Matagorda Bay, Texas

When I was traveling along the Gulf of Mexico last year, one of the thoughts filling my mind continually was “We are ALL responsible”.

We are, each one of us, in the United States responsible for what happened and is happening in the Gulf of Mexico. Even those of us who don’t live near the Gulf; even those of us who recycle, wear organic cotton, do our yoga and generally try to be good citizens of the planet in various ways. We are all a part of the of what is happening to our planet and the other beings on it with every mile we drive, every light or computer we use, every item we purchase in a store.

This thought was startlingly, glaringly present for me on my trip along the coast and weighs upon me since.

This weekend I was reading my facebook and noticed a post via an online magazine elephantjournal.com. Written by Marylee Fairbanks for her yoga studio blog, it voices well-composed thoughts on this subject that I wanted to help share.

Here it is on her blog http://www.chakrasyoga.com/journal/2011/6/11/american-mom.html

I hope you’ll take a moment to read it and consider.

Namaste,

Memphis

My question: Dr Jane, What do you think are the most import things humans must do to allow room for other species to live and thrive – to be part of a balanced system of life on the planet? Friday April 1, 2011 1:34 Memphis Barbree

1:36  Jane Goodall:

A major problem is rapid human population growth so people need more space to live so it is very important we plan our cities and towns so that they are sustainable. Heavy meat eating contributes a great deal to global warming, as well as being bad for human health and leading much to suffering of animals. And I would go back to my comment earlier that every one of us makes a difference every day through the choices that we make — what we eat, what we wear, how we heat our homes. — you are right, it is very important we learn to share this planet with other animals. We are all interconnectd in ways we do not yet understand. Destroying the environment and wildlife can lead to major problems for us.

Now, if I could just get a chance to photograph her – particularly with the chimps – my life would be complete :)

Canal Off the Pascagoula River, Mississippi, October 2010

Today is World Water Day. I thought I’d take a moment to write a post about it and share this image in honor of our honoring of our water – fresh, salt, running, pooling, underground and above ground.

I am reminding myself today of a few things.

1. Human beings are about 60% water – lungs are 90% water, brains 70%, and blood 80%.

2. Humans need about 8 cups of water per day minimum to function – about 20% of that we can get from food.

3. Nearly 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Only about 2.5% of that water is fresh water and only about 1% of that is available for human use.

3. Nearly one billion people don’t have access to safe drinking water.

4. Nearly two million children die of dehydration each year.

5. The most efficient way of helping our water resources go farther is to reduce our water use.

6. Other ways to help the Earth’s water resources are:

A. Eat more vegetables. It requires about 20 times more water to make a pound of meat than a pound of vegetables. In addition, buy from local farmers and get to know your farmers and how they treat the land and water. Encourage sustainable and healthy farming practices.

B. Buy things that last and that can be recycled. Our throw-away life creates much pollution of ground & surface waters with huge landfills leaking & factories spilling waste that ends up in our water.

C. Reduce electricity. Water is used and damaged by cooling nuclear power plants and dams for hydro-electric plants.

D. Drive less. In and of itself, a car uses 7-14 gallons of water for every 100 miles driven. Then there’s the issues with our petroleum drilling and spilling that I don’t think I need to mention.

7. How I live in each moment, determines the quality of the world around me.

I just saw a post by the good old Farmer’s Almanac (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMgUwt1xC_U) about the big and very close full moon we’re going to be having on March 19. This is a good chance to take your cameras out and make one of these images. I’m working on a plan for myself right now in San Diego.

Wow, editing is wicked hard. Is there anyone that thinks editing is easy? If so, do you really know editing?  Do you want to come visit?

To edit a body of work, one must be ruthless – cut, cut, cut and cut some more, rip and shred attachments, ideas, favorite photographs hard earned and well made – but something has to go, lots of things have to go. The process is nasty, wild and seldom pretty. When I’m editing I often wake up too early, toss and turn, mull things over, get up pace, am often just plane agitated and can be dangerous because I might mistake you for a photograph that needs to be done away with.

Do you know now why I posted this image of a shark in an aquarium tank?

I was feeling a bit stuck the other day so I reached out to some buddies in hopes of getting some inspiration or at least someone to have a mutual “editing is evil hard” talk. The only one I managed to rouse was my friend Norman Mauskopf. What a gem and a great photographer – his work on the people of northern New Mexico is showing at Verve Gallery in Santa Fe right now, by the way. Norman emailed me some great thoughts and advise about his editing process. I’ll share his last line to me: “The moral of the story? That which takes time, time respects.”

Thank you Norman.

I’m fueling myself with miso, noodles, veggies, kefir and blueberries, banana bread, genmacha tea, vitamin D, raw honey and 85% dark chocolate. I entertain myself with facebook posts and surfing on my laptop while I wait for photoshop to work through a save or an action or two. I take a break once or twice a week to go down to the beach for an afternoon and a walk. I make sure I cook something yummy and healthy and do yoga every night. Music is my constant companion – Patti Smith, BB King, Krishna Das, The Pretenders, Janis Joplin, Nancy Griffith, The Beatles – of course – and now and then some Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the like. You know whether it’s safe to talk to me based on what music I have playing – Patti, Janis or Zeppelin, maybe not such a good time to interrupt – Krishna Das or Grateful Dead, come on in, just don’t make any wild thrashing movements or you might lose a limb.

