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a couple of weeks ago, after traveling like a mad woman around the country for various photography-related events, i came home. yes, i came home to colorado, but i also came fully home to myself (after a 4 to 10 year departure, depending on how you want to look at it).  about 45 minutes away from ‘home,’ i had a big slumber party with 18 other amazing people, all of whom happen to be photographers themselves. the ‘don’t give up project,’ was a photography workshop like none other put on by the amazing ashley and jeremy parsons of kansas city. we ate, we played whiffle ball, we roasted marshmallows, and, i think i speak for the group when i say, we grew as photographers and human beings. the entire experience peeled back a layer of me and exposed something that had been waiting to come out. i can only describe it as a sense of purpose in my photographic journey. i believe that was the parsons’ goal in inviting us all up to divide.

the heart of their work rests on the simple (but radical) idea of saving relationships – marriages, imparticular – by creating photographs that will remind their subjects of what it is all about, especially when the going gets tough. insert their ‘don’t give up’ signs, which they hand to each couple they photograph. pretty neat.

i hope the parsons won’t mind me taking liberties with their ‘don’t give up,’ because as much as i can get behind its application to relationships, i feel it has so much meaning in many aspects of life. dream chasing needs a motivational poster, too. the ‘don’t give up’ mantra is currently getting me through a joyfully painful (painfully joyful??) growth spurt in my photography. for that, and so much more, thank you parsons.

enjoy this little slideshow of my take on the don’t give up project.

{mumford & sons: the cave}