I think i will “cut” a litle bit this story about Mormon’s missionarys in Poland… i will do story only about Mormon’s female missionarys… I can be closer to the subject – i am only 2 years older than these girls :-)
Plus, it’s more interesting for me… they are like normal my age girls but has to do their “mission” here! Interesting thing for me! Their life in USA is so much diffrent than here :-) (there is their big familly and boyfriend, here thery are alone, there is big house, here is small flat in blok of flats, there is a farm and trucks, here is a city, bus and tramway :-).. i see many interesting things :-) .. i hope i can show it on pictures…
Thank you Martin for a nice comment… you motivate me to work harder :-)

I am sorry to write about it so much :-) but maybe we all will learn something during posting.. haha.. I feel like we all have “online worshops” :-)

Mormons is good subject for great story. It is possible to open wings, and fly far away.
I’m waiting for story like that.
I’m working on art festival in Wroclaw. They need documentary photography (shoot everyone, everywhere, everything!!!) . It is like big wedding (only less pay).
But I’m happy because I’m working.
My only problem is noise in my digital pictures when I taking pictures in dark. Disaster….
I don’t want use flash so I must use photoshop ha ha ha
All good photos I will make will be only for me, because they never use it.
But fun is great!

Martin

Aga: They can not choose a country where they want to go, when they decide to go to be a missionaty they accept every place which will be choosen for them. Brother of one of them (also missionary) is in Hong Kong and her boyfriend is in Peru :-)

D: why do they even leave their small territory in Utah at all?
A: They want to propagate their religion all over the world, for all of them is a big honor to be a missionary. It’s the Biggest adventure in their lifes.. the rest of their life they will probably spend in same small city

D: do they mix with the Poles in a significant way?
no… they doesnt have any friends in Poland, they spend 2 months in one city and after 2 months go to another

D:how do they live?
A:They have some savings from USA, they dont earn at all during mission.. they live in small apartments, and dont let anybody to go there (so i can not shoot there.. it’s not allowed

D: are they lonely?
A: They doesnt have time to think about loneless… they are all day busy, from early morning (6.30) until night (10.30 they go to sleep)..missionarys have only one day free (but it’s only day when they can send mails to home or to shooping, clean apartments ect.. so this day is also busy)

D: are they happy?
A: incredible happy all the time.. they belive they do the best thing on the world, and they show a path to God.. they are smiling all the time!

D: is their “mission accomplished”??
I am surpriced but i think they are really good in it… but sometimes they have language problems (they can not speak polish fluently)…

THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTIONS! :-) it helps me a lot! it’s good to realize some things.. if i know what i want to see i can see it :-)
My favourite journalist and writer – Ryszard Kapuscinski used to say that only when you can call a name what you want to see, you can see it.. when you know how weeping willow looks like, you will see weeping wilow.. when you can not name it, you can only see a tree (my translation is probably not correct but i hope you know what i mean)

Lance… so you have easy work to do – you just have to that Kelly is beautifull :-P … my boyfriend has more difficult – he has to talk that i am beutifull AND i have beautifull pictures ;-)

i might take you up on that stamford ride…at least, stamford is at sea level!! that over 10,000 feet stuff kills me!!

lance…

that scene where sartore says goodbye to his crying wife and kids is poignant..i must say i never experienced a scene like that…i was fortunate in that the family came with me so many times on assignment, that the segue between my personal life and my professional life was one line rather than two…

aga – i am lucky indeed.. i usually find a way to screw relationships up but kelly is worth hanging onto for sure.. i tell her she is beautiful and she tells me my images are beautiful.. so far it’s working! she is here in austin and that is a big bonus.. i’ve done the long-distance thing in the past, and you really have to be equipped to make that work.. in the end i wasn’t.

trust and honesty are fundamental whether you’re in the same city or long-distance.

there is a real-world/heartwrenching video clip out there somewhere chronicling Joel Sartore with his family before he leaves on a long assignment for nat’l geographic.. his wife says a few poignant words.. it’s hard on the family, but they’re supportive. couldn’t find it on youtube.. maybe it’s out there somewhere.. it’s worth watching. but everyone handles these situations differently.

If you ever want to put yourself and that Litespeed on a Metro-North train to Stamford, Conn. about 35 miles from Brooklyn, I can show you some killer singletrack. It’s not Durango, but it does the trick. And a little farther up the road is a kiteboarding spot in Stratford, Conn., where the guys regularly get 30-40 feet of air. Now that is an incredible sport.

Well, the one relationship problem is that we enjoy each other’s company so much that I sometimes fear I depend on her for more than I should. But I am extremely lucky in love. Didn’t some famous photographer say the best pictures are taken when you’re in love?

Thanks again for this blog. The ideas you’ve generated and the perspective I’ve gained about life, work and myself have been significant.

