The New York Times Article on the Blogher Conference

The article in the New York Times on Blogher ran this past Sunday, July 27, 2008: “Blogging’s Glass Ceiling”

Additional photos

Comments welcome.

Red Dress Run 2008

Yesterday was that time of year again.

The San Francisco chapter of the Hash House Harriers running group stops for a sangria break as they run through the streets of San Francisco dolled up in red dresses as part of their annual red dress run. About 75-100 people participated as onlookers gawked laughed and took pictures. The Hash House Harriers bills themselves as a “Drinking group with a running problem” and was established in the first half of the twentieth century in Asia by some ex-pats. San Francisco, California. Monday, July 29, 2008. (Photos by Jessica Brandi Lifland)

For more info checkout Best of the Bay…

http://www.sfbg.com/bob/2008/outdoors.ph

scroll about halfway down

On On!

Thoughts from the Newbie Blogger on Blogging and the Blogher conference

I am not sure what my voice on this blog is going to be. Will it be personal? Will it be associated with Photonite and the Bay Area photojournalism community? Will it be another marketing tool for my freelance career. Will it be I…I…I? Will I pontificate – assuming no one is listening anyway so it is okay? Can it be a combination?

The following is taken from an email I wrote someone after the Blogher 08 conference:

How do you remember so many people? I take notes in my notepad – ANYTHING to jog my visual memory (ie red sweater looks like my Aunt Susan etc) so I hope I can jog yours…(I was the geek carrying all those heavy cameras.)

I checked out Stephanie Klein’s blog to see what it was all about as I sorted through the 75+ business cards handed to me this weekend. (oye). I like her voice. Well I genuinely liked her so it would be logical.

So many people responded to her Blogher post and expressed that Jr high insecure feeling. I remember that from Jr high as well (and sorority rush too) but with camera in hand I always feel like a child wandering into a new experience with my eyes wide open and no expectations. And I try quite consciously to make no judgments and just let myself experience. I had fun learning about women bloggers as another subculture. I was oblivious to any of the cliques, cattiness, who’s-who & negativity that was supposedly there. It’s an easy way to keep oneself open to meet cool people. However, I suppose I can liken the insecure feeling described to be more like how I feel at the Women in Photojournalism conference.

I am beginning to understand the appeal of blogging. (see I am doing it – sorry you are the test subject. Not nice of me). I guess It allows one to put their thoughts out there and develop a voice (as opposed to a diary)
even if no one reads it – but maybe someone will and relate. (Duh, another newbie blogger is born.) I do it with my images – just put them out there. – if one person’s life is changed by just one photo I have taken in my life then I have done my job. It’s so similar.

You read all the emails you get? Impressive. It’s like clicking on every single link to photography work that every student, former student and local aspiring photog sends to me. I feel it’s my responsibility and the least I can do to respect the people who took the time to open themselves up and send their work to me. So I do look at them all. It eats up so much time. How do you do it? Your traffic must be 100xs what I get!

Sorry for the ramble.

Photos should run Thursday or Sunday with the article by Kara Jesella in the Styles Section of The New York Times.

So now I have a blog…

…uhm…my first entry. I’ll keep it brief. Meanwhile visit my website at www.jessicalifland.com. Comments welcome.