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SUNSHINE+love

A blog of sorts, by B. Gutierrez.
Click on the photos for full posts.
Bruce, one of the wonderful Las Fotos Project NWA mentors, double poses for a 3DMX photo. 
El Corazón de la B.  I saw this post about drawing a map of your heart on You Me and Charlie. So interesting. This is what came out. This is an awesome exercise. Do it! (here’s a large version)
Creative Pursuits & Mentoring [Please vote!] ➜

A good friend nominated me and Las Fotos Project NWA to GOODmaker award. It only takes a few seconds to vote. Please do! The funds would help us carry Las Fotos Project NWA for a while!

Here’s more about the project: the interview on NPR.

Las Fotos Project: NWA

We found a fun photo while the students were curating their work for their gallery show prep. Photo by Marsha Foster.

Multiple-exposure 3D fun! Check out the series CLICK.
Not all of them came out 3D… outtake from this awesome series.
First Gallery Show!
February 27.  The self-portrait project this year is serving its purpose! This was my shot from last night. So much fun to plan and execute. I did need a good little flash light, though. I had to use my bike like and it was a bit too big.  I almost blinded myself with the color flash, even though is kind of weak. Pupils are just not big fans of big light flashes when they’re in a pitch-black room.  Here are Pau’s self-portraits so far! Having a partner on this project has made it a lot more interesting :) 
My best friend and I come up with awesome projects every year. In 2010, we exchanged snail mail (she sent me letters, I sent her postcards) to document our 25th year of life.  In 2011, we wrote on notebook to each other… a bit like a journal, but a lot more awesome than a regular journal. We documented our 26th year of life. I sent my Cuaderno Pepino to her a couple of weeks ago and I got hers today. (Pau! I didn’t get a good picture of mine… take one please?) In 2012, we are both taking a self-portrait on the 27th day of each month. We’re also writing a guidebook together. And I think we might do a double exposure project together too (hey, Pau, let’s do this!). We’re documenting our 27th year of life.  Pure Awesome. Viva la vida! paugl: Be received my notebook today. The project of 2011 which recollected the most significant events in our lives. Some of them, we shared together, we laughed at the same things at the same time, and we enjoyed the same sunsets. Most of them, we lived them apart, cause you know… we have been also blessed with distance. That distance that allows us to understand that this kind of friendship needs to be built through the years and, as her guru once wrote, through these putas fronteras (possible translation, these damn borders).  This project that she named ” El Cuaderno Pepino” after me, was one of my favorites. I think I’ll ask her to repeat it again in a couple of years, when we can fill the notebooks with new faces and some of the same faces that have been around. This year was particularly especial for me. I am really happy that I was able to keep a record of the many of the most important decisions I have made in my life. My life motto, •Live, Love, Laugh•, which I am pleased to say that I actually did. Her motto •Viva la Vida• and she really loves life, she embraces is such a way that words sometimes cannot explain, but pictures do, so if you want a take a glimpse.. you can go here ——> http://www.begutierrez.com/ I love sharing my life with you Be, I love having you in my life, cause you know, you have always been around and you don’t even need to live in the same city, although it will be pretty awesome when you are finally here ☺ A laugh with you or at you, whatever is the case, is one of the major blessings I have in my life. So next years, around this time, we will having the recollection of our 27’s self portraits.
It’s been an exciting few months. I thought it was time for an update on my blog about Las Fotos Project in my community. When I started sharing the mission and vision of Las Fotos Project with my friends and contacts, there was an almost automatic response of support. We were able to get enough cameras and magazines donated to cover the initial workshop series.  Then something awesome happened. One of the Art Amiss board members expressed interest in supporting the project. Art Amiss, Inc is a non-profit art collective based in Fayetteville, AR. They provide services for artists living in, working in, or from Arkansas. I was asked to submit a grant proposal and soon after their review, we were awarded enough funds to run our initial workshops! Then another wave of awesomeness came when Bedford Camera & Video became sponsor of the project as well. Not only did Bruce, one of the Fayetteville Bedford’s team members, got on board as a mentor, but they are also gifting the film development and prints for the project.  With all that support and a great group of mentors, it all came together beautifully. The NWA Workers’ Justice Center has given us a venue for the workshops and access to all the audiovisual technology we need.  I don’t think I have ever been so proud to be part of this community. I’ve bragged before, but now this is next level! So, after all the work, I thought the workshops would run smoothly and was really excited about starting them. And finally, last Saturday (Feb. 12), seven Latina girls became the first Las Fotos Project students in Northwest Arkansas. My expectations were surpassed. I’m not so sure who got more of the first day, if the students or the mentors. We were all so happy! We had brutal weather (below freezing temps) so we rearranged the workshop schedule and started out with learning some history of photography and cameras, we learned to use photography to see our world in a different way (or angle), we learned about the different uses of photography, and we had the first crafts project.  None of the students have any experiences with cameras or photography. And the way they got involved in the lesson and the activities… It was just awesome. We have two more Saturdays of the introductory workshop series. The students will have the opportunity to learn artistic process from professional photographers, experiment with film photography, curate their work, and prepare a gallery exhibit for their work. Everyone involved is giving their time on a volunteer basis. And everyone is loving it.  If you’re reading this and have given me a camera, a magazine, moral support, or gotten me connected to someone who did… THANK YOU. You rock! You really do. Not in the rock, paper, scissors way… in the super star kind of way! Thank you! P.S. Check out Bedford’s blog
January 27: the start of a collaboration project in 2012.  Last year, I set out to take a self portrait on the 8th of every month. I don’t get many photos of myself, since I’m usually the one behind the camera, and the few I get are reflection photos. So I wanted to challenge myself to get a better self portrait. And, well, let’s just say I didn’t do so well. Click to see last year’s set. So I want to try it again. This year I’m turning 27 in March, so I thought that would be a good date to set: the 27th of each month.  This year I’m not alone, though. My best friend Paulina is joining me (she turned 27 on Dec 27th). I’m really glad to have a partner in crime this year! My main goal: no more mirror shots, at least for this project. I should also set the goal to find my wireless remote control. Where is it?! 2012 set.