week 60: wind

marie: this is the inside of our enclosed porch. the blizzard of my life tore off the glass door, shattered it, and in came the snow.  

naomi: the wind is what i miss most about wales when i'm living in london. in wales it's windy every day, your hair gets all tangled up and sometimes you turn a corner and it blasts you in the face and it takes a second to catch your breath. 

next week's theme is orb, chosen by marie.

week 59: sweet

naomi: maybe sometimes we'll write something, and sometimes we won't but we're back and we're trying to tlp every week because it's what we do.

marie:  i somehow knew naomi would shoot candy, so i went with a healthy alternative. currently my baby's favorite fruit, next to kiwi.

next week's theme is the wind, chosen by naomi.

week 56: forests

marie: i grew up in the city, but when i was a little girl, i used to tell myself, "i'm going to be a country mouse when i grow up." i'm 29 years old, and still believe it.

naomi: forests surround where i grew up. i don't believe in fairies and pixies and all that other mystical woodland stuff. i believe in animals and treehouses, rivers and thunderstorms.

week 55: skies

marie:  i love the sky from the hoan bridge, especially to the east where sky meets water.

naomi: skies are what define my mood. grey skies in london, i expect them. cloudy skies in wales are the norm. but when you're in wales and the sky looks like that? you never want to leave.

next weeks theme is forests chosen by marie.

week 54: bookish

marie: i've been bookish since youth. i was the nerd who came back to class in grade school with a sheet for teacher saying i took part in the summer reading club. i won spelling bees. in 10th grade, i sat with burning cheeks while coach scott, the accelerated english teacher/wrestling coach, would read some of my stories to the whole class. i would hang out in our rec room with a book most summer vacation days, under the blanket with a flashlight after bedtime. i was going through books a week. my mother went through a phase of trying to force me to go outside and talk to other kids, worried about my "anti-social" tendencies. which later just proved to be a shy personality, a big imagination and a little self doubt. since i never get rid of my books- they are like children- this a small and random section of the shelf representing middle school through present day. 

naomi: the shy ones always turn out to be the best ones. i got a copy of oryx & crake for my birthday and i'm reading it right now while it's still light outside in the evening. 

i associate marie with so many things already (polaroids, cherry blossoms, milwaukee and a million others), but it's when i read murakami that i think of her the most. i know she enjoys him as i do and i keep meaning to lend her my copy of 'after the quake'. next time i see you 'rie, it's yours.

week 53: birthday

marie: it turns out that so many of my favorite people i've come to know this year all have spring birthdays. i love that. and though technically, the tlp started in february last year, the birth of my boy stunted it's 1st birthday to april. also love. naomi's cake was awesome, don't listen to her. how many people do you know can whip up a cake in the form of a CAMERA just like that? i know only one, and her name is naomi.

naomi: in april it's my birthday, then maries. then tlps. i made a polaroid cake to celebrate. it turned out a bit goofy.

next week's theme is bookish, chosen by marie.

week 52: roids

marie: you know it's springtime on flickr with the plethora of photos of flowering trees. i've limited myself to only one polaroid of a magnolia tree this spring, which was really hard. i think they are the prettiest trees, besides the willow tree, which is my favorite. since i've used up my magnolia card, i took a picture of the neighbor's tree- does anybody know what the name is? really pretty, but i think they sort of smell funny.

naomi: marie got me a pack of polaroids. i can't resist taking some of america's blue skies and neon signs. and bunting!

next weeks theme is birthday. because april is the birthday month of us both, and the transatlantic lens project turns a year old this week. thanks for spending the last year with us!

week 51: two

marie: her baby etiquette was gentle as a deer, and she is one of the smartest 2 year olds i know of. you should view this photo large, you can see both naomi's niece and my son have a case of the grumpies.

naomi: these two are destined to be together in the future. my neice and marie's son.

next week's theme is roids, chosen by naomi.

week 50: white

naomi: since i met marie, i think of her every time i see spring blossoms.

see her choice for next week? 'two'? that could most definitely be the two of us since in a sudden change of events, this time next week, we'll be on the same continent, in the same state, in the same city.

marie: billowy lace makes a beautiful subject. i'm sure if our trees were already flowering, my choice would have been identical to naomi's. twins for life.

next week is two, chosen by marie.

week 49: rainbow

naomi: that's the london eye, they lit it up like a rainbow on friday but i don't know why.

marie: i'm addicted to painting/repainting the walls. some might call it indecisiveness.

next weeks theme is white, by naomi.

week 48: plans

naomi: i long for there, she longs for here.

marie: she longs for here, i long for there.

next week is rainbow, chosen by marie.

week 46: eyes

naomi: aw. how can i compete with that beautiful boy? yesterday was the first sunny day in what seemed like 10 years so i really did spend a long time with my eyes closed, just basking in it (with the cat).

marie:  what can i say, except those wide eyes are my life.

next weeks theme is memories, set by marie.

week 43:delicate

naomi: we're back! did you miss us?
it's been snowing intermittently here, there's not much that's more delicate than a snowflake.

marie: My delicate tendrils of neglect might just make it.

next week to be chosen by naomi.

week 42: film

Marie: This is a snapshot from the French film Tell No One. I saw it when it was playing at The Oriental last year.  The opening scene has stuck with me over the last year, I think because it features Otis Redding's "For Your Precious Love", which I love.  They also used my favorite favorite of them all, Jeff Buckley (Lilac Wine), though the scene in which he croons is, quite fittingly, melancholy and bittersweet.

