I want to give you all a few quick updates here on the blog. First though, I’d like to introduce my first Blackfish-inspired photo today, titled “Concrete Cell.” It is the first in a series, but I was too excited to share this photo to wait until they’re all finished.
The often-cited comparison of SeaWorld’s whale enclosures being the equivalent size of a bathtub to you or me not only deeply saddened me, but also sparked the idea for this photo. Imagine it. When you’re not forced to perform, you live in this sad, colorless, sterile world of concrete and shadows. The intelligence of these whales makes their living conditions even crueler and more heartless; sentient beings shoved into tiny compartments where they die a little more every day.
If you also agree that SeaWorld’s practices are abusive and need to be changed, please see my open letter to Jack Hanna regarding his defense of SeaWorld. You can read more about the issues there and take action with petitions to sign!Thank you to Katie Johnson for her beautiful underwater modeling in this! Underwater modeling is a skill unto itself and quite tricky, but she makes it look effortless.
Concrete Cell
Secondly, there has been a lot of response to my post about suicide and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. This is one of those topics that is very, very real, but rarely discussed in public. Or even in private, for that matter. There is always a correlation between any kind of chronic illness and suicide, because there is only so much a person can endure. This post has been shared quite a bit already, but I would love for it to reach even more people, and hopefully find its way to the original person who found my blog by searching “I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and I want to give up.” I understand that feeling. My blog will rage in its way against cruelties, abuses and atrocities, but its arms are always open to the ill, the hopeless, the voiceless and those in need. This is not a place of judgement. This is a place of love and acceptance.
Lastly, my 2014 calendars are now available! Printed on thick, gorgeous paper, each month features a popular new image from my most recent works, including photographs from my DreamWorld, actor portraits series and my CFS/fibro/ME series Enchanted Sleep. So add a dose of magic to your day…or the day of someone you love…with a collectable calendar!
