Food For Thought

The International Association of Culinary Professionals held it's annual conference in Portland this past week.  I was hired to document some of the events.  While most of the photography was similar to shooting a wedding reception, there were a few people who made it unique. One was Judith Jones.  Although Judith is not a household name, the women she "discovered" are very well know.  Judith was responsible for the publication of  'The Diary of Anne Frank' as well as  Julia Child's masterpiece: "Mastering The Art of French Cooking".


To know those two things about Judith is to know a lot.  Being able to recognize the importance of just those two books when seeing them in manuscript form is amazing and likely unprecedented.  In today's start struck world of glamor and glitz, Judith goes against the grain.  She is humble and unassuming. She has a quiet presence and grace that informs the way she has lived her life.  It was a pleasure to meet her and an honor to aim my camera in her direction.  She is a little known hero who has made all our lives richer, tastier and more peaceful.  

Turn On, Tune In, Take A Picture

On friday, I spent a few hours photographing Dr. Clark Martin at his home in Vancouver, Washington.  Actually, I spent about an hour talking with him and then about an hour shooting pictures.  He's a fascinating man.  Unassuming, soft-spoken and thoughtful.

The New York Times had sent me to Dr. Martin's house to take a picture of him for a story that reporter John Tierney had written about his battle with cancer related depression.  Whenever I meet someone who is fighting some dreaded disease, I'm always humbled by their ability to see beyond themselves.  They seem to understand what's important in life.  It's as if their disease has narrowed their focus and yet given them the ability to see life's bigger picture.  Dr. Martin possesses that trait.  Although the depression he suffered made life more difficult, the journey from there to the experimental psychedelic treatment he volunteered for, has given him a richer, more appreciative view of his time on the planet.  Here's the link to the story and a couple of my favorite photos from the day:  (Click here to read the story)

   

Snapping A Snapper

Cooking has always been a lot like the old days of working in a darkroom for me.  You start with a vision of what you are trying to create, mix up a few ingredients in a measuring cup, "cook" them together and, presto, out comes a creative result - most of the time.  Although I don't spend any time in a dark room these days, I do find myself in my kitchen about 5 times a week.  My wife is in the food business and is an amazing chef. As a result, one of our combined hobbies is cooking.  A fun Saturday night for us is coming up with an idea for a meal, going to the grocery, buying the right ingredients and spending the evening creating our dinner.


Last night was another masterpiece.  We've had risotto on our minds for weeks so we went to the market and look around for what might work well together.  We settled on asparagus with morel mushrooms and some nutty tasting Italian made sheep cheese.  While we were at the market, we walked by the fish counter and a beautiful line caught red snapper grabbed our attention.  We debated a while but decided that stuffing the snapper with lemons, garlic, onions and fennel sounded too good to pass up.  The only thing missing was a salad.  We ended up with a few simple greens, toasted almond slivers and a blood orange.  Although the risotto is always a labor intensive dish, it was all mighty yummy.


And, although I wouldn't want to combine anything from a darkroom with anything I would make in a kitchen, I do often combine my love of cooking with my love of photography. Here are a couple of pictures from last night's meal.  Bon Appetite!

Best Seat In My House

I live in a picturesque city.  Mountains, rivers and stately tall trees create the ever-present backdrop that makes Portland a visually inspiring place to live.  Over the past 9 years, I've had the luxury of making hundreds of photographs of Mt. Hood from my living room as it shows off it's splendor during sunsets and sunrises.   A couple of days ago, the clouds added a frame to the mountain during a sunset that seemed to last forever. The one new element was the random flight of a jet as it makes it way toward PDX. While the view from inside the airplane must have been spectacular, this one from my living room wasn't too bad either.  At least I didn't have to deal with the person in the row in front of me suddenly reclining their seat back as I attempted to eat my dinner! Here is my favorite image from that moment in time.