photography exhibit

this last weekend we had our first annual photography exhibit at my house. there was a lot of work that went into it, particularly from my brother travis. there were a few unique things about the exhibit:

• we invited photographers to select a theme, then take photos on that theme. those attending the exhibit had the opportunity to guess the theme from the context of the photos. there were prizes for the closest guessers and the most humorous guessers..
• all of the photos were displayed in 4x6 frames. this happened to be the cheapest way we could have displayed them, but money was not the issue. we just thought it would be funny to have a photography exhibit with really small photos.
• photos were displayed in every room, including the bathrooms, laundry room, and kitchen.
• the event was formal, so everyone dressed up. we also had some classy music, particularly from ms. godfrey and ms. george (the other musicians showed that we also have contemporary interests)
• our cuisine consisted of brooke's delicious brownies and crackers with spray cheese, with wassail to drink.

i felt like my roommates, the photographers, our musicians, and our guests were very creative and fun. the whole environment was unique and refreshing, and everyone enjoyed themselves. the photos were very good, i was impressed. also, the themes were so much fun:

Photographers

Carissa Mills roy g. biv in b&w

Chris Harrison vanity plates

Travis Moore will (brock durfee)
Julie Davey dead things

Ellen Doxey things you see in priesthood that you wouldn’t see in relief society
Kenyon Africa Waddoups outtakes
Savannah Woods burn the witch

Eric Campbell in health and sickness

Spencer Campbell my perfect day
Alex Badger Lewis the evolution of travis

Dean Rodrick people sleeping

i want to give a special shout out to our musicians, who not only played very well, but also came with little notice, yet great preparation.

Musicians

Matt Pace-guitar, piano, and vocals (we heard one of his brand new songs)
Joe Bryce-guitar and vocals (his irish popcorn song is my favorite)
Ana George-cello (one of my favorite instruments)
Jordan Kalamu-piano (this guy can literally play anything)
Sarah Godfrey-vocals (I loved the Italian stuff particularly)
Dallin Shaner-guitar and vocals (yay for sing alongs!)

strangely, i have no pictures from the exhibit to share. as soon as we get an album up on facebook, i'll add a link here so that you can take a look.

lastly, feel free to read the biographies of our photographers. look out for the second annual photography exhibit next year! we are also open to having more photographers/musicians, so if you are interested, send me an email or make a comment.

Biographies

Alex Lewis was born and raised in Brazil, and has been living in Florida since 2001. A graduate from UCF with a B.A. in Arts, she uses photography as a way of expressing herself and bringing out the best in her subjects. Through constant research for new techniques and attention to lighting, composition, and detail, she is always looking for new and creative ways to bring uniqueness into her portrait photography. Her male photographs for development through relationships have been a huge part of her photography and have exhibited nationally in galleries and juried exhibits. She aims to use her images to please the eyes as well as question emotion and inspire reaction. 

Christopher Kupa'a Isao Harrison was born into the city of Los Angeles, sometime back during the roaring 80's. He was naked and he was ashamed. Like most adolescent males where he comes from, he spent his young life obsessed with music and playing with firearms. He now lives in Happy Valley where he studies Criminalistics at Utah Valley University. His hobbies are avoidance, piracy, and the occasional photography he accomplishes with his trusty point-and-shoot-himself-in-the-brains camera. Feel free to ask him about anything else. Enjoy the Gallery!

One thing that everybody needs to know about Carissa Mills is that she really loves all colors. Last summer she studied and researched each color very carefully and she has learned to love each individual color. Today she may still favor some colors more than others and  also may not love specific color combinations but she at least love each individual color in some unique way. From her studies she has learned that each color tells a story. If there is one color that tells the story of her life then it is the color purple. If the color purple never came into existence then the story of her life could not be told. Thank goodness for the color purple!

 Eric Voiten Campbell, age 26, married, in love and currently living in Flagstaff, AZ.  Eric use to be a chef and worked at several restaurants, hotels and resorts.  Wanting something more intellectual he went back to college and is earning a degree in chemistry at Northern Arizona University.  Currently he is a TA for the second level organic chemistry lab.  In the 100+ years NAU has been around, he is the first undergraduate student to be a TA for that lab.  He served his mission in New Jersey Morristown from 2006-2008.

Spencer Campbell spent most of his years growing up in the lovely town of Prescott, Arizona or "Everybody's Hometown."  Growing up he found himself often involved with the fine arts, but usually on the performance end.  Until one late night his best friend, Amanda, asked him to photograph star trails with her.  Since then, Spencer would ask Amanda how he could help and be involved with her photography.  His interest has continued to grow so he has now presented his first exhibit of work.  Spencer is interested in not just the aesthetics of life but the realism of each day.  The beauty in simplicity.  He has found nature to be more talented in that regard than anyone or anything his camera can capture. Tis the gift to be simple and dream big

Kenyon Waddoups comes from a wonderful, loud, and colorful family in Central Florida. She learned to love photographing families and children by forcing members of her ward to let her practice on them.  She is currently studying visual arts with am emphasis on photography at BYU.

