Super Duper Hooper

About Face Review

2010-04-16T14:17:00.003-04:00

I currently have some photos in a group photography show at Spruill Gallery. The show, "About Face," is up until May 1st so hurry and stop by before it comes down!

Burnaway, an Atlanta art's review website, wrote a review about the show and my work. Check it out!

Atlanta Rollergirls

2010-03-17T11:43:00.005-04:00

I photographed the opening bout of the Atlanta Rollergirls Roller Derby season on March 13th. The Atlanta All-Stars were up against the Arch Rival Roller Girls based out of St. Louis MO. The Atlanta All-Stars went on to win the bout 116-79.

2009-11-04T13:52:00.001-05:00

Black Sabbath cover band at 529 on Halloween.

More images published from Le Flash....

2009-10-13T22:03:00.002-04:00

BurnAway

Le Flash images published....

2009-10-09T14:58:00.002-04:00

Check it out at BurnAway.

Le Flash

2009-10-05T19:38:00.003-04:00

Le Flash took over Castleberry Hill on October 2nd. More than 50 artists lit up neighborhood streets, galleries, vacant lots and windows, warehouses and rooftops with glowing art and illuminating performances. Lauri Stallings and her troup of dancers took to the streets and ended at the abandoned Fiat Lux for an amazing performance at 10:30. Le Flash definitely proved to be one of the premiere art happenings for the second year in a row.

Chief

2009-09-22T18:33:00.003-04:00

Apparently I decided to take summer off and not write in my blog. I will try to frequent here a little more often now that I have internet up and running at home.

Last week I went up to Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland for my brother John's pinning ceremony. He was one of 17 C.P.O selectees for 2009. I am so proud of him, and he is more than deserving of this honor.

Robot Bird

2009-05-18T16:35:00.008-04:00

So this is a quick project for my sound design class. The process of adding sound to a cartoon is really, really time consuming. This short one minute clip took 5 hours to design and drop in sound. I have definitely learned to appreciate animated features even more than I have.

Super cheesy, I know. Also, it seems like it has dropped some frames. Oh well, you get the idea.

More from the "Women on the Home Front" project

2009-05-14T00:10:00.002-04:00

This is Harriet Frankel, 92. She was a B-29 sketch artist at Bell Bomber, now Lockheed, during World War II. She was one of two women to hold that job. The name plate on the table is made from scrap metal from a B-29 wing.

More New.

2009-05-06T23:20:00.005-04:00

New

2009-04-30T15:04:00.006-04:00

I'm taking advanced studio lighting this quarter, and it's been great. I'm trying to get over my anxiety of taking lights out on location, setting up, and directing a shoot. I've been shooting a lot of sports these last few months, so I figured I would try to beef up my sports portfolio with some sport-action portraits. It's been going well, I've had a couple of class critiques on them and people seem to be responding well. I'm still trying to play around with the lights to see what I can come up with.

Women on the Home Front

2009-04-08T08:37:00.008-04:00

I'm finally doing this project. I'm starting a portraiture project on women who were in the military during WWII.

This is Kathleen Eidson (my great aunt)

Infinite Possibilities

2009-03-14T07:09:00.003-04:00

Infinite Possibilities from Sandy Hooper on Vimeo.

Edit: This one should be faster.

Still needs some editing, I have tons of untouched footage that I need to sort through, but this is a great start. It's the story in a nutshell.

I got great feedback in my video class about where to go from here. I need to spread out the performance throughout the whole video and clean up some of the zooms and pans. Any other feedback you have would be great!

The girls are done competing until June 1st, so that gives me plenty of time to dig a little deeper into the story.

But for now....SB 2K9!!!!!

Outtakes- Cheersport

2009-03-10T11:32:00.004-04:00

Inspiration: Ryan McGinley

© Ryan McGinley

Park Day

2009-03-10T00:42:00.002-04:00

Snowing one day...sunny and 80 degrees the next. Oh, Atlanta.

Out With the New, In With the Old: Scarlett Loves Rhettro

2009-03-05T13:28:00.004-05:00

Watch it!

Defense

2009-03-02T11:44:00.005-05:00

I did a little assignment for school the other day on R.A.D (Rape Aggression Defense). This is something all women need to be aware of and should know how to defend themselves in attack situations.

gallery

More entries to come as soon as I survive finals!

Holga love.

2009-02-23T12:11:00.002-05:00

Finally got around to scanning some film....more to come.

more love....

Chaos

2009-02-03T13:28:00.006-05:00

I started photographing the special needs cheerleading squad, Chaos this weekend. The majority of the project will be stills, but I will also shoot video as well. I'm still mapping out my production schedule and in what direction I want this documentary to go. There's so much about it!

Bottom line, these girls are absolutely incredible and I'm very grateful to be welcomed with open arms by Infinity Elite.

