Felix Mars Peterson and his mother nine hours and ten minutes after coming into this world. Swedish Hospital, Seattle, WA , 1/29/09 9:34pm.
Felix was born to Mascha Kroenlein and myself after an arduous 30 hour labor and a vacuum assisted delivery (he was face up and coming at a strange angle). He was six pounds even at birth, nineteen inches tall, two weeks early, and in perfect health.
This has been the most profound (and yet totally exhausting and overwhelming) experience of my life. Gazing into Felix’s face is like looking at a reflection of my own, of the face I only know from faded old photographs. As a photographer I want to capture it all – never again will Felix be one day old, or three, or six. But as a father, as a man, I need to set the camera down, and picture him with my soul, with the vision of my spirit. I also need to hold and soothe him, change his diapers, take care of his mother, and try and get some sleep.
Never in my lifetime did I think this would happen. From being a freelance rock and roll photographer, to a family history of bipolar illness, to the inability to maintain a relationship for longer than three months, the odds were stacked against me. Being a father seemed like the last thing I needed in my unstable life. I resisted, even rejected, the entire concept until I met Mascha four and a half years ago. She offered the overwhelming desire to be a parent, along with the stability to actually make it a reality. And I said lets give it a try.
With promoting the release of my recent book, CYPHER, the interviews I’ve done inevitably end with the question, “What’s your next project?” Well for the time being, here it is. As DAH said to me in this blog only a few days ago, “forget the other stuff for a while. Its just other stuff. Felix is the project of a lifetime.”
Website: www.charlespeterson.net
This is a beautiful photograph and you have a beautiful son. There is such power in photography that comes from the heart.
CONGRATULATIONS BIG DADDY! :))))))
so happy to see the pic, so happy to Felix….and so happy the breath of light….
the beginning of the rest of you life…as we’ve chatted ;)))
beautiful moment of a beautiful life…
congrats….so happy to see Burn feature this Charles…
hugs
bob
p.s Cypher Rocks!
Chaaaaaaaarles…
Next month im coming to Seattle again…!!!
Can’t wait to play soccer with Felix….!
I think I’ve this photo before anybody else here..
Well , wrong…!
Tom Hyde was there next to me!!!
Anyways, see you soonest…
First gyros on 3rd street..
Then , Vietnamese …! What else???
Peace and hugs from the Rainy LA!!!!
fantastic charles.. isn´t it just the best feeling in the world? and too right.. look to whats real and really important for now.
so happy for you.. and such a joyful photograph to see up here.
best of luck to all three of you.
david, beate and tor-capa.
x
Charles,
It is essence of photography…
peace
Charles,
The photo,.. and that intro!
Its good to see the circle come around.
Again,
Good work
Tim
Panos, you owe me a beer
wonderful and congratulations!
I think there is a spelling mistake in the photographer’s weblink!
It should be http://www.charlespeterson.net instead of http://www.charlespterson.net/
Charles,
Well said! &…enjoy the journey. -Cheers, Jeremy
Thanks all! It’s a daily high. I feel really blessed.
Typo on my website URL: it should be http://www.charlespeterson.net
Hey Panos – well this time around I’m sure you’ll get to meet Felix in person. And I have other cheap dining experiences up my sleeve. See you soon!
Congratulations Charles, Mascha and, of course, Felix!
Wonderful photograph Charles, I love the way the light falls on Felix. You now have anew project; Family. I don’t have to tell you that, do I?
Very good, personal and heartfelt intro. Thanks Charles and Mascha for sharing.
Mike.
I agree with marcin. A picture like this will ALWAYS transcend petty concerns over style, intent, or money. It is a record of life that i hope you and yours will always regard as above anything as base as critique. It is real, and i suspect, and hope, only the first in a long line of treasures.
Congratulations.
JOHN
Subhrajit, like your website!
Mike.
Just beautiful!
this is beautiful.
it’s also almost too personal. do you ever feel like keeping some photos for yourself?
I have this struggle sometimes with myself. how does everyone feel about this?
ps i’ll second mr Bob on the Cypher
pps I think the website is mistyped under the description?
Hi all,
Tried to post earlier but it wouldn’t work. Hope this time it goes through.