Dean Rodrick is 24 years old, born in San Diego, CA.  He met Travis in 2004 during his Senior year road trip to Canada.  They met at the beach in San Diego randomly, and started talking about the Borne Supremacy, which came out that year.  He ended up taking a few days off work and going with those guys up to Canada.  It was a lot of fun.  Dean loves wakeboarding, rock climbing, playing the guitar, singing, and recently took up photography.  He won a local photography contest in Pasadena last year, not because his photos were particularly good, but because he is good at portraying themes.  So that was pretty sweet.  He has a dog named Sunshine. He takes her hiking sometimes, and they go running on the beach. Travis asked him what his motto would be.  He would have to say that his motto, if he had one, would be "Just Do It."  Oh, that one is already taken?  Uh, okay... how about, "Live, Love, Laugh."  He likes that one.  Well, he hopes you enjoy the photos, and next year he hopes to make it out there himself for the exhibit.

Ellen Madison Doxey (born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen Doxey Show. Doxey has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong, appeared in EDtvand The Love Letter, and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney-Pixar animated film Finding Nemo, for which she was awarded a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first and only time a voice performance won a Saturn Award. She was a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season. She also starred in two television sitcoms, Ellen from 1994 to 1998 and The Ellen Show from 2001 to 2002. During the fourth season of Ellen in 1997, Doxey came out publicly as a Mormon in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, her character Ellen Morgan also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey, and the series went on to explore various LDS issues including the coming out process. She has won thirteen Emmys and numerous other awards for her work and charitable efforts.  In November 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named her a Special Envoy for Global AIDS Awareness.

Julie Davey was born and raised Lindon, Utah. She later made the lengthy exodus to Provo where she attends BYU and pretends like she's an adult. Julie majored in psychology for a year and a half, and consequently can probably read your mind. When she grows up, Julie would like to be a superhero (but failing that will settle for writing and illustrating children's books.) Her great hates include cooked mushrooms, math, and writing about herself, and her talents include ukulele, watching Jane Austen films, and typing speedy fast.

Savannah Woods is 387 years old, but when she was 12 she made a deal with the Sphinx (the one in Egypt, not the one in Vegas) to make her 23, because she really wanted to be 23.  It's a 12 year old thing.  Anyway, in exchange for annual performances of whatever the top pop song of the year is, he made her 23.  Unfortunately, she’s stuck now, and she can never be 12 again.

Travis Jay "Kyle" "Thomas" "Hey you!" Moore hails from Sedona's finest Vortex School of Reflexology and Mysticism. He draws inspiration from huge spiders and ugly babies. He dreams of someday being a professional BASE jumper and father of 16 children. You can purchase his latest book, "Musings of a Long Summer Night" at bookstores everywhere.

feminism

i am a big fan of women. not only do i find them incredible and attractive, but i also see that they are often unappreciated. i applaud the efforts of women's rights activists, and i am glad that women are now nearly equal in society. they are not treated perfectly equal to men, but i also think that there is no level of equality that would please everyone. because men and women are different, i don't know the point at which we would all agree that 'we are equal enough.'

i hope that the woman i one day marry will be equal to me in many ways. i want her to be equal in intellect. i want her to have her own ideas, and i will value those ideas as equal to my own. i want her to have ambition, goals, and dreams.

i wonder whether some feminists take things too far. i think that many girls and women are afraid to identify themselves as feminists because that word has a negative connotation. is it a deserved connotation?

i was surprised as one of my BYU professors identified himself as a 'flaming feminist' on the first day of the semester. he said that his girls were going to grow up in a world where they were treated as equals and were not told what they could and could not do and what they could and could not accomplish. i totally agree with him. but am i willing to call myself a feminist, let alone a 'flaming' one? i'm not sure.

is there any specific definition of feminism that is generally accepted?


the merriam-webster dictionary defines feminism as:
1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes

2: organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests

working with that definition, i am quite comfortable calling myself a feminist.  in contrast,  casual conversation tends to depict feminists as man haters.

compare the merriam-webster definition with this one, found on urbandictionary.com: 

feminism: An ideology defined by the following equation: F = (A + B) - C. Feminism equals Avarice plus Bigotry minus Conscience. Its most recent incarnation is characterized by supremacist whining, a form of double-think that would have made Orwell retch... This, in turn, guides us to feminism's core philosophy: "Our say-so makes it so; if our pronouncements contradict each other, you males are required to believe both but only to the extent that they run counter to your interests and in favor of our convenience. This rule is absolute until it yields an outcome we don't like. Then we will pretend - and you are required to believe - that it never existed. Oh, and you are evil and sexist if you point to any flaw in this philosophy, even after we've abandoned or changed it. But you are a patronizing bastard if you fail to give our point-of-view your full critical consideration ... just as long as you don't disagree with it ... or agree with it for the wrong reasons ... and we will from time-to-time declare what the right and wrong reasons are ... and then change them to suit ourselves."

Feminism is nothing more than the politics of convenience.


i think that the variety of opinions on the subject is astounding.  i found another interesting definition on urbandictionary.com (unlike the last definition, i like this one): 


feminism:

1. The radical idea that women are people. 
2. A social movement created by those who believe that women are people. 
3. Something a women is accused of believing in if she does or says anything that implies she believes she is a person.


it is interesting that definition number three shows that some women are fearful of being labeled as feminists. 


as usual, i am interested in the thoughts and ideas of my assorted readers. what is your take on feminism and sexism?