Fibershed Fashion Gala 2013

December 15, 2013

Fibershed is a project that is very close to my heart.

I have been documenting Fibershed since Rebecca Burgess first started her personal challenge in 2010.

I clearly remember the conversation Rebecca and I had in 2009 while we were sitting in the airport waiting to board a plane to one of our Harvesting Color adventures.

She told me she wanted to do so much more than teach people about natural dyes.

She was so deeply concerned about what the fashion industry was doing to the environment and to the people working in the factories that she needed to do something more.

So she decided she wanted to challenge herself for a year to only wear clothes that were created, start to finish, within 150 miles from her home… within her Fibershed.

But she told me how one of our mutual advisers had completely dismissed her idea saying that it would never be of interest to anyone outside of her small community… so Rebecca was feeling very discouraged.

I told Rebecca that she had to do it… at the height of the local and organic food movement, now was the perfect time to bring attention to the fashion industry.

But, I said, she had to make the clothes fashion-forward… otherwise she would be dismissed as just another hippie from Fairfax wearing strange brown clothes.

So we agreed it could be cool… but I don’t think either of us had any idea how cool it would become.

Four years later, Rebecca’s personal challenge has become a full fashion movement that is spreading across the country and internationally.

Rebecca’s vision has evolved in to a non-profit, a Fibershed Marketplace, and most importantly lifelong friendships between farmers and designers.

And at the Fibershed Fashion Gala, on Saturday December 14th, 2013 at Jacuzzi Winery, the “coolness” was unstoppable.

Originally I was supposed to be out-of-town on the 14th… and I was supposed to miss this event.

But my schedule changed at the last-minute allowing me to go… and the moment I walked in to the event space, I knew that there was nowhere else I was supposed to be.

It is so inspiring to see what the passion and determination of one person can lead to.

Rebecca Burgess, I am so incredibly proud of you, and I can not wait to see where Fibershed goes next.

Congratulations to all of the talented designers, the hardworking farmers, the beautiful models and the event planners. It was a fantastic event and I hope I get to work with all of you again in the future.

Fibershed… (pass it on)

March 16, 2010

Spring has finally arrived and suddenly everything is coming to life again, including my schedule. I have a lot of exciting new projects on the horizon, and after a good long, wet winter, I am ready to get to work again.

One of the potential projects that I am most excited about, is working with Rebecca Burgess on her year long commitment to Fibershed.

Rebecca is trying to bring awareness to the problems surrounding our current textile industry, and to do so, she has vowed to only wear clothes that are made within her Fibershed.

This means that for one year she can only wear clothes that are made from fiber (wool or cotton) that is grown and produced within 150 miles of her home in Marin County.

So Rebecca is working with local farmers, like Mimi Luebbermann at Windrush Farm, local artists, like Heidi Iverson, fashion design students and local businesses… and hopefully I will get to document it all… if she gets enough funding.

Because Rebecca is eager to get this project going as fast as possible, she has set up a sort of micro-loan program with a cool organization called Kickstarter. Kickstarter provides a funding platform for artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, journalists, inventors, explorers… and we have to find people to provide the funding.

So our search for people who are interested in supporting this important project has begun. And the first step is education.

So if you would like to learn more about Fibershed then check out Rebecca’s new blog:

http://fibershed.wordpress.com/

If you would like to learn more about Rebecca then check out her new website:

http://www.rebeccarburgess.com/

If you would like to help make this very cool project come to life, then please click here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fibershed/funding-fibershed-one-year-150-miles

And if we get enough support, hopefully, very soon, you’ll get to see the farms and farmers where Rebecca will get her fiber, you’ll get to see the artisans who will make her clothes, and you’ll get to see Rebecca wearing some incredibly fashionable, sustainable and locally made clothes.

Give me Louisiana

April 22, 2023

*Second Line wedding parade through the streets of New Orleans*.

When the new year started my family and I talked about where we wanted to go as a family in 2023. Both Arann and Ally said New Orleans. I remembered Fibershed, a nonprofit I have photographed for since 2010, has an affiliate program in Louisiana, so I reached out to see if I could document the affiliate program during our spring break.

Luckily Fibershed said ‘yes’ and so we made our plans. These are the photos of our family adventure on either side of the work portion of the trip. I am very excited to share the photos and stories from the affiliate trip in a later post.

