One year ago I wanted change, but I didn’t know what.

I wanted to be involved, but I didn’t know how.

So I offered to take portraits, because that’s what I know how to do.

But photographing removes me.

I’m involved, but I’m on the outside.

This was clear when I went to take this portrait.

I had no idea who this teenage girl was standing in front of me.

I hadn’t heard her voice crack on the stage moments before.

The emotion swell in her voice.

The fear on her face as she told the sea of strangers, who didn’t look like her, the truth.

The truth of discrimination and racism in our schools and in our town.

I hadn’t seen the tears stream down her cheeks.

The embraces she received once the truth was out.

I was in my corner of the park hidden behind my shield of photography.

Hers was the last portrait of the day.

I was just about to pack up.

But yes, I could take one more portrait.

One more round of questions to try and get a good portrait.

“So do you like high school?” I asked.

Her face dropped.

Didn’t you hear? 

Didn’t you see?

I hadn’t heard.

I hadn’t seen.

But once I finally did see and hear, I couldn’t unsee. I couldn’t un-hear.

I had to do something more than take photos.

I am so grateful for this brave student.

For the leaders of our community who helped her have the courage to share her story.

For the organizers who created the stage.

It is because of their work and her testimony that TIDE (Team for Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity) was created and I am now a part of a movement that fills me with so much love and a purpose greater than taking portraits on the outside.

To learn more about TIDE and how you can join the movement to make sure our communities are welcoming for ALL of people…

Here is our newsletter from December:

https://mailchi.mp/81d7192e5160/tide-is-only-10-months-old-but-were-already-planning-our-10th-anniversary-party-3-ways-to-help-us-meet-our-10-year-goals?e=fdce8e8085

Here is a link to our very first article about TIDE in the Bohemian: 
https://www.bohemian.com/northbay/turning-the-tide/Content?oid=9415015&fbclid=IwAR1l6DXRJQwmtZk1V7SRToc-rdaAOCpbdW_n2ZCe7My98KDnIn_8j1FPT0U

You can listen to our podcast with Rabbi Ted:

https://talkingwithrabbited.castos.com/podcasts/337/episodes/missions-milestones?utm_source=listennotes.com&utm_campaign=Listen+Notes&utm_medium=website

Sign up for our newsletter here:

https://forms.gle/fLc3GpcGwrVLMXv59

TIDE is a grassroots organization running entirely by volunteers. We are facilitating conversations within our community to make sure that our schools are welcoming to all of our diverse students. We are offering trainings that are FREE to teachers and school staff and sliding scale for all other community members. 

If you would like to make a contribution on Martin Luther King Jr Day that will directly make a difference for the community we live in, please consider donating to our movement here: http://petalumapeople.org/donate/ (be sure to designate your donation to TIDE)

“In a fractal conception, I am a cell-sized unit of the human organism, and I have to use my life to leverage a shift in the system by how I am, as much as with the things I do. This means actually being in my life, and it means bringing my values into my daily decision making. Each day should be lived on purpose.”
― Adrienne Maree Brown, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds

On October 4th, I made a public declaration that I want to work exclusively with other people, nonprofits and businesses committed to doing work in social justice and/or environmental protection because I want my children to live in a world where people are treated equally and kindly, with clean oceans, thriving rainforests and healthy air to breathe and water to drink.

It was a scary statement to make, as the primary breadwinner of my family, but to do anything else feels wrong. So I posted a call for help connecting with agencies and nonprofits who work in these areas.

And through the amazing interconnected web of social media, I was introduced to WEA: Women’s Earth Alliance. I fell in love immediately.

WEA is doing exactly the kind of work I want to support, and I was lucky to be able to photograph their first U.S. Grassroots Accelerator for Women Environmental Leaders, in partnership with the Sierra Club, which supports women leaders from the U.S. and U.S. Territories with skills, tools, and networks critical to transforming pressing environmental and climate challenges into scalable solutions for all.

