ERIN EDWARDS

This ^^ is how I dance when no one is watching excited I am to be chosen as a MTM fellow.

Tomorrow, me and seven equally amazing dancers people will begin our year long journey as MTM (More Than Me) fellows in Liberia!  I couldn’t be more excited to take on this new experience.  It is our opportunity to respond to that desire that is within us all — the desire to give of ourselves in order to make the world a better place.  

More Than Me has been hard at work in Liberia providing young girls with options.  Options that have disintegrated as a result of years of civil war.  So, tomorrow, I will be in Liberia joining in the fight to get young girls off the street and safely into school.  Just typing those words is surreal, yet satisfying.

I have to admit, as excited as I am, I know this will not be an easy road and that truthfully makes me nervous.  Will the girls like me?  Will they feel comfortable with me?  Will they learn from me? All I know is, I will do my absolute best, to make sure I give these girls my best and contribute to making their futures a little brighter.

Tonight is my last night in familiar surroundings.  While I will undoubtedly be sad to be leaving my loved ones and the milestones that will occur in this next year, I am welcoming this journey with open arms and an open mind.  We were each chosen for our razor sharp wits good reason by the good folks at MTM and will do them proud.  I was selected as the communications/digital media fellow, so you will most likely be hearing more from me on this blog very soon!  Bon voyage to my future coworkers!  Chapter 1 of our new book begins tomorrow.

L.A. Times photographer, Barbara Davidson, won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for her photo package on victims of gang violence.  She told the story BOLDLY, to say the least. She garnered such honesty and emotion out of a very sensitive and tough subject.  I salute you Barbara!

I didn’t realize gang violence was still such a problem out in Cali. I urge you to view the entire package, “Caught in the Crossfire” which includes video interviews with innocent victims of gang violence as well as the photos.

*Originally published on The Smoking Section  Words and Video produced by yours truly

Came across this on the Blog A Photo Editor… soo REAL.  Creative folks are not always the the best at running a business.  :-(

I’m available for work :-)

Thanks to my amazingly talented friend and coworker, Daria, I’ve got this awesome flyer, that will hopefully attract potential clients/customers and projects.  Forward Movement!

“… you don’t know what’s gonna happen next, the only thing you can rely on is good music.”

Amen!  I LOVE good music and I’m ecstatic about the addition of the Revive Music Group to Okayplayer.com’s family of sites.  This video is on point and so is the soundtrack.  Check The Revivalist site out  here.

Shad

(from the song “Listen” on the TSOL album)

Another shot from my headshots session with Journo friend Olivia.  Love a good black & white photo!

*published in the NYTimes.com Lens Blog.  20 year-old photojournalist and student Ty Cacek talks with Kerri Macdonald about his assignment covering a Klu Klux Klan chapter in Kentucky last spring. 

Above photo by Jocelyn Bain Hogg (VII Photographer)

*Excerpt from the Q & A between Macdonald and Ty.  I couldn’t agree more with his sentiments:

“My goal has been to go into a subculture of people who are very different from me and show them in a way that allows people to connect. Walking into these people’s lives and seeing what they go through on a day-to-day basis is really eye-opening. I stopped seeing people as very different from me.

Q.

How has it changed the way you work?

A.

I realized that pictures don’t have to be perfect. Sometimes they’re even better because they’re not.

I really try to focus on issues that are difficult to access. I find that once you get into a situation that’s hard to photograph, you’re able to find a certain comfort within that subject matter. You end up being more comfortable than uncomfortable.

Another thing I’ve learned is to show all subjects with dignity. That’s human. If you’re going to focus on gritty subject matter, it’s important to show it in a way that allows human connection. You want people to feel like they’re really gaining another experience by looking at pictures.”

The spring concert season is warming up, even if the weather isn’t.  Check out my preview of some of the hottest Hip Hop shows to hit NYC this month!

Cindy playing the Guzengh, a Chinese string instrument, on the Columbus Circle subway platform last night.  I love subway musicians.  She was definitely in the zone.  Audio to come soon!

Had a fun shoot in Central Park with my journo friend, Olivia this past weekend.  It was fah-reezing, but she is such a breeze to work with and the photos turned out great!

An old favorite.  I produced this audio slideshow, Voices from “Little Ethiopia,”  in December of 2008 and it was published as a web companion to the article “America’s Horn of Africa” published in the March 2009 edition of ONE magazine.  It was a great experience interviewing and meeting with the subjects of this piece.  I learned a great deal about Ethiopian culture and what it means to be an immigrant in the U.S.   I definitely fell in love with Ethiopian culture during that time and still hope to visit the country one day.

The shuttering of the historic shop’s doors last August left behind droves of disappointed lovers of Hip-Hop worldwide, the legendary East Village record store having stood as a staple of the Hip-Hop community since opening in 1994. Though records were still for sale on their web site, owner Joseph Abaijan aka DJ Jab wanted to rekindle what made Fat Beats so special — the community aspect.

On Saturday, March 5th, he was able to accomplish this with the first launch of a monthly Pop-Up Shop record store and music celebration. Located approximately four miles from the original East Village location, entering the 3rd floor Brooklyn warehouse was an experience akin to traveling back to a time when connoisseurs first began gathering in the original location to share space with others of like mind. Rekindling lost feelings for a day, Hip-Hop heads intermingled with luminary MCs and DJs like DJ Spinna, DJ Evil Dee, DJ Eclipse and Rich Medina and the gathering was beautiful, proving once again that Hip-Hop still thrives.

*Published on smokingsection.net

My current portfolio site!  Check it out

I kinda like the mixtapes better so far… but haven’t listened all the way through yet

Hands down, my all time favorite Hip Hop love song.  The most accurate depiction of love I’ve ever heard in a song.  Happy Love Day!

Love Language

L’amour n’a pas de, frontiere (Love has no boundaries)
Restes car je t’aime comme tu es (Stay because I love you as you are)
J’ai traverse l’ocean du verbe (I crossed an ocean of words)
Et je t’ai trouve (And I found you)

lol! you’re welcome

“No Women” LOL very interesting, but makes sense.

rugzdbewler:

During a session with production team Grand Staff, Rugz D. Bewler declares his studio essentials to RapRelapse.com.