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A #tbt interview with award-winning, legally blind photographer Kurt Weston, originally published in A&U Magazine–America’s AIDS Magazine

Some fifteen years ago, I came across a contest looking for works by visual artists and writers. The contest was called Unfinished Works and featured a black-and-white photograph–The Last Light, by Kurt Weston. Although I didn’t know it at the time, that moment was about to forever change my life in the most amazing ways. I ended up getting in touch with the photographer, Kurt Weston for a first interview. I’ve had the chance to interview him several times since then, and we even collaborated on a book.

Here’s an excerpt focusing on “The Last Light” photograph from Journeys Through Darkness: A Biography of award-winning, legally blind photographer Kurt Weston:

Read more at: https://alinaoswald.com/2021/03/02/warrior-within/

Photographing Mardi Gras while at home during Covid-19 quarantine

Happy Mardi Gras! I have to confess, I love New Orleans. It’s a phenomenal city that also goes by names like The Big Easy, Crescent City, or the City of the Dead. I’ve visited several times, but never during Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday). Yet, this year, with the pandemic still upon us, most of us celebrate Mardi Gras at home.

But how do we photograph Mardi Gras while in quarantine?

You don’t have to live in New Orleans to add a few carnival colors to your life. Rather, you can use Mardi Gras decorations to add a hint of NOLA to your living quarters. Decorations can include beads, masks, mostly in purple (for justice), green (faith), and gold (power).

[Read more at: https://alinaoswald.com/2021/02/16/happy-mardi-gras-2021/ ]

On World AIDS Day 2020, a post about the making of Angel in Central Park black-and-white Lensbaby photograph, the history of the Bethesda fountain sculpture in Central Park, NYC, and its role and symbolism in the play (and HBO movie) Angels In America.

Angel in Central Park

Angels in America has been a source of inspiration for many artists, in particular those capturing the AIDS pandemic of the eighties. The Bethesda angel is a symbolic figure at the center of Tony Kushner’s play, and, itself, a source of inspiration.

Known as the Angel of the Waters, the fountain sculpture designed by Emma Stebbins in 1868 hints at a Bible story of Christ healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda. As it watches over Central Park, in New York City, the angel also alludes to the Croton Aqueduct, the first water distribution system (1842) to provide clean, drinking water to the city. In the context of Angels in America, the angel fountain sculpture becomes a symbol of hope, of a possible healing for those struggling to survive HIV and AIDS during the darkest years of that pandemic. [read more at https://alinaoswald.com/2020/12/01/angel-in-central-park-the-story-of-a-photograph/]

Can you still recall how excited you were about the beginning of the year? Can you still recall your New Year’s resolutions? Have you had a chance or strength or motivation to accomplish any of those resolutions? And how about that 2020 vision?

Maybe “plagued” might be a more appropriate word to describe this year. The pandemic has altered our lives in profound, horrible and terrifying ways. Yet, at least in part, it has also been a blessing in disguise. Let me explain….

Among others:

[Read more at: https://alinaoswald.com/2020/09/29/coronavirus-a-blessing-in-disguise/ ]

How I made that shot and the story behind my “No Surrender” image

Those of you reading this blog might recall some of my previous posts mentioning a new series of hand portraits and self-portraits, which is still very much a work in progress. Here’s the story behind one of the images in this series–No Surrender.

Read more at https://alinaoswald.com/2020/09/08/no-surrender-the-story-behind-the-image/

Drawing parallels between AIDS and Covid-19 pandemics

Several people, on different occasions, have asked me to talk about similarities and differences between the pandemic of the eighties (or the eighties’ “plague,” how Larry Kramer called it) and the current, Coronavirus pandemic. While I’ve covered HIV and AIDS for almost twenty years, I’ve just started capturing the present pandemic, for obvious reasons.

Read more: https://alinaoswald.com/2020/09/01/documenting-pandemics/

Should you and (if yes) how to talk about your images, your creative work?

The other day Facebook “reminded” me of a picture from a couple years ago, showing yours truly with her artwork at a gallery opening. Looking at it through the present Covid-19 lens, the image appeared to speak of a time long ago and another life…. It also brought to mind the idea of creatives talking (or not) about their work, especially at art shows, when meeting face to face people interested in their work, potentially.

Read more at: https://alinaoswald.com/2020/08/25/talk-about-your-images/

Questions creatives might ask themselves in a time of Coronavirus pandemic

Sometimes I think that this pandemic is a blessing in disguise, to some extent and in some strange way, that is. Coronavirus pandemic has really brought into focus many aspects of our lives and issues in our lives. As I might have mentioned in a previous post, it has put things into perspective for yours truly and maybe for others, too. Hasn’t it?

Read more at: https://alinaoswald.com/2020/08/18/creative-qa-during-coronavirus-pandemic/

Quarantine Self-Portraits: A visual representation of the evolution of mental distress caused by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic

I’ve thought about photographing pain (physical and mental) in a series of self-portraits, but found it difficult to capture pain, in action, as it targets one’s own self, mind, and body. Thinking of pain and how we perceive ourselves and others through the filter of pain, and in particular through its most recent 2020 lens, I feel that the Coronavirus pandemic has unveiled a raw and real, individual and collective portrait of pain, and transformed many people’s lives…and stopped lives, too.

In the spirit of #2020challenge here’s a version of this transformation so far, as perceived through my own eyes:
https://alinaoswald.com/2020/08/11/quarantine-self-portraits/

It's August, Hawaii's statehood month. Here are a few images from the majestic, mesmerizing Aloha land, the land of rainbows: https://alinaoswald.com/2020/08/04/hawaii-in-images/