Jackie La Lanne

My photography is like my writing: little pieces connected to more little pieces. Each photograph is like opening a gift.  I never see all of the photograph when I click the button. It's a surprise upon reflection, sometimes laced with curiosity, shock, or bewilderment.  When I became a wife, mother, adult, whatever that is and owner of Volvo, cats, and dog my life became all too predictable. I became the giver: Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Birthday- Maker. The surprises, the wonder,  and the unexpected came to me through my camera,  which my husband gave me instead of a divorce. So I search with camera to find the magic I remember as a child, rediscovering the importance of play, play as ritual, as creation, and renewal. Like a family playing connecting through play,  much of my photography is of my family, the kids I teach at school, myself, and crazy, unexpected things found in regular stuff. My grandmother used to take us on picnics to the cemetery to visit relatives' graves. We played there: memories of happy excursions but there was always something mysterious, strange, other-worldly. I see those memories sometimes in my photographs, and make connections to the past. Little photographs connected to more little photographs. Photography is a way for me to tell the history of my experiences in the world, and a visual story of my life-one seen through a camera.