New Work: Eastern State Penitentiary (PA)

The following is a representative sample of the 400+ images I shot last weekend at Eastern State Penitentiary (Philadelphia, PA). I've been fascinated by the abandoned prison ever since I learned about it a few years ago. While the Penitentiary closed more than 40 years ago, it has been operated for the past few decades as a tourist attraction. These images are heavily influenced by the more than three years I spent as a volunteer at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men.

These images (and 46 others) can also be viewed on my web site.

To learn more about Eastern State Penitentiary, visit www.easternstate.org.

New Work: Bethlehem Steel Mills

New Work: Lily Abstract

More Blooming Pix

I continue to be fascinated by the flowers around our house:

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and for D, who continues to get flustered by ants:

New Work: More Garden Pix

New Work: In the Garden

Spring is finally in bloom up in New Hampshire. Look what my husband and I have been growing at our new-to-us house:

We don't even mind the occasional weed now and then:

New Work: Fort McClary (Kittery, ME)

Fort McClary (Kittery, ME) dates from the late 1700s and was built to protect the approaches to the Piscataqua River.  It  was named for a Revolutionary War soldier from New Hampshire who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  </p><p>

The fort was garrisoned during five wars - the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, and World War I.  </p><p>

My husband Darren is fascinated by these kinds of sites, but they leave me cold because of their violent past. It seems odd to me to have them open as tourist attractions, even considering their historical importance.  While it's easy to find beauty in its natural setting, I challenged myself to find aspects of the fort that intrigued me enough to photograph them. Ultimately, architectural lines, texture and light won out during this late afternoon/early evening shoot:</p><p>

New Work: Lily

I've been wanting to experiment with very grainy, sensuous forms for quite a while now. This year's Easter lily was a very patient model.

The first few pix stared out pretty rigid and minimalist. For example:

Then I played around with some more overly sensual images and tapped my inner O'Keeffe:

(with a tad of Beavis and Butthead thrown in for good measure):

Finally, I tried to go "post-Georgia" to create something more abstract. While I think these are interesting from a composition standpoint, the soft focus might have created too much tension with the tight cropping:

All in all, certainly nothing gallery-worthy (but still a fun way to spend an hour or so...)