The World in Focus Blog
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…
The Syrian refugee crisis has been in the news in a big way the last week or two. I’m grateful for that! The plight of the refugee is unbelievably hard…and I’ve seen many of these folks up close and spent time in their humble camps and homes. But there are refugees all over the world…and they are equally deserving of our time and attention. One of my clients, World Relief, has been working with resettling refugees here in the states (and caring for them overseas) for a LONG time.
I wanted to post a series of photos of one of the successes I’ve seen from World Relief (out of many) from a shoot I was on earlier this year to Mozambique, a country that has known its share of war and conflict over the last few decades itself.
Forgotten about the war refugees from Syria? Please don’t. There are roughly 1.5 million in Lebanon alone. That’s about the number of people living in Dallas, to give you an idea of what this looks like.
Earlier this year I did a repeat visit to the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon with Medical Teams International to follow up on stories I have been doing with them on Syrian war refugees. It was another eye-opening shoot…the realities of conflict and war continue to make life REALLY hard for so many people in this region of the world. I hope these photos shed some light on both the problems they face, and their incredible resiliency. I hope these portraits give you an idea of who some of these incredible people are…
