DOWN'S UPSIDE: eva snoijink

When I was a young girl of 4,

one of my sweetest friends

had jet black hair and

the heartiest laugh in the room.

Martha loved the Beatles.

And Jesus.

And dancing.

She easily remembered

the birthdate of all her friends.

She had Down's.

Until Eva Snoijink met Pien,

a little girl brought to her studio

for photographs, she held preconceived

inaccurate ideas about Down's Syndrome.

The connection with Pien changed her.

She felt compelled to give the world

a look at Down's which

would be far removed from

stereotypes.

D o w n ' s  U p s i d e

A Positive View of Down's Syndrome

(Lannoo Publishers)

was born.

Inside Down's Upside are 101 portraits

of children photographed by Eva.

The children are active and beautiful

and savoring life along with their parents.

"We are terribly proud of Sam and think he is a lovely little boy. He is so pure. If he is angry, everyone is allowed to know. If people are laughing, Sam joins in heartily, even if he doesn't know what the joke is. He adores everything to do with soccer. If he has a football, then he's totally happy. That's why we have six footballs in our bedroom. Sam owns about 20 footballs."

Accompanying the photos are

brief texts like the excerpt above

written by the parents

who share in a frank manner

their shock, sorrow, joy, and pride.

Eva's photography is a pleasure to behold,

but her book was meant for so much more.

Down's Upside

has a mission to enlighten society

so that all may look beyond the syndrome

and see

the child,

the miracle,

the value

of these lovely souls

who possess something "extra."

Opening this book changed me.

I immediately needed to share it

with my children and now you

to see the beauty beyond

the stereotypical part of the

Down's picture.

Everyone deserves to see its upside.

When art and real life and love

come together in a photography book

worth sharing, something

unusual happens.

The value of human life...

life

arriving in different packaging,

life

arriving perfectly to be loved,

life

arriving with layers of meaning...

suddenly comes into clearer focus.

Down's Upside

(offered by Lannoo Publishers)

is one of the loveliest treasures

to find its way to me, and I hope all will be inspired

to learn more about the organization and Eva's lovely work.

Do Eva's photos move your soul?

OLIVIA GRAHAM...and gratitude

fashion images - Olivia Graham

Photography by

*  o l i v i a    g r a h a m  *

beautifully captures my mood,

my outlook,

my gratitude for

so much lovely recently

finding its little way to my world.

my photo - assemblage for Betsy

I love sharing my creations.

This is an assemblage I created for Betsy Eby,

and it was pure bliss to hear she loved it.

Did you read the interview with Betsy?

She even posted the collage

on her blog and tweeted.

needlesstosay i immediately joined twitter!

follow hellolovelyinc!

my photo

On the spine is a crazy pieced-together

poem with vivid imagery and music.

my photo

This engagement assemblage on a vintage cover

was created for the multi-talented Kate Schelter.

the bottom section is a collage of lovely images

of Kate's apartment, including her pup. since she

will be leaving this home when she marries, i

thought it would be great for her to have this memory.

my photo

Love how the poem with its

black and cream paired with

black spine and red cover.

my photo

The beautiful reverse side of the collage.

This is how Kate's was packaged.

i have some pieces i'll be offering for sale soon.

And now...back to the Olivia Graham show!

But not before expressing gratitude

to more lovelies:

Luciane at Homebunch,

Wendy at Shabby Nest,

Denise at Pink Postcard,

Sarah at Modern Country Style,

and Lisa at Informal Home

for

recently featuring the blog

and directing their cool friends

to hello lovely's door.

********

I so love the laid back cool of Olivia's shot above.

To me, it stirs up sentiments of being carefree,

young, and in absolutely no rush.

I connect with this one too.

Contemplative and quiet.

Inspires me to fill a lonely wall

with looking glass.

"I'M GOOD ENOUGH,

I'M SMART ENOUGH,

AND DOGGONE IT,

PEOPLE LIKE ME."

okay, maybe this human

with the peerless bone structure

who is not me with the impaired brain

is simply considering whether

to wear onyx or diamond earrings...

what'er.

Ooooh, I want to be this one when I grow up.

and somebody direct me to some aviators that don't leave

my tiny self lookin supaFLY.

Contentment.

and the epitome of femininity with an edge.

See more OG lovely here.

DO OLIVIA GRAHAM'S IMAGES MAKE

YOU SWOON TOO?

I love reading your comments!

HUGE hug.

romantic photography

Animale

I think what makes this sample of images

resonate with me is the inherent

ROMANTICISM.

The longing. The beauty.

The contemplation.

The mood usually achieved

only when one is somewhere

between dreaming and sleep.

apologies.

omg, dude, i have no idea what

i meant by that when i wrote

it late late late the other night.

Bruce Weber for Dedon

Elle Portugal

Mario Testino

Kirsty Mitchell

Lauren Ward

Nick Onken

Yes.

Longing.

Restful.

Romance.

Nick Onken

Were you charmed also?

carter smith

via style crave

I can practically hear

the roar of the waves and feel the delicate

spray of the sea on my skin in

Carter Smith's

tropical photographs here. 

The gorgeous model Anja Rubik is pure sunshine.

p.s. THIS is the shade of blonde I'm craving!

petra vanraaij

all images Petra Van Raaij

Her client list includes

ELLE, GLAMOUR, MARIE-CLAIRE, and GQ. 

(Is that parasol not divine?!?!?)

Hamburg based fashion photographer

Petra Van Raaij's

bio states: 

"She first discovered her passion for photography while studying fashion design, at the School of Arts in Maastricht.

After that, Petra enrolled as a successful free-lance make-up artist, working all over the world."