective of women.

This overarching female experience is evident in group members’ common need to defend their work. The artists in this collection have stood up against all-too-common misconceptions of self-portraiture: Only an egomaniac would photograph themselves! You’re so self-absorbed! On the other side of the critical spectrum, female self-portrait artists often hear that photos of pretty girls are not art; rather, they are magazine ads, fashion spreads, pornography or eye candy. These criticisms present female self-portrait artists with an exciting and powerful opportunity: the chance to categorically refute antiquated notions of the woman’s role as an art object, and to create a new, empowered vision of the female model.

She Took Her Own Picture is certainly constructed upon this feminist foundation. However, while this book brings to light women’s own empowered visions of self, it also presents a collection of first-rate photography. At the end of the day, the Female Self Portrait Artists’ Support Group is a collective of women photographers who strengthen their friendship by sharing inspired, artistic, and well-executed photographs. With She Took Her Own Picture they bring you into their circle of friends and share their art with you.

This is not the front cover, this is merely an advertisement, a little sampler of what you will see in the finished product. Stay tuned.

Darjeeling:

After finally getting the new visa I headed back to India. Since I didn’t really care to sit on a bus for 18 hours for the ride from Kathmandu to the border I cheated and got a cheap flight. On the bus ride from the terminal to the plane I met 2 lovely girls from Colorado and then on the plane I met a really nice family on their way to Darjeeling for some cool mountain air. The six of us decided to share a taxi to Siliguri (three hours from Darjeeling) and on the way we (the girls and I) had to go through border control. The family waited on both sides and even bought us a soda (they were very kind).

By the time the girls and I got to Darjeeling it was late and we were tired…but we still had to carry our packs up a very steep hill to our guesthouse. In case you didn’t know Darjeeling is an old English hill station from colonial days.

We spent about a week here and during that time visited some beautiful Buddhist monasteries and the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Center. The place is amazing and I spent the entire time on the verge of tears. It’s wonderful that this place exists but it’s horrible that it has to.

On our way back from the Center we stopped at Kunga, a Tibetan rest. for lunch. While eating the owners started to close the metal gate that covers the door. I was so out of it from the long walk and emotional drain that I thought it was to keep the hot sun out. It wasn’t until we got outside that I realized the whole town was shutting down. As we walked up the street we saw all of the shops closing and the market booths were being packed up in a hurry. We kept trying to ask what was going on but no one would tell us. It wasn’t until we got to Sonam’s Kitchen (fantastic little place with amazing food) that we found out. Sonam told us that there had been a march for a free Gorkhaland that day and when they got to Siliguri violence broke out…a call had come for a strike that would last the rest of that day and the next in solidarity. The people of this area want their own state much like Sikkim…they want self rule. Darjeeling and the rest of the hill towns are a part of West Bengal…they are taxed heavily but have very little resources…there is a water scarcity in Darjeeling that has lasted for the past few years.

The next day was pretty eerie. The whole town was shut down and during the afternoon there was a huge march that went through the streets that lasted over an hour with shouts of “WE WANT JUSTICE, GORKHALAND GORKHALAND!!”

We were all supposed to leave on that day, me to Sikkim and the girls to Kolkata to catch a flight to Thailand. I walked with them down to the police station where they were to wait for information about emergency transport out of town and the air was incredibly tense. On one side you had the police with their huge rifles and tear gas guns (with more and more arriving) and on the other you had a huge gathering of men behind a Gorkhaland sign. Every now and then I caught the faint smell of alcohol and you could just feel that one stupid move and violence would break out. Fortunately that didn’t happen. The march went on without violence and everything opened up the next day with plans for future strikes.

Sikkim:

So I was able to get in a share jeep for Sikkim the next day and I headed to Gangtok, the capitol. I had no idea what I wanted to do there but it seemed like a good place to start. Since I started planning this trip to India Sikkim has been on the top of my list. The mountains here are stunning!

