The Ancient Louisiana World Tour Begins at the Beginning - in Algiers, Louisiana

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Its a new World Tour Era!

There are two things I've always wanted to incorporate into the World Tour - lumen prints and our ancient past.  Louisiana is far older and wiser than its recorded years so I have a launched a new component to the World Tour:  fossils.  Ok, modern fossils. Ok, lumen prints more precisely. Ok, massive artistic license..... I love the lumen print process for its magnificent simplicity - a solar photogram resulting in an impression of our World - as is. So I'll be revisiting & impressing upon many of those fascinating locales that we all know and love. (Get ready  Poland, Hamburg & Lisbon - I'm coming back atcha!)

Shadowing my inaugural World Tour,  I decided there was no better place to start my Ancient World Tour than the first place I could ever call home, Algiers on the West Bank of the Mississippi in New Orleans.

I wasn't quite sure how i wanted to start my fossil expedition, I just knew I wanted to make lumens from all those international locales. Yet when I teach photo workshops in the French Quarter - I often look to the past, envisioning how the French Quarter used to look as a French colony or how it looked under the Spanish rule after it was rebuilt after the fires of the late 1700's.  It took a while, but it finally dawned on me to apply that same logic to my artistic endeavors.  I wanted to visualize how Algiers & the city of New Orleans looked before it was even a glint in a Frenchmens eye - it was a cypress swampland, natch.

Thus begins my first World Tour experi-prints:  bona fide fossils,

Algiers Cypress Tree Fossil, Lumen Print, 2016

Cypress Branch, Lumen Print, 2016

Algiers Cypress Fossil, Lumen Print 2016

Complete with swampy scenes and cypress knees:

Swampy Scene, Lumen Print, 2016

Cypress Knees, Lumen Print 2016

I could easily get lost in thought in Ancient Algiers

what with the wildlife and natural landscape 

But then its kinda hard to miss the modernization.

Today, cypress trees line the sidewalks of Algiers alongside relics of our present and past.

Bacchus & Oyster Shell

I'm looking forward to revisting the State of My World and exploring said relics and fossils. I'll be stopping off at antiquity here and there as well.  Check back as I create modern fossils from our ancient past.

Til next time...

all content (c) Natasha Sanchez
www.nattie-concepts.com

The State of My World: Songs & Photos from the Louisiana World Tour is available on blurb.com
Select Lumen Prints available on Where Y'art.com


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I also teach Photo Workshops in the French Quarter & Garden District 
www.americanphotosafari.com

This & That in 2016

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 Hello. My name is Natasha and I produce a lot of nattie concepts.  I make photographs, create lumen prints and write songs and blogs about the State of My World.  I meant to do this in 2015 and that in 2014 but now its 2016 & I realize  I didn’t do any of it.  January begins my Nattie Concepts Recovery 12 Month Program.   Haha. (but true..) 

Over the past decade or so, I’ve created several one woman shows and photographic series, some I’ve cataloged, some I haven’t, so I thought 2015 would be a good time to do work on the ones I haven’t yet archived into perpetuity.   Since I didn’t get around to it then in 2015,  I think now in 2016 is even better.  (works for me) I’ve spent these first few days of 2016 cleaning  shoppe making way for new works of whatever and wherever my  world takes me.  (I feel Moscow _TN is in my future)

The World Tour songbook is in the works (7 whole songs!)  and I’m nearly finished creating the narrative that goes with “fLight”, my lumen print feather series.  There is another series/performance piece that bears some cataloging – Nattie and the Class of 2019 -   inspired by my time as a substitute teacher in the Spring of 2007 (high school) and 2008 (1^st grade).

Tic Tac NO

Revisiting the original tiny 3 ½ x 5 silver gelatin prints, I re-discovered the photos of drawings the first graders had made for me.  They were just returning to the city after Katrina and had never been in school before. But amidst the stories of the experiences & hardships they faced,  were their drawings, pictures that reflected the world around them as they saw it - pictures of flowers and butterflies and love.  It wasnt until revisiting this series that I realized these drawings weren't much different than my own lumen prints, both artworks reflecting the world as is. I began lumen printing not long after this assignment ended, and though I didn't make the connection at the time,  I'm happy to count a bunch of 6 year oids among my most inspired teachers & influences. 

Flower (handtint)

Azalea & Raindrops     Lumen Print

Butterfly (handtint)

Butterfly Ginger          Lumen Print

Oftentimes, it appears my work is varied - Lumen Prints! World Tours! Music! Betty the Bullhorn!  But in reality, the medium may change, but the expression is all the same. Sometimes it just takes me 8 or 9 years to figure it out...

