on the farm

It's our last full day home. The wedding yesterday was perfect, and we were up early for clean-up. We made lots of progress in the morning, so in the afternoon, we had friends join us for swimming, a hay ride, drinking some wedding leftovers, chicken chasing and veggie picking. We had a fantastic mash-up of friends (old and older), and it was so fun to have our four families together for a special day on the farm. We ate and swam, and after everyone had a chance to drive the tractor, we gathered eggs and waded through the fields for some picking since the groom didn't have a lot of extra time this week for harvesting. We had a lovely day,  captured on film by the very talented Kevin Von Qualen. 

Aren't the pictures gorgeous? That wood grain is really making me miss film. And a few of my snapshots:

an engagement

We are happy to celebrate Tyler and Jackie's recent engagement while they are visiting, and I shot some photos for them this morning before they left for a few days in Rome. We are lucky to have some sunshine today, but it's cold and really windy. After battling the wind in an open field, we tucked into the woods for protection and continued at a few more locations that kept the hair whipping to a minimum. Here's a few shots of a cute couple...when they weren't making goofy faces at each other:

L’ESTHÉTIQUE PHOTOMATON

This rainy Sunday provided the perfect the Elysée museum for photography in Lausanne (especially since the current exhibit features a photo booth shipped over from A&A Studios, Oak Park, Illinois- where we took a field trip with the VQs in early January). 

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BEHIND THE CURTAIN – THE AESTHETICS OF THE PHOTOBOOTH

17.02.2012 - 20.05.2012

When the first photobooths were set up in Paris in 1928, the Surrealists used them heavily and compulsively. In a few minutes, and for a small price, the machine offered them, through a portrait, an experience similar to automatic writing. Since then, generations of artists have been fascinated by the concept of the photobooth. From Andy Warhol to Arnulf Rainer, Thomas Ruff, Cindy Sherman and Gillian Wearing, many used it to play with their identity, tell stories, or simply create worlds.

Behind the Curtain - the Aesthetics of the Photobooth, an exhibition created by the Musée de l’Elysée, is the first to focus on the aesthetics of the photobooth. It is divided into six major themes: the booth, the automated process, the strip, who am I ?, who are you ?, who are we ?. Provider of standardized legal portraits, it is the ideal tool for introspection and reflection on others, whether individually or in groups. By bringing together over 600 pieces made on different media (photographs, paintings, lithographs and videos) from sixty international artists, the exhibition reveals the influence of the photobooth within the artistic community, from its inception to the present day.

Museum Intro

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Here's the booth and our sequence:

It was interesting to see patterns in people's behavior taking a strip of photos in the booth, starting off normal and then making crazy faces, kissing, or even exposing themselves behind the curtain (hehe). 

The rain let up enough to explore the museum's beautiful exterior and take-in dramatic views over the stormy lake before we filled up on a fantastic Ethiopian dinner while catching up with Tim. 

re-design

This winter, I've finally gotten around to a re-deisgn for my website. What it really needs is new content...that's the next goal. For now, I'm happy to have freshened up the site, and gotten a bit more organized. Now, this blog and my daily photo blog are integrated (well...linked) into one home. I've still got a bit to do, and hope to clean up the layouts of both blogs, but it's moving along. If you're looking for me, you can still stop by fieldfareflock or seules les images on blogger, but now, easier to find and remember, visit each of those sections through www.kimberlystrom.com and check out the rest of the site. 

barcelona

Barcelona was fun. Good energy, good food, color, sunshine.  We spent lots of time walking, wandering, as usual, through Barcelona's wide promenades and narrow side streets.  

Arch:

 Window shopping:

Overlooking the city from hilltop parks and the hotel roof:

 Watching construction of the Sagrada Familia cathedral:

 

We saw two fantastic photography exhibitions:

 Yea, Claude Cahun! This was a special treat to stumble upon.

Vegan eating can be a bit tricky and tiresome while traveling, but Barcelona was an exception. I feasted. Twice we spent our evenings at Sesamo, a vegetarian restaurant, and enjoyed a seven course tasting menu, with descriptions of the yummy, seasonal dishes, from the amazing chef. Our first night here may have just been the best dinner I've ever eaten, ideal all the way to the cozy atmosphere. Pumpkin , macadamia, miso soup; organic brown rice risotto with mushrooms and white truffle oil; beer-soaked mushroom tart with rosemary and pistachio cream; eggplant curry, warm pecan-stuffed figs with mushroom powder...I'm making myself hungry.
 

Gopal was our other go-to eatery, vegan burgers and bakery. I had donuts, and cake, and even a cinnamon roll! On day we grabbed our burgers and ate them on the beach.

We had a great morning walking through the Park Guell:

Enjoying lots of Gaudi:

One of my favorite parts was spending a day at the beach.

We went for a long run along the boardwalk, and after spent the day watching the waves, and warming our faces in the sun.

The sun was great after the past rainy week, and felt extra special being warm in November.

We also stopped into a few cathedrals, mandatory in European cities I think...

Our final morning we saw the magical interior of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral.

The morning light was glorious.

Details from the exterior:

We also saved enough time before our flight to (yup, grab burgers one more time) and take a walk through the Olympic park, By up the stairs to the enormous art museum-which will be on our list for our next visit- past Mies van der Rohe's reconstructed pavilion, and through beautiful gardens.

After some tight scheduled site-seeing for our last few hours, we were off to the airport, and back to Geneva.

¡hasta luego, Barcelona!