Sheila Bocchine, Photographer

Hisptamatic Print – I was memorized by these kites on Yeouido Island during the Cherry Blossom Festival in Seoul.

*****

Tracy, a friend I’ve known since the days of Junior High keeps a lovely blog of the things she does with her adorable 3 year old son, Noah.  I love reading it and feeling closer to her and getting to know Noah, even though I’ve never met him in person. On Tuesdays, she writes a post titled ’10 on Tuesday’ and I always enjoy her lists.  I thought I would try it out as well, anything to get me blogging on a more regular basis.

Today happens to be my mother’s birthday, so I thought I would do my first ’10 on Tuesday’ on 10 great things about my mom!

1. At 55 years old, she is still super beautiful!

2. She’s always there when I need her, whether I have a funny story to share or need to complain about something or when I just need to hear her voice.  Thank goodness for Skype!

3.  She always visits me!  Sometimes those trips were emergency moves (Chicago), or for graduations (Chicago, NYC), to have pizza and gelato with me and my sister (Phoenix), to explore new cities (I promise, it’s just one more block…).  AND in September, she’ll be venturing to South Korea with my sister to get naked in Jimjilbongs (Korean Sauna), sing in norebongs (Korean karaoke) and eat live octopus!  It will be her greatest adventure yet!!!

4.  It’s because of her that I’m obsessed with mailing cards and postcards.  Even thought they might not always get there on time…  Her years of thoughtfulness and caring have rubbed off on me a little!

5.  I’m pretty sure my love of photography started because of her (and my dad).  If you ever visit my family, they can keep you entertained for hours showing you photographs from our life. They have dozens of photo albums in chronological order starting with their wedding (they just celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary)!  AND I’m the only child with my own baby album (the joys of being the oldest)!

6. I love that she’s from Italy.  I love being Italian!

7. That’s she’s given up on trying to stop me from doing things… When I told her I was moving to South Korea to teach English, she told me to be careful.  When I used to tell her my crazy plans, she would try to stop me! I do  appreciate  it now, but I really did want to move to Hollywood to be a famous actress when I was 18!!

8. We always have fun together… playing scrabble, eating ice cream topped with my nana’s bootleg limoncello, going for a walk, spending the afternoon at an art museum, playing with puppies, making fun of my dad or nana, going shopping (even though she hates going shopping with me)…

9. My love of seafood, foreign films, art, peaches with wine, reading, basil, flowers,  thrift store/antique shopping, old music, nutella, traveling, postcards, photography, water … are all because of her!

10. One of my earliest memories that still makes me smile is sitting in the park with my mom and my sister while my mom made us flower chain bracelets, necklaces and crowns.  There was a pink elephant slide.  We just recently moved from Oklahoma to Colorado and I remember missing the people I used to see everyday but her flower jewelry and that pink slide made everything better… and all these years later, she still makes everything better!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Pinhole portrait of Samantha, Hans and baby Bryce in their backyard in Palo Alto, California.
*****

Towards the end of 2009, I was interviewed for Valley Guide, a magazine about what to do in Phoenix, Arizona.  It’s a lovely article about my pinhole photography.

I’ve been reluctant to post it for obvious reasons after you read it. Gary and I are no longer together as the article states.

Enjoy the article here!

Pinhole self portrait of Gary and I waiting for our breakfast at Harbor Cove Cafe in Ventura, California.  A beautiful chilly morning by the Ocean.  Oh, how i love California. I also love the x-ray of my chair from when I got up to open and shut the pinhole camera.

Great news!  My pinhole image ‘Pink Flamingo’ was chosen as one of the best pinhole images ever!  Check out the 14 images here.

What are you doing for Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day!  It’s less than a week away!  When I think about my favorite holiday I get super giddy!  It will be my last Sunday in Arizona so I would like to head out into the desert and say goodbye to the city I’ve loved for the last 5 years.

These are my parents! You’ll be seeing quite a bit of them in the next few days. When I went home to Concordia, Missouri for my 10 year high school reunion, I did a series of pinhole portraits of my family (my parents, my nana and my brother). My parents are so fantastic! I wish I saw more of them. My father is a truck driver and my mom travels around the country with him. I’ve always thought being a truck driver would be a neat job…only because they get to see so much of the country. I’m not so sure I’d like to do all that manual labor! I used to beg my dad to take me with him when I was in college, so I could do a documentary of the experience, but for reasons beyond my control, that never happened.

Hello!!

I have some really, really, really exciting news! I will be moving to Korea to teach English in a few months. It all seems a little surreal, but it’s happening very quickly. So my pinhole camera and I will be exploring an amazing culture, learning a new language, teaching, trying new foods, and documenting everything in pinhole!

I need to raise $1500 before I leave so if you’d like to help me reach my goal here are a few ways you can help!

***HOME SALE!*** I will be having a sale at my apartment on Sunday March 29th from 9am-6pm. I’m selling everything! My address is 4950 East Van Buren, Apt 180 (near the pool), Phoenix, Arizona, 85008. You can park in front or across the street at the post office.
*Framed photographs
*Pinhole photographs
*Photo Frames
*BOOKS! (lots of books, including fantastic art and photography books)
*Camera equipment/materials/supplies
*View Camera
*Book cases and shelves
*Random restaurant equipment
*AND MORE!

***Pinhole Portraits***
I’m offering pinhole portraits for $100. If you’ve ever wanted to get your portrait done, now is the time! Check out my pinhole portrait portfolio on my website. Having your pinhole portrait taken is a photographic experience, a fanciful interpretation of life. The energy of your soul dances onto film with sunbursts, subtle motion and interesting angles.

