Inspiring Women FALL 2020

1 

September 2020, Volume 4, Issue 3

2 

2020

Inspiration in This Issue 

The Profiles 

Our Features 

Visualizing a Point of View 5 Nature Photography & Wild Landscapes 20 

Kenya Culminates a Photo Journey 6 

My Photos Lead Me Back to Italy 14 

Finding Myself in London Through a Lens 28 

Connecting Through the Camera in 

Munich 

In Every Issue 

Inspiration From the Editor 3 

40 

A Love Story with Sorrento, Italy 63 

Candidly Documenting Life in Moscow 73 

Always Thinking Big Picture in Germany 86 

Photographing the Dream from Paris 94 

Inspiring You 104 

Seaweed 24 

Happiness is… 35 

The World Through Their Lens 46 

Souvenirs From Across the FAWCO World 50 

A Club Inspires: AWC The Hague 56 

Black Lives Matter 59 

I Am a Phoneographer 69 

Two Natural Worlds 80 

How to Take Better Photos of People 83 

Cross-Cultural Life in the COVID-19 Era 92 

Between 101 

The Cover & Back Page Photos 106 

Magazine Survey 104 

More About This Issue 105 

Advertisers Index 

FAWCO is pleased to announce three new advertisers! 

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Lauren Mescon, Rodan + Fields p.13 Lauren, member of AWC Amsterdam, has been an 

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London Realty Intl. p.13 London Realty Intl. is owned by AWC London member Lonnée 

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We also appreciate the returning support of our returning advertisers! 

Reilly Financial Advisors p.62 RFA provides clients with the highest level of services and 

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Janet Darrow p.79Janet Darrow Real Estate (FAUSA member). Around the corner or a world 

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The Pajama Company p.19 The Pajama Company founded by Ellie Badanes, member of 

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3

Inspiration From the Editor 

When the photos 

for this issue 

started to arrive 

from all over the 

world, I felt two 

c o n t r a s t i n g 

emotions: joy and 

trepidation! 

Joy as the photos were so beautiful. We really 

do have some extremely talented women 

who make up the FAWCO world and our 

photographers are no exception. We are 

thrilled and honoured to be able to feature 

their work. 

Trepidation as I wasn’t sure how on earth I 

could possibly fit all these beautiful images into 

our usual number of pages while giving them 

the space they deserve! 

So I have made a choice. I decided that the 

images should be large, even if that means 

there are a scary number of pages! Please do 

remember, though, you are seeing the images 

rather than reading them, so actually if you 

ignore the page numbers it’s business as usual. 

I am sure you will agree the photos needed to 

be seen in all their glory as they are beautiful. I 

wonder which is your favourite? 

The other thing I wanted to tell you about in 

this issue is we have a new member of the 

Inspiring Women team: Michele Hendrikse Du 

Bois, whom many of you will know from the 

FAWCO Virtual Tour that has been going on for 

the last few months. Michele will be 

coordinating club features like “A Club 

Inspires” and, in this issue, “Souvenirs From 

Across the FAWCO World.” Welcome to the 

team Michele! 

In the meantime, I hope you had a good 

summer and that you are reinvigorated for the 

months ahead. In the year of a global 

pandemic who knows what will happen next. 

Certainly none of us would have predicted 

much of what 2020 has brought us so far. 

Stay safe and healthy 

Liz x 

Liz MacNiven, 

inspiringwomen.editor@fawco.org 

Want to be sure you see the next issue of Inspiring 

Women as soon as it comes out? Click here to 

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Photography as art is a luxury 

and a privilege for the viewer. 

Those who choose photography as the 

medium to artistically express themselves 

do not have a blank canvas; there are 

pictures all around them. Their art starts 

with reality. The creation of their art is in 

how they shape the existing scene 

through the use of light, color and 

perspective. Their artist’s palette also 

includes a unique item, serendipity: to be 

at a place at the exact time when 

everything or nothing is perfect. Those 

moments are transformed into artwork 

that provokes the spectator to reflect on 

how that image makes them think or feel. 

Photographer Ania Audi on location (go to p. 25 to see more) 

Photography as a window on the times is essential. Whether it is the horrific video of the 

senseless death of George Floyd or the gruesome photos of COVID-19 patients on 

ventilators, these pictures can, even without the benefit of words, report truth. The 

pictures reveal the current “state of play”. They help to form and inform our beliefs and 

move many people from spectators to participants. The photographers who take these 

pictures speak truth to power, no language or voice is required. 

The Inspiring Women team is incredibly grateful to the FAWCO women who are profiled 

and have written features for this issue. Their photos are beautiful, exquisite and 

hopeful. They are strong, confident images but not lacking in grace, a reflection of the 

character of our members. Consider it our special treat to you as you take a “virtualvisual” 

journey during a time that finds us staying especially close to home. 

Elsie Bose 

5

Kenya Culminates a 

Photo Journey 

TAMARA KRAUTKRAMER 

Member: American Women’s Association, Kenya 

From: Too many places... Spain, California, 

Washington! 

Lives: Seattle, Washington and Nairobi, Kenya 

Tamara’s Story in Images 

A favorite photo of me: 

Every time we drove by an equator sign my husband and I pondered how to do this type of 

picture, and on our last trip before leaving Kenya due to COVID-19, we did it. No post 

processing, just a phone camera and a little ingenuity. Can you figure it out? It took us a number 

of tries and five people thinking about it to get it to work, but with a Kenyan, two Americans, a 

Spanish and a Colombian brain, we sorted it out. Try it! 

