The Athens Experience

October 10, 2010 – The Athens Experience

Wow. Yesterday was an experience. The Sisters on the Fly event has to be one of the most interesting events I have ever been to. My current life goals have transformed into refurbishing a trailer and living out of it on the weekends, traveling with these amazing ladies across the country. I’m being a little dramatic, but the trailer show was very, very inspiring.

I asked a good friend of mine, Anna, to travel to Athens with me for a day of festival fun and trailer viewing. I had no idea what to expect so I wanted someone along for the ride. The festival was being held at a park in Athens, TX, with the caravan show to follow at the Lake Athens RV Park.  I decided to photograph at the festival as well as the RV Park because JoAnn was planning on performing a song she wrote especially for the Sisters. The song is really funny- it definitely captures a sense of what it is like to be a part of the Sisters on the Fly. One of the verses reads: “Sisters from across the nation hitching up their own creations, never been a sight like this before. We’ve shed our aprons, shed the blues. Hello world! We’ve paid our dues. And we just don’t do housework anymore.” All of the Sisters were dressed up as scarecrows, and JoAnn sang and played banjo dressed in her finest scarecrow outfit. Now, about the trailer show. I explained a bit about the SOTF organization before, but the photographs I made really capture the fun-loving spirit of the group. There were about 50 trailers at the RV park ready for viewing. The sisters had all the trailer doors open for people to come by, walk into, and look around their trailer. We walked around for a couple of hours looking at different trailers and talking to all of the ladies. They are all so proud of their trailers. It became a really strategic event for Anna and I, scoping out which trailers we wanted to look at and trying to pass up some of the less-adventurous ones without being seen. If you made eye contact with any of the ladies, they would point at you and wave you over. A couple of ladies waved us over, made us come into their trailer and then shut the door behind us, talking to us for 20 minutes. Overall it was a very interesting and entertaining event.

JoAnn’s trailer is really beautifully painted and decorated inside and out. She has a wild west themed trailer- with cacti, cowboy boots, and a real tumbleweed for decoration. It really reflects who she is as a person, she loves riding horses and playing old western video games. It’s really awesome to see how her hard work finally came together on the trailer. JoAnn and Marie (and their dog) set up camp outside their trailer with lawn chairs and cold drinks, chatting it up with all the ladies who stopped by to see their trailer. JoAnn was all smiles and got her banjo out to play, saying it made the perfect “trailer-trash music.”

Anna and I sat around the trailer with them for quite a while, so we got to hear a bunch of compliments and praise people gave JoAnn for the trailer. Marie was really proud of JoAnn, every time someone came to look at the trailer she would tell them “make sure you check out the toilet, did you see the toilet in there? JoAnn put the whole thing in by herself.” It was a beautiful day and really inspiring and touching to see JoAnn and Marie so happy and lively. I wish Margaret could have been there.

What more is there to say! These ladies are so intriguing I could see myself pursuing a project just focusing on the Sisters on the Fly organization. That is, after I find a trailer and join, of course!

Sisters on the Fly

Here is the SOTF website link. Check it out. http://www.sistersonthefly.com/

Sisters on the Fly

October 5, 2010 – Sisters on the Fly

Last time I visited JoAnn, she told me about an organization she has been involved with for several years called the Sisters on the Fly. The Sisters are a group of women who want to travel, enjoy the outdoors, and experience sisterhood with people they would otherwise never meet. JoAnn joined soon after the group was started and is the proud 42^nd sister.  The sisters have events spread across the U.S., so they began what is known as the Cowgirl Caravan- another way to bond with sisters and enjoy traveling even more. The sisters have found many trailers- new or vintage- and have refurbished them and themed them for SOTF caravan trips. JoAnn has been working on refurbishing and decorating her own caravan for an upcoming SOTF event in Athens, TX. She completely tore apart the interior of the trailer- using wood from a bunk bed in the trailer to reinforce the walls. She also completely took out a closet in the trailer and transformed it into a bathroom. The trailer is now a Route 66 themed “Tumbleweed Hotel” trailer. It is amazing to think she has accomplished this feat by herself, on this trailer and several others. JoAnn and Marie are planning on taking their trailer to Athens, TX next week to show it off along with many other of the Sisters on the Fly trailers at the yearly Fall Festival. I asked JoAnn if I could meet up with them at the festival and photograph the trailers and she loved the idea. I’m very excited to go!