Last year on Giving Tuesday, I raised over $10,000 for the migrants at the US border and Al Otro Lado by giving away photo shoots. I am so grateful that because of my generous community I was able to give that gift, but it’s hard to support my family on free photo shoots.

So for Giving Tuesday this year, I want to support the amazing women I met through WEA and the incredible work they are doing in their communities, while also supporting my family. Luckily the wonderful Women’s Earth Alliance has agreed to hire me to help document of these women.

So EVERY person who donates to WEA will be supporting these women AND my family.

And for EVERY person who donates a minimum of $350 to Women’s Earth Alliance between now and December 31st, 2019, if you send me proof of your donation, I’ll give you credit for $200 that can be used for ANY photo shoot. Here is a link to where you can donate on WEA’s website or their Facebook page, where they are holding a Giving Tuesday fundraiser:

https://womensearthalliance.org/
https://www.facebook.com/womensearthalliance/

A few photos from some of my 2019 Giving Tuesday photo shoots.

Thank you! For supporting me and my family for so many years by supporting my photography. I am very GRATEFUL to be able to give back because of YOUR support on Giving Tuesday and EVERY day.

And now HERE are the women, who INSPIRED me to tears multiple times, and the important work they are doing to:

Huda Alkaff Founder & Director, Wisconsin Green Muslims West Bend, Wisconsin Bridging faith and environmental justice to educate her Wisconsin community on energy and water conservation.

Angel Amaya Communications Director, Western Organization of Resource Councils Billings, Montana Shifting the narrative on climate change through storytelling projects in Montana.

Mishka Banuri Utah Youth Environmental Solutions Salt Lake City, Utah Empowering young people in Utah to engage with the root causes of local environmental issues from an intersectional perspective.

Dolores Belmares Texas Field Consultant, Moms Clean Air Force San Antonio, Texas Fighting air pollution and protecting children’s health in her community of San Antonio, Texas.

Brittany Bennett Development Director, Data for Progress Denver, Colorado Building climate resilient and socially just communities through hackathons.

Elizabeth Chun Hye Lee Climate Justice Lead & Executive for Environmental Justice, United Methodists Women Queens, New York Using faith to grow a culture of climate justice and gender equity in Queens, New York.

June Farmer Marin City People’s Plan Marin City, California Empowering local underserved youth and adults through eco-literacy training and nature-based adaptation models.

Brynn Foster Founder & Director, Voyaging Foods Honolulu, Hawaii Reclaiming a regenerative food system and Hawaiian food sovereignty.

Camille Hadley Program Director, Little Growers Inc Palm Bay, Florida Building sustainable food production systems and providing STEM opportunities for underserved youth in Palm Bay, Florida.

Crystal Huang Co-Founder & President, People Power Solar Cooperative Oakland, California Creating regenerative economies and making solar power accessible in East Oakland.

Monica Ibacache Founder; Executive Director, Beyond Organic Design New York, New York Organizing sustainability and permaculture education in New York to prepare children facing the permanent consequences associated with climate change.

Jordan Macha Executive Director, Bayou City Waterkeeper Houston, Texas Incorporating nature-based solutions and nature-centered practices in Houston municipal structures.

Lyrica Maldonado Fellow Organizer, Uplift Flagstaff, Arizona Mobilizing young people all over the Colorado Plateau to train, learn, and develop relationships in the face of climate change.

Sabina Perez Senator of Guam Prutehi Litekyan/Save Ritidian Hagatña, Guam Preventing environmental degradation in Guam and mobilizing community members to protect Litekyan, a sacred land scheduled to be the site of a firing range.

Tosha Phonix Food Justice Organizer, Missouri Coalition for the Environment St. Louis, Missouri Organizing against the food apartheid in St. Louis to improve food access and representation of local food systems.

Beth Roach Co-Founder, Alliance of Native Seedkeepers Richmond, Virginia Rebuilding culture and food security for native peoples through preserving and proliferating native seeds in Richmond, Virginia.