WorkStudy

2009-02-02T11:48:00.005-05:00

This is how I spend my mornings at work. I photograph pieces of artwork, and sometimes I get a little carried away.

Painting by Tom Francis

Hello again...

2009-01-30T16:15:00.006-05:00

I've been such a stranger these last few weeks, but school has again begun to consume my life. I finally got around to my Inauguration photos. D.C. was incredibly amazing...and incredibly cold. I did a quick multimedia for my documentary class on the celebrity of Obama through the mass paraphernalia that they were selling about him. So, here's a gallery of images, and the sailor at the end who I was shutter happy with is my brother John. He received the Sailor of the Year award, and therefore was asked to stand at attention along the Inaugural parade route.

Inauguration Gallery

EDIT: Just received these from Tiffany....awesome! Totally proves how miserably cold it was.

New Year...

2009-01-01T22:56:00.002-05:00

...and it's going to be great.

2008 wasn't the worst, but it could have been a lot better.

I was one of the head photographers for the Chick-fil-A Bowl last night. Needless to say, I am still exhausted and my back is killing me from hauling equipment. Pictures will be posted soon along with a more fulfilling entry.

Happy New Year everyone!

Weekendings

2008-12-14T20:43:00.002-05:00

Little Tybee's first show + friends + Majestic Diner for the second time in one day = great times.

December Day...

2008-12-09T15:49:00.004-05:00

Such a beautiful, perfect, running day. Made a lap around the neighborhood then ran alongside the golf course. Stupid ipod headphones kept falling out of my ears because I think my ears are too small for the buds. Ended up on Collier Rd., and quickly diverted down a random street to avoid being hit by a car, thank you rush hour traffic. This street, didn't catch the name, was really adorable. The houses looked like tiny cabins, and there was a small park on the corner. Made a turn into the park and followed the trail down. The leaf covered trail ran directly into a small stream. Felt like I was in North Georgia, not downtown Atlanta.

This is definitely my new running route. Next time, I'll head down stream.

___

Monster pictures by Johnny Tang.

Economy....you suck.

2008-12-03T14:53:00.002-05:00

Earlier I informed you that you were a finalist for one of the various slots in our internship program next summer. I’m writing now with an update: Our program has been put on hold because of budget concerns. It’s still possible we may hire some interns for the summer, but we cannot make any offers at this time.

I wanted to make sure you knew about your status here, and if we learn that we can move ahead with internships, you may hear from me again.

Best regards....

Booooooooooooo.

____

Spent my morning at Brock's house photographing his new band. They're so good!

This is love.

2008-12-01T19:38:00.001-05:00

Shes my number one.

David Cross

2008-11-29T13:58:00.003-05:00

I have several photos hanging up at Bazzaar from a show that we had a week ago. Well, last night, David Cross (Tobias from Arrested Development) came into Bazzaar with his friend Amber Tamblyn (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). Well, he walked around for a little bit and stopped in front of my photographs. So I walked over, introduced myself, and we had some small talk. He said he liked my work! So cool. Arrested Development is one of my all-time favorite shows, so that definitely made my night.

It's my....

2008-11-27T09:49:00.000-05:00

...BIRTHDAY!

21, I thought this day would never come.

Break....

2008-11-25T11:08:00.003-05:00

... is wonderful. I found time to actually clean my apartment, organize my hard drive, and play some guitar hero. :)

I got a phone call the other day from the president of the ASMP Atlanta chapter. Apparently, I'm the only person in Atlanta with a National Merit Membership, thanks to the Eddie Adams Workshop, so he invited me to attend their board meeting. So I went, and it was pretty successful! They asked for my input on what students and new members would like to see from the chapter. So we planned some events that involve portfolio reviews, panels with established Atlanta photographers, and some lectures on new techniques/tools in the industry. They seemed to like my input and perspective. . .so they voted me onto their board. I'm now the student liaison on the board of ASMP Atlanta. Awesome! I'm really excited to help bring in students from all over Atlanta to events, cause I know most don't come out to these things.

Birthday in t-minus 2 days!

Broken Social Scene

2008-11-20T17:54:00.002-05:00

Basically, the best show of my life.

Anthems for a 17 year-old girl from Sandy Hooper on Vimeo.

Broken Social Scene from Sandy Hooper on Vimeo.

New Blog Name....

2008-11-17T20:53:00.005-05:00

...thanks to Caitlin, she didn't like the Traveling Pants, reminded her of the Sisterhood. Now we have Super Duper Hooper, brings back those weird childhood memories.

Soapboxes and Yart Sales

2008-11-16T23:37:00.000-05:00

Went down to the Starlight Drive-In to shoot the Downhill Soapbox Derby challenge. Some of the cars were pretty amazing, and some looked like they were going to fall apart any second....which they ended up doing. There was a really awful accident mid-race. A guy wrecked his car, and while it was flipping his helmet flew off. When the car finally stopped, the man wasn't moving. The ambulance came and took him away, but it didn't look good. Scary.