You’ll recieve all 5×5 proof prints, and CD of hi-res scans for easy printing.

***Buy a pinhole photograph***
I have a selection of prints on my Etsy shop that are available.
If you would like to choose an image from my flickr stream, I can send you an invoice through paypal. Signed pinhole photographs are $25. Shipping within the US is $5, outside of the US is $12.

***Donation***
I have set up a paypal donation service, so if you’d like to donate $1 or more towards my goal of $1500, that would super spectacular! I’ll make sure to pay-it-forward in a random act of kindness!

Thank you so much for helping me reach my goal! I’d appreciate your help in spreading this information!

Love,
Sheila

A pinhole wedding photograph from Natalya and Brian’s wedding in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Wow! It’s almost December, one of my favorite months of the year! It starts off on the 1st with my birthday and ends on the 31st with my favorite holiday…and lots of parties in between! It also starts one of my yearly routines: getting back everything I’ve lent out during the year and returning everything I’ve borrowed.

I’ve already started giving things back. A few weeks ago I gave back 8 jars of sand made from recycled glass… Sabrina, I have a bunch of beach props to give you back. Nicky, we have a video ‘Roam’ to give back to you. Marilyn, I have a Polaroid Back to give to you. Steve and Tabor, I have photographs to give to you. I have a few other things as well.

I like to start my year off fresh, and this way I don’t loose my favorite things and I make sure I don’t keep yours as my own. When I enjoy something I like to share it and I’m always sad when I don’t get it back.

Don’t forget, I have pinhole photographs in my ETSY shop!

The beautiful Natalya and her now husband Brian, stood for a pinhole portrait in front of this fantastic cactus. I just love how the arms look like bubbles.  Notice the drink that Brian is holding… he created a drink menu special for the wedding and the drinks were incredible with really wonderful ingredients including honeycomb.

I just wanted to thank everyone that made it to the Mysterious Exhibit.  THANK YOU!  It was a great two months and 3 pieces were sold!  Thank you art collectors, you make it possible for us to continue doing what we love… creating art!

I will be putting out a call for submissions for two upcoming exhibits in 2009.  If you want to get on my  mailing list, send me an email and I’ll add you. Each exhibit will be up for two months.

Did anyone make it to the social sculpture at the Icehouse last night?  Michael 23 held a mummification for 23 participants.  It was really interesting.  I took 3 pinholes and am really excited to see how they turned out.

I am selling a few of my favorite pinhole images on ETSY, so if you are a collector of my work or just looking for the perfect holiday gift, please do check it out:  www.daisyjellybean.etsy.com

If you need a photographer for a holiday portrait, or need your holiday party photographed, or perhaps you’re getting married and you need a photographer… I recommend four white walls photography. Their work is amazing and their prices are super affordable.

This wedding pinhole is of Natalya and Brian in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

I have a special treat for all you pinhole lovers!  I have selected a few of my favorite images and added them to my ETSY shop for you.  They are super affordable and will make a wonderful holiday gift… or perhaps the perfect gift to your own walls.

AND!  One very last mention of the Mysterious Exhibit. The closing reception is tonight.  If you haven’t seen it yet, please do stop by!  I’ll be there from 6-9pm. 1301 NW Grand Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85007.

Have a spectacular weekend my friends!

I had the pleasure of doing Danielle and Bryan’s pinhole engagement session at the Arizona State Fair.  There is another image very similar to this one, that I actually like better because they are looking at each other… BUT this one has a series of feet walking on the right side of the image and I just totally dig those feet!  If you click this photo you can view it large in flickr and really see the feet!

Don’t forget!  Friday night is the last night to see the amazing Mysterious Exhibit.  Great photographs and two fantastic installations.  Have you ever seen a spaceship installation?  This is your chance! 1301 NW Grand Ave, 85007.  I’ll be there from 6-9pm.  I’d love to see you!

I had the pleasure of doing Danielle and Bryan’s pinhole engagement photographs at the Arizona State Fair.  They were so cooperative, holding still for 15 minutes!

I’ve had quite the busy photography weekend.  On Friday night Gary and I photographed the National Black MBA Association conference.  On Saturday night we set up a PhotoBooth at the Mondrian Hotel for the 944 Magazine Unscene Tour.  On Sunday afternoon we photographed an engagement session at Papago Park. We hiked to the top of the Hole in the Rock to photograph them in the sunset and we were attacked by Zombies! I’m totally serious.  Zombie Skateboarding company was up there filming a movie, and a bunch of zombies were dressed up and on skateboards.  Probably not the safest spot to skateboard, but they had a hurst waiting for them at the bottom in case they needed it. ha! On Sunday evening my apartment complex, Papago Trillium,  held an art expo for the artists that live in the community.  It was complete with cheese and crackers, wine and jazz!  I met a few more people that live here and enjoyed showing off my pinhole photographs.

This Friday, November 21st, is the closing reception of the Mysterious Exhibit.  If you haven’t seen it yet, please do stop by, it’s a wonderful exhibit.  1301 NW Grand Ave, 85007.  I’ll be there from 6-9pm. 11 photographers, a Day of the Dead installation and A Spaceship installation.  Definitely worth the trip over.  Also next door, Steve Weiss will be holding his exhibition opening for his ‘Lost Vegas’ photography series.  I believe he said at 9pm there is a $10 game of poker happening as well.  So check out my exhibit first, then head over to his, which is next door and stay for some poker!  You could do dinner beforehand at Cibo or Paisley Violin and your Friday night is planned!