Décadence Urbaine

Phase/Stage 3: 3D glasses required!

Bella in Wonderland is complete for now. I have some changes I could make eventually but it was some major work figuring out how to make a photograph into an anaglyphic 3D experience, especially when working in the more pictorial style.  I wish I could past 3D glasses to the monitor for you, but if you have some handy, enjoy!  If not, then I am so sorry, for the next two weeks you could view the first photo at CSUF's art Exit Gallery. I was fortunate enough to make it into the student show. Yay!  

Phase 2: Bella in Wonderland

Bella ate a cookie that makes her smaller and has to face an army of snails and Haydar's shoe.

Stage 1: 

Spring Finals are here! Below is phase one of my digital studio photography spring 2012 final.  Children have so many questions and Bella takes hers into the garden where she encounters beings that are the same as her but different. 

The Mystery Bakery

In an unsuspected alley way there is a bag of day old bread hanging in a window.  It is so dark inside that it would take someone adventurous and brave enough to enter for inquiries.  The scent of fresh baked bread pulls my nostrils and guides me in.  The baker waves me away to not take his picture, ashamed of his tattoos he doesn't want to be seen.  I have to convince him I think he is beautiful and that I don't mind the tattoos for his to allow me to shoot.  The sun is so hot outside and yet in here there is no escape.  The oven burns even hotter raising the temperature to almost sauna status at 150 degrees F.  It is like a sweat lodge, no wonder they have their shirts off.  I walk out of there with fresh, hot french rolls.  They are perfectly crisp and flaky on the outside and soft and airy on the inside.  I eat two before hopping on a motor bike (against the provision of my professor) to go share the rest of the bread with hungry patients waiting in line at the hospital.  Back home in my editing process I wondered who is this man? What do his tattoos represent? And why was he ashamed of them?  Was he a soldier in the khmer rouge, is he accepted in his community? What is his story? Having not spoken Khmer I decided to tell a story of what may have been going on.  Inspired by the ash and smoke of burning bread I share with you "The Baker of the Bread"

Koh Kong Cambodia

Alice Chasing the Rabbit

San Francisco at Sunrise

San Francisco @ Sunrise

Alice in Wonderland CA

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well. ~Lewis Carroll

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.~Lewis Carroll

Alice in Wonderland Composite

 Down the Rabbit Hole

"But I was thinking of a way To multiply by ten, And always, in the answer, get The question back again." ~Louis Carrol

Photo Composite © Chelsea DeVere 

Flickr Finally

I finally have a Flikr account. Please take the "journey" to view my first SET from Project Cambodia 2012.

Journey

Project Cambodia accompanied the Cambodian Health Professionals of America (CHPAA) on a medical and dental mission to Koh Dach, Koh Kong and Ta Tai Cambodia to fit amputees for prosthetic arms, treat over 6,000 people in a seven day free clinic. Experience the joy and rewards of helping those in need.  Visit CHPAA to learn more and to help.  Visit Project Cambodia 2012 for more journalistic stories regarding the mission.

Meditation in Koh Kong

Teachers open the door but you must enter yourself ~Chinese Proverb

Meditation
Reflections of how two strangers from different worlds came together as one.

The sun hot, the air still, and every corridor of the hospital is a sea of noise.  Sweating bodies young and old stand in long lines waiting to be seen by American doctors in Koh Kong Feb 2, 2012.  Volunteer voices call loudly encouraging order, waving their arms and using vibrant American humor.  Babies cry in fear for attention.  Middle-aged women cackle remarks in Khmer amongst each other and men become disgruntled with the wait. Those extremely ill are eerily quiet.  Hundreds of people flock from miles around.  They are treated promptly or referred to ICU if in need of major surgery.  Many surround the perimeter shaded by big hats sipping fresh iced sugar cane juice seeking relief from the scorching heat. 

Water which is too pure has no fish ~ Ts'ai Ken Ta'ian

By some universal force my eyes meet with an elderly man sitting at the roots of a tree in front of the hospital.  With open palms he reveals bags of “miracle medicine” and signals for me to sit down.  He is smiling with one tooth remaining and says to me “81” as he points to his heart.  I am intrigued but I don’t speak Khmer or French and he speaks very little English so we are silent, smiling at each other on the grass.  He taps my knee and shows me, a yoga teacher, how to get into half lotus.  He seems impressed by my ability and I feel nurtured.   We close our eyes and become very silent.  I battle for a moment with my nerves wanting so bad to hear his story while he curiously peeks at me through one eye.   Finally I am there, the orbiting noise of the clinic and all the people become distant as we meditate together for a timeless moment.  We find peace within ourselves and together we are one.  

By Chelsea DeVere

The quieter you become the more you are able to hear ~Lao Tzu