Soapbox Derby

Sunday, some of the painting, printmaking, and sculpture kids had a yart sale at Brock's house. Lots of pizza rolls and coffee...and Daniel trying to fit into a robin girl costume.

Open Studio...

2008-11-14T13:22:00.000-05:00

...was a success!

Over 1000 people came out to see work done by the photo, printmaking, and painting departments. Lots of stuff sold, nothing of mine cause it seems no one likes to buy photography. However, I did get a job offer! A commercial photographer here in Atlanta really liked my style of shooting and he has a team who shoots the events associated around the Chik-Fil-A College Football Bowl. He wants me to join them to shoot the events and possibly even the big game.

My portfolio class' show who put on a show within a show last night went really great too. Everyone got great responses to their books. It was the first time that I showed my multimedia on the 83 year old pilot. After hearing it about 100 times last night, I definitely have some spots to work on, but everyone seemed to really enjoy the story.

I'll post some pictures later!

MARTA, Balloons, and Manuels

2008-11-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

Group of kids decided to board MARTA with a balloon. They rode it one stop, got off, and left their balloons behind so that someone else could share the joy of having a balloon.

Stress-Reliever?

2008-11-12T23:26:00.000-05:00

This is what I do when I'm done with finals. I swear I'm more productive than this....and a lot cooler.

Untitled from caitlin bates on Vimeo.

Me: Lost and Found

2008-11-11T18:30:00.000-05:00

Finished my essay on language. Love it.

_ _ _

My mom tells me that I spoke Spanish before I spoke English, and I don’t find that very hard to believe. She was a hard working businesswoman, and no-offense to her, she wasn’t around much during the week while I was growing up, and neither was my dad; my grandmother was always there. I was fortunate to have her, Esperanza, living with me. Unfortunately, I acted as most children, and took for granted.

Esperanza never learned much English, she never really had to. She moved from Oaxaca, Mexico, to an area of California, Bell Gardens, where carnicerias and panaderias littered every block, and Spanish was the language of choice. Shortly after my mom got pregnant with me, Esperanza moved into my parent's house in Downey to help watch over me once my mom ran out her maternity leave.

While I grew up learning Spanish, I don’t recall myself ever really grasping and learning my culture. Growing up in Los Angeles, I figured everyone knew Spanish and that there wasn’t really any culture behind it besides the one I was living in. I thought that was it. However, it would end up taking me more than ten years after my grandmother’s death to fully grasp my culture, where I came from, and what it meant to be a Mexican-American woman.

In the late summer of 1997, just as I was about to turn ten, Esperanza died. Along with my grandmother’s death went my Spanish language. She was the only person with whom I practiced my native language. On our occasional trips to the swap meets in Lakewood, I would get some as well, but on a daily basis, it was just her. My mom would talk to my grandma in Spanish, but to me in English. After my grandmother’s death, my mom did realize how important keeping my language alive was. She promised me that she would speak to me only in Spanish, and I agreed to respond back in Spanish. However, that promise was never held up on either end. We both became consumed in our daily rituals, and in all fairness, my father was a red-blooded American hailing from the South, who didn’t speak Spanish at all. My mom and I would promise that Saturday would be the day, or that the following day would be the day that we would start. But those days never came. We did, however, have a city thriving with Mexican culture to turn to.

Living in Los Angeles was a way in which I could get my culture fix. On the weekends, my mom would take me downtown to Olvera Street, which was a hub for Mexican culture. Being there was like being teleported to a mercado in Oaxaca, Mexico. To celebrate Dia de los Muertos, we would go to the Museum of Latin American Culture to create papel picado’s and share my grandmother’s favorite food with other revelers to honor her, and other loved ones spirits. Best of all, I had some of my Mexican familia living in neighboring Long Beach. I remember spending at least one weekend out of the month with several of my many cousins swimming or playing the latest Nintendo game.

However, all of these cultural learnings came to a screeching halt when my family moved across the country to Georgia, just shy of my fifteenth birthday. This move, at least for the duration of high school, suppressed my linguistic and cultural growth. There were no outlets for me to engage my Spanish language, and there were certainly no museums or areas of town that I could go to learn more about my culture. Just being from California made me really different, but the fact that I was Mexican made me exotic. Compared with some of the other Mexican students, the majority of which had just immigrated to the United States, I was a gringa who pretended she was Mexican. I had no real grasp of her native language or culture, everything I knew about my Hispanic self was that of a young girl who grew up speaking Spanglish.