Magaly Santos Youth Organizer, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice Gonzales, California Educating agricultural workers on their health rights, and fighting against pesticide-use in the Central Valley of California.

Erin Foster West Western Campaigns Director, National Young Farmers Coalition Denver, Colorado Aiding young farmers to ensure success in adapting to climate change on their farms across the Western U.S.

Melody Zhang Climate Justice Campaign Coordinator, Sojourners Washington D.C. Creating a cultural shift within the church around the issues of climate, and building a church network of climate advocates in Washington D.C.

#givingtuesday #womensearthalliance #paigegreenphotography

The deadly wildfires that have ravaged Northern California over the past week — killing dozens and forcing thousands to flee their homes are not out yet.

At least 40 people have been confirmed dead in four counties. Hundreds are still missing. Statewide, an estimated 5,700 structures have been destroyed, including whole neighborhoods reduced to smoldering rubble. Nearly 100,000 people have been displaced” Washington Post.

“This is truly one of the greatest tragedies California has ever faced,” Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said Saturday.

These fires surround the town I where live and I want to do my part to help…

So once again I am offering FREE one hour digital photo shoots to the first 5 people who donate $400 or more to the Redwood Credit Union to support the relief efforts for the victims of the Sonoma and Napa County fires.

“No matter who you are or where you’re from, home means something to you. Homes serve as the backdrop for our childhood memories as well as the background of the interpersonal dramas in our lives. Our homes hold an iconic status as a place we can always belong. A place we can always be ourselves, let our guard down and still be loved. Home is a place you look forward to, a place where just being yourself is good enough,” Dr Robi Ludwig.

While having your home burn down isn’t the end of the world, when your whole community and the land around it burns down as well… I think it might feel pretty close to the end of your world.

It is certainly not something I ever hope to experience.

This being the first time I have lived so close to a crisis of this scale, it is so powerful and moving to see my community rally together to help the families who have lost everything.

Once you make a donation directly to the organization, please send your proof of payment to: studio@paigegreen.com and we will set up a time to photograph your family in your home.

Offer is good for a one hour family digital photo shoot and it includes ten high-resolution digital files. Additional files can be purchased. Additional travel fee for photo shoots outside of Petaluma. 

#photographfighter #sonomacounty #sonomaproud #tubbsfire #northbayfires #napavalleyfires

Chloris Floral, Grace & Gather and I have been playing with flowers to create photos for Betany’s blog….

For our last photo shoot we invited the whole family to play…

After the official photos were over, we absolutely had to take some cute family photos…

And after we took cute family photos, we wanted to keep going (to honor the trees who gave us the flowers and Betany’s beautiful arrangements) but the problem was we didn’t have anyone else to play with.

So we agreed we had to have another photo shoot (while the flowering fruit trees are still full and beautiful) and this time we had to invite you. Here are the details:

Floral design by Chloris Floral, Styling by Grace & Gather, Photos by Paige Green

Windrush Farm on March 5th between 10am-3pm

Come solo or with your loved ones (limit six people per session)

Cost is $500 for a 45 minutes and includes 10 high-resolution digital files of your choice.

So if you would like to celebrate spring with the most glorious locally grown flowers, arranged by Chloris Floral, styled by Grace & Gather, photographed by me at Windrush Farm (with brand new bouncing lambs) on Sunday March 5th then please click the photo below to register…

(Flower arrangements and backdrops will vary depending on what is growing and where we are photographing.)

If I had been planning a photo shoot: Ally would have been wearing clothes; Harper would have been wearing clothes that didn’t clash with the couch; I would have cleared away the dirty laundry and Harper’s hair wouldn’t have been wet.

But if I had planned a photo shoot… it wouldn’t have happened. Someone would have been grumpy and hiding, and someone else would have fallen and inevitably obtained a face injury.Instead… we were playing; I grabbed the camera that was left out from an earlier photo shoot; I took a few photos then put the camera away and the playing continued.

So the photos aren’t perfect… but they are real. This is exactly what 4.5 and almost 2 look and feel like with my boys.