Observations/Reflections

September 25, 2010

Today I’m working on narrowing down the photographs I have made to see where the project is. It is a heavy weight knowing my responsibility is to show these ladies truthfully and raw in a sense, while at the same time showing them in a respectful way they would appreciate seeing. Some of the images are hard for me to look at, particularly of Margaret, because she is older and is struggling with things in her life. Her house is very empty and sad to look at. I wonder how she would feel about seeing the images I’m making of her life. Both Margaret and JoAnn are very okay with being photographed, and Margaret gives off a sense of being proud that I have chosen to photograph her. She loves it. Marie is the only one who rarely lets me photograph her because she doesn’t feel properly dressed or “made up”. I worry about their reactions to the project because I do love and respect them and I don’t want them to feel ugly or embarrassed by how they look. I think they are all beautiful- with beautiful hearts- and I want people to see that through this project.

Another observation I have made about the project is as a whole it is equal parts about the photographs and about the process- the time spent with these ladies. I have learned several things from each of them in a reasonably short amount of time. My relationship with each of them has blossomed, and I look up to and respect them very much.

Margaret, Marie, and JoAnn are very independent in different ways, while at the same time being dependent on one another and on God to strengthen them and keep them going. Margaret is at a crossroads in her life where she wants to be very independent, but with her recent health issues she needs Marie and JoAnn to lean on, and to check up on her. She needs security and help from them while still maintaining a sense of independence in her life. Marie and JoAnn live together so they have each other for support every day. Marie is very motherly to JoAnn, but JoAnn is still very independent and constantly pursuing new projects, broadening her education and traveling. She always has to be doing something productive. Marie is more laid back and content with being around the house, but she is very supportive of everything JoAnn does, and often travels with her. Although they are in different stages of life, they deal with similar issues- issues everyone deals with- including staying healthy, happy, and alive. Some people look at aging negatively in the sense that life is almost over once a person reaches a certain age. JoAnn, Marie, and Margaret look at life differently. They don’t wait for life to end; they engage life as they move through it. If I take only one thing away from spending time with JoAnn, Marie, and Margaret it is that your life can begin again and again as you age- you can continue living, loving and learning until the day you die.

September 18, 2010

September 18, 2010

I spent today with JoAnn, Margaret, Marie, my parents, and my husband at Marie’s house. This project has been so much about the process- the time spent with these ladies at different times and places- and what I learn from them and from being around them. I’m able to experience their highs- JoAnn’s ongoing adventures in school and travel, as well as their lows- Margaret’s knee surgery and recovery. I’m also able to see them interact with my family, and see the care and love they have for others. The ladies have such a close relationship with each other but are so diverse in age and personality- JoAnn is in her 60’s, Marie in her 70’s and Margaret is in her 80’s. Because of their age differences I am able to see and learn from three very different people in different life stages.

Today was very important because it’s the first time JoAnn, Margaret and my dad have played and sang their gospel music in a long time. It might have been the first time this year. They wanted to practice today so hopefully they will be playing at nursing homes again soon. It is so important for all of them to play- for JoAnn it is an enjoyable time and a time for her to worship and laugh and fellowship. It’s becoming more difficult for Margaret to play so it’s about faith for her. She’s worshipping God and having faith that she can still play. It’s also an escape- an escape from the issues with her knee, with her age, where she can be free and sing. Margaret is dealing with mortality- she’s aging and ending one stage of her life and having faith that she will begin another one soon after. She’s singing about Jesus taking her home and living in Heaven. She has a peace with her mortality.

All of these issues and observations I take away from my time spent really puts life in perspective for me. I’m able to see the different phases of life in the lives of these ladies. See their emotions and their hopes and dreams. It is a comfort to me because I am young and looking at the unknown that is “aging” and I’m able to see what the future may hold- for my parents, friends, and my own life.