The move to Georgia is when I realized that this loss of language was no one’s fault but my own. I had a beautiful gift of knowing a second language, and I had just let it slip through my fingers. Attending high school in a rural Northern Georgia town, didn’t offer many opportunities to hone any foreign language skills. True, it was required of every student to take two years of a foreign language, but those two years were an absolute joke. Students were unruly and never put forth any effort, and the poor Spanish professor, Mrs. Dubai who was nearing her 70’s, had no idea how to make a bunch of unwilling high schooler’s conjugate verbs.

It wasn’t until I got out of high school and attended college, that I finally had the chance to revisit my culture. The summer before my senior year of college, I finally made the trek south to Oaxaca, Mexico to meet my grandmother’s family for the first time. Esperanza had two sisters and one half-brother, and during my trip I was able to meet each one. I also met their kids, their kids, and their kids, and none spoke any English, but of course I didn’t expect them to. My attempt at Spanish was like that of a ten-year old. My vocabulary wasn’t very sophisticated, and at most times it was choppy and incoherent. I resorted to hand signals and gesturing to communicate, and I tried my best to learn words that I had heard. Not being able to fully communicate with my grandmother’s siblings was a heart wrenching feeling. There were so many stories that I wanted to tell them about growing up with Esperanza. She made only two trips back to Oaxaca once she moved to the U.S., so I wanted to tell them how much I loved her and how much they reminded me of her. Instead, we resorted to tears of joy, silent smiles, and hand signs, all of which we fully understood. To my surprise, I found that I was able to read and write in Spanish much more easily than I could speak and understand.

By the end of my stay, I was able to have general conversations without much difficulty, and my language aside, I felt that all of the missing pieces I had about myself were found. My journey to Mexico was to completing unfinished business I had with my grandmother. I finally understood who I was and where I came from. Most importantly, I learned to never forget it.

Hannah Höch

2008-11-09T14:02:00.000-05:00

Leave it to me to leave my research paper to the last minute. I have a good chunk done already, and it's on a topic that I really love, so no worries. This is what it's on.

edit: Just found this quote...it's pretty great.

"Hoch's tempestuous relationship with Hausmann ended in 1923, but this simply heralded another step forward in her creativity. She was much influenced by artists outside of her Berlin group, notably Kurt Schwitters who was a one-man Hanover Dada movement, and Max Ernst from Cologne. Schwitter neatly summed up her relationship with Hausmann in the immortal words "Whenever she needs him, she's there for him."

ha.

_ _ _

The 1920’s were exactly what they were known for, roaring. Whether it was in America, Germany, or any other foreign country, a new era of technology and way of thinking was beginning to unfold. World War I had just ended, and countries were beginning to clean up the destruction and damage left behind. One of the biggest civil liberties to be born out of the roaring 20’s was America’s passage of 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote. With these newfound liberties given to women in the United States, the effects of change were resonating across the world. Hannah Höch was an artist in Berlin, Germany during the outbreak of World War I. Through a relationship Höch had with Raoul Hausmann, another artist working in 1920’s Berlin, the two of them created the style of Photomontage, which became a medium of choice for the Berlin Dadaists.

Loss of Language and Identity

2008-11-08T19:28:00.000-05:00

My essay for my non-fiction class is to create an argument with the theme being about language. I'm writing my essay on how I was brought up speaking both Spanish and English, thanks to my grandma. She died when I was ten years old, and along with her went my Spanish language. I also lost my identity about who I was as a Mexican woman.

This is just a start. Lots more to come.

_ _ _
My mom tells me that I spoke Spanish before I spoke English, and I don’t find that very hard to believe. My mom was a hard working businesswoman, and in no-offense to her, she wasn’t around much during the week while I was growing up, and neither was my dad; my grandmother was always there for me. I was fortunate to have my grandmother, Esperanza, live with my family and me while I was growing up. Unfortunately, I acted as most children do, and I took her being around for granted.

Esperanza never learned much English, she never really had to. She moved to an area of California, Bell Gardens, where carniceria’s and panaderia’s littered every block, and Spanish was the language of choice. Shortly after my mom got pregnant with me, Esperanza moved into my parent's house in Downey to help my mom out and to essentially watch over me once my mom ran out her maternity leave.

While I grew up learning the Spanish language, I don’t recall myself ever really grasping and learning my culture. Growing up in Los Angeles, I figured everyone knew Spanish and that there wasn’t really any culture behind it besides the one I was living in. I thought that was the root of it all. It would end up taking me more than ten years after my grandmother’s death to fully grasp my culture, where I came from, and what it meant to be a Mexican-American woman.

