j thomas photography

My wife and I attended a dance performance this weekend at Lineage Performance Arts Center in Pasadena, CA. I found that it was a challenge to shoot pictures of the performance – low light, lots of black and plenty of movement.  The performance was a tribute to victims and survivors of breast cancer. The talent the artist displayed was incredible and the forms and compositions they created were fun to capture.

Here are a few images from the night.

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I still remember the feel of the dirt vividly.  The dirt was unlike any dirt I have ever felt.  It was hard; it turned over in large clumps that were difficult to break apart.  It was poured out in layers across the landscape in colors that ranged from dark skin to deep blood.  I would often wear my flip-flops (not the wisest of footwear for the situation) and the small chunks of clay would trap themselves in my open shoes and rub my feet raw.  In the areas where sand had blown over the dirt, my feet would sink in deep and I would inevitably kick a buried cactus.    The water was sparse and the proof of that surrounded me.  The dust would kick up in fits of rage and cover my camera, lenses and teeth with filth that seemed impossible to clean off.

It has been several years since I started this project. I planned to spend time on the Hopi reservation in northern Arizona to photograph farming practices. The interest came from my own experience and love of farming in the Northwest.When I first arrived on the Hopi reservation I had no contacts and no place to start, except for a bag of gear and a few maps of the reservation.  I wandered around clay roads and deep canyons – I stopped at gas stations, feed stores, fields with people working, houses and whoever I could get to listen to me. I was told going into this that the Hopi tribe would not welcome this work and that it would be a dead end.  What I found was a culture of people that were the most generous that I have met.  People offered me gas money, corn and I even had an offer to move into a house for free.  The people I met were the most gracious of hosts and are so captivated by their traditions that they couldn’t hold back when I asked to hear.

The reality of farming on this land is a life of back breaking work.  They use only rain water irrigation. The rains are rare, but heavy monsoons will strip the land in minutes if you’re not ready.  The tradition is a tight woven tapestry of practicality and religion that walk hand in hand in the field.  The corn they grow is mainly used for ceremonies, and that is where the importance of these practices are rooted.  Some of the elderly men and women I talked to carry a great fear as the younger generations move away from these practices.  I remember the distant look in Roger Maze’s eyes as he explained his fear that there soon might not be enough corn on the reservation to complete the ceremonies.  On an environmental scale, some elders fear the loss of the species of corn all together.  This is such a great fear that a young man in the Hopi tribe set off on foot to Mexico to take seeds to tribes there to keep the sacred corn growing.

With all of this difficulty and fear, this culture has found a way find great joy in harvest.  The men still teach the boys to give thanks over each ear of corn.  I got to watch a grandfather walk the lines in the earth he dug and tell the stories of the ancient ones to his grandson, and I watched the grandson hang on the words and stories his grandfather told.  I listened to elders talk of great gifts being left in the fields by the spirits.  I listened to women talk of how great the corn was that year.  I saw women teaching girls to weave baskets of yucca to carry the corn in for ceremonies.

These pictures represent an importance and a weight I will never understand, let alone convey.  They come from a place on earth many would say is ugly – to me, it is one of the most beautiful places on this earth.  The people that thrive here are a joy to be with.  I hope you enjoy.

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LOS ANGALES October 1, 2011 – Occupy Wall street protest started in New York City on September 16, 2011. Similar groups have risen up around the country in sever major cities, including Los Angeles.

The images below are from the start of the Los Angeles protest on October 1, 2011.  The activists gathered downtown at Pershing Square then marched to City Hall where they rallied with chants, songs, signs and banners their disdain for the nations economy and bank practices.

-No images may be used or reproduced in any form without the publisher’s written permission.