Under Our Skin | The Hidden Story of Lyme Disease

Under Our Skin | The Hidden Story of Lyme Disease

One Day (We'll Be Old)

Spiritus tries to capture stories of our elders. Kary and I want to make a documentary about the elderly of today, what do they have to tell us. Storytelling that gives you goosebumps.

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!

Working Girl!

Opening of Miss Selfridge, 1993-1994, The Working Girls

The first events I covered as photographer were the opening days op the new Miss Selfridge stores in the Netherlands. I was working as a sales woman in the Breda store, parttime, as I was studying at the Academy of Arts to become a professional photographer, when they asked me to cover the events.

I was paid the high amount (NOT ;) of 150 guilders, approx. $ 70,- which at that time seemed an awful lot of money. But do consider this; I had to buy film, process it and order prints too...so I don't think I made real money. But it was fun! Big fun! (and big hair LOL ;)

The drag-queen group The Working Girls always performed at the openings and is alive and kicking still! I love 'em! When dropping these Polaroids at their fanpage I read a note saying '20 years in the business, congrats!' which made me realise I am an event photographer for 20 years as well!!
Hooray! And still going strong!

To celebrate this fantastic fact we dropped down the price of a full day package, including all files HR from $ 1500,- to $ 500,- when booking your date before 1 Ausgust 2013. Package includes: 5-6 hours of photography between 9AM-7PM including all files send via Wetransfer.

This is a fab occasion to book a professional photographer to your wedding, event or other happy (or sad) day. It's indeed possible to book a wedding date 7 September 2013 and pay $ 500,- as long as it's booked and pre-paid before 1 August 2013. Check for dates and possibilities via info@artstudio23.com or like us on Facebook or Twitter and send a pb.

San Francisco Music Tech Summit, oktober 2012

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