I feel like there are more blogs with epiphanies in my future. (Funny that I started writing this on Jan 6th)  Of course then that probably means I won't get this cataloged until 2019, but that would probably work better anyway. haha. There will definitely be more lumen prints, more songs and world tours.  So stay tuned!

Til next time.. 

(c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com

For more on Nattie & the Class of 2019 visit:

http://www.fstopmagazine.com/pastissues/41/featured-Sanchez.html 

Reflecting on Reflections - Two shows in December

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December is always a busy, joyous time in the city for photographers and photo enthusiasts – PhotoNOLA , the New Orleans Photo Alliances’ photography festival kicks off December 10-13th.  The four day festival hosts a Gala at NOMA, an education day, portfolio reviews, gallery talks and month long exhibitions throughout the city. 

I’m super excited to participate in two exhibitions in conjunction with this festival.  Opening December 2nd,  I have photos on display in a Group Art show at Crescent City Brewhouse (527 Decatur) that includes photography, paintings and drawings. The show runs through January 3rd.   December - February,  I have photos on display in a shared show at Buffas (1001 Esplanade) with Eliot Kamenitz that we titled  “Works in Progress”.  The show opens December 9^th. 

While pondering what to display for these two shows,  I discovered an old “to-do list” on my computer from December, 2014.  You know its been a busy year when my December 2015 to-do list date has the exact same items on it. Looking back on the year I thought some nice, slow paced nostalgic prints would be best.  Then I realized that’s all I really shoot anyway. 

At Crescent City Brewhouse I have five of my small town pieces reflecting not time in the past, but in the present.  I’ve always been drawn to the timelessness of our very real, very modern world.  I love how photography captures our past in the present and influences our future.

General Store, Hwy 1

At Buffas, located just outside the Quarter, I thought it a good opportunity to showcase some photos from Photo Workshops that I lead in the French Quarter (and Garden District) for American Photo Safari.  In trying to decide how I wanted to portray the FQ, I realized I have a whole lotta reflection photos. It makes sense, I’ve had more than one workshop participant ask me “are we on the puddle tour of new Orleans?” (why yes, yes we are…) 

Heart of the City

 So there I go, combing through photos of what I know will be great reflections and then I realized – I was in most of them.  Oops.  

  Apparently I am drawn to reflective selfies  - which opens up an entirely new topic altogether...  Ha.Ha.  

 Not quite ready to branch out in the solo selfie circuit just yet, I put together a group of photos reflecting  an old quarter in what is becoming an increasingly modern city, as well as some lumen prints reflecting various symbols of the city.  (So natch, the termites made the cut).   

Passing Time               2015

NOLA Termites Under the Stars

Also in the show are landscapes from Eliot Kamenitz  and pieces from his Urban Archeology series. Come check out our Works in Progress on Wednesday, December 9th during the Worlds Most Open Mic. 

 For a full list of PhotoNOLA exhibitions, click HERE

Group Art Show - Photography, Paintings, Drawings & More

Crescent City Brewhouse

527 Decatur

December 1 - January 3rd

Opening:  December 2nd  5-7pm

Works in Progress - Photos by Eliot Kamenitz & Natasha Sanchez

Buffas Bar & Restaurant  

1001 Esplanade (Back Room)

December 1 - February 29th

Opening:  December 9th 6-10pm

 **For info on Photo Workshops Visit American Photo Safari.  I lead Garden District photo workshops Wed and Saturday and French Quarter workshops throughout the week. We teach photo/camera basics and composition - and how to shoot lizards (thats just me)**

Lizard Rest

French Quarter in Black & White - Sept 28th 2014

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The world isn't so black and white.  There are many shades of gray.  What better location to explore this concept than New Orleans' French Quarter with its iron balconies, its somewhat linear shutters and contrasting light?  (Or diffused light, depending on the type of day...)  On September 28th I will be leading the "French Quarter in Black & White" photography workshop for American Photo Safari.  

All skill levels and cameras are welcome.  This is a 2 hour workshop focusing on finding shots that work in black and white using the compositional elements of tones & textures,  shadows & shapes.  The beauty of black and white is – anything becomes a subject.  With our eyes clear of distractions, we see subjects emerge in all kinds of light.

 That, and we run across glamorous felines from time to time..

*include a cat pic and the crowd goes wild..

best part is the black spot on his nose

Whether you are local or from out of town, whether photography is a hobby or a profession, you can see the French Quarter in ways you hadn’t before. 

There’s always another angle, another perspective, to any subject. Photography lets you explore those sides and choose how you want to see the world – in black and white, and all its many shades of gray. 

Hope to see you on the 28^th!

