Enjoy Every Moment!
Today is a special anniversary for me. Two years ago today, I had my 4th knee surgery. I can't help but to reflect on how far I feel that I have come in that time. When I was 15 years old, I had my 1st surgery. I always had knee issues...for as long as I could remember to be honest. But despite that fact, I always tried to remain as active as possible. I grew up playing basketball & softball and I was a pretty good player, I must say. I also seemed to be attracted to professions that required a lot of standing. Being a barber was a labor of love. Many nights I would go home in extreme pain from standing on my feet for 12 hours a day. But I love cutting hair and I love my clients. Actually, my clients are like family to me. Over the years, the surgeries became more and more difficult. Ultimately I had to get a full knee replacement. It was the best decision I could have ever made for myself. With a lot of hard physical therapy and determination, I have been able to experience life in a whole new way that I don't think I would have had the pleasure to experience without the knee replacement. But I do mean A LOT of hard physical therapy and determination! My life is good and I feel very blessed. That being said, I still face daily physical challenges. But, I just try to take things one day at a time and enjoy every moment I can. I remember my doctor asking me what quality of life did I want to have as I was trying to decide to have the knee replacement surgery. I remember praying to God, then deciding to have the very invasive surgery. My recovery for all of my knee surgeries seemed to be worst than most. I seem to have no tolerance to pain meds or even anesthesia. I can't put into words how painful my recoveries have been. But, I did my best to fight through. I haven't taken the time to reflect til now, I've been to busy continuing to just move forward, but as I look over these photos of some of my experiences over that last year...I just have to say WOW! I wanted to share these photos with you guys as well. Enjoy every moment of the day!
Exploring Set Photography
A few days ago I had the delightful experience of being in the audience of the TV Show, The View, and I discovered a new aspect of photography that I never really thought about before. This journey began months ago; in fact, to be exact. It began in late October or early November 2013.
I was trying to think of a special birthday present for my mom, author Elaine T. Jones. See, this was going to be a milestone birthday - her 75th; therefore, I had to do something big! I started to think about things that she liked to do, places she liked to go…etc... At the same time that I was racking my brain trying to come up with an awesome gift idea, I realized that I was also watching one of her favorite shows…The View! Honestly, it was more like the dawning of a white noise at that moment because I wasn’t really paying attention to the TV at all. But suddenly I became aware…
My mom watches this show religiously! She has done this for years - since the show began. She loved the entire panel of hostess, but her favorite has always been Whoopi Goldberg. My mother admired Whoopi for many different reasons, but one of her biggest reasons was Whoopi’s sense of fashion. We always thought that it was an interesting observation coming from my mother because she was a fashion designer most of her life.
“I admire Whoopi because she wears whatever she wants, when she wants, because she likes it. And she doesn’t care anything about what other people think about her choices.” My mother told us.
Anyway, the sound of the show was in the background, and it caught my attention… Then out of nowhere, the idea of taking her to a live taping of the show punctured my brain! It would be the PERFECT gift!!! So, without hesitation, I went to the show’s website and submitted a request for tickets. I thought it would be great to go to New York around her birthday - which was at the end of January. Since it was only the end of October when I sent for the tickets, I thought I should hear something from the show by December. That would be perfect timing… right? Ok, well November came and went… So did December, January, March, and April. Soon I totally forgot about the tickets.
I never told my mom about trying to get the tickets; therefore, she had no clue that they had never came through. Life continued…Then all of a sudden, one day in early June, an email from ‘The View’ popped up. I was finally being contacted about tickets for the show!!!
I called my mom and filled her in about the what, where, when, and why of the situation. We had four tickets, she could invite two additional people, and of course I wanted to go too – she was so excited… She invited two of her closest lifelong friends and before you knew it I was driving the three Golden Girls to NYC. After standing in a line way too long, we finally got into the studio building. By the grace of GOD, the four of us were the first allowed onto the actual set. We had great seats in the second row, right behind her icon Whoopi.
Of course my mom had a plan… She wanted to speak to Whoopi personally. I thought she had a great chance of doing that since we were so close to her. As the rest of the audience began to pour onto the set the production crew began to work moving tables, chairs, and walls. They also moved the many TV cameras into pre-determined places. I was in heaven watching the crew in action. I love behind the scene backstage stuff!
Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar sight… It was a camera that looked like my Canon Mark II. There was a lady walking around the set taking still photos. You could tell that she wasn’t part of the audience; because, she was up close and personal with the crew, the guest, and all the host on the show. She was able to take photos during the segments. We had been told that the audience would be allowed to take pictures, but only between the taped segments. I found out later that she was actually using the new Canon Mark lll with a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L and I think she also had a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L. She had an splendid camera kit to say the least!
I pointed her out to my mother and said, “Wow… How awesome is that? She has to be the show’s staff photographer!”
