Children ride the bumper cars at the 2007 Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in Gaithersburg, Maryland. This is a cool photo that I came across as I was sorting through all my images to upload to the new stock photography site. I think I didn't fully appreciate it when I shot it in 2007, but today, I love it!

Some of you might know that over the past month, I’ve been working tirelessly to launch my new Stock Photography-Image Archive site. It’s been live for almost a full month, but I wanted to get most of my existing photographs up onto the site before officially announcing it.  While it will still take me a while more to finish that upload process, I have more than 2,050 images now posted.  Plus, there are a number of great features about the site that I’m very pleased with:

• Search: There’s a great search engine that for the first time allows viewers to search my entire online archive by keyword, location, date, releases, license type, and even orientation (horizontal, vertical, panorama, etc.)!  Note that not all images are classified in a gallery, so if you’re really looking for something particular, be sure to try the search.
• Low-Res Comps: Viewers can download low-res watermarked comps after creating a free account.
• Online Licensing: Viewers can license images online for commercial use with immediate downloads of the hi-res images upon payment.  Licensing for personal use of low-res and/or high-res images is also available.
• Lightboxes: Viewers can create their own lightboxes.  It’s also very easy for me to share lightboxes with clients, so feel free to let me know your photography needs!
• Fine Art Photography: My fine art photography collections, printed on either standard photographic paper or on metal (yes, metal, not metallic paper!) are now available for online ordering through the site as well.  View information on buying fine art photography here.

Here are a few photo gallery collection highlights to check out:

• Africa
• Architecture+Design
• Fine Art Photography
• NGO & Humanitarian Photography
• Scenics & ‘Scapes

It’s a great site (powered by Photoshelter), and I think you’ll find it easy to use.  If you like it and you’re also a photographer looking for a web host, feel free to use my Photoshelter discount code, which will get you up to $30 off your own website!

Photo of a Dinka boy in a cattle camp near Rumbek, South Sudan. The white marks on his face are cow dung ash and is used by the Dinka as a cosmetic. In my “Africa Dreamed” series, I explore emotions—the joyful release of energy from a Dinka women’s jumping dance in war-torn South Sudan—the honest gaze of a Dinka cattle keeper, face painted white with cow dung ash—the testosterone-filled air emanating from a mass of young, male Dinka warriors—the earnest prayer of a young Muslim woman in Burkina Faso—the innocence of a small boy in northern Nigeria waking up in the morning, emerging from under the mosquito net that protects him from malaria—the shy, downward gaze of a 9-year old girl in rural Niger dressed in her brightest, finest clothing, made-up, and ready to walk the five or so miles to the weekly market to sell the fruit she’s worked so hard to gather. I pressed the shutter button on my digital SLR camera to capture these fleeting moments at various times, but it was only in the last few months of 2008 that I began to explore a new process of “developing” these digital photographs. The resulting images form my “Africa Dreamed” series, made by combining two copies of each single photograph, each copy changed from the original in a certain way. The juxtaposition of these two “revised” copies results in the final effect. This is the Africa of my dreams—the Africa that calls me, that won’t let me go, that makes me fall in love over and over again.

So, a fellow member of the Gaithersburg Camera Club – Rosemary Smith – approached me a few weeks ago.  She is taking an Intro to Digital Photography course at Montgomery College, and her class was given an assignment to write a report on a famous photographer.  She felt strongly about interviewing a photographer whose work she felt was relevant to her own interests and vision.  And guess who she picked…ME!!!  Now how cool is that???!!!  I’m copying the text of her report here.  Rosemary, thanks for such an awesome review, and I’m looking forward to the feedback from the class and professor on your presentation!

Petite almost to the point of elfin, Irene Abdou is a diminutive woman possessed of tremendous heart and soul.  Her unique ability to translate what she sees into images that reach beyond the visual and into the heart captivated me and kept me coming back.  Her photographic journey started somewhat by chance and her story begins in the unlikely environs of a neurobiology lab in Madison, Wisconsin.  While pursuing a degree in Physics with a concentration in Biology, Irene lived in an international co-op during the summer between her junior and senior year.  It was there she was inspired by a Peace Corp volunteer to join that organization and travel to Niger, West Africa.  She had “visions of helping people while walking in the sand and learning to play handdrums.”  Her father, with perceptive insight, suggested she might want to take a camera along.  Unfortunately, she turned down his offer and left for Africa in 1995 “camera-less.”   One month later she was on the phone with her father asking him to send the previously proffered equipment.  A few weeks later she was in possession of a Canon EOS Elan IIe film SLR with a wide angle and a zoom lens.  At first all she knew how to do was press the shutter button and change the lens!  With that limited intellectual comprehension of her equipment, she embarked on a journey motivated and inspired by the passion to document new places, culture, and people.  She thrived on the “challenge of integrating into a completely foreign culture and loved learning and speaking new languages.”   (She speaks English, French, Fulfulde, and Djerma.) Neither of those aspirations can be attained without intimate interaction with people – and this is what sets her work apart.  The vibrant colors and people of West Africa drew Irene to turn fleeting moments of life into pieces of timeless history – a lofty goal for a photographer with no formal photographic training.

