The World in Focus Blog
Create leaders, that’s what they do. After all, leaders aren’t born–they’re made. That’s according to Development Associates International, who has made it their mission to do away with the “big man” top-down leadership style (thank God) and train up a multitude of humble leaders. I like that approach. Here is some of their work and the people they touch in the regions of Guwahati and Shillong, India.
The summer before last I spent some time at a sports camp on the shores of Lake Langano in Ethiopia. The assignment was to do a story on this blind girl from the local community, above, but I had a wonderful time just observing all that was happening at the camp. I also got to know the director and his family a bit and caught a ride out on the lake for some afternoon swimming. Ethiopia has really grown on me over the years, and although I still have little appetite for injera, I do love the coffee, the people, and the natural beauty. I’ll be back with another client in May–and can’t wait.
Much has been said about refugees coming from Syria and other places to the Greek Islands. I won’t add to the debate except to say this: if I were a refugee I’d sure want to have some help along the way, not people telling me to go back to the war zone I had just come from. Maybe we could all try putting ourselves in these people’s shoes. Maybe these image I took on the islands of Kos, Chios and Samos with Medical Teams International will help you do just that.
As usual, there is a story behind the story. Particularly in regards to Malibu. Of course, everyone who has been to this place has a story. Let me give you the bare bones of mine with hopes that it will reconnect you to yours and help you feel like you are back at camp–all with the not-so-subtle hopes that you will buy a print of the place to help kids hear the greatest story ever told.
In the early 1970s, my father, Mike, became Malibu’s property manager and moved the family up to every boy’s dream home. I was just a couple of years old. I loved running around this place and feeling like I had the God of the universe as my guide. I formed a perspective on life there that shaped all of who I am today. I will never forget the sights and sounds of the place. And if I could smell (which I can’t), the scents.
At any rate, when my wife and I went back this summer as adult guests I was able to put my eyes on both the old and the new of Malibu, and with my camera I tried to capture some of the scope and grandeur of the place. Here’s what you should know–for every wide iconic view I shot a series of photos using only my 85mm lens, shot wide open, on my Nikon D4. I then put the images together for something that I really don’t think has ever been tried or done before at Malibu. The result is a labor of love from that time and place that I hope you will fall in love with as well. Here’s to Malibu!
Tonight is the first game of the 2015-16 Colorado College Tiger Hockey season. I’m psyched to get to shoot some games again this year. Here is a trip down memory lane from the last few seasons…