That was amazing to me… I had never thought about a TV show needing still photos, but it made sense. How else did they get those behind the scenes photos? It astonished me that after every segment, the entire show paused for her to take photos of the guest with the hostess. I was in awe! It really blew me away! I had my eye on her the entire time. I wanted to see how she worked. What caught her eye during the show? I observed every move the photographer made.
At one point, she was standing right in front of me. She was close enough for me to touch - so I did… I taped her and got her attention; then, I introduced myself and told her that I was a photographer from Philadelphia. I just had one question… “How did you get such an awesome job?” I asked. She spoke to me for a few moments, and then she was off. But I was able to give her my card and get my question answered.
Her answer was simple; someone on the staff had seen her work. The rest was history. As a photography and filmmaker, I left the studio with a newfound perspective for production and on-set photography. I’m looking forward to doing more on-set photography myself.
Oh, as for my mother - she got her chance to speak to Whoopi directly… Actually we both got to interact with her. My mom was able to give a copy of her new novel “Aunt Donsy’s Trunk” to her icon, and I was able to capture my mom speaking with Whoopi on video. The quality of the video isn’t great, but you can clearly hear the conversation.
Even though my birthday present to my mom was 6 months late, it was well worth the wait. “Since 75 yrs. old is ¾ of a century, I might as well celebrate it for the entire year.” She told everyone willing to listen…
It was a great day!!!
MORE PHOTOS BELOW
(The two group shots of my mother, her freinds and my self, were take with my Galaxy Note 3. All others were taken with my handy Canon G9)
Exploring Philadelphia's Pretzel Passion
Exploring The Special Meaning of Photography Part 2
Recently, I asked the question...
What photo has holds a special meaning for you?
I talked about how as a photographer; it is my job to capture images that can be shared for years to come. What goes hand and hand with capturing images through photography is the ability to capture a feeling and imagination through words. The existent of blogs and the Internet in general proves how words and images work in sync. It’s a perfect partnership.
It just so happens that my mother...a writer, and I...a photographer have developed this perfect union. My mother, Elaine T Jones recently published her second novel named Aunt Donsy's Trunk. The book is a biography filled with her memories of our family from as far back as she could recall. In preparation of her up-coming book launch event, my mother has given me many photography based assignments.
The first thing I had to do was to capture the image of the old steamer trunk
which was used for the book cover.
My next assignment was to create the book trailer.
My mother assigned me several other photography projects to help prepare for the Aunt Donsy's Trunk Book Launch… I have another motion trailer in production along with some behind the scenes interviews, stills, and footage…ect.
All of the projects have been really fun to work on. But the one project that I find the most interesting is the collection and assembly of a family slideshow which will be on display during the book launch event… It is a visual of some of the characters in the book as well as a walk back in time through our family history.
Each picture my mother shows me holds a special place in her memory. When she looked at these old photos, it evokes a ray of emotions. Some of the images brought a tear to her eye as she began to tell me who the person was. I realize how important these pictures are to her. They have as much meaning to her as the photo of Roger and Me.
Some of the images stood out to me as well. They are all very special. Without these old pictures, how would we be able to put a face to a name of a person who has left this world, but made an impact and is remembered? The images and accompanying words is the only real window into the past.
As I scanned the photographs into the computer to create the book launch slideshow, I started noticing a few similarities… Through the pictures, I can see the family resemblances. In the photos below (left) my grandmother Nona Alyose Searcy-Johnson posed in the last picture ever taken of her with her three sisters.
(Photo on the left; Searcy sisters - left to right top: Boyd, Aloyse, bottom: Velna (Donsy), Dura…
Photo on the right; Jones sisters - left to right: Dana, Kia, Becky and Chanda Jones...
I certainly see the family resemblance when the pictures are next to each other.
Another family resemblance that stands out to me as I look through these old family photos is of my mother's grandfather William Searcy (pictured below; left) and my son, Justice (pictured on the right). Justice Jones is William Searcy’s Great-Great-grandson. Each picture was taken when both were young men at about the same age.
Without the documenting of these photos, and my mother dedicating the last 10 years of her life in creating the novel, ‘Aunt Donsy’s Trunk,’ our family history would have been lost. Our images are not unique... Our story isn't original...We have just taken the time to honor it.
If you have never really thought about the importance of a photo, I hope that this little insight into why photos are so important in my family has made you realize how important it is to capture those special moments in life.
Below are a few more family photos.
Exploring The Special Meaning Of Photography Part 1
As a photographer, it is our job to capture special moments of people lives. We are the official documenters. The images we capture will be shared with generations to come. People will look at those photos and remember the place, time, and even the feeling of the moment that the photograph was taken.
Everyone has a photo, maybe a few, that hold a special meaning to him or her. I have several photos that hold a special place in my heart. Recently, one such photo came to mind. A few weeks ago, was the anniversary of the birth of a dear friend of mine. Every year on his birthday I think of him and how important he was in my life. Those thoughts always remind me of a question that was posed to me several years ago as a class assignment during my time in photography school. I would like to extend the question to you…
What photo holds special meaning to you?