Andrew

no relationship problems with you!! sounds ideal…

yes, titanium litespeed 19″ totally inappropriate for new york!! built out from the frame by my son bryan with all super lite hubs, crankset etc., who sold it to me after he built his moots…both of my sons, bryan and erin, are terrific mountain bikers..we all end up in colorado at times where they leave me in the dust to wonder what in hell am i doing up here!!!

bike technology has moved way way past my dear litespeed, but i do not care….i can barely make good use of this sweet bike as it is…

by the way, thanks for reminding me…i gotta pump up the tires and get out there…i mean this weather is for biking!!!

no problem with bike tech talk…or kite boarding tech talk or snowboarding tech talk or surfboard tech talk….but, in any case, you should talk to my sons…

i can, however, handle a frisbee pretty well and do have one in my duffel bag at all times for international travel….

david

you never know what will make a good essay…mostly, i think, it really just takes the photographer really being “fired up” about the subject or “creating” the subject, as in a “concept story”…

when bruce davidson did “East 100th Street” it was mostly a concept in his head…east 100th street itself was the same the day before and the day after he did his essay and no editor in the world would have said “go do a story on east 100th street”…

bruce “created” a story in his mind, and then made powerful photographs that “became” something just because he did it..of course, race in America was a general topic at the time as now, but there were other “newsy” “storytelling” ways to show it and other photographers were at the same time covering the Martin Luther King marches, riots etc etc…

this was very different than philip jones-griffiths covering Vietnam ..the Vietnam war was a “real story”…a real war, with editors shoving photogs out the door to go cover it…but, even there, philip “conceptualized” and came up with “Vietnam Inc.”…this was his “vision” of what the war was really all about…

so, for me , photographer drive and passion and interest are the key elements in whether or not a story is “good”….i could spend all morning here giving example after example..

the Mormons in Poland may or may not be a “good story”…

it depends totally on aga…how close she feels to it..how close she can get…i do not know aga…but, she said in a comment that she was interested in religion….religion in our troubled times is just interesting…whether you are religious or not…religion has either brought people together and provided sanctity or has separated cultures and caused great conflict, depending on your perspective..

i have never been to Poland and i am not a Mormon…but, i do see a bit of what aga is talking about…i mean, here is this strongly Catholic country having struggled with politics and religion and economy in very real ways since WWII…and now, in the middle of a country where sheer survival has been a mantra are two young men in white shirts and ties and walking around “selling” a “new religion” that started in the U.S..i have seen these same young men, looking totally out of place, in the jungles of Guatamala and the busy markets of Rio…

they are missionaries….but why do they come to Poland? why do they even leave their small territory in Utah at all? do they mix with the Poles in a significant way? how do they live? are they lonely? are they happy? is their “mission accomplished”??

i do not know what the pictures would be like from aga on the Mormons…but, i would not have known what the pictures would have been like either if bruce davidson had sent me an e-mail asking me if i thought the world needed a story on east 100th street…bruce just worked and showed me…he “made” the subject important and visual…

maybe aga will do the same…

peace, david

Don’t worry, this won’t become a talk about gear!

Andrew

That’s where the “hard work” comes in. Each person has to make the effort to sustain and grow the relationship. The rewards of that work are so great. Having someone who understands you, who deeply cares about your happiness and who you give that back to is unparalleled.

My fiancee and I have been together since 1998, and we were college sweethearts who graduated in 1991. The long distance on-again, off-again of the 90′s was really hard, but it focused our determination to be together. We use our shared experiences as the foundation for our love and we grow together. She’s my best friend.

Plus she’s become really good at editing my work!

Lance-this is without question the coolest blog in the world.

Andrew

Lance.. you are lucky to have such girl! I wish you a lot of happiness and long life together!
What’s her name? I dont like write “she” :-)… will be nicer to know her name :-)
I dont really undestand – Does your girl also live far away? If yes, it seems we all have same problem ;-) … my love (also photographer) is living in Istanbul… i saw him last time in March and now i am waiting when he will come back from his trip to south Turkey and come to me, to see my country firsth time :-)

wow!! amazing what you wrote!! you said it all….

many thanks, david

Someone who wrote … someone who enjoyed music and loved photography, had his own mind and ideas, enjoyed freedom and space most of all…

and I realized I had met a “me”… someone whom I could spend my days of boredom (if there were any) with,
someone who was passionate and mad like me…

The right person can be so right,
creativity needs space and freedom…(most of the times this is the only factor that doesnt allow a relationship to get anywhere)

an allowance for madness….

I think I’m fortunate…

well, if i can contribute in any way to your girlfriend understanding you more, then my job is a success!!!

i am pretty sure your girlfriend realizes she has a “good catch” with you…i am sure you show her great respect and friendship because i think you would pick a woman who deserves the best…and i am sure you work very hard to create a good “balance”…i think you are that kind of man…are both of you coming to c’ville??

c’mon man, buy the woman a plane ticket!!!

see you soonest amigo….david