Esperanza died in the late summer of 1997, I was about to turn ten years old. Along with my grandmother’s death went my Spanish language. She was the only person who I practiced my native language with. On our occasional trips to the swap meets in Lakewood, I would also get to practice speaking Spanish. But on a daily basis, she was the only one. My mom would talk to my grandma in Spanish, but to me in English. After my grandmother’s death, my mom did realize how important keeping my language alive was. She promised me that she would speak to me only in Spanish, and I agreed to respond back in Spanish. However, that promise was never held up on either end. We both became consumed in our daily rituals, and to all fairness, my father was a red-blooded American hailing from the South, and he didn’t speak Spanish at all. My mom and I would promise that Saturday would be the day, or that the following day would be the day that we would start. But those days never came.

Danny Clinch

2008-11-07T22:22:00.000-05:00

It seems as though my body is failing me with only two weeks of school left....go figure.

A.C.P. (Atlanta Celebrates Photography) is still going on, and their lecture tonight was held at SCAD. Danny Clinch was the speaker for the night, and it was great to finally meet him, he was such a personable guy. He showed a lot of his film work, and it was really inspiring. Check out the music video he did for Tom Waits, it's on his website. Danny also had some great advice for me since I'm starting to get into film myself...I'm getting ready to buy my super 8 camera :).

Some of Danny's images:

Election Night

2008-11-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

What a night. Carla and I decided to collaborate on a project covering election night together. I really love the way she shoots, she has a great eye for those Nan Goldin-esque moments. We decided to cover the election party at Manuel's Tavern in Virginia Highlands. Manny's is known for their public gatherings ranging from the World Series to the Presidential Election.

Being surrounded by 1,000 people who are all clinging to hope for change is an incredible feeling. People were watching TV's and simultaneously following election coverage on the internet. Some were decked out in gear supporting their candidate of choice (99.9% of the crowd were Obama supporters btw), while some just sported their "I voted" sticker.

I met some really interesting people last night. I met a woman who worked during the Kennedy campaign, and who proudly displayed her Kennedy buttons next to Obama buttons. I ran into two women, Ebony Chappel and Heike Braxton, who crocheted American flags that had portraits of Obama in the place of the stars. I decided to keep a close watch on those two women, they were full of excitement and anxiousness the entire night so I knew when the results were announced they were sure to be emotional.

When the results were announced at 11pm, I just so happened to be in front of Ebony. Shock faded to disbelief which faded to tears. It was so moving.

During Obama's acceptance speech I sat with my back to the TV and just watched the expressions and emotions change on people's faces. I felt myself on the verge of tears just watching everyone. Without knowing them, I knew how bad they wanted this and how long they have been waiting for something like this to happen. Words can't even describe the emotion and feelings that were eminating from everyone. It was truly a historic night. I can't wait to tell this story when I'm older, to say that I was there, and that I did my part for change.

Check out my gallery

DJ

2008-11-03T11:08:00.002-05:00

Started my new documentary on the DJ Heather B. It's going well, but not where I want it to go yet. I need to spend more time with her, but school seems to be getting in the way right now. I'll probably put a hold on it right now and get back to it once school lets out.

Halloweenie

2008-11-01T07:02:00.003-04:00

Fun night, even though I had to work. I had to shop last minute for some of my costume, but it came together pretty well. I got a lot of compliments through the night about how much I looked like Amy Winehouse. Still not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. But I had tons of fun. Seeing all of the boys come in with their little costumes was great. They gay wizard of oz totally deserved to win. Haha.

Lady Gaga

2008-10-30T09:59:00.002-04:00

Crazy night at work last night. Lady Gaga had her after party at Bazzaar and she ended up playing an impromptu set. It was pretty awesome. I'm not a fan of her music, but it's upbeat dance music and the gays absolutely loved her. She was very loyal to her fans too. She stayed and signed autographs until everyone that was in line got one. I hope this music business and popularity doesn't get to her head. She's a good one.

Zombies

2008-10-27T12:33:00.003-04:00

Shot the zombie walked. I missed a lot of it because I had to work at Bazzaar until 8. It wasn't anything spectacular and I was pretty disappointed in the zombies. All they did was walk, only several of them were in character and attacking cars/people. I was looking forward to seeing zombies on MARTA, but they only walked from the Masquerade to Little 5 and back. Pretty disappointing. Oh well, there's always next year.

Arguments

2008-10-26T21:50:00.002-04:00

Finally met with our Beyonce wannabe neighbor face-to-face. She was being ridiculously loud, singing, and overall being obnoxious. So I went over to her door, and literally had to pound on it so she could hear me over her music. She opened the door with a look that could have killed. I asked her if she could turn it down because it was very loud and I could hear her singing. She said no, and that she has already turned it down. Then she proceeded to tell me that she had the right to play her music as she wanted because she could hear her neighbors being loud all the time too. So I told her she was rude and that she was going to get a complaint and I walked back to my house. As I crawled back into bed the music stopped, and I heard her on the phone with someone talking about me. Wonderful. I really despise this woman.

Voted!

