Progression of the Angel

Street performing, also known as busking, is a centuries old profession likened to the work of troubadours. Performers range from mimes, to clowns, balloon men to fire-breathers, sword swallowers to contortionists, the list goes on.

This tableau vivant has a rich tradition in places like on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado and at Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.

One such street performer, Gabbie Burns, is a living statue of an Angel.

A Photo a Day

As a member of the UTNPPA we took part in a project called A Photo A Day. It's not a new concept to be shooting a picture a day, but these pictures are different. They are more personal and meant to expand personal vision.

There is a group that started in Florida called APAD. I learned of the them when I was working as a photojournalists for the Daytona Beach News Journal. A lot of times there are images we were unable to publish in the newspaper for whatever reason so we published them online at APAD.

We decided to do a photo a day to inspire us to look at the world around us and to be shooting every day. The first week I started out with my M6 shooting black and white. Then I moved over to my Canon digital for the second half.

Social Documentarian Photographers: A brief history

John Thomson, of London, (1837-1921) is credited with taking the first photographs as social documentation. He was one of the first documentary photographers in London to create images of the poor and destitute. His images can be found in the Victoria & Albert Musuem. His work is also featured at the Wellcome Museum. Thomson spent a decade photographing the Far East from 1862-1872.

A Manchu bride. Photograph by John Thomson, Peking, 1871/1872.

Woodburytype, by John Thomson.

Jacob Riis, another social documentarian, arrived in the United States in 1870 from Denmark. He was a writer for the New York Tribune and the Evening Sun and began photographing New York City's tenements starting his work as a reformer. His book “How the Other Half Lives,” 1890, exposed the squalid living conditions of immigrants in New York City's Lower East Side.

Bandits Roost, 1888, Jacob Riis

Jacob Riis, Five Cents Lodging, Bayard Street, c. 1889

Lewis W. Hine (1874-1940), an American sociologist, worked as a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee. Hine was a reformer with aims to end child labor. In 1907 he began working with the National Child Labor Committee which started his long and determined life as a reformer. Many of his works can be found at the Library of Congress.

Peace, an Ellis Island Madonna, 1905 Lewis Hine Black and white photographic print, 11.0"x9.0" Archives of American Art Elizabeth McCausland Papers, 1877-1960 Image No. AAA_mccaeliz_12579

La Orchidea

La Orchidea

By Christina Burke

White centered green-stemmed fuchsia petals.

Delicate fragrance in the fragile blooms.

Formation is perfect balance.

Unfolding of petals reveal the white center.

Your image inspires something forgotten within.

A perfect beauty, one to get lost in.

Valentine’s Day some people love it, some hate it, others are indifferent. If you love it you probably enjoy giving or receiving chocolates, jewelry and fresh-cut flowers or cards from Hallmark. Like Hallmark says, "Don't wait to show your love."

The day of love has come and gone and here we are two weeks and a day later and my orchids are still thriving. It's not the American Society of Orchids that taught me how to care for fresh-cut flowers, it was my grandmother, a florist for years,who gave me the secret to keeping cut flowers fresh.

Orchids are considered one of the most seductive flowers.

The most important thing is the solution you place them in. Fresh water and flower food or sugar are crucial ingredients in you flower vase. But to keep your flowers fresh and beautiful longer you have to add Sprite. That’s right, fizzy clear soda pop is the key to ensuring your floral arrangements longevity. Somehow the carbonation in the water helps the flowers to absorb the flower food and water.

Before putting them in this magical concoction cut the stems at an angle so they can easily drink up the liquid in their vase. Remember to prune off any dead foliage as it browns and change the water often to keep your flowers looking as fresh as the day you got them.

Eventually the flowers will wilt and fade away. Be sure to have pictures to remind you of how truly lovely they were. In Austin you can visit the botanical gardens at Zilker Park.

It's Fat Tuesday in the Big Easy and beyond.

My family, the Irish Burke's, arrived in New Orleans around 1848. In our family we don't say Nola or Nawlins, we pronounce it as it should be. My grandparents met on a riverboat on lake Pontchartrain. That was back in the days when people still swam in the brackish estuary.

My grandmother's beans and rice can only be made with Camellia beans and her cabbage tamales are not of the alley cat variety, though we've heard stories about New Orleans tamales vendors who used the neighborhood felines for their culinary concoctions.

Our family reunions were held on the banks of the Mississippi at my Great Uncle Mickey's home in Arabi, God rest his soul.

Fat Tuesday is synonymous with drunken reverie of tourists on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. It is the last day to get your kicks the day before Ash Wednesday when the penitential season of Lent is upon us.

The French Quarter is centered around the St. Louis Cathedral. It is home of the Cafe Du Monde where you, along with 800 other tourists can buy the sumptuous beignets which are like mini funnel cakes. After filling up on these tasty treats you can walk over to the famousJackson Square.

General Andrew Jackson, erected in 1856 by Clark Mills.

To the left of St. Louis Cathedral is the Cabildo or City Hall where the Louisianna Purchase was signed, according to Wikipedia.

The Kaleidoscope

The kaleidoscope is one of my favorite pieces of glass, next to Carl Zeiss that is. I'm working on developing a way to make images with my kaleidoscope with both still photography as well as video. I collect kaleidoscopes and when one my favorite ones broke I was bummed. Then in this great class I am taking called "Blackbox" I repurposed the broken kaleidoscope and created what I call the kaleido-cam. Blackbox is an ACT Lab class in the RTF department that is a great place to be creative.

Kaleidocam from christina burke on Vimeo.

ACT Lab is short for Advanced Communication Technologies Laboratory. The philosophy behind it is, "The ACTLab is a program, a space, a philosophy, and a community," according to the website actlab.utexas.edu. It is a new media initiative that breeds creative thought and critical problem solving ability. Their motto is "Make Stuff." I particularly appreciate this considering I spend most of my days and nights, not making pictures, but instead reading and absorbing theory and non-fiction writing.

The ACT Lab was created in the early 90's by Allucquere (Sandy) Stone and others. Stone is credited with developing transgender theory and opening the minds of many.

The FSA Fab Fotogs

When I began studying photography at the University of Texas School of Journalism I quickly learned about the FSA photographers. The Farm Security Administraion photographs are some of the most well known in the American collective consience. The FSA sent photographers to locations across the US with the mission to bring back images that would explain to Congress what the American public was facing during the Great Depression.

There were about twelve photographers altogether working under economist Roy Stryker. The FSA was part of the New Deal program to combat joblessness in America.

A few of the most famous photographs are from Dorthea Lange who incidentally was fired and rehired a number of times by Stryker.

Dorthea Lange, Migrant Mother

Gordon Parks

Arthur Rothstein