Geometry

geometry, originally uploaded by vanessamiller.

Sometimes life just makes sense.

tomorrow!!!!

I want to thank Model D http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/detroitpsk081010.aspx ahead of time for getting me into the PSFK Salon at the DIA tomorrow! http://www.psfk.com/

I look forward to hearing Jerry from Loveland http://makeloveland.com/ speak on a panel, as well as meet other great thinkers and movers!

and because i can't post with out leaving a photo...

here is a sneak peak of the interiors i shot for the Woodbridge pub!

long time no see...

Hey guys,
No point in giving the listed explanation why i haven't been posting. I'm here. i've been working hard...
a quick run down of this summer...

I have also been managing thebeehiveproject.com

visiti visit!

Oh boy are you ready

Because I am. The Things I am workinon right now are massive. the biggest projects i have ever worked on. get ready for a blitz in blogging. here we go round one.

10 years ago I was a 15 year old dancing in Hart Plaza as Ritchie Hawtin Blew my mind closing the first year of the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. I have attended every year since...we sure have been through alot together... 2006 was the first year I was officially assigned to photograph the festival..... working for Real Detroit weekly (http://www.realdetroitweekly.com/) at the time.... i dug my feet into the electronic party scene and followed every twist and turn the beat took me on. See my set from the fest here!http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessamiller/sets/72157594179783774/

by some twist of fate... richie hawtin headline that year too.


I also did a shoot with Bocci Hair Salon team this weeked... my favorite raw image so far.

the big slow down

I have written this over and over. how to catch up. Where do i begin.


I have been writing this blog for about a year and a half. I started with a clear vision, to shed light and photographs of daily life in Detroit. I have searched tirelessly for the positive while acknowledging the bad. Here i am at a cross roads in every possible avenue of my life including this blog.

I have not posted because the past month and a half held some very unfortunate circumstances. I am still learning how to live and accept the things that have happened, my friends and family have been the key getting through this. Them along with the wonderful hands of time; healing bones and putting things back into their places.
I am unsure where tomorrow may take me... i am unsure what photographs i may make... I am making plans to move forward while listening to my heart and body.

I need to stop feeling bad for myself so that i can start doing good for other people.

Living in a city without mass transit woes

My trusty automobeast seems to have caught a cold, whether it is the freezing temperature or she is growing weary in her old age it makes me realize the true implications of living in a city without a functioning network of public transit. My bike can take me far but mass rapid transit would put my mind at ease.

In other news;
Art things.

Women : A celebration of Art and Culture from philip southern on Vimeo.

The womens event we held at the crofoot was a smashing sucess. We exceeded all of our goals! We built a network of professional relationships with amazing women and were able to make a donation to the Michigan Womens Foundation http://www.miwf.org/ ! See this movie I created along with Katie Barkel (Kate Mcqueen), Lauren David and Amy Kaherl

Love & Bummers & Women's Stats Loop from KATE McQUEEN on Vimeo.

We recieved an incredible amount of press for the event and the definite highlight of the evening was at midnight when Jessica Hernandez performed!

Jessica Hernandez singing during Women : A celebration of Art and Culture. from philip southern on Vimeo.

here are some other photo galleries and articles

http://detroit.metromix.com/events/photogallery/women-a-celebration-of/1773128/photo/1773359
http://detroit.aiga.org/events/2010/02/39793289
http://www.tv20detroit.com/news/local/83894477.html
http://detroit.metromix.com/music/article/women-a-celebration-of/1757080/content
http://michiganwomensforum.blogspot.com/2010/01/women-celebration-of-art-culture.html

http://www.metrotimes.com/calendar/event.asp?whatid=134132
http://thecrofoot.com/blog/2010/02/09/women-a-celebration-of-art-culture-in-the-crofoot-2-13-10/
http://www.wba-oakland.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4
http://www.clickondetroit.com/family/22523785/detail.html
http://www.metromodemedia.com/filterd/womenatwork2010.aspx

Phew, the recovery from this amazing event had to be rushed because i will be included in 2 more shows... on in March at the Detroit Artists Market and on in April in Rochester!

I was able to get to some photos that have been on the back burner however.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessamiller/4363833403/sizes/s/
the get up kids, Majestic Theater, October

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanessamiller/4363832643/sizes/s/
the hub bike sprints

detroit on a snow day

Phreddy whischusen



that is it for now. look up to the future... i will spend the first week in march on a much desired and needed vacation but will be interviewed on NPR tomorrow... and showing and shooting lots and lots when i get back!

manic friday

if there is a theme with which i am Particularly concerned, it is the contemporary failure of love. I don't mean romantic love or sexual passion, but the love which is the specific and particular recognition of one Human being by another- the response by eye and voice and touch of two solitudes. the democracy of universal vulnerability.
- Isabella Gardner

Blogging feels like a step forward even though i am caught in the same routines... or i feel that way... still each day is different. Each day lately has been a mess of a hundred new challenges.... i have to deal with all of these while improving on the routine... no wonder i have been feeling a bit manic.

manic pixels. the problems caused by resampling.




with the help of a few beautiful best friends... an amazing house and the ever talented Make-up and hair of Erica Dubroy we shot these images




on top of that a few of my friends are getting married so i made this for their save the dates! Congrats Jamie and Holly!