Visiting Margaret - September 15, 2010

September 15, 2010

Yesterday I got a pleasantly unexpected call from my mom about going to photograph Margaret on Wednesday- (today) at her house in Oak Cliff, Dallas- and going to photograph the ladies at Marie’s this Saturday. Margaret came home last week from the knee rehab center she was staying at and my mom wanted to go visit and check on her. Margaret is in her early 80’s, so her knee is undergoing an extensive recovery and she needs extra help getting around. Margaret didn’t know I would be there so she was really excited when she saw both of us! She is moving around so well for where she should be in the healing process. She told us about having a bad time at the rehab/health care center. She doesn’t always make complete sense when she talks about things so we didn’t understand the extent of what went on while she was in rehab.

Mom and I were able to visit with Margaret for an hour at her house before going to eat lunch (at Golden Corral), and a trip to Walmart to help her buy a few things.

More than anything today was a big observation day for me. I learned a lot about Margaret, her state of mental and physical health, and the struggles that arise with the progression of age, especially in later age (80’s and up).

Margaret always stresses how God has been working in her life- that He has healed her so quickly and that everyday is a miracle from Him. She is overall not too concerned with herself, but continually praying for people, sending out sympathy cards to people suffering loss and is insistent on going to church this upcoming Sunday even though it will be hard for her to drive and to be out for so long.

Evident things she struggles with:

·      Accepting help from others, even when she needs it. My mom continually asked her if she needed a hand getting in and out of the car and Margaret kept getting frustrated, saying “I can do things on my own. I don’t need help from people, I can get around on my own.” My mom also wanted to pay for Margs’ groceries, and she insisted on buying her own dog food at least. I think she feels a little threatened by people helping her so much.

·      Her memory is beginning to wander a little bit. She keeps forgetting to answer her phone, and she forgets that peoples numbers are in her cell phone. Most of the numbers she needs have been in the cell phone for a long time, but she forgets how to use it and says she doesn’t have anyone’s number.

·       There were a few instances on our Walmart trip when I could tell she really struggled to remember things. It makes her feel embarrassed when she forgets things and she started to get pretty cranky after our trip.

o   Before we went on the trip she specifically went through her wallet to bring the bank card she needed in order to pay for groceries. When she insisted on paying for her dog food herself, she pulled out the card and had brought a Home Depot credit card, so of course we helped her pay. She was so baffled as to why she had brought that card, and kept talking about it for ten minutes.

o   She had a hard time remembering what brand of hair dye she uses, so my mom had to help her look for it and ask her one by one which brand it was.

o   Margaret also forgot her keys in the house so we had to go in the house through the unlocked garage after we got back from Walmart.

·      Keeping people from taking advantage of her.

o   She had a horrible time at one of her health care facilities. The lady taking care of her spoke almost no English, would not fix her food unless Margaret asked many times and mostly left her alone in her room all day when she was supposed to be caring for her and making sure she had adequate nutrition. When JoAnn and Marie finally got in contact with Margaret they took her out of that healthcare facility and refused to pay. Sometimes it is hard to follow the story when Margaret is telling it so I am still confused as to how she got stuck in such a bad situation.

o   There is a lady that goes to church with Margaret who keeps calling her about cleaning Margaret’s house because she wants to help out Margaret and needs a job to support her family of 6. Margaret told her she doesn’t need the help and can’t afford to pay her. The lady keeps calling and drives thirty minutes (from her house to Margaret’s) to knock on her door and keep asking. Seems like a waste of gas money for someone who really needs a job. Margaret can even see that this woman was hoping to take advantage of her because of her age and health situation. 

·      Love of her dog.

Margaret has a dog, named Doc, who she treats like a person. She calls him son and gets mad at him when he doesn’t listen to her. She buys more expensive food for him than she does for herself. Doc is really all she has when she is home by herself. He is very protective of her and hates to be alone. I feel like he is a replacement for all of her losses. She had several children early in life and all of them have died. She doesn’t dwell on it, when people are around at least, because she has Doc and her great support system in JoAnn and Marie, and many other people that care for her. 

September 11, 2010

September 11, 2010

This morning I was supposed to go spend the weekend with Jo, Margaret, and Marie- but I received an email from JoAnn saying she wouldn’t be available until Wednesday:

Rebecca,

forgive me for being so long in answering you.  I haven't been home much this week and I have to be gone all day tomorrow.  This Sunday I have to write and turn in a long paper and I don't know how long that will take.  Also, I may be going to West Texas next week to see my aunt.  If I am here, Wednesday will be fine.  Margaret went home yesterday, So maybe you can see her anytime.  I didn't realize I was going to have such a tight schedule these days.  Marie is here most of the time, so maybe she and Margaret and you can get together if I'm not here.  I'll let you know if I leave town.

