The Story Behind This Moment in Time

A film detailing my story of this iconic photo of Georgia O'Keeffe taken by Maria Chabot.

Copyright Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

We all have our stories, none ever remaining the same, many changing (minutely or massively) with the daily tides of our lives. This is my story of a famous photograph. As an image it is static but I know of (and have) an abundance of stories which swirl around it. My story, in this time, place, and very specific instance, takes the form of a movie.

https://youtu.be/qJZ7_3USaXM

OK, OK, it's not really a "movie". But then again, it's "kind of" a movie. I dunno. I am not a filmmaker by any stretch of the imagination but I made this film with what I had available to me and, I think it turned out pretty well. I thought it would be fun to share here.

Anyway, this was created as a final project for a class I completed this summer as part of my graduate studies in cultural heritage management at Johns Hopkins University. The class, the Practice of Public History, taught by Dr. Taylor Stoermer, ranks among my top two classes ever taken in my life. The other, Stalking the Wild Mind (taken at Boston University–literally in the last millenia) is hard to touch because it required neither talent nor interest. You just did it for the fascination. And fascinating it was. Topics ranged from cultural dance, molecular biology, and astrophysics to lucid dreaming and table tipping. If you were willing to put in the work, the rewards were truly out of this world. And I mean that literally. I experienced some weird-ass shyte in that class, and I absolutely loved every second of it all.

But for Dr. Stoermer's course, you needed interest and a willingness to work–talent be damned. It was amazing to experience the unfolding of what was at the core of the course: public history in the form of digital storytelling. Many of us had no talent, no stories, no knowledge. What we had was willingness and willingness really can go a long way–willingness to learn, willingness to listen, willingness to fail, willingness to think differently... the willingness to try.

Willingness, not filmmaking, might may be my forte. So, with the willingness to learn and be open, I willingly share this little student project with you in order to give you more an idea of where all of "this" is coming from. Be gentle...and enjoy!

P.S. as noted in the film, there is no limit to the special thanks I give to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library for the assets and information. I love gifts, and museums and libraries are, to me, the greatest gifts of all.