Up From Below
[Gregory Canyon, CO]
the texture of weather
[Boulder, CO]
i grew up on a sandbar. if you've spend more than 20 minutes with me in the last seven years or so you prolly feel this topic has been exhausted. bear with me. the wiseman built his house upon the rock. the fool who built his house upon the sand may have lost his home during Floyd and Irene and was flooded during Beryl but at least he had good surf, fresh fish, and a few close friends to help shop-vac the first floor.
the magic about a place like the Outer Banks is that the pace of life is 100% dictated by the weather. if the wind is west, we're going diving. nor-east? get ready for some crazy-messy surf and a boat load of humidity. blowing too strong northeast? the roads are flooded, stay home. i could go on but you get the idea.
the beauty of weather is it's ability to act upon present objects, events, characters and change them to suit its purpose. sunlight behind a cactus softens its spines transforming it into a thing of quietness and beauty. rain on cement creates a smooth, desirable surface, inviting bare toes and some admiration.
Lately
[In Between, America]
Lately, I’ve switched gears. I’ve spent the last month and a half hopping between Colorado, North Carolina, and most recently, the coast of Michigan. (ordinarily I wouldn’t refer to fresh water as “coastal” but have you seen the size of the lakes up there? They are enormous. Plus, they have sand dunes and gulls… semi-coastal. )
This blog started in December of 2010 as The Consequence of Wander Lust. It was a simple forum to update friends and family on my travels. After sometime it became a photo-blog in a purer sense… somewhere to post images of recent gigs, adventures, and some musings. The idea was to update it consistently and keep you delighted and engaged with compelling images and stories. But as of late I’ve spent much more time on the road and less time writing—but not a minute less shooting. Just instead of lugging a heavy D-SLR to formal shoots, I’ve regressed to taking a zillion snapshots on my phone (convenient. discrete.) This has been a welcome rest; a time to return to my first love: artful observation and memory.
In the next few entries I’ll share small collections of these images… one on texture… Americana… heck, I may even add a little reflection on my time assisting for the National Geographic essay on the Outer Banks, North Carolina. It’s out this month, did you get your copy?? For now I’d like to leave you with a few images from the road.
xo,
Lauren
P.S. are you on instagram? I'd love to see what you're shooting! follow @lauren__martinez (two underscores)
Ashley+Brantynn
[Winston-Salem, NC]
Ashley and Brantynn are individually two of Wake Forest's most radiant personalities-- it was such fun shooting thier graduation portraits. Not only is this couple deeply in love but they are an absolute blast. Thier playful personalities gave me some wonderful material to work with-- I don't think we stopped laughing longer than it took to snag a picture.
Long before they became the superhuman duo they are today, Ashley and Brantynn made an impression on campus. Ashley wears her love on her sleeve. Her overwhelming love for others has lead her to South Africa where she has worked to better the lives of children for several years. This winter, Ashley will return (with Brantynn by her side!) on a Fulbright Scholarship to continue her work. Brantynn's joy is contagious-- just look at that smile. He began his collegiate career as a dedicated track and field athlete but still made the time to become a prominent campus leader. Brantynn has worked alongside Ashley in South Africa and plans to pursue a post-graduate degree in psychology.
This couple will move mountains. I wish you two the absolute best in the coming years.
study war no more
[Winston-Salem, NC]
this image is a collage of sorts... a heap of tattered images from sketchbooks and textbooks.
lately my studies consist of politics, art, and a little emergency medicine... resulting in a constant flux in mindset and an inevitable crisscrossing of ideas. the body politic assessed as a human body... airway, breathing, circulation... is the patient politic violent? suicidal?
this collage isn't meant to suggest any answers but to explore questions that could emerge from a look into the body politic and how it might fair under the scrutiny of a medical assessment.... especially in the context of international relations and war.
satellites
[Boulder, CO]
Boulder. Colorado.
we spent the weekend in Boulder for a little reconnaissance tour of the town we'll call home for the next few months.
the area is somewhere to visit for the majesty of the rocky mountains and stay for the community. from almost anywhere in the city a trail is only fifteen minutes away. canyons, caverns, springs, waterfalls... and in epic proportion. the city air stays clean... the culture is vibrant... the community is bound tight with a common passion for the surrounding natural beauty.
the image above was shot towards the end of an afternoon of bouldering in a sweet little garden the locals call satellites. you might remember Travis from an entry just before Christmastime, something about fish and a little yoga. regardless, our paths have been crossing a little more often these days. we're stoked to have the opportunity to be together to experience a little Rocky Mountain flair.
Mazel Tov!
[Winston-Salem, NC]
When the Franco family invited me to celebrate their son's coming-of-age, I couldn't have been more pleased. Growing up in a small beach community, Bar Mitzvahs were few and far between and I was certain this one would be one to remember.
The Francos are a vibrant west coast family of educators. With the exception of one doctor and a rogue chemist, I quickly learned to ask what do you teach instead of what do you do.
the nature of education is a little less focus on self, a little more on those around us... simple. lovely.
The air was thick with laugher and squeals of delight-- youngsters fully committed to the expense of energy and the detriment of anything clean... while their parents, seasoned friends, laughed joyfully in the backyard over woodfired pizza and craft beer. Towards the end of the evening the father gave a warm toast followed by the traditional raising of the chair. The minute the moment ended, the playful chaos continued. A perfect, natural balance. Tradition and entropy. Vibrance and tranquility.
rustling
[Winston-Salem, NC]
i rediscovered this image this morning... it was shot this fall through the colored glass in Wait Chapel as Dr. Hatch delivered the annual State of the Union address... leaves clung outside to rustling branches.
Restoration, a wild rustling to reset.
as the semester comes to a close, this wild rustling has returned. in just the next few weeks we'll be transitioning west for a few months in Colorado. but we'll rustle, instead of flow... a few quick trips west before settling at last.
so stay tuned, and hold on tight. in the next few weeks we're in for a wild ride.
Wake Forest University School of Business
[Winston-Salem, NC]
I spent Saturday evening at the Graylyn Estate with the Wake Forest University Graduate School of Business. Pictured above are John and Jessica, two newly admitted candidates to the PhD/MBA program.
In Other Mediums: Oil & Charcoal on Canvas
"Leaving," Oil & Charcoal on Canvas, Spring 2012
Lovie wears a die cut fish around her patchwork neck, stitched and re-stitched in hopes this time will be the last... surgery, radiation treatment, cold night under the highway overpass. The name of the Lord is inscribed in the center of the fish. " I know that He brought me through this for a reason, even so I can help someone else," she tells me. Lovie also tells me that she used to have to watch her weight when she waitressed at the Olive Garden. "Too many darn breadsticks." And that she loves chicken Colorado. And that it hurts the most when she's alone, and it's so dark... when she's the one home has run away from.
This is the first of a series of paintings that consider our real and imagined relationships with home-- as a place, as a community, as somewhere to belong. During the process, I met Lovie. And my associations with "home" rapidly changed... much quicker than my consciousness. Painting became the process through which I actualized the experience of a fleeting home and the sense of abandon and desolation that appears in the void.
Though her name has been changed, Lovie is very real. And there are millions like her. What is the value of home? Of belonging? What would you feel to spend an hour in homelessness or as a refugee? What about a year? And who would help you? Would you?