The Ballard fleet waits for their season.

The Ballard fleet waits for their season., a photo by JTobiason Photography on Flickr.

If you have an iOS device and haven't checked out Instagram, I highly suggest it. I've been having lots of fun sharing photos with this tool and would love to see yours as well. If you use it, look me up at JTobiason. If not, keep watching Flickr because many of my favorites end up here as well.

Summer 2011

It has been a great summer!

Un Año Despues

Orgullo, a photo by jtobiason08 on Flickr.

I can't believe that it has been a year since I returned from Peru.  That is a statement that I can hardly believe myself.  Has it really been that long?  Has it gone that fast?  Has it really passed by?  Have i lived in 2 homes, been jobless, volunteered for months, found a job, been on a few retreat, bought a camera, made friends, written thousands of emails, posted thousands of pictures?  Has that really happened?

It is a little strange to be writing another 'one year later' post.  I remember the sentiment I held while writing my lament of a year after CASP.  In that post, I missed the community, the people, the heat, the fact that I was a college student being challenged to look at the world through a lens that I didn't know existed.  It was an exhilarating experience.  Then to look back on that a year later in the blandness of Spokane while working, just didn't cut it.

But Peru was different.  Rather than being a life shattering, path changing, I'm never going to be the same type of person ever, it was a time to solidify who I was.  It was a period that took so many lessons from that CASP trip and gleaned the ones that really mattered out and helped me to become who I was supposed to be.  It showed me how to really be the ideals I held and how to be with the people with whom I held them.  I really practiced inter-cultural relations and experienced life abroad without the safety net of other upper middle white college students standing at my side.  I grew to thrive in a family that I hold nearly as deep as the one that I'm related to by blood.  I grew to find another land that I really knew the history, geography, language and even pop culture of.  There were days when I felt separate.  There were days when I felt like I was in the middle of things, but more Peru taught me to be at home.  It taught me to walk down the streets with a smile on my face and constantly looking for the good and the unique in the mundane.  That may have  just been a bit of naiveté or even the photographer's eye, but it became part of who I was.

So now a year separated from that experience, I still love the moments of walking down my street and seeing the beauty in the normalcy.  I am enthralled by the wrinkles on a bus driver's face in the window.  Happy when I hear a song that just doesn't fit the vehicle it is being pumped from.  I'm happy to smile at children and to soak in that sea breeze.

This isn't to say that this year has been all roses.  I spent some dark days on unemployment.  Some lonely nights reading.  I've even passed a few days that made me question why I'm answering technical questions about computer games from middle aged women.  But, when it comes down to it, Peru solidified who I am outside my comfort zone to the point that I re-entered that area and being in Seattle kicked me around in that zone until I really made it my own.

So, I cannot proceed without thanking those who brought me through the Peruvian and Seattle experiences. Thanks to the friends of old who have stuck by me and the new ones who have built up around.  Thanks to The family who has supported me in who I am.  Thanks to that wonderful girl I get to date who makes me smile and thanks to a city that I'm happy to call my own.

So, you may be wondering, why this photo?  What does a woman holding out a hat have to do with a year in Seattle?  For me, it's all about pride in who you are.  That is actually the name of the photo, 'Orgullo' or pride in Spanish.  This woman, Vincinte de la Cruz, is a member of the Huayanay Artisan Community in Huayanay, Huancavelica, Peru and this photo is especially special to me because her pride in her work on this alpaca hat just shines through her squinted eyes.  Each line on her face speaks volumes of the trials she has endured and the years at 13,000 ft above sea level that she has lived.  But through that, she is who she is and she was so happy to share it with me.  This is how I feel a year later. I don't have the wrinkles to prove it and maybe I dont have an alpaca hat, but I'm a more sure of who I am and I'm proud of that.

The David Wax Museum

Thanks to The David Wax Museum for a wonderful house show last night.  I really loved every minute of it and hope you can get the vibe that they filled my living room with.  Definitely a band worth checking out!

Under Natural Lights

Under Natural Lights, a photo by jtobiason08 on Flickr.

I loved the Kingdome. This ugly structure that filled the Seattle skyline for years was where my love for baseball was born. This is where I saw the first game with both Griffeys play, where I saw Alex Rodriguez' first RBI, where I saw Randy Johnson dominate with a mustache that still gives me the chills and really where I became a good friend with my dad for taking me to so many games. But, now after something like 12 years in the Safeco Field, is just as true as ever, baseball is meant to be played under the sun.

