I had to see this face, hear this voice, hug these shoulders.

The trip was tightly planned, not a lot of wiggle room, but I wiggled, and it was worth it.

Because this lady is sublime. Been watching her work on Flickr since I started watching people's work on Flickr, had a rich and full concept of her in my mind all ready to be tested by reality.

And as is so often the case, I was completely, wonderfully wrong. So much better. So much different. So much more. So honored to have met her.

Tags:   7.19.11 digital traci houston brittany's backyard road trip Lou O' Bedlam Lou Noble portrait

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I waited outside her house, all Jim Rockford style, reading, trying not to appear suspicious to folks who walked by.

When she arrived home from work, I was reminded of my days as a process server, where someone would spot me, know I was significant, but unsure as to what specifically was going on.

For just a moment she was unsure. Then I smiled, and she smiled, and it was all hugs and wine and photography talk.

And fun in the street. Jumping, running, laughing, hair up, hair down.

The process...my process, a lot of it is observation. SURPRISE. That falls down when I'm having too much fun, I forget to take a real good look at the face I'm photographing. There are a lot of shots from this day where I forgot to pay attention.

Then there's this one, where I didn't.

Tags:   7.19.11 digital brittany road trip Lou O' Bedlam Lou Noble portrait

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Nine years ago I went around the country, mostly by train, interviewed folks for a book. Made sure to stop in Texas to see Brittany and her friends. Truth be told, went out of my way to stop in her town.

Only been back to Houston a handful of times, but I always carve out a space to see Brittany. Do we know each other well? Nah. But there's a warmth, from that first meeting until now, still there in the belly. Warmth that has me reach out now and then, just to check in.

And as I sit and think about what to write to accompany this photo...the idea that I could see a picture of someone online and somehow arrange to actually meet that person? That's incredible. Meet the subject, meet the photographer, become friends with them both. Close the distance between myself and other people.

That will never get old.

Tags:   7.19.11 digital brittany road trip Lou O' Bedlam Lou Noble portrait

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Ten years to the day since I took this picture, and...well, a decade seems an important milestone, can't let it pass without comment.

Driving to Houston, sitting and drinking wine while waiting for our mutual friend to arrive, the novelty of seeing someone I'd known only from the internet live and in front of me.

I'd been told she and her friends were...insular, closed off to others, cliquish. Couldn't have been farther from the truth. Brittany was instantly willing to step out into the street, have her picture taken for as long as I wanted. Invited me into her home, even though we'd never formally met, treating me like we'd known each other for years.

It wasn't just getting to meet Brittany (who I'd seen model in some of the most exquisite photos you'll find on this site), it was discovering that she and her friends, whose work I'd been in awe of for about as long as I'd been on Flickr, were warm and wonderful people, as jazzed to see me as I was to see them.

It was more than I could've hoped for, and it's brought me back to Houston a surprising number of times, hoping to re-capture that kind of friendship lightning in a bottle.

And each time, I do. Because of Brittany.

Tags:   7.19.11 digital brittany road trip Lou O' Bedlam Lou Noble portrait

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Third stop in my trip across the country was New Orleans, where I was planning on staying for two days, I was there specifically to interview a couple that some internet friends had lined up for me.

But slightly before arriving, I discovered some not-quite-friends I knew from San Francisco would be there for a bartender convention, which led to me hanging with them awhile, which Then led to me randomly running into a friend from LA who was also having a drink at this bar that was also a carousel? He insisted I stay another day, because the bar he owned in LA was competing in the bartender convention, and I just Had to go.

So now I'm not only hanging with my now-totally-friends from SF, but I'm staying in their room, going to a pool party with them, going to random bar events that we can get into for free because they're all bartenders...this, early on, was when the trip started to get wonderfully strange, and exhausting, and intoxicating.

Tags:   7.21.11 Melissa Boyd New Orleans

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