When Irene returned to the United States in 1999 she was not yet focused on photography.  She took her camera out only when traveling, and as a junior staffer she didn’t travel often.  In 2005 she accepted the position of Malaria Technical Advisor in South Sudan.  This position marked a turning point!  She sold her Elan IIe and bought a new Canon Digital SLR – and her first book on photography.  She, like so many others, found digital technology very friendly.  It was affordable and the ability to see images immediately on the LCD screen allowed her to learn from her mistakes and make improvements.  What she had not counted on was the passion for photography that ignited and would shortly turn her to new paths.  When Irene returned to the United States after living in a tent in South Sudan for two years she began reading everything she could – both on-line and off – about photography; and the rest, as they say, is history.

Irene describes herself as an “explorer of color and light.”  Her work demonstrates her innate ability to see those elements and capture them.  But it goes far deeper.  Irene captures people, their spirit, their lives, their world – and gives us, the viewer, a chance to see just a bit of that world.  Her intrinsic humanitarian heart is channeled through her lens and into images that force you to feel, to experience, and to care!   Irene “drifted” into photography as a result of her travels.  Along the way she discovered that for her, “the travel was always really about the people.”   Irene is a master of many types of photography, from architecture to nature, but her passion is still people, and it is what she does best.

As Irene is a member of the Art League of Germantown, her work can be viewed April 23-25^th at the Black Rock Center for the Arts in Germantown, Maryland.  She will be presenting six framed images and ten matted images as part of their annual “Shades of Spring” exhibit.  Also, May 1-31^st Irene’s work will be showcased at the Arlington Public Library where she will be displaying her most recent photos of Utah.  Entitled “Of Fairytale Kingdoms,” these photos transform Utah’s winter landscapes into fanciful, fantasy photographs.   Irene utilized HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography for many of the images from Utah.   The images are a stunning blend of reality mixed with whimsy and magical light.

Irene is a relatively young photographer and continues to evolve.  Her multiple websites are indicative of her evolution.  PhotosWithSoul.com showcases much of her travel abroad and is a definitive body of work that focuses on people and culture.  IreneAbdouPhotography.com is a blend of PhotosWithSoul and newer work, as well as other aspects of her photography business. Ireneabdouportraitsweddings.com spotlights her wedding and event photography.  This site hosts her blog.  As Irene is current on all things photographically and well-read, this is a wonderful place for tips, reviews, upcoming workshops, and general photography information.

I’ve viewed most of Irene’s photographs on-line.  The first photos I saw were on her PhotosWithSoul site.  In her portfolio from Burkina Faso there were two images that struck me as extraordinary.  “Wrapped in Blue” is a fairly typical depiction of a young boy wrapped in traditional headdress.  But if one takes a minute to study the photo and see the light that skips around and illuminates those soulful eyes the photo is transformed.   The other image I admired was entitled “The Timelessness of Childhood.”  Again, this was a simple composition, four small boys grinning for the camera.  And again, rendered with light so that the joy and emotion are palpable.  In her Niger portfolio there is a photo entitled “Tomorrow’s Heroes” that is breathtaking.  To me that photo embodies the heart and spirit of Irene’s tenet that people are her passion.  In that single image she captured light, color, and a depth of emotion so strong one has to be moved!

Photographs and photographers abound.  Books, websites, blogs, and myriad other media inundate us with images from around the world and our own backyard.   Digital photography increased this phenomenon exponentially.  What digital did not do though was exponentially increase the number of outstanding photographers.  Equipment alone cannot make an image that takes your breath away.  That requires an extraordinary person with the heart of a poet, the eye of a master painter, and the soul of a saint to see the image, capture the light and color – and memorialize the emotion.  Irene Abdou is that photographer.  I look forward with great anticipation to her future images.

"Womanhood," Africa Dreamed Collection: A woman in the village of Diagourou near Tera, Niger wears the traditional silver jewelry of the Fulani people. Diagourou is a 5-km, very sandy motorcycle ride from the town of Tera, where I lived during my third year as a Peace Corps volunteer. I was working with the National Guinea Worm Eradication Program and was responsible for supervising the Guinea worm health education volunteers based in Diagourou County. While I pressed the shutter button on my SLR camera to capture this fleeting moment in 1998, it was only in the last few months of 2008 that I began to explore a new process of “developing” my photographs. The resulting images, including "Womanhood," form my “Africa Dreamed” series, made by combining two copies of each single photograph, each copy changed from the original in a certain way. The juxtaposition of these two “revised” copies results in the final effect. This is the Africa of my dreams—the Africa that calls me, that won’t let me go, that makes me fall in love over and over again.

 A photographer friend of mine, Chuck Cecil, recently recommended to me the new David duChemin book, “VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography.”  I immediately ordered it from Amazon.com and devoured all 250 pages in about four days.  I have a profound respect for David’s work, and it was interesting to read about the meandering path that he, like many other photographers, took through various careers before finally succumbing to the calling of a vocation in photography. 

