The photographs below are from a portrait session I shot this weekend of a close friend’s grandchildren.   

Mothers of a Nation: New Color Stills

I am back from Uganda where I have been shooting the feature for Mothers of a Nation. Please check out www.mothersofanation.com for upcoming news on the movie. Also check out my site for more photographs.

My Wedding Photography video is out. Please watch!

I wanted to share with you the trailer to Mothers of a Nation.  Please check out any screenings in your area and contact us if you are interested in hosting one! Watch the trailer below:

Today is my mother’s first day of chemo. She will be going twice a month for the next four months. The first two months will be the most taxing because of the particular chemo cocktail. This chemo treatment has the unfortunate nickname of Red Devil. Mom told me this morning she feels at peace with what lies ahead. She is not fearful of her next four months. I will keep everyone up to date on her progress and the documentary. Please send her prayers, light, and love.

In other news, I wanted to pass along an update on the Mothers of a Nation project.

We are working hard on editing the soundtrack for Mothers of a Nation and still looking for funding to return to Uganda to finish the feature. We are fiscally sponsored by Arts Engine which makes all direct donations tax deductible. Please see our WEBSITE to find out more about how to get involved. Every little bit helps!

My Photographs are for sale in support of the film with a percentage going back to DIG and directly to the women of Jinja. Previous sales have enabled us to donate a HUG (Home Ugandan Gardens) garden for the holidays!

The photographs can be seen at www.ansleywest.com. They are available now and we encourage you to consider purchasing one of these unique prints. Please contact me directly for price listings at ansleywest@yahoo.com.

Below are a list of events that shouldn’t be missed! We look forward to seeing you at a screening or exhibit in 2010! Happy New Year!

The University of Utah for Women’s Club The UUWC will showcase the Mothers of a Nation photography show and film as a part of Women’s Month in March 2010. The club is a nonprofit organization operated exclusively for charitable, cultural and educational purposes. Its programs and activities bring together women with diverse interests and diverse roles in the University community.  ??Please join us as Ansley will be lecturing at the University on March 10th, 2010 followed by a gallery reception where the film will be screened. ??Stay tuned for more details.

The Panjoma Penda Festival      Mothers of a Nation will be screening along with 9 other short films about Africa at this exciting event hosted by The Ugandan American Partnership Organization, one of the films proud sponsors. ??The Pamoja Penda Festival, Swahili for “One Community Love,” is to host a day music festival to benefit the Ugandan American Partnership Organization’s work with refugee communities in Northern Uganda and to raise awareness for grassroots organizations in Africa and Atlanta.??Mothers of a Nation will screen at the March 28th event. Please stay in tune for show times.?? www.pamojapenda.com

I have returned home this week because my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. The whole process has been hard on both my mother and our family. Learning that you or a loved one has cancer is a nightmare. Cancer is a six-letter word you fear your whole life and never imagine it happening to you or someone you love.

 The tumor is very large and fast growing so needs to be shrunk before it can be removed. She begins chemo on Monday, which will last 4 months.  She will then undergo a mastectomy, a procedure to remove her breast, after the treatment.

 My mom has agreed to a private documentary where I will record her battle with cancer through digital and b&w film photography. I am documenting my mother’s life throughout her fight against cancer. The images will capture the beauty and strength of my mother through her faith, love, and humor; all the weapons she is arming herself with to conquer cancer. A few weeks ago we were celebrating Christmas, now we are celebrating life, love, and family. If I post any photographs from this series it will be with her consent. She is in total control of these photographs, which is why the documentary is private.

 My mom is truly one of the most wonderful people in the world. She is full of laughter and love. Her faith in God has already made her see the good in her frightful situation. She is a blessing to all her friends and family because of the joy her she exudes. She is my best friend and the backbone to our family. It pains me to know what lies ahead of her, but I know she will beat breast cancer just as millions of other women around the world have as well. We have begun the fight with cancer so please keep her in your prayers.

I have recently started blogging to show a few new series I have been working on in New Mexico.

I am interested in looking at the world how it was intended to be, not how man has distorted it.  I have to look at our world with blinders in order to see what I like.  I feel we have subtly and obviously altered our landscape; we no longer know how the earth truly looks.  Our perception of the natural world is a warped view of strip malls and concrete. We have come to understand nature as the spaces in-between. 

Civilizations have lived harmoniously with their environment when they have seen themselves as a part of the earth, not ruler of it, but the present humanity tends to not follow this way of thinking. My photographs seek to show the human connection with the earth as a symbiotic relationship not parasitic.

My recent move to the Southwest has inspired this new series. The intriguing landscape and open spaces that define New Mexico are inspiring beyond words. Being from the South where development is seen along every inch of highway and interstate, it’s been intoxicating to see an American landscape that is not completely developed.  This landscape gives me a sense of freedom and adventure. I want to incorporate the figure as part of desert, tree, water, air, light, all aspects of the natural world through the beauty of the human connection rather than the ugliness that is most commonly seen.

I will shoot all photographs on 4×5 film with a large format camera. I will print each image the size of the negative using palladium printing, an alternative process, where I expose each print in nature using the sun instead of the darkroom. The use of sunlight in my development process is an important part of my project because I want to continue the positive use of nature through the entire making of each image especially given that Santa Fe experiences 300 days of sunlight.

The first photograph is titled “Wind” and is a self portrait of myself on the mesa behind my house. 

  Please post any comments and questions as the series evolves.