When I arrived in Gangtok I went to the New Modern Central Lodge. After checking into my room I went downstairs to the rest. to have some tea. As soon as I sat down some people were talking about getting a group together to head up to northern Sikkim, where foreigners can’t go without an extra permit. 7 of us set out 2 days later for Yumthang Valley, aka the Valley of Flowers. We stayed in the village of Lachung on the mountainside in a wood cabin surrounded by snow covered peaks…words really can’t describe how beautiful it was…eventually I’ll post photos on flickr.

After we got back took a day to myself and then 4 of us took another trip to an extra permit area, Changu Lake near the Tibet border…beautiful again.

On Sat. night a bunch of got together at Little Italy for some great food, live music and dancing. It was here that Sarah, Kristy and I got the nickname of Charlie’s Angels. You see, about 12 years or so ago and Englishman came to Sikkim to trek with a guide named Subash and they have remained friends and kept in touch over the years and Subash has gone to visit his family in England and gone on adventures with him in Scotland. Well, now this Englishman’s 19 year old son, Charlie, is here for a visit.

Let me back up a bit…Kristy is a hairdresser, among other things and she had been working out of Chuny’s salon. Subash and Chuny are friends from childhood and Subash brought Charlie in to the salon. Kristy, Sarah and I met on the trip to the Valley…

So, back to Little Italy. That night was full of merry making. We drank, danced, got hit on by Momo man and I even got up to sing…in front of everyone…on a mic…with a back-up band. I can’t even begin to tell you how nervous I was.

After we closed the place Subash, Charlie, Kristy, Sarah and I went back to Chuny’s place to crash for the night. The next day was spent nursing hangovers and taking my turn of getting my hair cut by Kristy (still long, just better…it’s fabulous if I do say so myself).

That evening we had dinner at Songma and Jimgee’s house (they own the guesthouse we were staying in). They had invited us up for dinner on our last night. Songma had spent all day working on a traditional Tibetan porridge that was fantastic. Unfortunately all of us were so tired that we were pretty much dead for conversation…and that’s where Mauro comes in (he’s an Italian we met on the trip to the Valley that is a fantastic photographer and can talk for hours). From what I can gather he, Jimgee and Kristy were having a very interesting conversation but I have no idea what it was about because I fell asleep on the couch, drool and all.

The next day Kristy, Sarah and I left for West Sikkim, wher you don’t need a permit. Our first stop wash Tashiding where we spent a very strange night in a very strange guesthouse. The next day we visited a monastery that is considered to be the center of the Buddhist universe…and it doesn’t disappoint.

After Tashiding we headed to Yuksom…another small village where we visited a couple monasteries, one if which is the oldest in Sikkim, and even spent some time in a classroom with a bunch of young monks. After 3 days there we decided to walk to Keochopari Lake…a sacred lake sorrounded by prayer flags and where birds remove any leaf that falls on it.

The walk there was amazing…even if I did get three leaches sucking the blood from my feet.

I tell ya, the mountains here are so amazing!! It’s wildflower season and the greens are so vivid.

We only spent one night at the lake, but it was enough. The next day we hitched a ride with a West Bengali family to Pelling. They sang folk songs the whole way and even asked us to sing a song in english…we chose “California Dreamin'”

In Pelling we visited the 2nd oldest monastery in Sikkim and the ruins of the old city.

At some point in time on this journey through the west we decided to head back to Gangtok for another night out before heading to Darjeeling for a couple of days.

We ended up at this girls 25th birthday party and then at a disco for some dancing. We seemed to have tapped into the young, rich single crowd of Gangtok.

2 days later the 3 of us headed to Darjeeling to see Subash and Charlie. Charlie, Sarah and Kristy are headed to Nepal for the Everest Base Camp trek and Subash is headed there to see his family.

On our last night together we went to this tiny little rest. that only locals know about and had one fantastic meal and Sarah and Kristy gave me a card and some stars :-)The next day we made our way to Siliguri where I said goodbye to those wonderful people and am now just waiting for my bus to Patna where I will catch another bus to Gaya and then an autorickshaw to Bodhgaya, which is where the Buddha found enlightenment under a Bodhi tree.

I spent a week or so town hopping in Himachal Pradesh and I’ll admit that what I loved best was just riding the buses from town to town taking in the beautiful scenery.  We went through some ... [Continue reading this entry]