Overcoming fear can be fun /  by Jessica Peterson

After getting into a fight with a few friends about how stupid it was to own guns (mostly because they scare the crap out of me) I decided to try the gun thing out and get over my fear.  I am not going to lie, I had a lot of fun shooting.  I guess I am tired of being afraid of so many things and it felt really good to fall in love with one of them, but really, it was hard not to when I was with some of my favorite people. 
the group of us: Me, Robert, Stina, Jack, Benjie, Natalie and Jim
the essentials 


I will be doing this again.

Escaping planet earth for a brief moment /  by Jessica Peterson

first of all, sorry for the long absence.  Sometimes I don't want to blog and so I don't. 

Exploring Utah, my mom and drove through the desert yesterday to just explore and to give Max some time to run around.  We came across a clay mine that felt like a chunk of a different planet was implanted on ours.  I couldn't believe the colors, as first I thought it was some art instillation (not really but that is where my mind went).  Earth can be cool... 
happy to be wearing boots , poor max ended up with clay boots by the end of the day.
I thought this was so great, I saw a little max print adjacent to a horse shoe print. 

Expired film /  by Jessica Peterson


I have been carrying my old 35m film Nikon around with me in my purse and car and pulling it out when 
i feel like it. 
Max.
yogurt land with the kiddos in Burbank

Yesterday after lunch with my lovelies
how could i not take their pictures?

8 years ago... /  by Jessica Peterson

I photographed these.
The rolls of film have been sitting in a box for a past 8 years, I have never bothered developing them because I knew that if they were worth anything I would have done that 8 years ago.  I finally got curious enough to develop them, 6 rolls, most were garbage (and one was a little bizarre... sorry Casey haha).  There was one roll that I was really excited to see, while in school we had an assignment to photograph the damage caused by a fire ( I can't remember where the fire was, it may have been Simi Valley?) it was a 4x5 camera class but I must have loosely shot around with my SLR.  I thought some of them came out kinda nice even thought the film has rotted. 

just a flower
Annie (we miss her so)
The road trip to the fire sight, my old car (i miss it so)
Caitlin
Kelly
this was pretty cool
I am wishing I grabbed that camera and checked to see if there was film in the camera.
.

instant gratification /  by Jessica Peterson

I really love these little images 
I love holding them in my hands after I expose them and they noisily slide out of the plastic camera
I don't like to watch them develop, I just set them aside for a minute then surprise myself with a strong look
This morning called for photos
-the blanket I hang on my window so the outside world can't see in (one day I will break down and buy a curtain and rod like a normal person)
-the snow as it fell
-the inside of Max's mouth, I tried to take a photo and he tried to eat the camera
-this is from a failed instax that refused to develop so I drew an image
no need to waste such a lovely moment.

Jon Heder and Nick Peterson's Short Film /  by Jessica Peterson

 I don't know if many of you know this but I have an extremely talented family, I am grateful for their examples and the push they give me when I feel lame and small.  Well, my oldest brother Nick is a film guy and at the moment he and his friend Jon Heder (aka Napoleon Dynamite, you know, the "my lips hurt real bad" guy) are using Kickstarter to raise some money for a short film project they are planning on shooting soon.  If you have a moment and would like to check it out please do, just click on the link below the image.  The concept of the film is really great, it is about a the relationship between and man and woman, the man brings all things destructive into the relationship and leaves her alone to dwell in the mess, it sounds dark but it will be told in a beautiful and unconventional way... I believe it will be shot live action with stop motion.  Check it out!

  

Thank you Lou /  by Jessica Peterson

Saturday morning an old friend (Lindsey Winkel) came over to photograph me,  I photographed her a while ago and she felt it was necessary to get me back. 
These are a few of my favorite ones.
PS I am really bad at having my picture taken, hence the best ones are with my face mostly covered by hair... haha.
I love the one tooth being shown.  he is such an ugly monster sometimes.
a phone call from my mom.

/  by Jessica Peterson

Last night I found a card in the bottom of my bag, I was about to format it thinking there probably wasn't anything that hasn't been downloaded already on the card... luckily I didn't format the card but double checked, I randomly took these the other week.  I am happy that I checked. 

haha.
Max's favorite seat in the house, fits him just right. 

SFMOMA: Exposed /  by Jessica Peterson

Today I ventured to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to check out the current exhibit Exposed: Voyeurism, surveillance and the camera since 1870.  
It was really interesting to see the different examples of voyeurism, looking in on some of these people's personal lives and the evidence of ones intrusion of another's.  I got to thinking about the blogging/facebooking world, how many of us are willing to expose so much of ourselves, but much of what is revealed is the beautiful, photoshopped, fun, edited parts of ourselves so we can mold the way we are being seen.  It was really refreshing (for lack of a better word) to see something more raw, intelligent and telling, although still not always the "truth" because I am not sure photography is always able to do. 
It was a great show, it was lovely seeing so many great photographers images in print and in person.
I love museums, I love going by myself and at my own pace but I did miss having someone to chat about with it afterwards... So if anyone has already seen it I would love to hear your thoughts.  

Alison Jackson
Jack Road Rage, from the series Confidential
fictional stories made with celebrity look-alike models.
She stated, "I try to highlight the psychological relationship between what we see and what we imagine. This os bound up in out need to look- our voyeurisn - and our need to believe."
Richard Avedon's image of Andy Warhol 
Sohie Calle
I loved her Hotel series, she got a job as a chambermaid in Venice and would photograph the rooms she tended to and the personal object, letters and even what their garbage bins were filled with.  I love that small stories could be created from the tiny details gathered. 
Richard Learoyd
Jasmijn, to the Light
Abelardo Morell
Camera Obscura Image of Maria della Salute with Scaffolding in Palazzo Bedroom
I LOVED these, such an amazing concept and wonderful thing to do. I loved the idea of turning a room into a camera, bringing the outside world in, turning it upside down and then taking a photo of that. 
So brilliant and strange at the same time.