Jon Crispin's Notebook

It has seemed that for the past three weeks, my life has been consumed by the Kickstarter appeal.  It has been a great, if not intense, experience.  What I like most is that I am meeting such interesting people who are drawn to the project.  Paul Mullins is a professor of anthropology at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, and he just posted a great piece on his wordpress site.  Here is the link.  I like how serious academics have taken to thinking and writing about the suitcases.

Last Wednesday I drove to Exeter, NH to photograph the poet Willie Perdomo for Poets & Writers Magazine.  He is an amazing guy, and we had a tremendous dialogue about art, creativity, and life in general.  The story will run in the May/June issue.  I’ll post a link when it is online.  He generously gave me a copy of his new book and I had fun reading it on the train back from New York on Saturday evening.

I was in the city for a memorial service for the husband of a good friend who I met through the suitcases project.  I am reminded again and again how way beyond photography the cases are for me.  The service was very moving, and as these events often do, it reinforced the idea that friendship, love and a simple appreciation of being alive and healthy are what it is all about.  So thanks to all of you who are reaching out.  The connections mean so much to me.