Juliana's Lovely Land of Neurosis

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Portrait of Winnie

I took this portrait of Winnie at the Starlite Motel on Rt. 1&9 near my old hometown of Jersey City. We made quite a day of it.. Winnie, my assistant Maddy Budd and I. Most of the time was spent in Jersey traffic and less time was spent photographing. But, three very different women who all have a love for photography got together and we made this image.

Yes, there is a longer story and it was certainly fun to spend a sunny warm Saturday with two young and talented photographers. But, now, I have to finish writing my afterward to my book. And that isn't coming too easy for me right now. Maybe I need some meditation too.

You can find this portrait of Winnie along with the portraits of some great emerging and emerged photographers. Don't we hate the word "emerging"? Can we come up with another word. It already feels dated. In any case, the project is the brainchild of Stuart Pilkington and is called "Someone I Know". Check it out!! Some great portraits.

"Winnie on the 1&9", New Jersey, March 2013. Juliana Beasley

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Rockaways Before Sandy

My heart and mind are in the Rockaways. I am finally going out there to look for old friends and to witness the unthinkable.

Here are a couple of images I took over the years. The photograph of the young girl folding her laundry was taken in a laundromat that no longer stands. I photographed the woman in the Irish green tiara in front of her home this past St. Paddy's Day. And the camper belongs to Bob. I can't imagine how Bob managed to survive the flooding in his camper home.

"Irish Day Parade Portrait #1", Rockaways, NYC. 2012. ©Juliana Beasley

"Laundromat", Rockaways, NYC. 2012. ©Juliana Beasley

"Bob's Camper", Rockaways, NYC. 2012. ©Juliana Beasley

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Dear Rockaways

I send all my prayers and love to all those who are struggling and suffering in the aftermath ofHurricane Sandy. The Rockaways has been a refuge and a home to many of the city's forgotten and dismissed. It has also been a refuge for me from my own life over the last ten years. I am thankful for all the people I have met and whom let me photograph them and who shared their lives with me. At heart, the Rockaway's is a strong community and will surmount this latest blow. They need our help. Here are a few photographs I took over the years. Sweet memories of another time and dear friends.

"Valerie", Rockaways, NYC, Winter 2007(?). ©Juliana Beasley

"Tara", Rockaways, NYC, Summer 2002. ©Juliana Beasley

"Patient Walking Down 116th", Rockaways, NYC. ©Juliana Beasley

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Rockaway's Archive #3

October 18, 2012. I miss 115th street. I miss Ma and I miss Billy. I miss being around people who make me smile and who I make smile. I even miss the stench of cat urine mixed with layers of cigarette smoke coating the walls and fabric in her room in the boarding house. It's time to wrap this project up and I'm still holding on. I haven't been out there in months and I didn't make it out there for the summer. My therapist told me that I had to put this on the top of my priority list. She even told me that she would give me $300. to help pay for a designer to make my book dummy. I wasn't even talking about the Rockaway's when she offered. She has stood by my side every inch of the way... through the deaths of both my parents, through the bleak emptiness of my own personal incarceration to the highs and the sound of my laughter weaving in and out of the last ten years of this roller coaster ride of mine. If you can't laugh at the completely absurd and the unfairness of life than you might miss out on a lot of laughing.

I turned the corner and I saw the super of the SRO on the ladder. I asked him if I could take a photograph of him.

"The Super", Rockaways, NYC. 2011. ©Juliana Beasley

I was hanging out at Lulu's boarding house. We were hanging outside on the stairs. I got into a conversation with her husband and a local. Lulu went her house and when she came out, she was carrying a platter covered in very young puppies. I believe they were only one week old. I asked her if I could take a portrait of her with the plate of puppies.