If you’re saying “Who?” let it be known that I can’t talk to you any longer.

Just kidding.

Kind of.

I grew up as a child of the long-haired metal-playing ’80s.  I’ve seen Motley Crue in concert five times and probably at least 30 other heavy-metal bands that I won’t spend time naming right now.

Nikki Sixx, Motley Crue’s bassist, has undergone a bit of a transformation over the past 25 years.  Just as I’ve matured, gone to law school, had kids, given up one career and started another, and started writing my book, he’s given up heroin, stopped drinking, started a new band, written three books, AND become an incredibly insightful photographer.

Music, books, and photography.  Win, win, win.

And here is where I would love to insert a photograph of Mr. Sixx himself, but I’ve never personally taken one, so that will have to wait.

Quite honestly, after about age 21, I’d probably forgotten about Nikki Sixx.  Sure, if Motley Crue came on the radio, I would turn it up loud and rock out, but then it was back to my regular “more mature” music appropriate to a law student, and life went on.  A couple years ago, a friend with whom I exchanged music and talked photography asked me if I’d listened to any of Nikki Sixx’s new band Sixx: A.M.  And therein lies the re-introduction.  I loved the new music, and in fact, recently bought the new album “7″ (highly recommend).

Anyhow, fast forward a year or so, and I started reading a lot of memoirs.  Why?  The stories.  I love a good story.  A good real life story of heartbreak, triumph, struggles, hardships, and well, life.  I had started to toy with the idea of writing a memoir concerning a certain theme in my life, and in order to do it well, I knew I needed to read lots and lots more memoirs of others to find out what works and what doesn’t work.  It was then that I came across This Is Gonna Hurt, Nikki Sixx’s sequel to Heroin Diaries.  I haven’t read Heroin Diaries, and my assumption is it’s a lot of “got high, got laid, next city, two women, did more drugs, nameless faceless s*x, and wow wasn’t that fun, and oh, I almost died.”  Maybe I’m wrong.  I don’t think so.  But, let’s get back to This Is Gonna Hurt.

The full title is This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography and Life Through the Distorted Lens of Nikki Sixx.  And being the photo snob that I am (you know, I’ve been shooting most of my life, started in film, shoot film now, I didn’t just recently pick up a camera…), of course I thought “Photography? Really?”  And it was then that I discovered Nikki Sixx’s photographic talents.  I loved reading his creative thoughts behind his images and his search to find beauty in what society considers “people not beautiful” or “ugly” or “unworthy of being photographed.”  And he no kidding shoots.  For a lot of his photographs, he uses an early photographic process called wet plate collodion, one that I am only recently starting to explore.  He also mostly shoots in black and white, which is near and dear to my heart.

Most recently, I found his tumblr, Some Call me Sixx, and I’m blown away by his creativity, his photographic vision, and well, everything.  As he says, “I’m a recovering addict, and cameras are my new drug.”  Though I’m not a recovering anything, I still relate to the sentiment.  My cameras and photography, get me out of myself.  They help me to be a better me.

I love that he shoots Leica, large format, wet plate, holgas, dianas.  Anything and everything.  I love that he has a concept of what he wants to shoot and goes out and makes that happen.  I love his personal photography projects.  I love what photography means to him because I feel the same way.  I love that it would be so easy to judge his heavy-metal-tattooed-self, and yet the book, the tumblr, the new music are reminders not to judge based only on appearances, which is also the vision inherent in his photography.  I love that I bought the very first Motley Crue album when it came out (before really anyone had heard of Motley Crue), that at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18, he was speaking to me, and that now at 43, I’m still listening.

A

You see, my blog somehow morphed into my business blog.  Maybe because of that title up there “Aileen Reilly Photography,” which seems to say “business.”  Okay, okay, I get your point.  But.  But before I had this blog, I had another one, just a personal blog which very few people read, filled with my photography, things I liked, stories I had to share, etc…  And I liked it there.  Other than my family (this goes without saying, so I won’t say it anymore), the three things I love most in this world are photography, music and reading good books.  That’s it.  Stick me in a cozy cabin somewhere with a fireplace and misting rain outside in 50 degree weather, and I’m happy.  I’m strange that way.

So.