Well, just thought I’d peak out of the depths. Now back to work. Chomp.

Wow, it’s Winter Solstice and I haven’t managed a blog post since the end of Summer. I’ve had a busy fall of teaching, finishing my trip along the Gulf Coast and working hard to get my images from the trip edited, developed and printed. I’m hoping to be printing and publishing work from The Gulf Project by the end of January.

I took a break from the Gulf yesterday to explore the tide pools of the California coast at Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego. I love tidepools! This interesting being was lingering on a rock at the water’s edge. I’ve never seen a blue starfish before! Have you? The naturalist who was hanging out with guidebook in hand didn’t know of this rare being either.

Just a quick thought on another once a blue event – Winter Solstice tomorrow: It is the first winter solstice since 1638 that coincides with a full eclipse of the moon and probably the only one in my lifetime – the next one will be in 2094. I don’t think I’ll get to see it though – it’s storming like crazy here in San Diego where I’ll be tomorrow night. Those of you who will have clear skies might want to find out what time it’s happening where you are and get out and enjoy a view of the winter solstice full moon… and let me know how it was.

May winter bring you renewal and great inspirations for this next year.

Namaste,

Memphis

I’m in San Diego this week taking a mid-trip break, planning my workshops for next month and reviewing images from the first part of my Gulf Project on my studio computer. I have sooo many more images I want to make of the Gulf. My 2-month window for the trip is fast closing and I don’t feel even close to finished with what I hope to do.

This trip has been an eye-full. The contrast between the industrial and the tourism-based parts of the Gulf of Mexico has had a big impact on me. It’s not that I didn’t know the state of things on the planet or the Gulf before my trip – it’s what inspired the trip – but traveling the entire expanse of Gulf in the U.S. this summer has opened my eyes all the more.

The lives we currently live are fueled (fuel, food and products) at the expense of the well-being of the Gulf and it’s inhabitants human and otherwise.  In the long run it’s at the expense of ourselves – even those of us who are trying to live more sustainable, gentle lives. No one, nothing on the planet is immune from over-consumption and unsustainable activities going on. The quality of life that any of us lead is a false one because it is eating away at and eroding the very foundation of life in the nurseries of our food chain. … and we know the Gulf of Mexico is not alone in this respect.

The plastic cup in the image below has a little oval bite out of it. Sea turtles eat jellyfish and when plastic is floating in the water it looks like a jellyfish to a sea turtle. Oval holes like this in plastic are the tell-tale sign that yet another turtle has yet another piece of plastic in it’s belly. This cup that makes our lives “cheaper” and “easier” is actually quite expensive both in where it comes from (fossil fuels and all they mean to our planet now) and in where it ends up – the food chain of the entire planet … not to mention they look like hell on the beach.

For more information about what I’m doing along the Gulf of Mexico and to learn how you can help support my work on this project so I can keep going please visit: http://memphisbarbree.com/Gulfproject_home.html

We can photograph together, work on issues with Adobe Lightroom and/or Photoshop, talk about printing techniques, whatever you would like and eat some famous New Mexican green chili and enjoy one of my favorite places on the planet. Working one-on-one with me is a great way to concentrate on particular questions or issues you have with your photography and make a lot of headway in a short time.

Send me a note now to reserve your session between October 10th and 28th. I’ll also be teaching a couple workshops at Santa Fe Photographic Workshops October 3-9 and would love to see you there as well. The Autumn Landscape: http://www.santafeworkshops.com/photography-workshops/workshop/584 and Lightroom Intensive: Where’d My Photos Go? http://www.santafeworkshops.com/photography-workshops/workshop/583

I look forward to working with you!

I began my tour of the coast at the U.S.-Mexican border where the Rio Grande enters the Gulf of Mexico. I was met by a rainbow and then the next morning witnessed some baby Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles being launched into life and into the Gulf. I moved on to Padre Island for more baby Kemp’s Ridley releases and then on to the Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Bay.

I’ve connected with a wonderful network of people called Water Keepers – check out their work at http://www.waterkeeper.org/ I’ve seen lots of seemingly happy Gulf creatures of all sorts – from baby turtles, to crabs, to seaweed, to humans, to fish, to sharks and brown pelicans. I’ve seen lots of industry and agriculture and these places called wildlife refuges where wildlife is “protected”. That seems a bit of a false advertisement though – because they really are places that seem to just grow birds for hunters to kill each fall when the refuges have their only open time. – not that I am criticizing hunting for food mind you – all creatures do that. It just seems a bit more correct to call these places hunter refuges instead of wildlife refuges, don’t you think?

Yesterday I went to a place called Sea Rim State Park and was met by sand, 3 seagulls, quietly lapping water, some plastic bottles and wrappers and an absence of  any sort of bustle and life that I’ve seen on any other beach I’ve ever been on. About 10 miles up the coast – a cement plant, a shipyard that works on oil platforms, a very large refinery.

Now I’m off toward Louisiana.