JoAnn

I emailed her back to let me know about Wednesday. If she’s available then I can go photograph them for most of the day and drive back for my night class. If JoAnn does go out of town I’ll try to get together with Margaret and Marie. Margaret was released from her home health care unit and is now having to do a lot of physical therapy for her knees, so we will probably visit her at her house. I am worried about having enough days to photograph them so I’m taking every opportunity I can. I do wish our schedules were more in sync. This is honestly why I don’t enjoy photographing people. You can learn so much from people and I love building and strengthening relationships with people I know- but it is taxing and difficult to schedule the time to do so.

It’s hard working on this project because I feel like it could turn out so much better if I had more time. I’m working on other personal projects for my applications to grad school and I’m thinking- these would have worked so much better for my thesis BUT at the time I had not started them. It was really only until last semester when I took some of my senior level photography and art classes when I really found my photographic and artistic niche. I was in classes that really inspired me and made me  want to create work, and I felt that my thesis wasn’t expressing what I wanted it to. I’m really happy with who I’m photographing now- but it is still hard to get into it when I know my other projects are coming together so much better. At this point none of that matters, though, because I have to finish this project. I just wish I could have brought my other projects together sooner and photographed them for my thesis. 

Plan of Attack – September 6, 2010

Plan of Attack – September 6, 2010

There are many positive things and a few negative things going on with my thesis project at the moment. I’m at a crucial point because I have to wrap the project up quick when there is still much to be done. It’s been a challenge putting what my heart wants to do with the project and what opportunities and people have come into my life to photograph together cohesively. There have been several ideas and several groups of people I have photographed that didn’t help me express my ideas. Those failed ideas took up over a year of my time, and now that I have found the subject matter I know is right for my project I have maybe a month and a half to pull it together. My challenge right now is bringing together my photographs and ideas in a short amount of time, and getting the heart of the project across to my viewers. The challenge with photography is getting your ideas across- that means failed attempts and revised ideas- but when the subject and ideas finally work together it can be a beautiful thing. I say this because I don’t think the past year has been a waste. I have learned so much by doing this independent project that I couldn’t have learned in a classroom. I have learned that you really find out what you want to say through your work by photographing as much as possible, and then piecing your narrative or voice together. That is my challenge at this moment. Yes, I wish I had thought to photograph Margaret, Marie, and JoAnn sooner. For some reason I had to photograph the other people first- to learn what I didn’t want to say. Yes, it is a setback that I didn’t photograph these ladies sooner- but I can’t dwell on that- I need to keep photographing them and put the project together. 

Thesis Meeting - September 3, 2010

Thesis meeting – September 3, 2010

Yes, I am a little behind on the project. Since halfway through the summer I realized I was photographing the wrong people, I still have some shooting to do- Margaret had her surgery in July and I was unable to photograph her during this time. I also got married, which put my photographing behind. Now I have to factor in my school and work schedule into this time- leaving Monday mornings, and some Saturdays and Sundays when I am available to go to Addison to photograph my subjects (assuming the ladies are also available). It’s going to be great!

There are many factors that go into a project like this one that can affect its outcome. By doing this thesis I have learned so many things that will help me prevent roadblocks in my future documentary projects. For my future projects:

·       It’s important to research what you are interested in photographing, but it’s necessary to photograph as many different things as possible to weed out the bad ideas before you can hone in on what you are saying through your work. It’s not really possible to do so with the thesis since the proposal states your intentions, but my project has had several changes since its beginning stages. If I had only photographed from the start and not worried about the voice of the project until now it would have been a better method, (but not as far as theses go). 

·      Your ideas aren’t always what the viewer sees in the project, which is why it’s important to photograph many different things and many different ways, and then pull the ideas into a cohesive body.

·      Not all ideas are great so don’t set them in stone or be upset if the project changes.

·      Scheduling. You have to plan far, far ahead to photograph people. They can and will cancel on you. Also, you can’t have a personal life- it gets in the way.