So, I took a look around, and said, “Self, let’s mix this up a bit.”

Because really, I’m not paying my family’s bills with my photography earnings.  Basically, I’m earning enough to keep my photography addiction going.  I buy and sell cameras like no one’s business.  Except people do have that business, and I seem to be supporting them in their business.  Follow that?  Your business with me helps me support their business.  It’s all about the economy.  Everyone has to do their part.

Anyhow.

I’ve made some changes.  First off, I will be posting more and with regular frequency because now I will have MORE to talk about.  Second, and this is where you come in.  I want to hear from you more often.  And I’ve made that easier to happen.  I’ve got buttons and widgets and Facebook-comments-integrated and tweets and all kinds of things, all to make it easier for you.

There is a bunch more coming, and I look forward to sharing that with you when it’s ready.

xo,

A

The earth turns.

The dock stays.

The chairs sit.

The boat drifts.

The people visit and then go home.

To their states and their lives,

their work and their bills.

Seasons change.

The people age.

The marriages bend and turn.

A new birth.

The cardiologist calls.

And yet.

The boat drifts.

The chairs sit.

The dock stays.

The earth turns.

Another family arrives.

I’ve been looking through my photography of the past year, and thinking about things I show and things I don’t.  I take a lot of photos of the sky.  I don’t know why.  I just do, whether it’s from the wing of an airplane or from the ground, my feet solidly planted.  More often than not, I feel more powerful in the sky, and my feet on the ground are never that solidly planted.

I love to watch a good storm come in.  I love being in a good storm.  I love the smell of the earth after a good storm.

When I went off to college, I told my boyfriend (who was still at home) to look up at the sky and to know that we were looking at the same thing, in an effort to keep our connection, somehow, no matter the distance.  Yes, perhaps cheesy now with my added “maturity,” but at the time, I thought I was pretty original and very introspective.  It was my only way to hold onto that which I held most dear and that which I knew, ultimately, I would lose (and I did).

The sky, still though, holds a significant draw for me.  Power, seasons, storms, passing, uncontrollable, sun, rainbows, constellations.

I think what the sky says most to me is, we’re powerless.  Powerless I tell you.  Things happen.  You deal with them and you move on.  Make your goals, start your lists, but more important is living this short life we are given.  Live it well.  Love others.  Be kind.  We are but specks upon this planet.  And it’s a big big world out there beyond ours.

And out of even the most barren of places ~ dry, rocky beds ~ the storms of your own life ~ beauty can arise.

And will.

xo

A

P.S.  Skies courtesy of Virginia, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Utah.  And God.

A new tooth awaits.  A new year dawns.

Happy 2012.

A

Merry Christmas.

xo

A

Anyhow, I’ve been playing around with my holga and black and white film and some double exposures and figured I’m due for a blog post.  So here you go.  These were all taken on a school field trip to a pumpkin patch with my youngest.

Did you ever read Stephen King’s Children of the Corn?  When I was in high school, I really enjoyed reading his books.  The scarier the better.  I haven’t read anything of his in such a long time, but I just downloaded one of his more recent books to my kindle, so we’ll see.  Of course, it’s near the end of a long line of books on my kindle waiting to be read.

I used to have a pile of books on my nightstand, now I just have my kindle.  It looks so much “neater” but inside it’s the same pile.  I’m about to finish up a book today or tomorrow, and then I have those moments of exploring what’s on my kindle and then there’s the decision.

Who do I want to join me and fill my head for the next week or two (or three depending)?  Whose voices will I hear?  Whose story will play out in my dreams?  It’s a big decision.  Always an exciting time.

xo,

A

Me, I’m thankful for good, grainy, hearty, square, black and whites shot on film.  Love ‘em.

The witch and the pirate on the right are mine.  The other children appear courtesy of their parents and my roaming Hasselblad at the neighborhood Halloween party.

xo,

A

I love this city.

For visiting.

I love my new nephew.

And his two older brothers under 3 years old.

Who live in this city too.

I love my brother and his wife.

Who let me sleep upon their couch in NYC.

Otherwise, I could never afford to visit.

There is a gallery in their neighborhood.

I hope to have my photographs upon their walls someday soon.

xo,

A

The End.

xo,

A