Popular Photography Backstory

What a thrill it was to be contacted by Popular Photography Magazine to feature "Brothers" in the June edition of the magazine.  The story around taking the photograph is on the last page, in their "Backstory" feature.  I took this image of the magazine on a news stand in the airport as I was traveling home from South Carolina.  It's always a thrill to see your image in print.  Thank you, Popular Photography!

Honor Flight of South Carolina

I was asked to document 100 WW2 and Korea War Veterans flying from South Carolina to Washington DC to tour all of the war memorials.  It didn't take long for me to say yes to this amazing opportunity.  What an honor it was to be able to join in on the experience of these men and one woman from South Carolina who served our country.  I knew it would be an intense experience full of emotion and it certainly didn't disappoint. 

I haven't been to Washington DC since I was an 8th grader.  I was fortunate to have been able to make that trip as I was this week to experience this one.  We all met early in the morning to depart from the Columbia airport.  Old friends and new ones spent the morning chatting and catching up while walking through the airport while people cheered and clapped for them.  

As we arrived at the Washington DC airport, they were greeted with more cheers and hand shakes from strangers.  It was hard to not get emotional at the welcome they received.  Looking at their eyes, you know these men were touched by what they were seeing.  The emotions ran strong all day long as they were again greeted with a parade of people in line to thank them for their service.  

The day of touring, remembrance, and celebration ended with the grand finale of greeters back at the Columbia airport cheering, complete with a band, banners and what seemed to be the entire town of Columbia waiting to greet their arrival home.  For some of them, it was the homecoming they never had.  For me, it will be an experience I will never forget.

This memorial day, take the time to thank the men and women who have served this country so we are able to live a life of our choosing. 

Here are some moments of the day.

Reflected Identities at the Palm Springs Photo Festival

For the past few months, I have been working on a new series.  I started taking portraits of my friends in the Southern California area with an idea in mind. As with a lot of projects I start, they tend to change and take on a life of its own by the time I am ready to show it.  That was the case with "Reflected Identities".  I began the series (I didn't have a title or direction) by photographing my friends for an androgynous series but the more I shot, the more I realized that the portraits were molding into a reflection of me.

Last week, I learned that I was a finalist in the slide show competition at the Palm Springs Photo festival so I attended the festival and spent a few days there.  I was in disbelief when it was announced on Thursday night that I won the grand prize!  There were so many beautiful and powerful slideshows included and I was just thrilled that I was selected to be among the finalists.  When I submitted the show, I had less images than what you see here but ultimately, this is what won the competition.

I want to thank all of the amazing women who have stepped outside of their comfort zone to be completely vulnerable with me.  This has been such a beautiful learning and growing experience... I just can't thank you enough. Many of you have expressed the same so for that, I am grateful. 

I debated on if I should keep the images private and not roll it out to the public, partly because it's so vulnerable to throw it out there.  If my friends can be this open and vulnerable with me, it's only fitting that I do the same with the series.

On a side note... 

A little over four years ago in Palm Springs, I was sitting on a small patch of grass in front of a hotel completely hung over, crying and lost in my life.  That day I stopped drinking alcohol and the months to come I painted and picked up a camera and started shooting.  Last Thursday, I walked on stage in front of hundreds of photographers and people in the industry, to accept the grand prize award. Just a few blocks away sits that patch of grass where I made the decision to change my life.  Anything is possible.

Click to watch below or you can see it directly on VIMEO by clicking HERE

Reflected Identities from Alison Turner on Vimeo.

The Candid Frame Interview

Recently, I was asked to be interviewed about my photography and life on the road for the photography podcast blog, The Candid Frame.  At first I was hesitant to talk about myself, but agreed to be taped live during an interview to be saved into a podcast for anyone to hear.  Ibarionex Perello was such a pleasure to talk with during the interview.  He made it very conversational and made me feel at ease with each question.  If you are interested, you can listen to the 45 minute conversation HERE. Thank you Ibarionex!

