These are just a few of the images that comprise this expansive & multi-faceted photo project.  To view many more, along with all accompanying questions & answers, please click on www.bluesunglassesproject.org.

PROJECT OVERVIEW
When a performance artist friend died of AIDS at age 28, among the possessions he left behind were a pair of 1970s wrap-around blue sunglasses. He also left behind his energy, as does anyone who dies before their time.  As I watched several friends’ lives pass at young ages, I began to feel the responsibility to acknowledge that energy – creative, active, exciting, ebullient – which was being left in their wake.  I wanted to somehow embrace their memory and also keep their spirits alive through creative acts.  These blue sunglasses were an obvious catalyst, so I began photographing them worn by my friends, and then also some of their friends.  The glasses have since traveled from New York to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Paris and Rome, with the images having been exhibited several times in New York & NJ, as well as in L.A.  I am now in the process of expanding the project.  Plans include adding some famous faces among the photographs.  Ideally, this would emphasize the concept that no matter how exotic or glamorous we may be on camera, no life is predictable and death is the greatest of all levelers.  I hope to sell image prints, create a photo book, and maybe even mass-produce and sell the glasses – all as a way to raise money for charities benefitting artists who are living with AIDS, since the creative process carries on, regardless of the abilities or limitations of the body.  Please feel free to write to me about this ~ to become involved.

bluesunglassesproject (AT) gmail (DOT) com

** Please note that no images from this project may be used anywhere without permission from me.**

click any image to enlarge & view as a gallery