I have an endless fascination with laundry being hung out to dry. Maybe it’s because I never saw it growing up as a kid in my modern suburban California neighborhood, with its fences and its seclusive nature; or maybe it’s because I like the way it adds to the charms of a small town, especially when I see it outside with snow on the ground. Winter doesn’t stop life here… I like that about Leadville.
Let’s see, how would I describe Santacon? Well, basically it’s an all-day event where people all across the country dress up as Santa–or in Santa-related attire–and combine a mix of corporate/consumer holiday protesting, drinking, debauchery, and handing out demented gifts, in between multiple bar crawls and strip club stops.
I went to the Santacon in Denver on December 18th. It wasn’t nearly as big as the Santacons in LA and New York, but still fun nonetheless. The Santas used a “sleigh” (really it was a worn down bus) to get from location to location, until it ultimately broke down halfway through the day. I wanted to follow them the entire night, but unfortunately I had an early shoot in Leadville the next morning, so I left them at the strip club. Here are my favorite pictures from the event:
Here the Santas are handing out some non-demented gifts to kids who were ice skating. Shortly after, they began singing some of their “alternative” Christmas carols:
To ring in 2010, my friends and I decided to throw a New Year’s Eve party that was 80’s prom themed. We had it all: raffle prizes that were handed out all night (a Rubik’s cube, Girl Talk dating game, a pocket simon, wayfarer sunglasses, etc), a Warhol-esque Rubik’s cube cake made by the incredibly talented LeAnne Snyder, a photobooth where guests could take their own pictures wearing their AMAZING outfits, over 500 balloons used in the midnight balloon drop, two balloon arches made by yours truly and Aurora Armijo, and a balloon pit that served as a secondary photobooth. We also had a campaign station set up where guests could be nominated for the titles of Prom King and Prom Queen, after making at least two campaign materials and putting them up around the house.
I personally worked pretty hard on my campaign, spending several days shopping for my outfit, then sewing and crafting a custom-made campaign jacket that I wore all night, as did my BFF Aurora. Of course all that hard work paid off and I won the prom queen title. Pretty impressive, considering how I never actually went to prom when I was in high school.
All in all, it was a GREAT way to start off the new year. I had a blast, as did everyone else, and LeAnne and I snagged some fabulous photos that I’ve posted just about everywhere by now. So as not to overwhelm even more, here is a selection of my favorite shots from the night:
On December 12th I photographed the Our Lady of the Guadalupe festival in Leadville–a commemoration of the image of the Virgin Mary miraculously appearing to a peasant on a hill near Mexico City in 1531. Throughout the day I followed the Hispanic population of Leadville, lead mostly by the youth dressed in colorful Aztec attire, as they marched from the trailer park two miles outside of town, to the Catholic church, and ultimately to the 6th street gym, dancing nearly all day long in celebration of their most popular religious and cultural symbol.
If you happen to come across a man walking his horse down the main drag in order to “freak out the tourists” and enjoy a beautiful evening, it would be wise to introduce yourself, because chances are he’s quite friendly and will let you ride said horse.
I’m currently based in Leadville, Colorado for a few months to work on a project about the town I started back in 2008. I’m excited to be able to experience the first real winter of my entire life, seeing as I was born and raised in the central valley of California, where the winters are anything but snowy. The snow is beautiful and makes the colors in the town pop, but lordy, I am not used to -25 with a windchill. Hard to get motivated on the bitterly cold days as of late.
Here are a few scenics I shot after our first snow earlier this week.
My best friend Aurora is getting married! In all honesty, I never thought I’d see the day, but then again, I’ve never seen her this happy with someone before. I remember my reaction when she called me over the summer, shortly after Ben proposed during a picnic by the Hollywood sign: “So, it took you over 2 months to agree to be his girlfriend, but you agreed to be his wife right away?” We had a good laugh about it.
Here are a few engagement photos I took of them a few weeks ago:
