alyssa miserendino photography : amimagery : little inspirations

public television, WTTW

is running a series entitled "Stories of Life in Chicago" on Fridays. the last episode included an interview i had with Jay Shefsky back in february (brrrrr). check it out & all the cool individuals we get to call our neighbors. like most magical things, i didn't know that this aired on friday. if you are not familiar with my personal life project, Our World Insideout, you can learn a little more about it in this video or even here. t h a n k  y o u  Jay for including me in the group!

 

PBS interview

Last night on Chicago Tonight, my interview with Jay Shefsky aired. You can watch it below. It is such a privilege to have this recognition by PBS, on a project that has blossomed from such a difficult family situation. I'm looking forward to this life journey, as I continue to create Our World Insideout, helping us to better understand our resources and the sacred places we call home... 

scott lee cohen takes the place of our world insideout

yes, Our World Insideout's segment tonight on PBS's Channel 11 will be replaced by the breaking news of scott lee cohen. surprised, no; a bit embarrassed that i announced my last post - yes! however, i should know better, it's election time. it was exciting as a child when the presidential election landed on my birthday. who knows, perhaps because it brings people together. wonder what will happen to our new lieutenant governor?

this reminds me of something that has been swimming around in my head for the last three days. in fact, i had a conversation with an artist in NY regarding this last night. specifically that i'm often too honest to people's faces, or so excited at a possibility, opportunity, or outcome that i speak too soon (see above). i'm starting to really enjoy these 'hiccups' as i call them. there is always a time and place for telling one's story, and often i or the receiver is not in the right space to converse about said story (i'm talking about relationships now). life is too short not to appreciate each other for who they are, mistakes included - we are all fallible & learn quite a bit more from hard work, when things don't pan out quite the way we intended. 

i think that is why i'm drawn to the project Our World Insideout. There is an inherent relationship between the people that owned these homes, or the people that take them over (such as in brasil) to the people that are homeless right here in Chicago, or right here in your own city, to you and i who leave them empty. there is a relationship to the banks in our country to the world bank. i'm not just shooting places, i'm shooting a relationship that ties us all together. There is a vast garden of possibility waiting to blossom from this story. Some growth may be bad, some may be good - however, i'm starting to have a hard time filtering out the bad from the good, as these outcomes can foster further learning of one's self through the production and viewing of the work over time; this is a life project. and the production doesn't just include me. it includes all those people that have helped me through this project and are helping me to move it forward. 

t h a n k  y o u!

i suppose it should be no surprise : back in 2004, i stated that i was uncomfortable with the images i created for my thesis. until i understood why i created what i created, they would continue to haunt me. but that part doesn't really matter anymore. it's exciting actually....

interview with PBS

 

it should be a go! watch chicago's channel 11 thursday february 4th @ 7pm to see my interview with PBS about our world insideout. the craziest thing is that i'll be in a client meeting and will not get to see it until i can pull it up on my computer - go figure right? {oh dear, it just hit, i'm totally nervous....}

interview with PBS : postponed

a few have asked & it looks like perhaps the president may have ousted me for this thursday night:) this is the second week in a row the feature has been moved. though, i am not giving up hope! word from the producer is that it has been bumped to either wednesday or thursday next week.

stay tuned - i'll let you know ...

& perhaps even crash your pad to watch (since conor & i remain tv-less)

 

interview with PBS

yesterday was spent with chicago's WTTW's, Jay Shefsky, touring three homes in short sale or foreclosure. they filmed the process of how i shoot Our World Insideout & interviewed me! i'm so very excited to see how the final edit looks for channel 11's, Chicago Tonight, scheduled to air next week. no lie, i was totally nervous & at a lost for words sometimes. Jay asked a few hard questions of me regarding the first series, Insideout 2004, which i was not expecting, since my energy lately has been dedicated to this current series of work. we visited a location that by far is in the worst condition i've ever seen. the image below was taken in the most decent room of the building. what you can't get from this image is the horrible smell. both Jay & Roy (with camera) commented on the smell, not realizing that it is intensified many times over when it's warm out - which is when i spent 6 months last year shooting the chicago series. there were a few instances last summer where i had to walk out, get fresh air, and talk myself into walking back into a home to finish a shoot. 

stay tuned, and i'll announce when to watch it...

t h a n k  y o u channel 11 for covering the project & for the opportunity!