Have Faith Post Sandy

Have Faith is an image I photographed in Soho in 2008 while walking down Broadway in NYC. I felt like sharing this photo on my blog because I think many need a little reminder now that as hard as things may get, eg: the devastation that occurred during Hurricane Sandy, that those things will hopefully get better. For example, maybe politicians will work on helping mother nature recover from human insensitivity (eg: the fossil fuel industry, CO2 creation, tearing down rain forests, cruel animal testing, genetically modified foods, etc) so that our lives are less tumultuous.  I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope this will stop people from thinking that global warming is a "natural occurrence" and make them realize that we need to care for our environment. 

One reason I developed The Museum of Messages is because I feel that it is important to photograph people's visual emotions to remind others that we are not alone. Best of luck to those that were affected by Hurricane Sandy. May you have a speedy recovery!

Yes Future

Recently I was in Bayonne, France and walked by this message that stated, "Yes Futur".  Originally there was no "e" at the end of "futur" so in post production I added that character so it read "future". 

Ahhhh....the future!!! Such a mystery!!! I thought that this was a pretty powerful image because of the bridge, in the background, signifying a connection. 

I have added this photo to The Museum of Messages website. I think the composition turned out nicely.  

May your future be full of peace, joy, prosperity and love. 

Photo Competition - Your Help Is Appreciated

This afternoon I was inspired to enter some of my photos, from my series on "love" in The Museum of Messages, into an international photo competition called One Life.  I'd really like to continue exhibiting these images and sharing them with the general public. In order to do that it would be helpful to be awarded a cash grant and some recognition. 

If you visit http://helenavdevengoechea.see.me/onelife2012 and click on the link "Collect Me" at the top of the page that will help me to become more visible in the competition. Your help is much appreciated. 

Vivian Maier At Steven Kasher Gallery

About a month ago I went to Steven Kasher Gallery in Chelsea, NY to go see an art collector, Mr. John Bennette, talk about Vivian Maier's work. It was an educational experience but there were so many questions I had that couldn't be answered because Vivian passed away in 2009.  

Her photos are beautiful and are taken in a photojournalist style. This style is my favorite because one's true expression is captured.  I have read reviews about Ms. Maier's work and the reviewers rank Vivian up there with Diane Arbus. I wonder how that would have changed her life if she was alive to learn that people truly admire her vision? 

In any case, I thought to let you know that Steven Kasher Gallery will be exhibiting Vivian Maier's photos again. The opening is April 12th from 6-8pm. 

Love In NYC

Hi All! Hope you are having a good week. 

Yesterday I decided to work on the The Museum of Messages.  As a creative I am inspired by expressions that are written all over the city. Since I am a photographer I feel that it is my duty to document these words because they have a very short life span. 

The Museum of Messages has its very own website. Yesterday I posted a few photos about love in NYC. 

Additionally their is a section on my studio website in which you can see some of the photos in a different format. 

I hope you enjoy!

I attended Photo Plus Expo at the Javits Center in NYC last October and met with many creative professionals in portfolio review sessions organized by Palm Spring Photo Festival. In total I visited with 5 reviewers. One of them was Todd Bradway from D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers). 

The reason I selected him as a reviewer is because I have been working on a photo project titled The Museum of Messages for many years and I am currently looking for a publisher to print a book and or produce a digital e-book of my project. 

Todd gave me many helpful pointers on certain publishers I should contact as well as how to market my book. He told me that photo books aren't selling in the mass market and to introduce my book to publishers as an Art + Design book. I thought that was a brilliant idea! 

Above is a screen shot of a mock up book that I am creating in iPhoto to present to publishers. 

I am interested, what are your thoughts on the future of book publishing? 

Attention photo thieves! Yesterday I learned that Google came up with a system called Google Image Search . When a photographer drops one of his or her photos in the search cue it will search the whole web to see if others may be using his or her image without permission. 

I think a lot of copyright infringement lawsuits may be brewing.

As an artist I really hope that people learn that all the time and energy artists put into their work should be paid for not stolen.