back to the darkroom

Returning to the darkroom takes time. And patience. These photos could have been great if I had developed the negative properly. It's part of a bundle of canisters loaded with Polypan F 50 film that have been stashed away in boxes for about 2 years and only now I've taken the time and patience to develop them. I'm slow, but I eventually get things done. 

They are of my father working the fields.

felicidário

Happiness is:

Via Felicidário

on how to make a come back by admitting to the obvious beauty in golden fork-shaped cabinet door knobs

Lots has happened since my last post. I haven't been away, just distant and not much in the mood to blog or photograph. It was a phase and now it's dissipating and I'm starting to carry my camera around more often and trying to find beauty in things like the knobs in our new apartment's kitchen! Very kitsch. 
I haven't been on my most cheerful side lately. Nor have I been making things with my hands, just bread. I'm also tried of how this blog looks like. It needs a makeover. I'll have to schedule an appointment with Pedro for this. 
I need to make a come back cause today is going to be a great day! 

It's been 6 months since we landed in Atlanta and started a new life together. 

You are the absolute best part of it. And home will always be wherever I'm with you!

chicago

While Pedro works, I play! 

Grandma writes postcards

My grandmother is back in Portugal and is already planning for a trip to Atlanta next year! But I still have some things to share about her visit. Ana had suggested she write postcards made from photos of her here in Atlanta. And so she did! I printed out photos of my grandma in intriguing situations, glued a postcard back sticker and sat my grandma at Starbucks sipping a cappuccino and writhing to everyone in Portugal. At first she didn't know what to write so I helped her out. By the end of the 6th postcard, she was on a roll! 

If you got one of grandma's postcards, please send me feedback!

Halloween with Roy Lichtenstein

Even though I still have a few things to share about my grandma's last days here in Atlanta, I can't help but talk about Halloween. It's crazy over here: the whole month of October is all about carved pumpkins, cobwebs, haunted houses and the Little Five Points Halloween Parade. I really wanted to dress up as something interesting and after a bit of googling, thrifting and some DIY goodness, we came up with this:

It's polk-a-dot madness! We were characters from Roy Lichenstein's pop art paintings:

Sarah's the sobbing character.

Thomas is the betraying husband.

And I'm too pretty to work! 

We were stopped dozens of times to pose for pictures: some knew instantly who we were, some people thought we had the chickenpox. We looked great! Or as Americans like to say: AWESOME!

A week later Sarah and Thomas hosted a Halloween party and it was Pedro's turn to dress up:

grandma at pride parade

What would be the most unexpected place to take your grandmother? That's right: gay pride parade! I explained to her what the parade was all about and that it would be fun. She didn't quite understand at first mostly because I bought her a pink feather boa for her to wear and she thought it was somewhat of a Carnaval parade. When the parade began, she noticed that there were families, elderly people, children, basically, people of all ages watching the parade and she didn't feel like the weird one. At a certain point, she looked at me and said: "Are all these people gay?" That's when I knew she fully understood.  

Then they started handing out free stuff. That's when the fun began! All she wanted was to collect as many colorful chains as possible!

At the end of the parade, this is what she looked like. 

I had absolutely no responsibility in this. Ok, maybe just the pink feathered boa.

There is one thing that grandma and I do agree on: gay men are interesting to look at!

grandma goes pumpkin shopping

I've got so much to share about this past week, like the surprise visit from my cousins, but I couldn't resist sharing what we did today. I took grandma to a pumpkin farm and she loved being in the country side.

We were in luck because as soon as we got to the farm, there was a hayride about to begin and take us on a tour of the farm.

We brought home 2 small pumpkins (but not as small as the one she is holding!) and a bag of apples so next week I can make more pie!

She found the wagons really helpful and very easy to maneuver: 

grandma before and after

In her 84 years of existence, never has my grandmother put on makeup. She's a simple person with a simple rural life and the whole ordeal of enhancing beauty with makeup wasn't part of her day-to-day worries. But now she´s in Atlanta and she doesn't leave the house without a little touch of hair and makeup. You know what? She likes it!

Grandma before.

Hair 

A touch of foundation. 

Eye shadow and eye brow pencil. 

Pink colored gloss and mascara.

Grandma after.

And then we went shopping. Notice the bright red nail polish? So nice!