EYE SEE.

I met Holly Mae Mariveles when we both had rice-bowl haircuts in Miss Moss’ kindergarten class at Woodrow Wilson. The following year, I transferred out to a new school, and I remember being so scared and shy around my new environment. And to my surprise, she approached me and said, “Hey, weren’t you in Miss Moss’ class?” And from that point on, for the past 23 years, we have been friends. We have been through a lot– and I was reminded of all the memories we have had when I worked on her and Ajay’s slideshow for their wedding. It was an honor to be one of her bridesmaids, and it was also an honor to be a part of such an awesome day. She was the happiest I have ever seen her! Here are a few photos of Holly, on the the day she became Mrs. Holly Mariveles Pineda. Congratulations again Ajay and Holly. I love you both!

So my last post on this blog was nearly three months ago! Wow!! But I have a really good reason– it has been the busiest semester EVER. And I’m not just talking about the After Effects class I am taking at Parsons or the Thesis Project I really need to spend more time on– Maybe it is school on top of the video production classes I am teaching, the undergraduate class at Lang that I TA for, but also the freelance projects I’ve been working on. It is only now, that I am catching my breath and allowing myself to share.

EYE SEE. I SHARE.

The most recent project that I produced is Meredith and Eric’s Wedding video. It was a beautiful wedding at the Bronx Zoo, in which I was definitely happy to be a part of. With the ceremony scheduled for sunset at the Zoo Center, cocktail hour at the Madagascar exhibit with lemurs jumping around, and then a reception that was beautifully lit by Morris P. Grey, it was simply an unforgettable wedding. I also got to meet Jade and Tim of Uplift Photography and their beautiful photos really captured the day’s magnificent moments. Meri and Eric were really great to work with, and they were truly just excited to get married. Everyone present at the ceremony could really feel their love and joy

I also had the opportunity to shoot a Brazilian Independence Day Party for BelezaNYC. These parties are like no other– everyone had great energy, the live bands knew how to entertain the crowd and having an awesome talented second shooter, Jaime Lebrija, definitely helped out with covering all the different angles we needed to make this piece:

I also got to take part in this year’s Fashion Night Out for Karen Millen. Besides the fact that my feet were killing me, because wearing high heels for about 5 hours while shooting can be bit painful, it was overall a FUN shoot. It was my first time working with the talented Mr. Paul Crispin, who was the photographer for the event, as I shot video to capture the highlights of Karen Millen’s NYC Fashion Night Out.

So overall I’ve been keeping busy. As the winter approaches, I look forward to buckling down, researching, writing, interviewing and shooting for my THESIS!!

EYE SEE.

Like my niece in the picture below, I’ve been hiding behind my camera. Shooting, but not necessarily sharing as much as I should be. This picture was taken in the Philippines just a few weeks ago.

It has been far too long since I last updated this blog. This summer has come and gone. I was away from NY for a whole month- a good break. Now I’m just trying to jump back into work mode. I got some gigs, projects to shoot, students to teach, and a thesis to work on– and I’m glad I got to take a break before jumping back in.

Photos taken at Palawan, Philippines.


It’s interesting how one can jump In and out of different realities. Well it’s all one big reality, but sometimes I just get consumed in the hustle and bustle of New York. I get consumed in the reality that is right in front of me. Then I forget… sometimes I forget about what matters. This summer definitely reminded me. I got to spend a lot of time with the family in California and in the Philippines. I got to really TALK to my fam– rather than just communicate through texts, or the once in a month telephone calls, or the Facebook wall posts. Reconnecting is vital and is exactly what I needed.

Here’s a pic of the two women that continue to inspire me, and who continue to help me learn more about myself.

The other main lady in my life is my Lola. We all went to the Motherland together, and took her to Palawan’s underground river. This is before entering the cave:

And this is after:

I dont’ think she was too happy about about going on a 45 minute boat ride with thousands of bats flying around… haha

After the cave, my sister, nephew, and I hiked back to our hotel. After climbing 300+ stairs, that led to climbing three more mountains….

We finally got to our long awaited destination. A beautiful and refreshing award:

EYE SHARE:

Here is a video that has no relevance to my trip to the Philippines, but is a video that I absolutely love and wanted to share. Beautifully shot and edited.

Aquadettes from California is a place. on Vimeo.

I SEE.