Yes,typo on my website url. It should be: http://www.charlespeterson.net/
Thanks all for the nice comments. It is a daily high with this little man. I feel blessed.
Great question Stelios. It is very personal, and that’s the exact reason I submitted it, and wrote as truthfully as I did. DAH and others have talked quite a bit about intimacy and putting yourself out there, in both your work and your life. Here was a great opportunity to do that while at the same time celebrating the larger theme of the magic of new life. But yes, there are pics that I won’t share. I’m sure we all have at least one of those.
PANOS – see you in Seattle! This time you can meet Felix in person. And I have other culinary adventures in mind.
Charles, Mascha and Felix -
Charles, Mascha and Baby Felix -
So proud to be your mom and to have Mascha and Felix in my life.
He will be your joy and sometimes your trial, but always the love of your life.
Hugs and Kisses from Felix’s Grandma.
Tried to post earlier but it wouldn’t work. Hope this time it goes through.
Yes,typo on my website url. It should be: http://www.charlespeterson.net/
Thanks all for the nice comments. It is a daily high with this little man. I feel blessed.
Great question Stelios. It is very personal, and that’s the exact reason I submitted it, and wrote as truthfully as I did. DAH and others have talked quite a bit about intimacy and putting yourself out there, in both your work and your life. Here was a great opportunity to do that while at the same time celebrating the larger theme of the magic of new life. But yes, there are pics that I won’t share. I’m sure we all have at least one of those.
PANOS – see you in Seattle! This time you can meet Felix in person. And I have other culinary adventures in mind.
this photo brought tears to my eyes..
so precious..
time goes quickly..
reflect on this photo when he is a teenager…
you’ll need it!!
thanks for sharing…
he is a beautiful boy..
**
I love the way the light kisses baby felix’s cheeks..it looks as if the sun is having a turn right before mom and dad…big beautiful congratulations to the whole family, and to you, for living outside your own box; I find that very encouraging!
SORRY charles, i just see your comment…. your link is fixed as we speak!
anton
Tim…:)))
Yes my man, I do owe you a beer…
Charles…
Seattle feels like home to me now …
Thank you…!
;-)
A big kiss to little Felix from uncle Panos
:))
Charles,
A new chapter indeed! You have so many wonderful moments ahead. Enjoy them all. Congrats.
Did you ever get my email about Eric Keller? Looks like you’ve been BUSY :))
I’m sure we have all seen our share of new mother/baby portraits but there’s something special about this one. You have brought us right inside the family circle here, Charles, and that is a great privilege. The light shining on dear Felix’s face, curled fingers, arm and shoulder is the same light that highlights his mother’s cheek. You have captured their bond in a most tangible way.
Could it be that we are seeing an early photograph for your new book?? I sincerely hope so. Yes, there are other such books in existence but with your loving eye and unique talent, yours will be in a class of its own. But you don’t need to think about that yet: just shoot & shoot & shoot…in between changing diapers, supporting Mascha, holding and soothing Felix when he cries, and getting some sleep yourself!
hugs from Patricia
ANTON…
wait a minute!! i thought i fixed Charles’ url typo all by myself…by the way, since i did not hear from you this afternoon i assumed you were in the middle of some great yakuza work..hope so…you must be jet lagged beyond the beyond…we are all set for Spain amigo…just try to get some sleep on the plane….
cheers, david
GRANDMA CARVER….
i am planning to photograph Charles, Mascha and Felix when i am in Seattle in April..do you live there as well?? if so, you MUST be in the picture…so , who does Felix most resemble, a Carver or a Peterson??
cheers, david
i love his delicate little fingers.
enjoy these peaceful moments.
can’t wait to meet him when
uncle panos gets here. :))
This is beauty beyond words…but here is my attempt to articulate…
Adrenaline pumping, surging blood back into the extremities…
the feeling returns to the fingertips…
9 months of preparation becomes a reality.
He is real
fragile, tiny, dependent, amazing…
Exhale…
the breath constrained without realizing it
is realized now
Exhale…breath held still inside now is stirred to evacuate and
breathe life into this little one,
part of you
I don’t know that these words do justice to the miracle of life witnessed here in this photograph, but it’s my attempt to examine how I feel when seeing this image. Simply wondrous and awe-inspiring. The way the light falls on him is just glorious…Congratulations to Charles, Mascha, and little Felix. I hope to be so blessed one day…
Congrats Charles! The only thing that ever caused me to stray from photography was the birth of my own three boys. Like I once told another new dad/photographer, if you are going to do baby pics then you better make them art! :-) (And he did)
Felix sounds like a great project!
