Range

I do epic/pastoral landscape portraits or dark and moody low light shots. There is no in between. This is me 😂😂

Grin

Happy today! That is all. 😊

Contributing to the Conversation

She was born in a hospital where she was unrepresented. No art on the walls or people in the halls there looked like her. Where most people chose to say nothing to me, rather than acknowledge or celebrate her beautiful existence. Now she’s in bookstores nationwide, shouting inclusion with her old soul eyes and brilliant smile. My girl came to show up. I could not be more grateful or proud.

I had the opportunity to write for Click Magazine about my unique experience photographing my daughter, who has Down syndrome. I had never shared this perspective before, and some things in this article were a revelation even to Dan. I hope that it furthers the dialogue of inclusion and makes even one more small dent in the wide realm of public perception towards people with special needs and their families. So thankful to be asked to share.

You can pick up a copy of @click.magazine Winter 2021 at Barnes & Noble or online (link in profile). And please do. Representation matters. 😘

#am_nationalparks #mangosdoarches

Light & Chores

He looks good doing the dishes. For all the reasons 😅😘

Looking at you, baby girl.

Tomorrow begins today. We are a group of artists coming together to celebrate history being made.
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"To the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: Dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others might not see you, simply because they’ve never seen it before. And we will applaud you every step of the way.” - Kamala Harris
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Please follow along and join in with us as #womencelebratinghistory.

Milestones

Milestones. In the world of special needs we call them “inchstones,” and we embrace each one with unbridled joy and celebration of effort and accomplishment. It can be discouraging to look out in the distance to see how far you have to go, but so encouraging to see how far you have come and all you are doing TODAY. She teaches me all day, every day, that “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” and that the limits we face or place on ourselves are always surmountable if we dig deep and keep moving forward.
This month we celebrate preparing to transfer from Early Intervention to preschool-provided special education services. A lot of tests, planning, and meetings are involved, and there is a whole village of family, friends, & professionals behind this girl cheering for her success & learning from her example.

Lake Ice

This was a beautiful scene that lasted all of 10 min...👉🏻💦And this is why we don’t trust anything but the ice on the very edge of the shore 🥶😱🙏🏻

Winter Art

I used to think winter was really ugly unless there’s snow on the ground, but I’m getting past that. Turns out you have to go outside. 😉🥰 Edit: Enjoy that second picture of me that Dan snuck and I did not mean to include in this post. 😅 Chewing on a weed because I was SURE I could use it for something, later. Photographers are weird.

Light Watching

January is long (and this January 😳), but every day I look out the window and remember that the light is coming back. ✨

Sweetness

She’s been giving me lots of kisses, today. Read: looking me straight in the eye tenderly before slobbering her tongue all over my face. Mom life. 😆😜🥰

Generations

Just my cute dad teaching my boys how to play the guitar. Layered with all the sentimental feelings of my childhood. 💛

Ours

Running to our peaceful place.

Children and the Future

After yesterday I am not ok and I am not going to pretend I am ok. I am not going to shrug it off as nothing and neither should you. Nor should we forget.
However, Lydia and my innocent boys are still here, helping me realize there is still great beauty & purity in the world. 💛 I am grateful for that, and will do everything I can to preserve & build that which is beautiful and good for them.

Christmas Magic

On Christmas Eve, as I watched my son lean out the window in every direction with expression after expression of amazement & delight, I realized that right there was the magic of Christmas and beauty of childhood. It was one of my favorite Christmas gifts. **One of these persons felt well and the other did not, but all enjoyed the light show. **

New Birth

Walking gently into 2021. The birth process comes to mind. Great life-changing events accompanied by deep breaths through painful moments of slow progression. When something new is born (or a traumatic injury occurs) it takes great effort & requires that we acknowledge the recovery process. 2020 was, well, unprecedented. And I have wondered for some time what the “after” will look like. Will society expect to “bounce back” immediately to our glamorous pre-2020 selves, or will we be forced to reckon with the soft, stretched, sore, exhausted, but new version of ourselves we have made? Like birth, I’m sure the process will be unique for everyone. But I hope we walk gently and offer grace & help as needed. That we accept grace & help as needed. Especially for ourselves. 💛

Busy December

A dash of December. I’m still editing this month and you might just see more through February 🤷🏼‍♀️ What a year to do a 365! So much weird, but also a lot of finding our rhythm through it—or not, as the case may be 😜 But here we are, the IG collection I am most proud of (maybe ever? 😅): #amango2020 #amango365

365 Resolution Recap

Since it’s resolution season... I wanted to share a few things from my 365 this year (not all photography related). I took a picture every day, but edited as I was able, and only edited pictures I liked best (still behind on that by the way, but whatever). I started this project with the primary goal of “improving my photography.” To me, that primarily meant nailing the technical aspects & creating consistent edits I was proud of. I feel pretty good about my progress in those areas. I met and exceeded some meaningful goals. But the year has left me with a lot of questions. Who do I shoot for? Is it me & my kids or some mysterious (less meaningful) “other.” What am I trying to say through my photographs? What inspires me and why? Am I pushing myself as hard creatively as I could? And ultimately, if I spend so much time & effort on this, WHY? What am I ultimately trying to say & produce? Is it worth it?

That’s a lot of questions. Some I have basic answers to, but kind of like the start of the project last year, I need to apply focus & consistency to flesh those answers out & apply them until they become me.

This is all a really boring way of considering what New Years resolutions are and why we have them. I think there are two parts to every resolution: can you work diligently to establish the habit? And what is it all ultimately for?

Photography tends to be a microcosm of my life that teaches me stuff worth learning about every other aspect of who I am. One of the most powerful things I learned this year was that I CAN, through diligent, tiny steps, achieve my goals! Even hard ones! It was seriously very empowering! Now this year I want to look deeper into my why, my authenticity, and my ultimate purpose/legacy.

This concludes all my New Years goals & thoughts you never asked for 😜😊

(Also: I love Lydie’s braids. 💛)