The Big Picture And The MOP (Month of Photography) Denver

I am not sure when I heard about The Big Picture and what Mark Sink is doing for the month of photography, but when I found out, I knew I wanted to be a part of it!  Being in a gallery is always nice but being outside for everyone to see is such a great way to showcase artist's work around the world.

As The Big Picture describes on their blog, "This show of grand scale contemporary photography exposes the possibility of images as art via email instantly exchanged globally and blown up to large mural proportions.  Images gathered from photographers around the world will be expanded as large Xerox prints and displayed inside galleries as well as posted in approved outdoor locations throughout the city of Denver and sister cities around the globe."

If you are in the Denver area, they are having a Big Picture Celebration on Saturday, March 30th from 12-5pm at the "Open Air Gallery" behind City O City for amazing images, refreshment and music.  I wish I could be there to celebrate.

As soon as I heard about The Big Picture, I wanted to participate.  I was so pleased when I heard back right away that they wanted to use the images I submitted from my new series, "Reflected Identities."  I only wish that I was able to be there to see all of the amazing artwork on the walls of Denver.  The images on this blog post are courtesy of Mark Sink.  So far, I've seen two of my images on the walls and I am amazed by all of the talent included in the project.  I'm thrilled to be a part of it. They will soon announce where all the images are located around the city via google maps.

Also, during the MOP in Denver, two of my images were selected in the Juried show at the Hinterland Gallery, titled "Seen. Unseen."  I was so delighted to hear that I received second place from my image, "Dissolve".  There have been so many great show openings for the MOP!  It's so nice to see a city dedicated to the art of photography.  I am honored to be a part of the Big Picture and Hinterland's show.  Thank you for all you do, Mark Sink and Sabin Aell!

The Impossible Project Partnership

I am so thrilled to partner with The Impossible Project and take their new Polaroid Film on the road with me to document my travels with Max!  Today, they posted a blog about my recent trip to Death Valley with the images I took with their film. As I mention in the blog, shooting with Impossible Film helps me to try and give up control on the end result.  At the same time, it's always interesting to see how the image ends up since there is little to no control on how it will turn out.  Even though I am pointing the camera in a direction and trying to frame the image perfectly, it's always a bit off and not what I imagined.  It helps me to slow down with my shooting and at the same time, it's fun! It's a great tool to help you out of a photo rut, if you're in one.

I look forward to sharing more images I take on my travels and beyond with Impossible Film!  You can read the blog HERE.

My Travels With Max Featured On The PhotoShelter Blog

What a nice surprise to learn that PhotoShelter wanted to feature my story on their blog! 

Sarah Jacobs started following me on Instagram, learned that I belong to PhotoShelter, and then wrote about my journey on the PhotoShelter Blog today.  

She did a wonderful job at summarizing the past few years and each time I read about my journey, it seems hard to believe that this year will be my fifth year on the road. Even more hard to believe that I lived out of a tent for two years!  I think the pop up van has spoiled me.  My only  wish would be taking photographs earlier on, but everything happens for a reason and I am just thankful that I made the decision to get lost, get sober and pick up a camera.

Thank you to the new followers and for the ones who have been here from the very beginning.  I look forward to sharing another year of travels with you!

Click HERE to read the article.

PDN Emerging Photographer Magazine

I have to admit that most of the photographs I took last year on the road were from my iphone 4.  I struggle with the fact that they might not be considered serious images.  The resolution is lower, overall quality is poor and some pros might say, it's only an iphone photograph.  To my professional and fine art photographer friends, I would always respond to their compliment with, "well, it's just an iphone photograph."  I even considered my year on the road as a failure in some respects because my larger camera rarely saw the light of day due to my laziness. 

They always say that the best camera is the one you are carrying.  For me, I take my iphone nearly everywhere I go.  If I don't have it, there has to be some sort of reason I don't want to document something or I just want to go on a walk without it on purpose. Even then, there is a huge potential to miss an opportunity to photograph something.

