At long last... a new Blog and Website!!

www.forestwoodward.com

Head on over to the new site and have a look around!

As you guys might have gathered from my lack of posts over here on blogspot in the past few months, I've been saving up for the launch of my new blog and website! Over the next few weeks I will be adding posts over there from Nicaragua, Bonnaroo, Coachella, England, and more. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to keep up with this blog, share it with friends, and take time to comment and share your thoughts. It has really been an awesome outlet for me to share my work, and it's only because of you guys' encouragement and participation that I've kept it up. Looking forward to interacting with any and all of you over on the new page: http://www.forestwoodward.com

PS - if you find anything you like over there, check out the new "share" feature in the upper right corner and feel free to tweet/stumble/tumble/fumble/facebook/email/and/spam all your friends ;)

2011 PDN Photo Annual

So stoked to be selected as one of the photographers featured in the 2011 PDN Photo Annual! 

I took this shot of my friend Yusuke in on of the crowded subway stations of Tokyo while traveling last Oct/Nov in Japan. I entered it in the PDN photo contest on a whim, the last day that the contest was open to entries. It is the only photo I have ever entered in a contest, and you can imagine my surprise when I found out that it was selected. I must send a big thanks to Yusuke for his help in making this shot happen!

Postcards from Argentina :: Saudade Rio

"Saudade" - my favorite word that I have learned in all my travels. While it has no direct translation from Portuguese to English, it has been described as "the recollection of feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought excitement, pleasure, or well-being. And which now triggers the senses and makes one live again." Perhaps some of my Brazilian friends for whom I have Saudade will chime in to further enlighten us...

Rio de Janeiro :: Faces on the Bus

Rio de Janeiro :: Street kids

We gave these kids a bit of change and some fried cheese my brother was eating. 

I started to walk away to find another beer and to forget about them. Instead, I found myself standing across the street from them, watching. I wanted something from them. 

They were handsome, with intelligent eyes. And gifted actors as well - their faces and actions fleeting quickly and effortlessly through a range of emotions. Some real, some contrived. 

They lived on the street. Their teeth were rotting and they had swollen scars in strange places. One of them wore a glittery lace purse around his waist that he had stolen or found. But their smiles glowed. They were living proof that happiness is relative, and can be found in the most unlikely of places. 

I knew what I needed from them. Pulling out the camera again I tried to distill the chaos of their actions to reveal that simple lesson.  I was surprised to find I had something to give them in return, as their initial mistrust dissipated, and was replaced by proud cavorting and clowning as the presence of the camera, my willingness to sit with them, and curiosity about what they were doing gave them a sense of worth and importance that I hope had as lasting an impact on them as their actions had upon me. 

Read more about the plight of street kids in Rio

Rio de Janeiro :: The kids

 Amidst all the hedonistic revelry of Carnival I found time to sit, converse (in a mix of Spanish, Portuguese and sing language), and pass the camera around with a few different groups of kids. Why? I don't know. Maybe because kids like to play as much as I do. Maybe because I'm still stuck somewhere between a 'kid' and a 'grownup'. Maybe because their eyes reflect a world devoid of the cynicism with which I sometimes see it (see last post). Or maybe it's their curiosity that I find most refreshing.

Photo courtesy of Marina

Portrait by the girl with the red hair