Naomi: I went to the premiere of Harry Brown last week, that's Michael Caine and the cast giving a little speech before it began. It's pretty violent and the seats in the Leicester Square Odeon are leopard print.

The tlp is going to be taking a well deserved break while Marie brings another person into the world. Once he's arrived we'll get back into the swing of things, see you in a few weeks!
love,
Marie and Naomi.

week 41: bokeh

bokeh: in photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in ouf-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."

marie: we made a trip over the bridge to the eastside of milwaukee last night, to gather up some serious bokeh- the marquee of the oriental theatre. i love this place not only for the obvious reasons, but they also have a shaker at the popcorn stand with brewers yeast. i'm a sucker for good popcorn.

i also wanted to comment that i can not believe it took until week 41 for one of us to pick bokeh as a theme. and how funny we both opted for nighttime, light shots.  life simply looks better as a beautiful, illuminated mass of dreamy glowbugs.

naomi: we love bokeh, it's the best.

this is london at night time, waiting for a bus.

can't think of another theme that we can come up with that i'll love more than this, you've got a tough job this week 'rie.


this week shall be movie/film set by marie.

week 40:pastime

marie: this is not my house. this was taken from my house, though. it's the view from my bedroom. and seeing that one definition of pastime is "something that serves to make time pass agreeably", i guess that would qualify time spent in bed napping/relaxing/reading/editing/daydreaming of my baby as a pastime of mine. it's very agreeable, and a good deal of the third trimester has landed me here. so in case you were wondering, that is the connection between my neighbor's roof and this week's theme.

naomi: this is what makes my time pass agreeably. exploring other peoples houses and taking pictures in their mirrors.

next week's theme is bokeh chosen by london town.

week 39: feet

marie: i had to try REALLY hard to get my feet in this shot. i was going to shoot what i actually see, which is only my belly, but my boots just looked too pretty in the leaves. wouldn't that have been funny, though? the theme would have been changed to: feet (or lack thereof)

naomi: that's pudding again.
he's autumn coloured.
i love his fluffy feet.
i also love autumn and leaves and seeing maries big 'ol pregnant belly hanging out among the apples and pumpkins.

next weeks theme will be chosen by the american contingent. she chooses pastime.

did we mention we have started a new transatlantic collaboration? it's a work in progress, but check it out here:
the transatlantic press

week 38: staircase

marie: the stairs have been killing me lately. i waddle up and down and up and down all day with my egg shaped body - like humpty dumpty. unfortunately for me, the only bathroom in the house is on the second floor. and sometimes i'm actually out of breath and my legs burn like they did after i ran the mile in high school. i miss having a one level house here in the midst of my third trimester. o, and that little blur is charlie cat, eater of cheerios, sporting his fresh lion cut.


naomi: i'm laughing at marie saying her body is egg shaped, because it makes me imagine she's going to lay an egg with a baby boy inside.
i fell down some stairs this week. my butt is not a fan of stairs right now.

next week's theme is feet, set by naomi.

week 37: uphill

naomi: i chose this because everything seems like such a struggle right now but i'm hoping that after all the struggling comes the easy ride down the other side.

marie: i snuck out between icy rain showers to take this. the ground was slick and the air had that damp, fallen leaves scent that only exists in autumn. the path leads to and from a flight of wooden stairs that takes you right down to the beach. the best part: it's a mere 5 minute stroll from home. i imagine i'll be taking my signature snowy, gloomy beach photos there this winter. and my baby boy for blankets and sand castles when the weather is warm.

next week's theme is staircase, chosen by marie.

week 36: autumn equinox

marie: i can't believe autumn is upon us, again. the year has swooped past in a whirlwind. it's finally time to breathe cool air, take walks, watch the leaves fall and wait for the arrival of baby k.

naomi: this is one of my favourite tlp's that we've done. i love autumn the most.

i think this project is affected so much by the seasons that sometimes we don't even notice. in spring, we're both obsessed by cherry blossoms. in summer, we both love nothing more than moaning that it's too hot. in autumn we're engrossed by the fallen leaves, and come winter it's a snow lovers paradise.

marie's winter is going to be something else entirely this year because she'll have a baby boy to distract her from all the snow so i'll have to do double the snow-watching.

hopefully i'll make it to america to meet him though, so maybe i won't even notice the snow at all.


next weeks theme is uphill, set by naomi.