Below is the essay that I wrote for my class. I thought I’d share it with you.
A Lifetime In One Image
By
Chanda L Jones
As I began to write this essay, I have to admit that it was harder for me than I thought it would be. Even though I knew exactly which photograph I would use from the very moment the assignment was mentioned in class, I found myself procrastinating about even looking for the photograph. It took me sometime to figure why I was delaying focusing on the assignment since it’s not in my nature to prolong my work. It was the essence of the assignment itself that both intrigued as well as frightened me; I was being forced to deal with something that I had not dealt with for over three years.
The assignment was to pick a photograph that held a special meaning. Without hesitation, I instinctively picked a photograph of my friend Roger and myself. This photograph means the world to me. It not only represents the core of our friendship, but it is the last photograph that I have of Roger. He died October 18th, 2008… He was taken far too soon.
When this image was taking in 1991, I had no idea how important it would be to me later in my life. When I look back upon that day, I remember a time of innocence. When this picture was taken, I had no way of knowing: that it would be the last image of Roger that I would possess; how important the memory of this moment in time would later become to me; the priceless value of that moment in time.
Before 2008, this picture was just a happy memory of a particular day and time. Roger lived a few doors down from me and we spent many hours at each other’s home. We could be considered as “crib mates” because we grew up together from infancy; he was like my brother. This picture was the reflection of the many silly times we spent together; it was just another day in the life of Roger and me… a family picture of my brother and me.
For years I kept this picture on my mirror in my barbershop. Barbers, back in the day, placed pictures on their mirror as a way of expressing who they were - and who the people that they cared about the most were... Roger’s picture was always on my barbershop mirror because he was part of my family. He was one of the few people who supported my dreams unconditionally; he even allowed me to cut his hair - way before I was good enough to do it right.
After closing my last shop and moving to Virginia, this photograph spent many years hidden away in a box of day-in-the life photographs. By then, Roger and I had lost the daily contact. We had grown up, and moved away from the old neighborhood; then, the hassles of adult life took over. Over the years, we talked occasionally. Roger was still my brother, and I was still his sister; however, time and distance had begun to get in our way.
When I moved back to Philadelphia a few years later, I had totally lost track of Roger; I searched for him everywhere I could... I searched the old neighborhood with no luck; I even searched the Internet -without luck. Then one day - out of the blue, as I was apartment hunting, I saw Roger’s older brother, Kenny, walking down the street. By the time I finished talking with the landlord and turned around, Kenny was gone… Still I thought Kenny saw me, so I was sure that he would tell Roger that I was in town - even though he hadn’t stopped to actually talk to me; I was confident that it was just a matter of time before I would be reunited with my brother/friend. But before the reunion could happen, I got a call that Roger had died… possibly on the very day that I saw his brother Kenny.
I never got to see Roger again; I had a hard time with the realization that Roger was gone… Roger and I were supposed: to grow old together, to talk about our children going to college, and share the excitement of becoming grandparents. I never thought in a million years that one of us would not be around to share those moments.
One day, while I was cleaning out a closet, I came across a box of photographs. Just snap shots you know…the day-in-the life box of memories. I came across this picture; years had passed and I had totally forgotten that the picture even existed. In this photograph Roger and me were standing in front of windows in my living room; this space was often the backdrop for our family pictures. We were hugging each other in the kind of pose that you often see people do - with our arms wrapped around each other. Of course, I was trying to strike a ‘cute’ pose with my best smile; I was trying to take a serious photograph. Roger on the other hand, totally had a different idea. At the very last moment before the shutter button of the camera was released, Roger made a silly face that was captured on film; I am so thankful that moment was captured… It makes me smile whenever I look at it.
The photograph was taken a few years after we had graduated from high school. I graduated from Martin Luther King High School and Roger graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School. This picture was taken at a moment in time when life was full of potential; a time: before kids, before bills, and before many of the stresses of life had a chance to kick in. This photograph captured the silliness and happiness of Roger as well as his passion to enjoy life. That’s one of the things I love about this photograph… It shows Roger’s true spirit.
Roger and I had been best friends for as long as I could remember. I grew up in a family with only sisters and Roger had only brothers. So somewhere around fourteen years of age we adopted each other, unofficially of course; I became Roger’s sister and he became my brother. That’s how we introduced each other to other people. We would even go with each other on dates - yes - as a third wheel. Which made the people we were dating somewhat uncomfortable at times, but our dates just had to learn to accept the fact that this other person was coming along – they did…
After Roger’s death, this photograph took on a new meaning. It was always a treasured memory to me, but now it means so much more… It is now a moment time with someone I care so deeply about; it is a moment in time that can never be recreated. We will never be able to pose for another photograph together. We won’t be able to hold a “past” and “present” photograph side by side and compare how young we once were and how old we have now become. This photograph now represents the only visual image of Roger and I together. This photograph is how I remember Roger and me… This photograph is my memory of our friendship and one of the most meaningful photographs I own.