2008-10-24T17:42:00.002-04:00

I voted today, for the first time! I was really paranoid the entire time I was standing in line. I kept thinking that I was going to get up to the window, show them my ID, and they were going to tell me that I wasn't registered to vote. Happily, I was registered. My next paranoia was while I was voting. I was having that Homer Simpson moment where I would press the screen for Obama, but the machine would say "1 vote for John McCain." To make sure that wouldn't happened, I double checked my ballot about 5 times. I'm so happy that I voted. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's a vote for the future president.

School...Work....School.....Work.

2008-10-22T13:19:00.001-04:00

Nothing new to update. I haven't really seen much because my trips seem limited from home to school to work to school to home. Today is my dad's birthday though, hes 63. Happy Birthday dad!

Catch-Up

2008-10-20T18:16:00.003-04:00

Still trying to get caught up with everything. Made some time to squeeze in dinner with friends.

Alabama game

2008-10-18T17:41:00.002-04:00

I can now say that I have been to an SEC game. It was insane. If I combined all of the crazy high school football games I went to, and multiplied that by 1,000, then the energy I experienced today might be somewhere near that number. It was so wild. Screaming fans, bodypaint, marching bands. Times like these is when I wish I went to a state school, then I remember that I'm trying to get an education in photo not sports 101.

I got to shoot a little bit with Bill, mostly crowd and sideline action. But for the most part I just carried equipment. At least this opens up future opportunities with S.I. Plus, it was fun hanging out with Bill and playing pranks on Robert Caplin across the interweb. Priceless.

Back

2008-10-16T13:08:00.001-04:00

I'm back in ATL! What a crazy, amazing week. I'm not too behind in my schoolwork which is pretty surprising. EAW seems to alreay be paying off for me. I got an e-mail from Bill Frakes today. He is a staff photographer for Sports Illustrated and he was at the workshop. I didn't talk to him too much there, but he remembered that I was based in Atlanta. Well, he's shooting the Alabama vs. Ole' Miss football game on Saturday, and he asked me if I wanted to assist him. Of course I do! So I'll be at the Univ. of Alabama on Saturday!

EAW DONE!

2008-10-14T16:54:00.003-04:00

It's over. Collectively, I think I slept 7 hours the last 4 days. But it was so worth it. Last night was amazing. It was great seeing everyone's projects, really good work. We had a massive party back at the hotel once everything was over. Open bar + bad DJ + lots of dancing = AMAZING! Basically, I didn't sleep last night, but it was very worth it. I'm going to miss everyone...Bess, Brian, Nick, JB, Jared....but I'll see them soon. I'm learning that this photojournalism thing may seem big, but the circle's are pretty small.

EAW Day 4

2008-10-13T16:52:00.003-04:00

Last day on the farm. Sad. We're doing last minute project editing and getting a presentation together for our team. Everyone is showing their work tonight, should be great! Then...PARTY!

EAW Day 3

2008-10-12T16:39:00.002-04:00

Shooting went so well! I absolutely love the man I'm documenting, Dick Padgent. He looks like Mel Gibson at the end of Forever Young. He still wears his old bomber jacket, silver aviators, and he always has a cigar in his mouth...he won't fly without one.

I wasn't able to go up with him in his plane due to insurance concerns. So I had some help from ProFoto to rig up the plane with cameras, one on the outside, and one inside. I did, however, get to go up in the glider. It was so cool! It really makes me want to learn how to fly. Afterall, my dad is a pilot.

We had portfolio reviews last night. It was a little intimidating, but they went well. I met with Maura Foley, picture editor for the NYT; Michael Williamson, Washington Post; and I showed Stanley what I had been up to since Mexico. Good feedback, learned some stuff about my work that I had never seen before. I definitely have a lot to improve on, but that's why I'm here!

EAW Day 2

2008-10-11T16:19:00.002-04:00

Talk about no sleep. I'm going on about three hours? I feel like it's going to be like this the rest of the week, but it's ok...I'm ready.

We got our assignments last night. Our team theme is Unique American Stories...how perfect! My assignment is so awesome, I'm so excited about it. I'm going to document an 83-year old WWII vet, who use to be a bomber pilot during the war, and he still flies planes to this day. So I get to go up with him, rig a plane up with cameras, and learn more about him! J.B., Nick, and I are going to record audio cause we all have possible multimedia stories. I can't wait to get started!

There have been some amazing speakers so far: Gerd Ludwig, Platon, Brian Storm, Stanley Greene, and Yuri Kozyrev.

EAW Day 1

2008-10-10T14:44:00.003-04:00

Stayed at Tiff's last night, and surprisingly I was able to find a parking spot right outside her apt on 96th and Broadway...go me! Met the Eddie Adams group at B&H. First off, let me say how weird B&H is, being there is a surreal experience. Little conveyerbelts carry your stuff around, and Hasidic Jews are running the place. It's crazy, but magical.