If you are looking for something to do tonight, my neighbors, Blank Artists are turning 5!!!!!! Bring your party pants and dancing shoes... http://www.blankartists.com/



I should be doing yoga above Mexican Town Bakery tommorow morn and enjoying Soup on sunday... a community dinner getting started to fund local creative grants.
if you need more infor about any of these things please feel free to e-mail me. Vanessa.m@mac.com
Happy Friday!

it has been a month....

wow alot has happened.....

http://www.thecaid.org/detroit_lives.html
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2010/01/best_of_metro_times_calendar_d.html

Still from a film i am working on with the help of the very awesome Katie Barkel, Amy Kaherl and Lauren david. It will be shown at the Women event at the Crofoot in Pontiac on Feb 13th.



when i don't blog for awhile i get all clogged up like a hose... i don't want to subject you to a rant so i will try to keep this short....

Over the past month the busy buss has continued to truck along.... less time spent shooting then doing; having meetings... prepping images, doing comercial work and wrapping my head around some personal issues and upcoming projects.

But i have taken some images...

To me, she looks like she belongs in a renaissance painting done by one of the great masters. I really love it. Hard to believe she is only 22... you can tell she is an old soul. Jessica Hernandez Check out her music here ---> http://www.myspace.com/jhernandezmusick


Lastly I would like to give a shout out to the Icehouse Project. After seeing my "Make it Happen" portrait series at the Detroit Lives Exhibition they ran some of my stuff on thier blog. see what they ran here here
http://icehousedetroit.blogspot.com/2010/01/while-i-feel-that-terminology-saving.html

I have to return the favor (not that they need it). Their project has been receiving incredible amounts of international press and was on the cover of the Detroit Free Press. If i can get out of work early enough ever i have been promised a sneak peek and i will be requesting how they feel about the negative wrap out of town artists and journalists have been receiving.
high five guys good job!
PHOTO BY TOM STOYE http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1038032089
""

And I know I should go but I will probably stay

The holidays though chaotic, beautiful and everything in-between, crystalized in the form of 10 of my friends huddled under blankets in my living room listening the song "Polar Opposites" by Modest mouse.

"Polar opposites don't push away
It's the same on the weekends as the rest of the days
And I know I should go but I will probably stay
And that's all you can do about some things"

The break from my 9-5 went by far too quickly, but every moment of the past few weeks have been punctuated by something great, or terrible. This roller-coaster we ride has me strapped in on full speed into the future. One I cannot predict but have extremely high hopes for.

From funerals, to late night celebrations, children opening gifts and more heart warming then i have ever felt... i might as well start where i wanted to... where i left off.

I believe fully we are living in a critical time of change for our country and our city. I am reminded almost every day the struggles we are fighting will bring about a better tomorrow. I am inspired by the personalities around me.. their strength gives me the power to keep moving and pushing and stretching the boundaries of what i feel is possible.
The recent projects and conversations i have taken on are dealing with some very controversial and important issues upfront.

I can write explanations for everything but the only thing i will ever stand by or believe in are the photos, documented proof that these amazing things have and are happening.

I shot this photo in reaction to how i have been feeling about current womens issues.... Things that i thought were normal for me to deal with, i am realizing are more the product of societies expectations and preconceived notions of the female. Working on a project with the Michigan Womens FOundation and the Crofoot in Pontiac... i sat with 10 women discussing the things that had shapped our lives and had the revelation that i am not alone in these struggles. Feeling like you need to excel, never show emotion for fear of appearing weak, closing off other women, and not feeling safe walking around my nieghboorhood. I'm now interessted in delving into these ideas.. discecting what they mean to me... this is a rather vulgar image of a women more interested in drinking glass then doing the dishes....

This is a self portrait feeling frustrated about the same things....

and another


That being said i was privileged to be one of the few to watch singer Jessica Hernandez Play on a bridge covered in snow and christmas lights on the Cranbrook Campus. Her beautiful voice warmed up the area which was surrounded by woods and quacking geese.

lauren watching



On a warmer note, Cass Collective celebrated it's 25th happening. The monthly event has been carrying on for the past years under the leadership of muscians Andrew Davis and Andrew Beer. Many local performers have entertained in the corner of Cass Cafe. Currently Cass Collective happens every last sunday of the month. 8pm-2 am it is a place where i often meet friends like family... have celebrated 2 birthdays (24 and 25). Warming hugs, wild dance parties, cold drinks, cosy hearts.
Happy 25 Cass Collective!




Amy kahrl made an installation asking what issues are most important to detroiters?.... i sense another project in the works...


thats it for now. more to come.