The feet of Summer

The feet of Summer, a photo by jtobiason08 on Flickr.

Summer is for sandals, shorts, and even some sunburns. Today, July 5th, is the traditional beginning of Summer her in Seattle. It's time for all those complaints of rain and darkness to come out. For us to step out of boots and dress shoes and replace them with sandals or just bare feet. It's time to let your toes dig themselves into a beach or some green grass. To stand by a BBQ and to really be with the people that we care about. It's the time where nothing should be kept up inside and we get out. We rock these sandals that protect just what we need, let us be comfortable in who we are and not hide much. Let that be your mantra for this summer, let's live lives like feet in sandals.

Phin

Phin, a photo by jtobiason08 on Flickr.

Kids are so expressive. It is just something that I can't get over. I was just amazed to see how just hanging out on the front lawn can bring out smiles that will continue to blow my mind. Phin just loves my friend Tim and it really came out in his face of awe. I do enjoy the blurry effect of Phin's mom in the background watching her son be enthralled with the big people.

Family Ties

Family Ties, a photo by jtobiason08 on Flickr.

I was taking photos and some video for the Spilling Hope campaign at Bethany Community Church and was just taking some portraits too. I really like the way that this couple interacted with each other and with me too. I just feel like his striking lines with her smile just really speak bounds about how they interact and the love they share.

Also, I'm really going to try to step up the posts on this blog. I have been posting every other week or so, but I share photos on Flickr almost daily. So, I'll try to put the best of my daily updloads onto this site too.

Laughter wrings

Laughter wrings, a photo by jtobiason08 on Flickr.

As part of the Bethany Community Church's Spilling Hope campaign, people were invited to enter into the way that water is used in partner communities in Uganda. After pumping water from a hand pump, clothes were washed by hand with soap and water and then hung out to dry. This little guy really got into the process and his mom really got into washing clothes by hand. She was hoping that this interest would carry over back home (my bet is that didn't happen).

For more information on the project, see the link below:
www.spillinghope.org

This photo was also featured on the Seattlest blog as the photo of the day. Always fun to see my work going out in other places!

Washing

Washing, a photo by jtobiason08 on Flickr.

During the last few weeks, since Easter, Bethany Community Church has been participating in the Spiling Hope campaign. This encourages everyone to learn, participate and give in regards to water needs in Africa. This boy is washing his hands in lifegiving water and is diving into Spilling Hope. For more information, see SpillingHope.org.

Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hike along the Oregon Coast Trail with Erika and we (obviously) took lots of photos and video. I finally got around to putting it together into this little video.

Krista Foundation Coffeehouse 2011

This March, I had the opportunity to do the photo and video for the Krista Foundation's Coffeehouse.  It was a great experience to work on event photography and to celebrate the work of this great organization.

No Meat

No Meat, originally uploaded by jtobiason08.

This is oddly enough not related to my vegetarianism, but just happens to be Erika's non-meat cutting board. This, among many others, is one of the photos that I'm enjoying with my new DSLR. It is a strange situation to take skills that I had developed (film joke) with my manual/film cameras and use those in the way that I use my digital. I am thankful for all the things I learned and am really having fun with the camera and the digital darkroom. I'm sure there is lots of photos to come because of this new partnership.

On a completely different note, I saw Ira Glass of This American Life today heading into someone's house near Greenlake. I was sooooo excited. I am acutely aware and repidly reminded of how nerdy this type of star sighting is, but don't care. That program was one of my main connections with the US during my time in Peru (along with Wait Wait Don't Tell Me). So, Ira, though you will never read this blog, thank you!

Grain Silo

Grain Silo, originally uploaded by jtobiason08.

My Seattle life is growing and thus is my Seattle library of photos. I'm happy to announce that a refurbished Canon T1i will be joining the family of cameras who live with me. I think that it will really be a great addition. This was a stitched series of photos along the Elliott Bay Trail, just north of downtown Seattle. I was using a borrowed camera (I had borrowed it take these photos for Contour). They are all manual aperture and shutter speed (though I don't remember what) so that the lighting would be equal. I then cleaned them all up the same in Lightroom, stitched them together in Photoshop and then ran them through another Lightroom filter. Finally my JT logo was added. I finally learned how to do that, so once that signature is perfected, it will begin popping up more and more in my work (but I'm taking my time with it).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and a sudden explosion of blogging.