All the best to the three of you!
Charles your words are as beautiful as the shot of Felix and Mascha.
all my love, can’t wait to see you all next time I’m in Seattle. boo
DAVID,
He definitely looks most like his dad! It’s crazy to look at old photos of me as an infant and see Felix. I was a little guy at first as well – five weeks early and five pounds five ounces. Personality (so far) is much more of a split. He’s incredibly alert and visual – I’m fearing another photographer/artist/lighting designer/etc in the works! Though hopefully with his mother’s pragmatic side (and drive).
My mother is about a couple of hours away (San Juan Islands). If it works out I’m sure she would love to come down for a photo.
PATRICIA,
I’m shooting and shooting! Got some great stuff with his 90 year old great-grandfather the other day. But at one month old it’s a lot of just laying there. Can’t wait for movement (my speciality)!
ROBERT,
I think you can extend that – if you are going to do pictures (or at least hoist them on everyone), you better make them art!
Best to everyone,
Charles
Wow, amazing photo, and I loved your copywriting too, it brought tears to my eyes. Mazeltov!
Congratulations to Pap, Mom and the baby who did some major work facing up :) beautiful picture too! i bet you wont be tired of photographing for the next ehhh……teen years ;)))
Dear Charles,
Very amazing and blessed moment…
Certainly, Felix will be the beautiful project of you!
Congratulations!
Nice one Charles, a well framed image. Congratulations its going to be a fun ride from now on.
Why was this selected for Burn? I’m confused. I don’t want to sound harsh but I don’t come here to see a family snap.
Don’t get me wrong either, I love children, and the story is interesting, but I’m not attached to this nor do I think it should be here.
Congratulations.
Jonathan, This family photograph is exactly where it should be: it’s being shown to the extended family here at Burn. It’s also a very special photograph: stands on its merits for-sure.
Thanks for the link to your blog Jonathan, looks interesting, will browse later.
Good light!
Mike.
Mike R, thanks, I see it that way. Makes more sense now.
Jonathan,
family snaps bad eh? I suppose that you would be familiar with Larry Towell? Maybe Nan Goldin? Maybe Richard Billingham? Maybe Mitch Epstein? Maybe Larry Sultan? Maybe Jacob aue Sobol? Maybe Annelies Strba? Maybe Tina Barney? Maybe Larry Clark? Maybe Nobuyoshi Araki? I could go on, but let’s just stop there. The point being family or extended family in the case of some of the above is a subject every bit as powerful as what I see you are into on your flickr stream. It has a rich tradition and some profoundly powerful work by some of the biggest names in photography. Dismissing it as family snaps spraks more to your lack of a foundation in photographic traditions and language than it does about anything else.
JonathanJK…
i think i could easily do a whole post here on “family snaps”…and maybe i made the mistake of not posting such a piece using this Charles Peterson photo as an example…it will be interesting to see how you react to the upcoming essay by Rafal which is all “family snaps”…and my oh my you are really going to kill me for my whole two year “Off For A Family Drive” project…
i must admit, for me anyway, it is all sentimentality….for sure a “no no” in many photographic circles…but, i just can’t help myself…i am a pretty sentimental guy….if my house catches fire, i am rushing for the family albums first…i will run back into the flames to pull out my “serious work” later….
i publish photographs on BURN for many reasons…and i am planning a book on the collected writings and photographs of the last three years of our “extended family” here of which you are a valued part…alas, i am afraid the final look and feel of our forum in print form will indeed be quite a bit like a family album….shoot me for sentiment..guilty as charged….
cheers, david
Rafal Pruszynski, Take a step back there boyo. I never said ‘bad’, did I? I think you’ve jumped the gun a little too eagerly here.
I’m merely talking about this images purpose for being on Burn, I’m discussing context. Had you read my second comment properly, Mike R provided the context, and I have acknowledged it, 30 mins before you needed to comment. If I want to call it a family snap I will, please don’t try to elevate this to being anything else. This we can discuss.