Sign up HERE 

French Quarter in Black & White

Sunday, September 28th

9am

** My Garden District Workshops are also offered every Wed & Sat**

http://www.americanphotosafari.com/workshops/garden_district

all content (c) Natasha Sanchez

www.nattie-concepts.com

Cruise the Blog Archives to Travel the World

Visit my Etsy Photo Shoppe to View more Photos

An Accidental EP

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I didnt mean to record an EP this past summer, much less release it in the fall, but alas, 'tis what I did.  An Accidental EP is an odd collection of songs recorded accidentally last July.  A fancy demo, if you will.

Accidental:  happening by chance; unintentionally or unexpectedly.  

As it turns out, Accidental also means this:  

Accidental:  (in music) a sign denoting a momentary departure from the key signature by raising or lowering a note.  (sharps & flats)

I didn't know accidental was a music term, what with my limited musical prowess, until after I pressed the CD. So the naming of the EP was truly... an accident. HAHA

How this whole accidental journey got started was this :   Concrete Tables & Honest Conversation.

Concrete Camellia
Lumen Print 2013

Concrete Tables and Honest Conversation is my attempt at capturing a dream I recently had. Sitting in a church courtyard, somewhere out west as the sun went down, talking music, art, photography with a friend I hadn't seen in years. It felt so real, so true.  It's rare that I write about something as abstract as a dream. Wait, that's not true. My ditty "Pretty Little Rat"  is based on dreams I was having about rats.  But I Digress - back to the Concrete Tables.
This dream, though, was different. The vibe of the dream was the essence. The vibe was what was so real, so .. concrete.  It made me wonder what life would be like if we all just walked around having honest conversations with ourselves, with others.  World Peace/Global Harmony anyone?  A seemingly simple solution to ...anything, me thinks.  Anyway,  I did something I had never done before -  after spending a weekend holed up in my apartment writing and re-writing the verses, I brought the song with its 5 verses and 3 lil chords to the uber talented Gardenia Moon,
whose piano, coupled with her background vocals, magically merged the dreamstate with the real world, capturing exactly the sentiment I so strongly felt in that dream. That sentiment of truth is something I strive for in real life.  Well. Strive for or long for.  One of those.

Gardenia Moon at Blue Velvet Studios

Blue Velvet Studios

What does this have to do with other songs on the EP about White Bread and Miller High Lifes?  A lot.  Kinda.
We actually recorded Concrete on two separate days.  We have many versions of it, some more polished than others. I ultimately went with what I think was Take 2 on Day 2.  It was a little rougher, an element that I liked, mixing in the concrete truth with the dreamyness of Gardenias vocals and piano.

On Day Two we also recorded Zen Lizards, another recent song, about my many encounters with Lizards and how Buddhist-like they seem. Another song wishing for peace. Through lizards.. Gardenia contributed piano as well and we consider the tune to be "spunky".  Just like all dem chill lizards.

Zen Lizard
2013

In between tunes with the Moon, I recorded a few ditties on my own. Wasn't sure why, just to see how they sound, or maybe use for an upcoming (who knows when) "box set" of Nattie's Witty Ditties & Story Tunes.  One of those tunes is called My Big Head. 

Accidental Omnipotent Selfie
2013

My Big Head was a literal inspiration.  In 2011,  I was sitting in the hair/makeup chair getting fitted for a wig for a photo double role. The hairdressers were none too happy that my head was too big for the wig, the actress' head was smaller. As they were griping about the size of my head behind my back, I was writing this song in my head. And the irony was not lost.
This song, though, is largely a social commentary - it would be nice to live in a world where size does matter, the size of our hearts, our intellect, our mental capacity to think, care, and love.  Not our dress size.

Searching for a Tall Boy (The Miller High Life Song) 

Handtinted Tall Boy
2009

Okay, well, this one's just a ditty.  In nearly every song I write I can tell you the deeper meaning behind it. But not this one.  Its just funny wordplay.  Searching for a Tall Boy tells the tale of my quest for a Miller High Life Tall Boy one hot summer night. And it discloses my desire to be the Miller High Life girl sitting in the moon.


And that brings us to...White Bread.  

White Bread with Crumbs
2013

 Like Searching for a Tall Boy, White Bread is seemingly just a ditty.  Or is it?  (Yes. It is.) haha.  Its a tale of of shock, disappointment, and ultimately, acceptance - about bread. hahahaha. But I closed the EP out with this ditty because it seemed to match Zen Lizards - choosing whether or not to solve or accept a problem. Okay, so in this song its kind of forced acceptance that I'm not happy about but hey - thats Life!  And its funny, so there.  We gotta live it, might as well laugh and love it.  :)

This EP may have been 'an accident', but the constant quest for a concrete table and an honest conversation is intentional.   To that effect - Thanks to all who helped me make this accidental journey a deliberate EP - Gardenia Moon, Monica Byrne, Chris Loomis, and of course Tom Stern at Blue Velvet Studios in New Orleans, whom I recommend to Everyone.  :)

I'd also like to send a shout out and thanks to some peeps who accidentally played an integral part in this deliberation:

A conversation I had with one of my favorite songwriters, my amazingly talented uncle,  Paul Sanchez,  about the release of his first solo CD prompted the notion in my head "I could do this" and I soon got to work on releasing the EP.

