I’ve been here from the beginning of Viewfinders. I was an eleventh hour draft, contacted days before the site went live. Someone had bowed out, and I said yes before thinking. Then had a minor panic as I came to terms with what I’d agreed to and how it would stretch me.

All the thoughtful, talented, creative, lovely women with whom I’ve shared this space over the years have inspired me, and raised my state of play. I’ve never taken the honor of being in their company for granted, and even in mourning or in the deepest creative drought, I have always found the discipline of the Viewfinders deadline on my calendar a good burden.

My  posts here, I’m quite sure, did more for me than they ever could have done for anyone on the other side of the screen. Whether it was making the pictures, thinking through what I’d share, or the act of sitting down to write. Being here has served as a bulwark against the busyness of life. My accountability to the women here, and to those who might read what I post, has kept me thinking like a photographer and an artist when it would have been easier to forfeit those pieces of myself. I’m truly grateful for the time I’ve had in this space. 

But I’ve been feeling a different creative pull for a while now, as alluded to in my last post, and it’s time for me to make space for someone here whose heart is in the thick of where the collective is – deep in photography  – in a way I am not at present.

My beloved grandmother could not tolerate “good-byes.” If you uttered those words at parting, she would correct you with an insistent, “See you later” or “So long.” I suspect it was the finality of good-bye that she couldn’t abide, coupled with the notion that your words might have a tiny hand in shaping reality. So, I’ll borrow from her now. It’s been so lovely being here with you.
So long for now. See you later.

And always, keep your eyes wide open, friends.

Debbie

(and since, as per usual, I got my film developed long after the fact and missed the deadlines for group posts, I’ve decided to highlight some of my photos from an amazing trip to New York last summer with some of the wonderful women I have shared space with here.)