For now here are film photos of our family adventure in New Orleans and Cajun country. I love photographing film for our family adventures. It means I am limited how much I can photograph, so I get to be present in the moment instead of photographing, and I don’t spend time on the trip looking at and sharing photos. When the film is eventually developed it feels like a gift to travel back to our adventure and see what photos made and which didn’t. Which photos will live on to tell the story of our lives.

*Arann Harris, my music man, on music street in New Orleans.*

*“Abort the Court” graffiti on a wall in New Orleans.*

*Crawfish boil in front of The Friendly Bar in New Orleans.*

*Arann Harris very excited about his very first crawfish boil.*

*Kayaking to our houseboat outside Breaux Bridge, LA.*

*The view from our houseboat outside of Breaux Bridge, LA.*

*The Whitney Plantation, the only former plantation site in Louisiana with an exclusive focus on slavery. Incredibly powerful.*

*Muddy exploration of the wetlands still damaged from Hurricane Ida in 2021, Cut Off, LA.*

*Me doing my best to document myself on our family adventures, so someday my kids will know I was there too.*

Welcoming the Lucky Ox and a Gift for YOU…

December 18, 2020

Italia A Collection for Fibershed, model Dorine Euteneier and styling by Tessa Watson.

Dear Friends and Family,

What a year 2020 has been. For those who have lost loved ones during this year, I am deeply sorry for your loss and pain.

For those who have gotten sick, lost jobs, suffered from depression and isolation, experienced the emotional drain and trauma from the racial upheaval, were affected by wild fires, struggled with distance learning and juggling it all, I am also so, so sorry… it has been a lot.

My family certainly had our struggles, but thankfully we have been healthy and we have had the support of many, so I feel incredibly lucky and grateful.

‘Almost Nine’ was selected by Franklin Tipton for a Personal Choice award in the 2020 SF Something Personal Exhibition.

This year could not have worked without the support of our essential worker, my mom. She was our distance learning teacher for both boys and she gave Arann and I the gift of time together.

This year also could not have worked without the financial support of my brother, who sent us stimulus checks when we didn’t get any from the government. Arann essentially lost all income since Farm Camp and Animal Music were shut down and he was never able to receive unemployment.

I was lucky to continue to work (turns out photography works pretty well with covid: 6 feet away, outside and with a mask), and I will be forever grateful to Stemple Creek Ranch, Acre Pizza, FEED Sonoma, Fibershed, Made Local and Marietta Winery for keeping me working when all other work stopped.

Monan’s Rill for Made Local photographed in June before it burned in the Glass Fire in August.

Film portrait of Nasimiyu Wekeasa for Fibershed.

I am also grateful to all of the families, wedding couples, and small businesses who supported my work.

Film portrait of Angie and Pete, July 11th, 2020.

Please know that when you support my photography, not only are you supporting my family, who shops locally and sustainably whenever possible, but you are also supporting ALL of the work I do, including pro-bono documentary projects…

“Celebrating Family” for Petaluma Blacks for Community Development.

Film portraits of high school seniors for the Class of 2020 at San Antonio alternative high school.

And the discounted work I do for nonprofits such as COTS, Fibershed, Homeward Bound and Side-by-Side.

FILM PORTRAIT OF RED BIRD IN A DOGBANE PATCH FOR FIBERSHED.

As a thank you to all of those who have supported me over the years, I am offering you FREE downloads of all of your photos. Send me an email and I’ll send you a link to download your photos as they are in the galleries. If you want any photos edited, there will be additional costs for the editing time.

And for all past clients, if you book a photo shoot with me in 2021 I will give you a $100 discount. For all new clients, I will give you a $50 discount. Just reference this post when you get in touch to book your photo shoot.

And finally, I know there are some folks who have made donations to fundraisers I’ve done in the past but who have not booked a photo shoot with me yet. If I owe you a photo shoot, please let me know so we can get your photo shoot booked in the new year.