I met up with Brian and Jared there, and drove them up to the farm. It was great seeing Brian again, we were both at the Foundry workshop in Mexico City this summer. He had a lot of great advice for me on the way up, because I still feel like the odd man out at these sort of get-togethers. Attending art school I feel like I'm at a big disadvantage compared to all of the other kids cause they all go to journalism heavy schools. At the same time, I feel like I'm at an advantage because I have that fine-art background. I guess it balances out and I must be doing something right....right?

Met with my team this afternoon. They're all amazing people and our team leaders, Chris Ramirez and Clay Patrick McBride, are pretty incredible. I can't wait to see what we get done these next few days.

Road Trip! ATL to NYC

2008-10-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

It's 6 am, and I'm starting my road trip to NYC. I should be there by 9-9:30. I love driving, it gives me a chance to really clear my head cause it's just me and the road. I find my mind going off in different tangents, replaying scenarios, and trying to resolve problems in my head.

I definitely have some things to resolve on my way up.

800 miles...here we go.

EAW

2008-10-07T10:53:00.000-04:00

Eddie Adams is rapidly approaching, and I have two weeks of work to get done before I can think about enjoying it.

I think i need to dip out of my english class right now to go work on the million other things on my to do list.

stress!

EAW

2008-10-02T11:04:00.001-04:00

Just got an e-mail with a list of who's going to be attending the Eddie Adams Workshop. Tons of really influential photographers are going to be there, kind of intimidating, but I can't wait!

Today is my mom's birthday, and sadly she has to go to the doctor again. I really hope things start to get better.

CPOY

2008-09-24T20:12:00.000-04:00

Finally completed my entry for CPOY. I had a lot of help picking out the final images and I feel pretty good about it. I feel like my domestic picture story are my strongest entries. We'll see though. My stuff might be too happy for them, they seem to like the cancer-children-poverty stories. Maybe they'll go for something different this time? Yes? Hopefully?....I hate these sort of contests.

Internships

2008-09-22T23:29:00.002-04:00

It's that time of the year again! Time to apply for all of those internships for next summer, but surprisingly the due dates are now. I have a stack about 80 that I need to start making packets for. So I have now converted my dining room table into an assembly line. A pile of cover letters, resumes, references, portfolio cd's, and business cards. This year, I will be sending them out weeks in advance to avoid those ridiculous mailing fees. Here we go.....

Pizza Tracker

2008-09-21T18:31:00.002-04:00

I felt compelled to tell the world this....you can order pizza through the internet now. Wild. Caitlin and I just ordered a large pepperonni pizza from Domino's via the interweb. You can do anything online now! So as soon as we ordered it, a new window called the pizza tracker popped up. It tells you who received your order, when they started making it, when they put it in the box, and when it left for delivery. So much more information than I care to know, but I can't seem to stop watching the pizza tracker to see what the next move is going to be.....

Blink.

2008-09-20T11:16:00.000-04:00

Just heard that the drummer of Blink 182, Travis Barker, was in an awful plane crash last night along with DJ AM. Crazy. Amazingly, Barker and AM were the only ones to survive and they are currently in the hospital. Not too sure why I'm writing about this, except for the fact that it's the first thing I heard this morning. And I use to love Blink 182.

Lil' Weezy and Beyonce Wannabe's

2008-09-17T19:36:00.000-04:00

Woke up this morning to my upstairs neighbors blasting Lil' Weezy and singing along as if they thought they were Beyonce. It was so loud. They did this before, but it was in the afternoon and I could have cared less because it was 2 pm, but this morning it started at 7am. So ridiculous. So I marched my no-makeup-pajama-wearing self to the leasing office and made a noise complaint. One of the leasing managers came over to our apartment to hear the noise for herself and agreed that it was too loud. She knocked on our upstairs neighbor door to see if it was them and they said, "no," but agreed that the noise was very loud and that this was not the first time it happened.

Caitlin and I were sitting on the couch this afternoon doing homework and watching Home Movies and we saw the leasing manager walk across our lawn to the noisemaker's apartment to leave them a note. Several hours later Caitlin saw the girl, who we've dubbed "Beyonce-Girl," come home. When she saw the note she marched to the leasing office, note in hand, to have a chat with the managers. She later saw her march very angrily back to her apartment, apparently in defeat.

What a fun adventure. It better not happen tomorrow, but then again I have to be up at 6 anyway.

Change of Pace

2008-09-16T18:56:00.000-04:00

I know this blog has been mainly used as my photoblog, but I'm taking several writing classes this quarter and one of them, non-fiction writing, would like for me to keep a daily journal. Since I'm on the internet all the time anyway, I figured this would be the easiest way to keep up.

So sorry ahead of time if things get a bit personal. I'll try to put in a picture a day as well.