A misunderstood conversation with another fave songwriter, my friend Richard Bates, led to the title being called an "An Accidental EP" instead of "An Eclectic EP"

And many conversations on the nuts and bolts of self-producing with yes, another favorite songwriter, Ruby Ross, kept me on track with the production of this EP.

Apparently I hang out with a lot of songwriters.  Check 'em out.

The EP is available on my Bandcamp site as a digital download, or you can order the real-live EP and I'll ship it out to you.

www.nattieconcepts.bandcamp.com


Its also available online or in store at Louisiana Music Factory

And of course, will be available at any of my gigs, provided I remember to bring them.
Tonight 12/19/2013 I will be at the Neutralground Coffeeshouse 8-9pm

Hope you enjoy! And thats the honest truth :)
- Natasha

Fun Fact:  A live recording of Zen Lizards also appears on Buffas Bar & Restaurant's new CD "Live from the Back Room" also available at Louisiana Music Factory.  

Imagine There's No Country....

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John Lennon was right – it isn’t hard to do…

Balconies - Turkey & NOLA
 Planet Earth

Traveling to Turkey (the Republic of Turkey, not Turkey (Creek), Louisiana), last December, I had the opportunity to expand my World Tour and visit many more ancient and historical sites.  

While perusing the ruins of Pergamon, once a Greek kingdom situated on a steep hilltop in Western Turkey,

Kingdom of Pergamon, Turkey

 my mind drifted 6,000 miles away to the ruins of – Poverty Point in Northeastern Louisiana.

Mound A - Poverty Point, Louisiana

Walking among the remnants of Pergamon in 2012 was not unlike walking among the mounds of Poverty Point in 2011. Despite the contrasts between the landscapes - breathtaking Roman architecture on a hilltop overlooking the city of Bergama versus the  impressive manmade earthworks on a bluff with the highest elevation at 72 feet, I didn’t see much difference – I was in awe of both places, because they are part of our past as mankind, part of the history of our planet. (Fun Fact:  Poverty Point predates the former Greek kingdom of Pergamon.)

Poverty Point, Louisiana

Pergamon, Turkey

Another excitement of my Turkey the Country trip was visiting Troy, thought to be the site of the famous Trojan Wars.  As luck would have it, I also got the opportunity to visit Troy, Louisiana (now part of Waterproof) last summer on my way back from Quebec.  I came across a tree that reminded me of a shot I had taken in Troy, Turkey.

Troy, Turkey

Troy, Louisiana

It wasn’t just the ancient sites that impressed me or reminded me of how small our planet actually is, it was also traveling through the countryside.  Most of my shots come from the bus.  I got pretty good at shooting through bus windows at fast speeds. 

A flooded field in Turkey brought to mind our flooded rice fields turned crawfish ponds in China, Louisiana.

Flooded Field, Turkey

Flooded Field, China (Louisiana)

The little house in a field in Turkey evoked this image of a little house in a cotton field near Bermuda, Louisiana.

Little House, Turkey

Little House, Bermuda (Louisiana)

And speaking of cottonfields…..

 

Cotton Field, Turkey

Cotton Field,  near Bagdad (Louisiana)

The Library of Celsus in the truly amazing Greco Roman city of Ephesus was amongst the highlights of the trip.  And while the architecture does not compare, it is important to note that I did find the library in Turkey (Creek), Louisiana impressive enough to photograph when I passed through in the Summer of 2012.  

Library of Celsus, Ephesus

Evangeline Parish Library, Turkey Creek, Louisiana

Our physical and cultural landscapes may differ all over the world, but at the end of the day - we connect in so many ways.

Bosphorus Bridge & Minaret
Istanbul, Turkey
Planet Earth

Crescent City Connection & Lamppost
New Orleans, Louisiana  USA
Planet Earth

We all have our mountains to climb.  They just look different is all.  

Roadview: Somewhere in Turkey
Mountains

Roadview: Somewhere in Louisiana
Clouds that look like Mountains

More pics of Turkey coming soon-ish.  

I think.

Thats a mighty fluffy cloud I gotta climb first though.

All content (c) Natasha Sanchez 2013

www.nattie-concepts.com

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