Phew. I think that’s it. Thank you all so much. I am glad to have weathered this year with your love and support and I look forward to welcoming the year of the Ox…

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2021 is the year of the Ox. This year is going to be lucky and also perfect to focus on relationships, whether we are talking about friendships or love.
This year, no explosive or catastrophic events will occur, so it is a favorable year for economic recovery or consolidation, a year of long-term investments (especially for creating a reserve stock for the coming unproductive years).
The Metal Ox year is also great for making order in the family life. After all, if the family life is peaceful, everything gets solved!
Chinese Horoscope 2021 – Year of the Metal Ox

Happy Year of the Ox!

Love,

Paige

The Dream is Over…

September 10, 2020

Philando Castile was my George Floyd.

In 2016 Philando Castile was pulled over for a traffic stop and then shot five times and killed in front of his girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and her four year old child, after Castile told officer, Jeronimo Yanez, that he was carrying a licensed gun.

My son was four years old when Philando Castile was murdered, the same age as the little girl in the car. Realizing that I could protect my white son from even knowing about police violence, let alone ever experiencing it, was my wake up call.

I didn’t have to have “the talk” that all Black and Brown parents have to have with their children to try and keep them safe from police officers. Police officers were the “good guys” who my boys wanted to be when they grew up.

The fact that I was able to live for 36 years in the “Dream” is my white privilege.

“In his book “Between the World and Me,” Ta-Nehisi Coates describes whiteness as a Dream. The Dreamers, defined by Coates as people who believe themselves to be white, live in varying states of power over black people and other people of color. Usually oblivious to having that power, we don’t think too hard about how we got it. The Dream relies on forgetting and denial. The Dream says, “I have nothing to do with slavery. My ancestors weren’t on this continent at that time. Everyone has equal access to opportunities. Racism is over,” writes Mark Gunnary for the Baltimore Sun.

My boys and I have done a lot of reading, watching, and talking about racism since I woke up from the Dream. Now my 6 and 8 year olds know about systematic racism, police violence and they can explain why we say, “Black Lives Matter,” instead of, “All Lives Matter”.

My boys understand that no one wants to spend their Saturdays protesting against police violence, but if we don’t protest, things won’t change.

It has been four years since Philando Castile’s death. For those curious what happened with Castile’s case:

• The police officer was found not guilty.

• Diamond Reynolds was awarded $800,000 but then was publicly insulted by Former Rice County sheriff’s deputy Tom McBroom, who tweeted in 2017 that Reynolds’ settlement would be “gone in 6 months on crack cocaine.”

• Tom McBroom (the insulter) became the town’s mayor.

And the police shootings are worse in 2020 than they have been in previous years. As of September 2020, Police have killed 781 people and Black people have been 28% of those killed despite being only 13% of the population.

In the words of Philando Castile’s best friend, Greg Crockett, after George Floyd’s death: “They won’t stop killing us. We want you to stop killing us.”

How do we stop racism and dismantle white supremacy?

In his book, How to be Anti-racist, Ibram X. Kendi argues that it’s not enough to say you’re not a racist. “Saying you are not racist signifies neutrality: ‘I am not a racist, but neither am I aggressively against racism.’ One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist.”

Below are some of my favorite antiracist actions and resources….

1) Vote Vote Vote – national, state and local politics matter (53 days until the election)

2) Read:
Books Nonfiction
• How to Be Antiracist in adult/teen and kid versions by Ibram X. Kendi
• My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (you can watch the movie or the documentary)

Books Fiction
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas (also a movie)

3) Listen: Podcast: https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/

4) Follow and Donate:
• Colors of Change
• NAACP
• Equal Justice Initiative
• Teaching Tolerance
• The Conscious Kid

5) Act Locally: find out how you can get involved in your schools and community. If you live in Petaluma, we’d love for you to join TIDE.

What are some of your favorite antiracist resources?

My Stimulus Pledge to You…

April 17, 2020

Dear Friends and Family,

Who would have imagined that in 2020, our lives to go from this…

To this…

So I wanted to check in with you, because we have been through a lot of life together.

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Over the past 15 years I have photographed close to 200 weddings, and at least twice as many families, one birth, and one almost birth (thanks to rush-hour traffic crossing the Bay Bridge on a Friday). I’ve documented birthday parties, anniversary parties, before and after cancer journeys, and most recently I photographed a couple who just learned one of them is facing a terminal cancer diagnosis.