A photograph of photographers in a waterhole…soaking up the water, the sun–and for some, the beer

Going to Charlottesville, Virginia for a weekend of “peace, love and photography” was a much needed vacation of inspiration. It started off with a road trip with my friend and photographer Marisa Wong. It may have been a LONG road trip, but a good slow paced one– something us cityfolk were yearning for.

What the rest of the weekend had in store for me was reunions with old friends, meeting new photogs, and photography projects that reminded me of the beauty and importance of photography. It definitely was a weekend of peace, love and photography.

EYE SHARE.

Here are a couple of projects that I took note of:

A project exploring blindness across the globe.
Blanco by Stefano De Luigi

blanco – the movie from stefano de luigi on Vimeo.

These San Francisco based storytellers announced the launch of their online magazine.
Long form stories for the iPad.
Once Magazine

Once Magazine — Coming Summer 2011 from Once Magazine on Vimeo.

Reinier Gerritsen
A photographer who takes photographs of strangers in subways….

And the final night’s slideshow ended with an entertaining video that got EVERYONE on their feet and dancing……

Girl Walk // All Day from jacob krupnick on Vimeo.

THANK YOU LOOK3 for such an EPIC weekend.

EYE SEE.

About a year ago, I shot a behind the scenes video for my good friend Frank Myers. He along with his business partners founded a clothing brand called Massa. David Zamdmer set up a photo shoot at the roof of an apartment building in Brooklyn, and I shot and edited video of the event. I also got to interview Massa’s creative director Mirlet Auguste.

EYE SHARE.

According to their website, “Massa was born in the summer of 2009 when a couple of innovating entrepreneurs decided to create a clothing brand inspired by martial arts, street arts and dance. Mirlet and Frank come from diverse backgrounds, which culminated in creating a clothing brand that is new, fresh and unique.” Check them out– they are pretty fresh, and they are simply dope people to work with

EYE SEE:

On my most recent visit home, I got the opportunity to photograph Holly and AJ’s engagement photos during our private tour at the Giants stadium. It was not only a pleasure to photograph two of my good friends, but it was also quite amazing to be walking around the World Series Champions’ Stadium. I took a lot of photos, but here is a sneak peak of Holly and AJ’s love…

EYE SEE:

I love random moments in New York. Like this photo below in which my friends and I asked this stranger to play something, he happily just started sharing his art and sang.

Besides random moments, and I am pretty late in blogging about this, but Her Girl Friday was a success. The room was packed, overflowing with people and good energy. I got to meet some really amazing people, and got a lot of great feedback on my short documentary film.

EYE SHARE:

This piece was created by the late Jim Hetherington. It’s a beautifully put together, and probably the most inspirational piece I have seen in a really long time. The transitions are seamless and the personal narrative flows like a poem. Thank you Jim for sharing your passion.

‘Diary’ is a highly personal and experimental film that expresses the subjective experience of my work, and was made as an attempt to locate myself after ten years of reporting. It’s a kaleidoscope of images that link our western reality to the seemingly distant worlds we see in the media.

Camera + Directed by Tim Hetherington
Edit + Sound design by Magali Charrier
19′ 08 / 2010

EYE SEE:

It feels like the longest winter ever. Probably the longest winter I have experienced. Rain and snow in April. I’m missing my California weather!

Here are photos of one window, one night, at three different times:

EYE SHARE:

I have definitely been MIA on this blog. I’ve been reading a lot. A lot of Paolo Freire, bell hooks, and other books on critical pedagogy and race relations. That, along with just contemplating and reflecting on the woes of society and the world, plus the element of this weather, can make one’s mood quite unhappy. Yet with these clouds, there are pockets of sunshine. Let me just name a few:

1. On the night of my 26th birthday– not only did I have about 15 people from the Bay fly out to NY, not only did the Giants win the final game against Philly that led them to the World Series, but I ALSO met two female journalists, Talisa Chang and Juliet Linderman. They were interviewing my friends for an article about love and sex, I started chatting with them and we just clicked! We were all from California, female media makers, and were just talking about trying to organize a female journalism network. And within the next week, we met up for brunch and started to seriously plan and organize. Her Girl Friday was conceived! It has been about six months, and we have grown to a group of 7 organizers–who are involved in all different types of media– and we are having our first event this week! If you are in NY, come thru!!!

2. Visual Inspiration: “Just Keep Going, You Got Nothing to Lose” by Luke Rudkowski
Here is a video that definitely brought up my spirits when I watched it.