So here we go, and it's going to be pretty heavy.

Three weeks ago my mom felt a lump on her upper thigh. She immediately went to the doctor, they did a CT scan, and discovered that it was a mass. About a week ago my mom had surgery to remove the mass and today they called her back with the results.

It's malignant. Cancer. Leo Myo Sarcoma.

Life seems to happen so fast doesn't it? She's going back to the doctor tomorrow, and I might go with her if she want me to. They're pretty much going to lay it all out for her and explain what the plan of action is going to be.

My mom has cancer. This feels surreal. Parents seem invincible, but lately it seems like my family is falling to pieces. My dad had mild scirrosis of the liver a couple years ago and my brother just had his kidney removed because of cancer.

I found a lump on my arm a couple of months ago and I just figured it was a pimple or something, but it's still there. And with all of this happening I'm scheduling an appointment with a doctor tomorrow to get it checked out.

So much to take in...day by day.

In other news, I started Fall quarter today. Four classes is a heavy load, but I don't think it's going to be that bad. I'm taking Creative Copywriting, Non-Fiction Writing, Photo Portfolio, and 20th Century Art...but that one is online. The classes seem really interesting and totally different from what I'm use to, which is a good thing.

I don't really feel in the mood to go more in depth about them, I will later.

Comfort food is calling my name....and anyone who knows me know that I'm heading straight for the chips and salsa.

Coney Island

2008-09-04T15:07:00.000-04:00

I read an article in the Daily News a few days ago, and they mentioned how Astroland's lease was up this week and that they had until Thursday (today) at 1pm to renew the lease. So I hopped on the train this morning to Coney Island to see if anything was going on at the boardwalk or Astroland. And not to my surprise, nothing was happening.

To make myself feel better I ate some Nathan's hot dogs and took some pictures. Here's what I got.

The tables have turned...the freak shoots the announcer!

Totally Off-Topic....

2008-08-02T01:44:00.001-04:00

....but this is hilarious. FYI...I'm from Canton, Ga.

Sooo....

2008-07-20T17:17:00.001-04:00

.....I got it!

I had my interview with Brenda this afternoon and it went great! I'm moving in this week and I start working Monday. Exciting! The project she is working on is called Upstate Girls and from what I saw today, it's pretty incredible. She's already won the 2008 Canon Female Photojournalist Award to help fund the project.

This summer is shaping up to be the best one ever.

oh the places i've been

2008-07-06T12:05:00.000-04:00

So I have made no attempt whatsoever to fill everyone in on what I've been up to. I feel like I've been going a million miles an hour and I've had no time to make a post....just time to keep a picture diary on my photobucket.

I spent about 9 weeks in Lacoste, France during the Spring....here are the pictures.

After France, I was in Atlanta for about 2 weeks. On June 15th, I was off to Mexico City to attend the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop. It was an amazing experience and Stanley Greene was an incredible mentor. Here is the multimedia our group created.

And currently I'm in Oaxaca, Mexico visiting some family and working on a documentary on the Woodcarvers of Arrazola. I've been here for about 2 weeks, and I leave to go back to Atlanta tomorrow....Here are the pictures.

I'll be in Atlanta for a day...then on Wednesday I'm off to NYC! I have an interview with Photojournalist Brenda Ann Kenneally for an internship. And if I get it, I'll be living in Brooklyn until school starts back in the fall.

So like I said, life has been a whirlwind for the past 6 months....but a very welcomed whirlwind. I definitely feel like I'm on the right path with my photography and with life in general. The spontaneity of life has brought me a lot of much needed clarity. I know where I am and where I'm going.

P.S.....I have been accepted to attend the Eddie Adams Workshop in October. Only 50 students and 50 professionals from around the world were invited to attend, I still can't believe I got accepted!

-Sandy

Au Revoir!!

2008-03-27T09:40:00.001-04:00

For the next several months this blog will serve as my travel journal. The theme will be "Pants in France" (so clever, thanks Daniel.)I will be in Lacoste, France until the end of May, and I will be in Mexico from June to August.

So add me to your RSS Feed so that you can updated on my new travels and adventures.

BON VOYAGE!!!!

-Sandy

Purchase My Book!

2008-03-06T12:49:00.000-05:00

Hello All!

I just published my book "Home Away From Home" and it is officially available for purchase.

Home Away From Home

By Sandy Hooper

Book Preview

"Home Away From Home" is a photo-documentary on the lives of semi-truck drivers in America.

Becoming Dax

2008-03-03T17:51:00.000-05:00

This is my latest multimedia project.

large version

Hello World!

2008-02-27T18:43:00.000-05:00

This is my first blog! Here, you'll be able to find out when I post new photography to my website, www.sandyhooper.com, and you'll also find out what I've been up to life-wise.

Welcome!

<3 Sandy Hooper