Too Dreary to be Enjoyed

Too Dreary to be Enjoyed, originally uploaded by jtobiason08.

My bike was on the fritz and I needed to get to the Krista Foundation's office. Along this walk I took lots of photographs, but this one really stood out as the point of the walk. It was pouring rain and was the middle of winter. It really stood out because it really signified the photo walk for me. It was a dreary winter day that really stood out as the my unemployed winter continued. The dreary corners of my life darkened but the light of my path went out into my future.

Since this photo walk, my life has continued, but I mostly just really love this photograph.

Selling sweets

Selling sweets, originally uploaded by jtobiason08.

I am coming to the end of my Peruvian photos. This is strange because this blog has only been centered around that part of my life for so long that I am not quite ready to let go of it and allow US photos to begin to fill its space, but I also have lots of new thoughts and experiences to begin to share through text and more photographs.

So first, I want to thank my readers. I have been so blessed to have people who were committed to reading my random thoughts and trying to live a little bit of my life. Thank you to those who made my experience a reality and a great season of my life. And thank you to those who continue to shape my life. You have helped this to happen and will continue into the future.

I do need to note that this will not be my final, last, never again Peruvian photograph, but I'm going to begin to try new things. I started a new job yesterday (customer service at Big Fish Games) and so it is time to really dive into this new season. So thanks to everyone and keep reading and viewing the photographs that are changing my life, no matter where I am.

Jobs

Well, I have been back for a little over a month now and life is looking toward settling.  I will move into my new house in Ballard next week.  It is a great house with an awesome view.  I will be living with 5 other guys with the aimed goal at intentional community.  We will see what that works itself into meaning, but I am really excited.  Also it has a hot tub.

There is this thing in life where you generally have to have money to buy food and thus survive.  Therefore I am in the job market.  So, if there are any readers out there who know of job opportunities, please do not hesitate to let me know.  I would love to keep speaking Spanish or to work with a NGO, but I am realistic in that the market in Seattle is difficult.  Therefore, please, if you know of anything, let me know.  I love you all.

Stateside for 2 weeks, where did it all go?

I case you haven't heard, I came back to the US on July 27th.  If you read this, I would love to hang out with you at some time.  My cell phone is the same as before.  If you don't have it, just send me an email.

But it is strange to be sitting at my parent's house writing this email looking out on my Mom's garden and listening to the newest Vampire Weekend album on my stereo which I set up in the family room upon returning.  This led to this short exchange:

Mom: "having music is great, I should have used it more often."
Joe: "It has only been set up for an hour and a half"
Mom: "oh......"

Joe and Erika after Sounders game

Since getting back to the US, I have gone out to Mexican food at El Charo (the best Chicken Mole ever!), had friends over for an epic welcoming, relaxed, family reunion, a week in Seattle, more friends over, a Peruvian dinner, a Mariners game, a Sounders game, hung out in Seattle and tomorrow head off to Vancouver for Cherise and Cory's wedding.  My life has been pleasantly busy.

But where did it all go?  I have this sentiment often when I travel where upon return, I feel as if it were all a dream.  I know that it isn't.  I know that the memories are real.  I can hold the negatives which prove that I took this picture, but it just went so fast.  And it is strange that it is the same season as when I left because it feels as if the world just paused here.  This is compounded by the fact that I am not in Spokane or at Whitworth now.  I am spending more time in Seattle.  My college friends are around, but not down the hall.

Vanesa, Lady, and Jhohana from CAMBIALO

But there are the things that make me remember it all.  I use a picture of Vanessa, one of the kids from the CAMBIALO project as my bookmark to remember those kids and what they mean to me every time I sit down to read.  Every article of clothing I purchased in Peru brings back memories whenever they slip over my extremities.  I was blessed by 14 people coming to a small celebration of my year at my parent's house last weekend of which I got to go through pictures, music, stories and some food (still eating those leftovers).  Of course my facebook is every other between english and spanish comments and photos.  It is still real.

So that is the dichotomy that I get to sit between.  I have said before that, to me, "home" is not a location, but rather the place where you feel connected to your community and now my "home" spans 2 continents.

So, I will continue to blog off and on.  I will not send the email updates as I have during my time in Peru, with exception of more important things.  This blog will still be full of my thoughts and experiences and pictures.  Thank you for yours this year.  Lets keep it up!