In his book, David, now a travel and humanitarian photographer, talks about the iconic portrait of Sharbat Gula.  Photographed by Steve McCurry in 1984, the piercing green eyes of this Afghan refugee have entranced many a National Geographic reader.  It’s interesting because if you were to ask me to name the single image that I will never forget, it’s that same portrait.  I’m not sure how old I was or what year it was when I first saw it – I was still in elementary school in 1984 – but David saw that photowhen he was in high school.  It spurred him to shadow a local photographer for a few days, but despite this, after graduating, he spent the next five years studing theology at two Canadian colleges.  Although he continued to shoot during those years in the cold Canadian prairies, in his own words, “And then I graduated and, again, followed the traditional path of all frustrated photographers with a theology degree: I went into comedy and spent 12 years performing.”  Over those next 12 years, he shot on and off until one day, he bought a little Canon PowerShot point-and-shoot camera, and his passion for photography came rushing back.  Eventually, he had the opportunity to travel to Haiti both as a comedian and a photographer for a small development organization, and that was the start of his new career as a vocational photographer.

I always enjoy hearing about how other photographers have come to realize their photographic calling.  So many of us have followed that same meandering path.  I myself didn’t start “for real” until long after college.  But my story really begins with the summer between my junior and senior years, when I got a summer job working in a neurobiology lab at the University of Madison in Wisconsin.  That summer changed my life, and I wouldn’t be sitting here today writing this blog post if it weren’t for that summer.  Why?  Well, because that was the summer that I lived in an international co-op surrounded by students studying various foreign languages in preparation for semesters abroad.  A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Benin – Chris – also lived in that co-op, and he somehow inspired me to join the Peace Corps and to go to Africa.  A total idealist at heart, I had this vision of helping people while walking barefoot in the sand and learning to play handdrums.  It somehow didn’t turn out that way…

Anyway, just before leaving for Niger in West Africa (which, like most new volunteers, I had to first search for on a map), my dad asked me if I wanted him to buy me a camera, and I said, no, why would I ever need a camera?  (I bet that wasn’t the response you expected, huh?)  And I left with no camera.  A month later, I was back on the phone…Dad, can you send me a camera?  And send one he did – a Canon EOS Elan IIe film SLR with two lenses – a wide angle and zoom. 

For me, it was my interest in experiencing and documenting new places, cultures, and people that drew me into photography.  I loved the experience and challenge of integrating into a completely foreign culture, and I loved learning and speaking new languages.  And I loved the vibrant colors of West Africa and turning the fleeting moments that passed me by into timeless pieces of history.  But I knew nothing about my camera, aside from how to press the shutter button and change my lenses.

There we are, the group of Guinea Worm Peace Corps Volunteers with the Ministry of Health, at the annual Wodaabe Gerewol Festival in the desert between Maradi and Agadez. (That's me in the dark sweatshirt.) At the beginning of this blog post, I mentioned my photographer friend, Chuck Cecil. Well, Chuck was actually the US Ambassador to Niger when I was there, which is how we first met. We reconnected in 2008 when we found out that we were both photographers.

When I returned to the US 3 1/2 years later in 1999, I started a long career in international development, working for various non-governmental organizations (NGOs, non-profits) providing humanitarian assistance and implementing food security and public health programs in Africa and Asia.  I only pulled out my camera when I traveled, and during my first few years back, I was too junior to travel much at all.  Then, in 2005, I took a job as the Malaria Technical Advisor in South Sudan for a social marketing and public health NGO called Population Services International, and I sold my first camera – that Canon Elan IIe – on Craigslist and bought a new Canon digital SLR, plus my first book on photography, “The Basic Book of Photography” by Tom and Michelle Grimm.   And like David, that ability to immediately see my images on the LCD, learn from my mistakes, and understand how to improve my photography, thanks to the invention and new affordability of the digital camera, kindled a passion for photography that I hadn’t – until that moment – realized existed.

After two years in South Sudan, I returned to the US, and this move home became yet another turning point.  I started reading everything I could find both online and off.  I became a sponge absorbing more and more information.  My first love was travel/cultural photography - and really people photography – because for me, the travel was always really about the people.  But now, I became interested in ALL kinds of photography.  I tried nature, macro, landscapes, architecture, night photography…everything you can think of.  And in late 2007, my photography business was born.  By now, I’ve figured out what I’m most passionate about – and what I do best – and that’s people, travel/cultural, landscapes, and architecture. 

And this is why today, I’d love to work with you to photograph your family, wedding, or event … because I believe that you have a story too … an important one that’s made up of fleeting moments, but that deserves to be remembered and cherished by generations to come.  So if you’re looking for a photographer who’s going to do everything she possibly can to allow you to walk off into the sunset worry-free, then pick up the phone and call me!

And if you’re a photographer yourself, I bet your path has been an interesting one too.  I’d love to hear your story.  Feel free to tell it to us in the comments below. 

(If you don’t see the comments section below, then you’ll need to click on the title of this blog post.)

14th annual Henry Arthur Callis Beautillion Scholarship Gala