If you follow me on Instagram (search Alison Turner "Alisontravels"), you'll know that I post just about everything I do through the lens of my iphone and sometimes fancied up with an Instagram filter.  It's so easy to take a photo and click a button to share.  It's also a nice collection of images from my life held in a place like a virtual scrapbook.

To hear that I was the winner in PDN's "Go Indie" photography contest in the Instagram/Hipstamatic category was a bit unbelievable. Thousands of images are uploaded every minute on social networks and because of the iphone, almost every corner of the world is being photographed.  Six image from my iphone 4 "On the Road" series were picked and they chose four of those images to publish on a full page in the Spring 2013 edition of Emerging Photographer Magazine.  

I still feel strange taking portraits with my iphone (scroll down my blog and you will see several), but it's what I have on me at all times so it will have to do.  I'm even working on a new project that I will eventually share that's only taken with my iphone.  

I am thankful to judge, Matthew Jordan Smith who chose my series as the winner and for PDN Emerging Photographer magazine who published it.  I am starting to warm up to the idea that the tools you use for an image shouldn't matter.  No matter what, I will continue to use the camera I have on my iphone.  It's always with me and a part of me (ok, a BIG part)  can't imaging going through life without taking photos.

Spring 2013 Edition of Airstream Life Magazine

I was so thrilled to hear that the portrait I took of Robert at Alumapalooza 2012 made the current cover of Airstream Life Magazine.  This image was one of my favorites from the event. Robert and his pups were such great sports to pose for me!

This will be my 3rd cover image for Airstream Life Magazine.  Looking back, I noticed that all three covers have a dog in the photo.  There must be something about traveling with pets that is so appealing.  I know that I can't even imaging traveling without Max.  The article in this issue is all about traveling with your pet...something Max and I know a little something about.  

Thank you, Airstream Life!

Death Valley National Park

Lowest Point In America - Badwater Basin

It's hard to believe that I've never been to Death Valley National Park until last week.  I grew up in Southern California and have lived here (when I'm not on the road) most of my life.  The weather was perfect so I thought I would go for a visit.

There is something about a National Park that gets me so excited inside.  I love driving up to the gate and showing my annual pass and getting a map and guide.  It's like an adventure is about to begin, and it does.  This is the first National Park that I've experienced that doesn't have a guard gate.  Perhaps because it gets so hot in the summer.  In any case, I arrived late so I went to the visitor center to get a pass the following day.

I woke up early to drive to Badwater Basin to find that I was the only person there!  As much as I love our National Parks, so does most everyone else.  Getting a private spot at an overlook is pretty rare so I soaked up the moment. Badwater Basin is the lowest point in United States so it was a treat to be able to visit the spot.  After that, I went on a hike to see a natural bridge, met Korean nun friends at the visitor center, ran the dunes with Max, then found a free camping site with a wild Burro watching over us.  It really was a magical trip.  In fact, I don't have anything bad to say about our National Parks.  I love them so much that I wanted to visit another one the following day!  We got up early and drove to Sequoia National Park to see the big trees.  Unfortunately for us, we needed chains to do so and we didn't have any so Ranger Dave sent us on our way.  I did get a nice portrait of him before we left so all was not lost.  

I hope you get to one of our National Parks soon.  It connects you in ways that the internet will never be able to and that's a good thing. Which is your favorite park?  Here are some iphone images from our few days at the park.

Koren Nuns Visiting Death Valley

Shut Down Motel near the park

Do you see our Burro friend?

Max loves running in the dunes

More happy dune running

Nothing for miles... 

Full Timers planning their next move, a la Risk style

Crow flying from a Palm Tree

Morning Ritual

Sunrise

One of the most beautiful roads just outside of the park

An old Sign outside of the park

Max refused to leave the comfort of his warm bed in the morning.

Gas Station outside of park

Jumping on Salt in Badwater Basin

Ranger Dave denying entrance to the Sequoia National Park without chains