I’ve photographed a documentary film, 20 books, dozens of small businesses, artists, non-profits, and some of those for over 10 years.

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It has been an incredible honor to be invited into so many lives, and a gift to be able to support my family through photography.

To those who are struggling during this time, because of health and or financial reasons, I am sending my deepest love. This is the hard. Really hard.

My family has been lucky (so far) to have our health, but because both my husband and I are self-employed, we are likely not receiving much help from the government, so we are definitely nervous about the future. We are trying to figure out what jobs are fire proof, recession proof, drought proof and pandemic proof. (Let us know if you have any suggestions that would work for a photographer and a musician/farm educator.)

But we are the lucky ones. We have an incredibly supportive and encouraging family and community… we know we will be ok. This is a challenge for us to get creative, downsize and try new things.

We know that so many other people have a much harder reality and are struggling with much bigger challenges. If you are struggling, please know I am here for you, for your family, for your business, if you ever need me. Together we will make it through this.

If you need photography for any reason, once the shelter-in-place order has been lifted, please let me know. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. I want to help artists, small businesses and non-profits, who have struggled the most, get back on their feet.

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This time has made it very clear that our teachers, doctors, nurses, grocery workers, farmers, garbage collectors, postal workers, and first responders keep our bodies alive.

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But our artists, musicians, authors, dancers, comedians and nature keep our souls alive. Our bodies can not live without our souls, and our souls can not live without our bodies.

I am excited about the stories of wildlife making a come back, air pollution clearing up, animal shelters being out of animals, and local farmers finally getting the recognition that they need. It gives me hope that because of this pause, we will see what is broken and take the time to fix it.

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This article really inspired me and I encourage others to read it and I’d love to hear what changes you’ll make when life eventually starts up again:

This is our chance to define a new version of normal, a rare and truly sacred (yes, sacred) opportunity to get rid of the bullsh*t and to only bring back what works for us, what makes our lives richer, what makes our kids happier, what makes us truly proud. We care deeply about one another. That is clear. That can be seen in every supportive Facebook post, in every meal dropped off for a neighbor, in every Zoom birthday party. We are a good people. And as a good people, we want to define — on our own terms — what this country looks like in five, 10, 50 years. This is our chance to do that, the biggest one we have ever gotten. And the best one we’ll ever get.

And now for my Stimulus Pledge to YOU. For those who are financially secure during this crisis, and who anticipate getting a stimulus check and can afford it, please consider pledging some or all of your coming stimulus check to prevent homelessness, hunger and illness for our hardworking immigrant families through the Stimulus Pledge: https://stimuluspledge.org/

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I don’t have the money to donate right now, but for those who donate, please send me an email with proof of your donation and I’ll put your name in the hat for a free all day photo shoot. That is up to eight hours of photography for whatever you want! Or you can donate your photo shoot to a non-profit of your choice (in the SF Bay Area).

I am grateful that we are all in this together. As my middle school motto taught me. “Together we can.”

With love and gratitude,
Paige

ps: check out our friend Christian’s drawings. He’s making them again and that makes us happy:

Stop collaborate and listen…

January 2, 2017

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Holy Jenga, the sun came up on a new year. (After 2016, I wasn’t so sure it would.)

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But the last thing we need is another blog post about how bad things were in 2016. paigegreenfarmphoto01162012-0010

I figure, since most of our history books are filled with one-sided perspectives, and those perspectives aren’t always very factual… paigegreennaomimeyers2016-film-000003410007

And since we now live in a society that prefers make-believe over reality… 000061930010

Why not write my own history of 2016. So here goes… paigegreensaragottfried08242016-152

It was amazing. paigegreenhabit09022016-0912

My house was always clean. paigegreenhabit09022016-0035

My kids never fought.

The IRS gave us lots of money back after our audit. paigegreengloria05182016-0181

I have perfected the work/life/love balance. paigegreenfarmphoto01162012-0160

Orangutans are making a come back. Syria is rebuilding better than ever and… 000086800005

Hillary Clinton won the presidency. paigegreenkatemcpherson06032016-070

OK… so maybe not. paigegreennaomimeyers2016-film-000003410008

But instead of dwelling on the darkness… paigegreensarahentrup06232016-224

I am going to focus on the light… paigegreenlinsey03062016-056

And extend an invitation to more of the awesome… 000086810006-bookclub112016paigegreen

And less of the shitty for 2017 (unless it’s compost.) 000038550010

But there is an extra challenge for me, because entering this new year means entering a new decade. paigegreenmiranda092016film-012

I am not thrilled about my new decade starting the same year that our country offers the potential of nuclear war, or starts burning so many fossil fuels that we cook our way back into a primordial soup.