3. Cornel West. In an interview with Cornel West on Al Jazera, Riz Khan talks about Cornel’s horrific past experiences with racism and asks how he retained so much compassion. Cornel responds, “A jazz man and a blues man does what? Looks at catastrophe in the face, and resists with compassion with sensitivity, understands the difference between justice and revenge, refuses to drink from the bitter cup of bitterness, but has a moral outage, a righteous indignation, a holy angry against injustice across the board.”

I’m really lucky to have met, hear him speak, and photograph Mr. Cornel West about 4 years ago in New Orleans Post Katrina:

4. Visual Inspiration: The Sartorialist (Scott Schumann) by Tyler Manson
And here’s a video of a photographer I admire just because he shoots everyday and posts everyday on The Sartorialist. It’s also a well shot video….

I should catch up on my blogging…I know it’s been a while since I last blogged, but here are a few things I have been up to…

I SEE…

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend and I hopped on the $15 Chinatown bus ride to Boston…just to visit our good friend Dexter, but also just to get away from New York. Here are just two photos from the “getaway.”

EYE SHARE.

Yesterday, I went to the DIY DAYS: conference, and my brain is restless. It is kind of amazing how the event was free. Lately, I have tried to steer away from conferences because it either costs something or covers a subject matter that I already have heard several times about. But DIY was a bit different. For one, I’m used to going to photojournalism conferences, but this conference was a social media and social entrepreneurship conference. There were three speakers who left an impression on me:

DIY Days from The Sabi Company on Vimeo.

Molly Crabapple, creator of Dr. Sketchy’s, spoke about “how to make a DIY empire.” I personally have never heard of Dr. Sketchy’s, but after hearing how it began, I was definitely inspired. The first step to “make a DIY empire” – which is something I’m not sure if I’m really looking to do, but can apply to creating a network or collective (which I am currently in the process of doing both with other awesome collaboratives) is to address a problem. In her case, the problem was that she was an art student, as well as a model for sketching classes, which she felt she was not being recognized for. She wanted to put her name on the schedule as a model, but was only referred to as “draped female model.” The long and short of it, is that she came up with an idea where she held the first event at a bar, where people can draw and sketch models while drinking a beer. It’s a social event where models and artists are having a good time, while delving into their creativity. This event grew and is now taking place in different parts of the world.

It’s always good to hear inspiring stories like hers. Amy also designed this for SXSW:

Brian Newman talked about “Reclaiming DIY.” Have in mind, that I really did not know anything about DIY, before this conference. So before the talk, I was not quite sure what Brian was “reclaiming.” Bascially, he talked about reclaiming the story. What I LOVED about his talk was him pointing the NEED for social change—especially in the realm of net neutrality– and as artists our creative way of doing it. He also pointed out that social issues DO NOT have to only be conveyed and told through documentary film but that storytelling confines need to be broken.

Michael Margolis talked about something I definitely need to work on: writing a bio. He gave some really good tips, which I will use soon, and will summarize with this quick point: “Give your audience entry points for connection.” I looked up his bio, and it starts off like this:

“As the son of an inventor and an artist, Michael always asked the unpopular questions that got him picked-on in school. Being left-handed and color-blind didn’t help with his coordination or fashion sense either.
Michael learned to channel his inner-geek, and as a social entrepreneur, co-founded two Digital Divide nonprofits – before the age of 23.”

My new bio, coming soon!

Eye See

“Global Youth Media” and “Race, Ethnicity and Class in the Media” are the two classes I am currently taking this semester at the New School. To say the very least, they are intense classes with heavy reading, and heavy, yet enlightening, conversations. I look forward to class every week! As nerdy as that sounds… But besides being a student, I am also a video production teacher. And this past weekend, I took my students to shoot their first documentary. Here are some photos of them documenting Grandma Sylvia from El Salvador as she cooks one of her traditional plates: papusas.

Their project is about Queens, it’s diversity and how food represents culture. I can’t wait to see the finished product!

I share:

In my classes at the New School, I have been reading a lot about human rights, but also about female representation in the media. A video that I watched over the weekend, kind of tied together the readings that I have been absorbed in this past week. “In peacetime, women are discriminated…In wartime, they are targets.”
This video was posted on Richard Koci Hernandez’s blog. I have seen an older video of this project, but I thought this one was definitely more powerful.

TRAILER ” WOMEN ARE HEROES” from SOCIAL ANIMALS on Vimeo.