that special place

don't hate me because i'm going to paradox lake

paradox lake has become a sort of mecca for emre and i. could it have been three years ago that ten or so of us first stormed 'the cedars' for a weekend of cabin improvement and beautiful water? emre and i are so grateful that the cedars is still a destination for us. we're lucky that chelsea calls us up every year and says, "the adirondacks are calling us!" oh yes they are. and we're on our way. to share in our joy, to reminisce or to feel envious, check out a few photos from that introductory trip below.
missing kiyomi and skip a lot right now!



ah! and how could i almost forget the high jinx from last fall starring eddie and emre! check out the boys of paradox lake--a school project photoshop that ran so linearly i had to make a little movie out of the stills...
by the way, one of these 'men' is about to become both a doctor and a father (hint: it's not emre). be very afraid.

back by popular demand--for real!

oh there are so many reasons that i didn't post my 'pod' assignment this week before i turned it in. first in line, i was simply working right down to the wire on wednesday to finish in time for class. attempted to escape the insanity threatening to overtake my brain via a trip up to the adirondacks and then boston. not sure i was successful in that endeavor, considering i managed to THROW MY WALLET IN THE GARBAGE CAN including all credit cards, check cards, driver's license, school id, gift cards, costco memberships, punch cards for no less than eight local coffee shops, birthday checks (okay--check) and pictures of your children, then drive 250 miles from it. also, i didn't want to bore you. but silly me! it's seems the readers of spackleshot demand rigorous routine boredom! that's why you're here, right? oh you faithful handful were just livid by the evening of wednesday, wondering "where is the work?". and i get it. you all have to listen to a lot of bitching from me concerning the soul sucking tuition i pay to this unnamed institution i attend and the resulting poverty which envelops my existence. you want your money's worth! so here it is, well, after much ado....

the story.....THE BOYS OF PARADOX LAKE by kitty joe ste-marie
the photos should be side by side, but cut me some slack--it's a miracle i even figure out how to hit the publish button around here!






my first idea for this series came while paddling across the stunningly beautiful paradox lake. i imagined the exaggerated expressions, the boat tipping, etc. obviously, i couldn't be in the boat with my camera. so i staged a faux happening in the tributary creek which leads to the lake. i imagained little white bordered sepia toned black and whites. nostalgic. adirondacks. totally not what i got. it was a disaster. the sun blew the highlights out of the silver canoe and emre's pale skin. i barked impatient orders to eddie and emre as they fought and lost the battle of tipping at the wrong time. emre shivered as i shot and shot and shot. finally, after i gave up, i was struck yet again by inspiration as they carried the canoe across the green meadow. i would re-shoot with the grass as paradox lake. more control, slower, and plus a strange surrealism. bingo. that's when we started having fun. it's too bad eddie can't see these photos, as he turned out to be quite the cooperative actor. he staunchly refuses to look at my blog because he's my "reality friend", not my "blog friend". ooh, look who's in the blogosphere now!
another favorite of mine that wouldn't fit into the series since it's horizontal and a bit redundant...

and here, just a little look at the insane volume of images i shot. these are just the ones i narrowed down as my favorites! be thankful i didn't engage you in the selection process!


my favorite comment in critique was my classmate saying that the black and white captures not necessarily the nostalgia of the adirondacks, but harkens back to 1920's surrealism. wanna flatter me? mention my photography and surrealism in the same sentence.