Laughter and Tears

Kary McElroy &Melanie Rijkers

Tomorrow morning I leave for San Francisco again. After a wonderful and inspiring talk with artist Lenneke te Kiefte and her beautiful sayings as 'I am slow art' I leave for an event on Monday, in sunny California. I am 'Fast Art' LOL, always on the move. Hopefully Lenneke and me can create some more beautiful things in the future! I just love her Weefs!

Will be in SF only for a few days, and fly back Monday night via New York. Still: I love it! Kary invited me to come and stay at her house, so we can work on our project Spiritus. We want to document life's stories, told by the elders of our society. I worked with elderly people before, Pluspunt film & photo project, where grandparents told their stories to their grandchildren.

We hope to be interviewing inspiring elders this weekend! And hopefully we can use our footage and photos to fund a project via Kickstarter, as we really'd like to make a film, and a book.

Before I've documented the house of Tantetje, where my book is a portrait of Tantejte (Auntie) even though she's not in one of my pictures! The house = Tantetje's portrait.

Tantetje's kitchen

The snow is blowing around my Dutch office at the moment, hopefully I'll be back safe 'n sound next Wednesday! My job to document another EyeFor Travel event's on Monday, just love to work for them, as the lectures are always interesting.

I'll be using Instagram too, and will share event photos on the spot via social media. Why do DSLR cameras don't have wifi or apps!!! Nikon, Canon, come on, please make a 'slow' version of the D700/800 with wifi & apps, so I can work with better quality Instagram event photos, as my commissioner really loves these too.

iPhonography is fast and simple, love it!

Ans people like Saar too, for her her iPhone and Whatsapp is the only way to communicate with the outside the world. Her boy Elijah will turn one this weekend!! I will stay in touch by Whatsapp, even with a strange time difference we keep apping, right Saar?? When I was in Bali and she lay awake at night we apped too :) Love it!

Saar keeps photographing herself, and we want to make a set of books, as her story, there's the word again, STORY, is so worthwhile sharing.


I am not a storyteller myself, but the English word documentator is.. me! (in Dutch this word doesn't exist)

It fits ZIENer en ImageFinder :)

Saar in Bonn

Saar. She keeps taking a lot of photos, as she now knows it helps her. Like I suggested Marije to do so too, Saar and/or her caretakers will take photos of everything.
Saar is home again, after half a night in Bonn's intensive care. She feels she doens't belong there, and was also shocked by the way the hospital was starting their own medical plan, instead of sticking to the one the German Lyme specialist has created. She apped me 'Mel, I will go home now, just signed the release form that it's my own responsibility to leave the hospital.' Wow. Heavy stuff

...

E.g. she's allergic to the glue of the heartmonitor sticky-thingies, and still they put them on her...
Annoying!!! After more than one near-death experience and numerous epileptic seizures she's done.  Saar's tired of it all.

Allergic...

She only wants to be home with her kids, and stated: 'I've been saying goodbye for a while now, from now on the only thing I want is to enjoy (the rest of my life).' RESPECT to this little brave lady.

I've said my goodbyes to her too, and now I am not so sad anymore. Like when she was rushed to Bonn, I kept apping her her photos, so she at least could have a look.

Laugther and Tears are woven in Life.




Dear reader, please enjoy every day, as life is short!