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Oh man, if I didn’t have kids… I would jump off of this doomed life raft so fast…

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And jump on to a booze cruise in Mexico, preferably one with lots of milkshakes and tequila.

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But thanks to raging hormones that took over my good judgement in my early 30’s,

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I now have two small people who I am responsible for.

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And I desperately want those two people to live in a world where police don’t shoot citizens they were hired to protect, presidents don’t encourage hatred and violence, warlords don’t kill innocent children, and companies don’t destroy the planet or wipe out species for products like ivory, palm oil and shark fins.

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So I have lots to do in 2017. The party is over.

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It is time to get to work.

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Because it is better to solve problems than cry about them (although I have little to no control over my tear ducts thanks to having kids, so crying is probably going to happen regardless.)

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But through the tears you may hear our family theme song, “If there’s a problem, yo, I’ll solve it. Check out the hook, while my DJ revolves it.”

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And for the real history books (and because I promised to focus on the good)…

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Here are a few of my actual favorite moments, projects and memories of 2016 and a new song (from La La Land) for the soundtrack of a new decade….

A bit of madness is key to give us to color to see

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Who knows where it will lead us?

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So bring on the rebels

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The ripples from pebbles

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The painters, and poets, and plays.

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Here’s to the fools who dream.

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Crazy, as they may seem.

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Here’s to the hearts that break.

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Here’s to the mess we make.

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Here’s to a work-our-asses-off new year.

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Thank you for all of your love and support.

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I look forward to seeing what we dreamers create together in 2017.

(Drawing by Christian Anthony)

you can’t buy happiness but you can buy a sheep…

April 8, 2016

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Timm Ranch sheep shearing with Fibershed.

Raise your hand if you don’t own an iron…

March 17, 2016

I love getting inquiries from new companies, especially from industries that I haven’t worked in very often. Today I was asked about my experience photographing textiles. At first I kind of stumbled to think of examples, but after our phone call I went digging in the laundry (hard drives) and realized that I do have a lot more experience with textiles than I thought… which I owe largely to my five years of photographing the talented artisans of Fibershed.

So here is me, putting my best wrinkle forward…

Lucky for me owning an iron isn’t a job requirement for photographing textiles… but being friends with talented stylists who do own such devices is. And from this day forward, I vow to never leave home without my stylist when photographing textiles again.

I want to learn how to drive a monster truck in 2016….

January 4, 2016

Said my four-year-old, after my very inspirational and thought-provoking lesson on new year’s resolutions.

I was hoping for, “I want to help more in the kitchen,”

Or, “pick up trash on the beach.”

But unfortunately I don’t get to pick his new year’s resolutions… just my own.

And this year I am dragging my feet into the new year.

Because I am a little terrified.

Life is moving much too fast.

While I am so incredibly ready for some long overdue and very exciting changes that are coming in 2016…

I am not ready (and never will be) for other 2016 changes…

24 years of Carbondale Christmases at my grandparents’ house ended this year.

Last summer my grandfather announced that he is moving to a retirement home in Chicago by the end of January.

While we all know this is the best decision for him…

If we could put it off a little longer we would.

But just like we can’t choose other people’s new year’s resolutions…

Unfortunately we don’t get to control their actions either… just our own.

So it is another reminder that life is short and we only get one chance to get it right.

In trying to figure out what new year’s resolutions I should make, to help prepare me for the emotional hurdles of 2016…

And in honor of this being my tenth anniversary as a professional photographer and my twentieth year out of high school,

I did some journal digging while I was at my mom’s house for Christmas and I found some notes I wrote on January 22nd, 2006, from a website that was giving advice to photographers.

Since I did not take much of that advice 10 years ago, it seems fitting that I write them again, in the hopes that it won’t take me another 10 years to get them done.

Life/Photography goals for 2016: