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Phoebe Sinclair Writes

Phoebe Sinclair Writes

Tag Archives: photography

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{This Moment} Through the Nautical Mirror

10 Thursday Mar 2016

Tags

family, filters, laurence-harbor, photography, this-moment

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Inspired by SouleMama.

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) | Filed under Jersey Moments

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A Christmas Day Stroll

30 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Boston Moments, Home

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

as-we-are-living-it, jamaica-plain, photography, winter

Red garden orb

Some years it’s weather that prompts us to tarry longer than we planned before making the 280-ish mile trek to coastal New Jersey. Other years, a dip in health. Some, friends’ invitations to holiday engagements. Others, energy (or severe lack there of.)

This December, check ‘D.’ All of the above.

Frosted leaves

Flower display outside Vee Vee

Christmas Day, instead of opening gifts in David’s parents’ ocean-edge, cliff-top home, D and I took a stroll in the record-setting warmth. The sunlight was gorgeous, so naturally I wandered with my camera.

Dried hydrangea

We weren’t the only ones out and about. (Close, though.)

See the squirrel

Run, squirrel!

Daughter and mother bike on sidewalk

Centre St. Post Office in sun

Silk flower

Bench in sun at Jamaica Pond

We were among the few seated for a treat at one of our favorite Jamaica Plain restaurants, Cafe Beirut. Ah, well. More for us.

Rosewater lemonade 2

Bhaklava

Baklava, I declare my love.

Boston Pride Parade 2013

24 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Boston Moments, Community

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

color, community, events, jamaica-plain, photography, spring

Man in leather underpants

My first Boston Pride Parade was a revelation. Leather clad ladies on motorcycles. Gyrating men in their underpants dancing to club beats. A politician or two shaking hands while proclaiming progressive platforms. Local health and advocacy groups tossing beads and colorfully packaged condoms, littering the streets with flyers and candy.

I was mesmerized. I was amazed. I’ve gone back again and again.

"Dyke" on rainbow pedal bike

Pride street signs

"Queen" wearing ladybug hat

In the decade or so that I’ve attended (and once, marched with Greater Boston NOW,) the parade has changed. Perhaps matured? Strong in its themes of inclusivity, celebration, activism, and pride, there have been -over the years- a noticeable reduction in near-nude men festooning flatbed trucks and an increase in religious communities, families, politicians, and corporate allies.

Fish-man in tractor with pride wheel

I don’t know. You tell me.

Boy on unicycle handing out fans

Weekly DIG newsletter box monkey costume

Even though I don’t identify as gay, lesbian, queer, or transgender, I’m never the odd person out at Pride, whatever it’s current styling. Which is more than I can say for a certain high school history class where I slumped, hot-faced and confused, as my teacher rattled on about how gays couldn’t serve in the military because they were too limp-wristed and lisping. (Way to disrespect our service members, Mr. Name-I-Can’t-Recall.)

Roller derby lady

Boston Ballet represents at Pride

I’m so grateful to my alma mater for helping to release me from the tight hold of an inherited prejudice. My four years at an arts and communication college in Boston were a key folding back a metal lid, out from which exploded a beautiful confetti.

Walkers appreciating out-going Mayor Thomas Menino

Walkers appreciate out-going Mayor Thomas Menino, long-time a friend to Boston Pride

Blessed are the fabulous car

Pride Asian fans

And thank goodness.

Internets and Imperfections

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in With Friends

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Tags

as-we-are-living-it, cat-love, gratitude, photography

For all that is said about how connectivity via the Internet can be a path to real-life loneliness, for as much as I love sliding open the narrow, wooden drawer that contains my letter writing supplies, in 1996 I was handed a gift: my first email address. They called it Eudora.

Underexposed photo of David and Kristy

This is what happens if I pick up my camera and just snap.

Eudora was clunky and eventually I transitioned to a version of Hotmail that bears little resemblance to the app I use today on my iPod Touch. (ring, ring. 1996 is calling, it says: an i-WHAT?) (blip, bloop. hey, 2013 texted. It said: surrender your antiquated email client!)

Things happened. And things happened. I grew into a “full-fledged adult” and I rolled my eyes and said: what’s this you say about a face book? I’m not in college anymore. I don’t want to be found. No thanks.

Kristy with clover digi san

Oops. Fuzzy.

And things happened some more. I carefully ignored then fell victim to numerous web-based communication forms. I hoed my new digital world with a plastic rake.

One day I glanced up and realized the sheer number of people with whom I would no longer have contact without the advent of curious computer languages, (with their funny “<” and “;”), that somehow keep me better informed of new babies, passed on grandmothers, and the hilarious antics cats get up to, than a telephone ever did.

So thank you Internets for round-about bringing our friend, professional photographer Kristy Rowe of Moodeous Photography, to our door, all the way from Denver, Colorado. We shot some awesome pictures in the real-life world, though statistically the three of us were more likely to be separate and lonesome in our homes, serenading our computer mice clickety-clack while bench-pressing bottles of Dr. Pepper.

Kristy hidden by her giant camera set-up

Third time’s the charm . . . wait, my subject is obscured!

Also, thank you cats.

