Thanks everyone for your support so far. I have a few more thank you's to add! Here's to Christopher Rikli and Brett Sillers for their generous support!
To help get me over the line in these last few days I've decided to add my previous works for sale in the $500 or over contributions. Prints from my series "The Salton Sea Landscapes" "Slab City" and "The Downtown East Side" are for sale as limited edition archival prints at this reduced price. Check out my website to see these works.
http://clairemartinphotography.com/
I'm getting really anxious to develop this film now! I've been shooting pretty intensely and have been sleeping at the camp, trying to get some more intimate shots and trying to understand the real way of life here. I can visualize in my head some of the shots I've taken and I can't wait to see if they've turned out as I expect. The lighting situation are pretty challenging, candle light, low shutter speeds, high grain, photographing in the dark using flash and hoping I've guessed my distance ratio for my focus and winged some compositions, but for me this is the beauty of shooting film. The great surprises you get at the end. I just love doing this. It is so rewarding when you meet people who let you in to their lives and share everything they have with a stranger who can barely speak their language. I just sit around and wait for a photo while they live their lives in front of my lens. On the other hand it is absolutely exhausting! I don't know how they maintain such general level of calm when every ones nerves must be frayed. Sleeping on the floor, constantly hungry, without a moments privacy not to mention the fact that they are living with the grief of losing their homes and often their loved ones, only one short year ago. Their resilience is truly astounding.
As I said I've been shooting film, so don't have a lot to show you, but I took a video on my iphone of my new best friend Hebins. He's my 8 year old guide and interpreter. I thought he would just say Hi Australia, but it turned into a full scale interview / interrogation of my motives for being here.
Interview with Hebens from Claire Martin on Vimeo.
So thanks all for checking out my blog. Please share the link with anyone you think might be interested.
Big Love
xx Claire