But what I’m NOT doing is making a statement on the snapshot aesthetic either, so no need for you to go off on a mini rant, about its virtues, and throw some names at me, as though I’m some kind of ignorant college student, especially when you’ve supposedly looked at my flickr stream, insulting people doesn’t make you any friends.
I will admit though, Nan Goldin doesn’t interest me in the slightest. But the others, I love Araki’s work, and Larry Clark’s. I’ve even met Richard Billingham, and discussed with him, his work ‘Rays a Laugh,’ which I try to reference in my own work.
David, everything after the second paragraph in my previous post, should allay any concerns as to whether I’m going to like or dislike upcoming work. Infact I’m planning on submitting some work myself later this month and it should be clear I work in the snapshot aesthetic. I also didn’t realise my initial post was so ambiguous that it would be seen as an attack on snapshots.
I don’t tend to print much of my work, so in case of a fire, I’d be running for my backup hard drives. :-)
First of all, Jonathan, Im older than you so the boyo here is, well, you.
Second of all, this is what you said
—————————————————–
Why was this selected for Burn? I’m confused. I don’t want to sound harsh but I don’t come here to see a family snap.
—————————————————-
You may not have used the word bad but the meaning is unambiguous. Pretty clear to me, anyway.
So let’s discuss context within Burn. Be careful because you are on thin ice as some have already tried to put a limit on what Burn is. Take a look at Jim Powers’ contributions. So what, for you, is the context of burn? Have you seen then essays? Theres enough variety in them to muddy any sort of restriction on what Burn should be. Burn’s strength is its variety, and this photo adds to that variety.
JonathanJK..
no offense taken whatsoever..and i do understand where you are coming from….sometimes this forum really reminds me of a family sitting at a long dinner table with everyone trying to talk at once…jabs going back and forth…everyone trying to make a point…please pass the potatoes…
i am familiar with your work, i like your blog, and i do plan on publishing your photographs…i might even have to start publishing more than one photograph per day here on BURN because so much interesting work is coming in..or, should i say, flooding in…i actually now seriously need a full time staff just to help me organize it all…i do my best to try to “play” one thing and then another in the spirit of good discussion and “flow”….funny, i was worried in the beginning that i would not be able to do daily updates…now, i could do hourly updates i think….crazy…
BURN is by its very nature a diary…the “plan” changes by the day and cannot be predicted nor set up as if i had 365 singles and essays all spread out and then decided, as i would for a book or exhibition, exactly how it should be presented as “a year of BURN” … however, by the end of 2009, i can do just that in print form….so, now we are sort of looking at an online “contact sheet”….what should be interesting for all of us is to see how it all plays out…i am producing now a short multi media piece on BURN for the Look3 festival coming up in June (where oh where is the time coming from to do that??)…kind of a “best of BURN” or some version thereof….
by the way, i put my very best digi work back on to compact flash cards….solid state technology….store easily…no moving parts…..you can put your whole life’s best of the best in one little box…put it in a bank vault …and, oh yes, make prints, prints, and prints…
cheers, david
RAFAL…
i think Anton was supposed to send you a screen shot of my edit for you…i did not think your final edit did you service..however, as you know , i will lean towards the photographer and particularly on your essay which is so personal…i do not want to publish it until you see my edit and approve or we go over it together…we can jockey a bit back and forth..this is tough online…do you have Skype??? that would make it easier..
cheers, david
Hey David,
I liked it but I tweaked it a bit :) ….I sent the suggestions to Anton yesterday. Have a look.
Rafal, stop trying to make force your point which stems from reading between the lines. Now that you’ve realised I didn’t say ‘bad’, you’re trying to insinuate I meant to use that word. I used the word ‘Boyo’ not to make comment on your age, but your juvenile response. But at least you’ve realised I’m not attacking the snapshot aesthetic.
Regarding context, I’m relatively new here so I can only go off what I’ve seen recently, and I haven’t seen anything like this. But I do know I’m still interested in placing my work within Burn’s confines alongside it. My intention is not to limit what this place is trying to do either.
Regarding Jim Powers contribution, I think he has interesting things to say, and he certainly ignite debates, constantly pushing, and pulling on the fabric of what Burn is.