Permanent Loan – Connecting Through Things and Love

11 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Community, Learnin'

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

as-we-are-living-it, community, photography

About a year ago I obtained a friend’s digital SLR camera on “permanent loan.” What’s permanent loan, you ask, and how’s that different from a gift? Also, doesn’t it bother you knowing someday your friend might ask for the camera back?

self-portrait-2012

That artful spatter in the rightmost photo? It’s toothpaste.

I’ve thought these issues through. I’ve wondered, what does it really mean to borrow something without an end date? What happens if the item breaks while in my care? How does it feel to haul this camera around, always with the knowledge that it’s not really mine? If/when I get a new camera, I’ll give the borrowed one back, right (of course, by then it will be truly outdated, as is the way of modern electronics)?

Underlying these questions are my values: limiting my participation in the wastefulness of consumer culture (IMO, today’s digital point-and-shoots have too short a life expectancy), making good use of that which I already own or have access to, look to the wisdom and resources of my community to address my needs.

self portrait with Canon SLR

Even more underlying is the basic desire to connect. Have you ever loaned a book or CD (I’m dating myself!) to a friend in part because the act provides a sly opportunity to further cement that person in your life? Permanent loan is kind of like that, a line of connection and belonging attached at each end to a person. Like family heirlooms and the cotton shirt left behind by an ex or lost parent, borrowing and sharing can imbue items with significance beyond their actual purpose.

So while the newest camera in my fleet is a beautiful tool through which to view the world, it also symbolizes a friendship. Possessing it provides opportunity to play with uncertainty, and it reminds me of the numbers of “things” in my possession that belonged originally to others.

Know who else in my life is on permanent loan?

Jack cat captured by a knit headband

Jack Steiger: borrowed ten years and counting

A Job For Digi Clover San

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Home, Jersey Moments

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

jamaica-plain, jersey, photography

Like most well-trained kids-of-consumer-culture, I spent a fair amount of time wishing for items I don’t own. And many more moments attempting to correct, or redirect, this behavior. Recently, my obsession has centered around digital cameras, and my lack of a good pocket-size model.

Enter Digi Clover San.

No, it’s not a “good” camera. Better description: toy. And, yet, there are many occasions for which Mr. Clover is up to the task.

Neon Buddah sign

Sun toy

Around JP and Jersey this weekend, I declared: This Looks Like A Job For Digi Clover San!

In progress

Weezie

The Conscientious Photographer

12 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Learnin'

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

photography

Women enjoy William Wainwright reception

Since I was a child, I have seen the world as collections of stories. Strings of moments -sometimes words, sometimes pictures, or a delicious combination of both.

My relationship with words goes way back to my life in single digits, but my attempts at capturing story in photos is more recent. I’ve been shy. Not for lack of access, inspiration, or role models, but for ways to merge my desire for politeness and conscientiousness with my wish to remain true to my artistic eye.

On numerous occasions during my teen years, I remember driving past a scene on the side of the road that really struck me as one deserving to be recorded -maybe a mother and child waiting for a ride with filled shopping cart. I’d pause the moment, a photograph in my mind. How beautiful their faces, expressions open or closed, expectant. But even if I had the opportunity, I could never intrude.

I owe my renewed interest in photography to my job, where I have served in this role partly because there is no one else. Thousands of shutter presses later, I’m no less reluctant to get personal with my subjects. I tend to sneak around, hunting candid shots, which I usually snap from a safe distance. In most circumstances I ask permission, though at large work events I often don’t. And it’s those occasions when I feel most free to see what I see.

If you are in the habit of taking photos, what’s your approach to the complex question of consent, spontaneity, and art?

Bikes I Have Seen

22 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Bike Life, Boston Moments

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Tags

bike-commuting, bike-love, photography

Out-of-car and not-on-foot, one sees a good many curious things. There’s something about the slow-pass on a bicycle that gives the best view, in my opinion. However, there’s a lot to be said for the speed of walking. Truly, there’s where the humor is.

Light reflector and horns

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Camera Fleet Revisited

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Learnin'

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

photography

Sometimes, a person might receive with barely an ask.

Take, for example, my newest digital camera – the Sony Cybershot.  This little pocket point-n-click was gifted to me by friend almost before the words “I really need a new digital camera” left my lips.

The J-Street Camera Fleet welcomes two new members:

1.) Sony Cybershot (I’m still learning how to use, stayed tuned for many over and underexposed snapshots)

2.) David’s Digi Clover San (a birthday gift from me, right in the instructions it is referred to as “quirky” and “toy camera,” so you can imagine the types of photos it produces)

Little digitals

Friday Favorite – Apple Tree on Olmstead

30 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by Phoebe (she / hers) in Green Life

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

bike-commuting, friday-favorite, jamaica-plain, photography, this-moment, trees

Since I started taking the Olmstead Park path through Jamaica Plain into Brookline, over a year ago, I’ve passed this apple tree in its many forms. Decked out with blossoms, in mid-summer greens, full of knobby, misshapen apples that I’ve seen only Canada geese eat, and once with a raccoon perched crookedly on top like a fur hat, I enjoy the sight of the tree in each of its annual moods.  I hope to snap a few more candids as the seasons progress.

Apple tree, pre-spring

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