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Monday, October 26, 2015

humans of my world

It´s been a while since my last post. This family has been through 1 surgery, 4 terrible cold´s/flu ´s and 1 busy mama working on this collection of images and applying, once again, to a LensCulture Award.
 
But I am finally back and ready to share. The idea for this series actually came from here, my blog. I often recieve comments on how beautiful my photographs are (heartfelt thank you´s for those comments, they keep me going!!) and what a beautiful and interesting place I live in. I always seem to chuckle a bit inside because, if I´m going to be completely honest, 2 thoughts always cross my mind:
 
1. If only you could actually see where I live (and what it implies).
2. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
 
Although I am not blind to the garbage, poverty and insecurity that surrounds us, I see not only the amazing natural beauty Mexico holds, but also the bitter sweet complexity within the lives and hearts of those that surround me, year after year, day after day. So, this is inherenty a part of me, my life, my reality. Not only the quiet moments of motherhood and family, our visits to the woods or the beach, our home, our blessings.
 
And so it was that I decided to grab my camera and walk around my town, visiting the people who have known me forever, those who have seen my children grow, who have witnessed the years and whom truly reflect the essence of this country and our reality. I somehow wanted to honor these people, this reality, these souls. Click HERE to read more about my inspiration and the story behind my muses.


 
 
 
 









Sunday, October 4, 2015

memories of home

Browsing through my old photographs as I work on my portfolio, I came upon the ones I took on one of my last visits home. I miss it. I miss it all. The thin, cold air and the color of the sky when you´re at almost 4,000 meters above sea level, the harsh contrast of bulldozers ravaging nature with the beautiful ocean as a backdrop, making the contrast even more painful, the smell of the port, the sounds... I remember it all, with all my senses, and I miss my Perú in a way that words cannot express. Maybe only images can.
 
 
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Sunday, September 27, 2015

my week, my instagram



this week´s favorites





Una foto publicada por claudia almandoz (@claudia_almandoz) el

Una foto publicada por claudia almandoz (@claudia_almandoz) el

Una foto publicada por claudia almandoz (@claudia_almandoz) el





Saturday, September 26, 2015

fragile freedom

My latest assignment for National Geographic (Your Shot). Helping one of the beautiful birds that drift into our home from time to time. Sometimes they can really get hurt, but this one made it through just fine. One of the very few (if any) downsides of living surrounded by trees.



 



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Sunday, September 20, 2015

my week, my instagram

Una foto publicada por claudia almandoz (@claudia_almandoz) el


Una foto publicada por claudia almandoz (@claudia_almandoz) el




Una foto publicada por claudia almandoz (@claudia_almandoz) el

Una foto publicada por claudia almandoz (@claudia_almandoz) el

Una foto publicada por claudia almandoz (@claudia_almandoz) el

Una foto publicada por claudia almandoz (@claudia_almandoz) el

Monday, September 14, 2015

happiness is a leap of faith + a camera

So I´m about to get honest. Real honest. I confess to having been fear ridden during my entire life until I reached my late 30´s. The unknown has always seemed to represent something threatening. This does not mean that I did not wish to travel, live and see. This meant that if I was to do this outside my confort zone, in other words, alone, then it was a possibility I would always secretly boycott because saying "I´m too scared to do it" was simply humiliating. I would have to admit I was weak, a coward. This is not something I was willing to do because of the simple fact that my soul is that of a wanderer, yet life has dealt me a few cards that have left certain parts of me broken, and to admit, would mean to face, and to face would be the beginning of healing, and to heal I would have to dare to jump.
 
And so we come to the decisive part of the story. Last year, while my cousin, who lives half way across the world, planned his wedding in New Zealand, he wrote to me and asked if I would be willing to be his official wedding photographer. Life put me in an awkward position. There was no excuse I could make up -or not so make up- (lack of money, work, etc) that could get me out of this one without admitting I was a total wuss because he was offering to pay for the trip. So I said yes, I couldn´t let an opportunity as life altering as this pass. I just didn´t know exactly how life altering that "yes" would be.
 
To make a long story short, getting on the airplane that would fly me across the world (as far from my children as I could ever have imagined) was one of the hardest things I´ve ever done. It involved quite a fair amount of crying and moments of sheer panic, but with the help of my husband and my sister, (with whom I travelled) I not only made it to Middle Earth, but travelled it in a camper van, walked on a glacier, drove on the opposite side of the road through miles and miles of unknown mountain roads, and most definitely left my heart there. Saying that the moment I took that leap of faith was completely life altering for me would not be an understatement. Realizing I was able to live up to the true essence of my wandering soul, despite the fear that paralized me for so many years, was like opening a door that I wish to never close again. And now I live my life, praying that the filter through which I understand and view life, my photography, will take me back and beyond Middle Earth. I grew wings, and the love/hate relationship with the restlessness that accompanies it, is part of the adventure.
 
I have begun the task of editing our whole trip and wish to do so in chronological order. This will probably take me a while so I wanted to share a few of the random pics I have on my National Geographic Profile and Portfolio. Meanwhile I will continue to edit, post and work towards getting back to New Zealand with my husband for a long overdue honeymoon (14 years to be exact) and more photography heaven. Wish me luck!
 
 
 




 

 



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