On January 28, 1966 I had my first date with a man named Eddie. After saying good night and closing my apartment door, I leaned against it and said to myself, "I'm going to marry that man." Ten months later, I did.
Forty-nine years to the day after that first date, I posted a blurry b/w iPhone picture on Instagram with the caption, "I am trying to break my addiction to sharp focus." Within two months I had taken and posted on Instagram hundreds of b/w soft-focus iPhone photos of my day-to-day life, especially my life at home with my husband. It did not take long for me to realize that this new way of seeing life-in-blur captured its energy and movement more than sharp focus ever could. I also realized it was the way I saw the world before having been fitted with glasses at age 11. I decided to call this series, "Looking Into (Not At)."
In April 2015 I brought twenty-two 12"x12" prints from the series to the New York Times Lens portfolio review and to Photolucida in Portland, Oregon. The edit I showed reviewers focused on my life at home with Eddie. I have since given this edit its own name. I call it "Tea For Two" after the song Eddie has played on the piano and we have sung together almost every day since we married in 1966. Yes, long marriages take commitment and perseverance, but it is creativity, humor and love that give voice to the song.