6

One of my early photos: 

I had only a small point and shoot camera with 

me while touring the Chihuly Garden and 

Glass Museum in Seattle about ten years ago. 

The iconic Space Needle and the vivid glass of 

one of the world's most famous artists are both 

quintessentially Seattle and yet not the normal 

postcard view of the building. Not a great 

image but it reminds me that I don't need a 

big, expensive camera to take a decent shot. 

An image that inspires me: 

Residents of Santa Rosa, California, decorated the burned-out remnants of their homes and 

vehicles after the horrific and deadly Wine Country fires in 2017. Months later at Christmas, fire 

victims came together from wherever they were housed to see their former neighbors, decorate 

donated trees lit with generators and sing carols. We went to this devastated subdivision with 

donations after hearing someone had set up a toy drive for displaced children, but 

unexpectedly found 

the scene to be 

incredibly uplifting … 

s u c h a m a z i n g 

g r a t i t u d e , 

perseverance and 

community in the 

a f t e r m a t h o f 

tragedy. Memories 

of the fires and the 

o u t p o u r i n g o f 

support by the 

community in the 

aftermath still make 

me cry. 

7

A photo my family would know was mine: 

This image is from my series on the annual Christmas pilgrimage to Lalibela, Ethiopia, when more 

than 100,000 people arrive from all over the country for the event, many walking for days. The 

eleven monolithic churches were cut out of the rock around 1200 AD. Most of my best work is in 

black and white, which is a bit unusual for "travel photography” ... whatever that is! Since going 

to Kenya, more of my images have been of wildlife and in color, atypical for me, but it has been 

a rewarding learning experience. 

My last image before COVID-19: 

Samburu girls’ feet! We stumbled upon a group of teens socializing. The Samburu wear 

elaborate beading, frequently signifying different stages of life. These young girls were waiting 

anxiously to be asked to dance by the warriors. (Kenya) 

8

An image that evokes ... 

An image where 

circumstances 

were not as they 

first seemed: 

W a n d e r i n g 

around a massive 

old fort in India, I 

saw a gigantic 

cannon covered 

in colorful spray 

paint. Thinking the 

juxtaposition of 

t h e m o d e r n 

graffiti and the 

old fort might 

make for an 

interesting image, 

I walked around it 

looking for the 

angle. Just when I 

focused on the 

huge muzzle of 

the cannon, out 

popped a bird. 

… a sense other than sight: 

My visiting sister said watching her first leopard enjoy its tasty breakfast of wildebeest was 

gory but unforgettable, including the sounds of crunching bones. (Kenya) 

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… sadness: 

My first sighting of 

a wild lion was 

thrilling yet sad, 

as she had lost 

two of her three 

cubs and was 

w a n d e r i n g 

looking for them. 

Our guide later 

said they were 

never found. 

(Kenya) 

… nature: 

We were advised to avoid sustained eye contact in order to show submission to the gorillas of 

the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda, but the gorillas didn't have to follow our rules. We trekked up 

to 9000 feet in the misty jungle mud before finding a group calmly munching on vegetation. As 

predicted, we 

could smell them 

before we heard or 

s a w t h e m . 

Volcanoes National 

Park is home to 

about half of the 

world's population 

of 900 critically 

e n d a n g e r e d 

mountain gorillas. 

Both frightening 

and awe-inspiring, 

the gorillas share 

98% of our DNA 

and, sometimes 

weighing more 

than 450lbs, the 

silverbacks are 

simply enormous . 

10

… a happy day: 

Incredible sunset as we sipped cocktails in Myanmar…and 

then two monks 

walked onto the bridge. Makes a photographer happy when serendipity strikes. 

… laughter: 

This image is titled “Not All Monks Are Rented” because so many photographers rent monks 

that these set-up shots are nicknamed “Rent-a-Monk”. I didn’t (and wouldn’t) rent a monk, I 

just got lucky and one walked into my frame. (Myanmar) 

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… anger: 

One hundred years ago Africa had an estimated 10 million elephants, but experts fear they 

could be extinct in 30 years as tens of thousands are killed yearly by poachers. (Kenya) 

“Where are you from?” has always been a 

difficult question for me to answer as my father 

was an Air Force pilot, so growing up we 

moved every couple of years. As the new kid in school, I had to put myself out there to meet 

other children or be lonely. I knew the meaning of “loquacious” very early in life. 

Tamara’s Story in Words 

We spent five years in Madrid during my formative teenage years, so Spain has always felt a bit 

like home, but I have also lived all around the US. As an adult I have mostly lived in the Seattle 

area and Sonoma, California. 

My parents gave me an SLR camera for my 16th birthday while we lived in Madrid. They were 

avid travelers and history buffs, so I was fortunate to travel extensively with them and credit 

them for my lifelong obsession with exploration, adventure and travel photography. I have 

been to more than 50 countries. 

At university I studied Economics and Art History, and photography for me has always been a 

mix of left and right brain, to use a cliché. Going from film to digital was a reinvigorating 

challenge and being able to process images at home rather than in a dark room made 

photography a great hobby again. I joined photography organizations to improve my skills, 

meet other photographers and participate in competitions and gallery shows. Now my 

husband would say I am obsessed. 

My husband Harold and I were retired and living in Sonoma, California, but looking for our next 

chapter. Luckily we managed to combined our desire to give back with our love of adventure, 

as Harold is currently a volunteer Business Coach for the Stanford Institute for Innovation in 

Developing Economies. Stanford partners with entrepreneurs in emerging markets to build 

thriving enterprises to help end the cycle of global poverty. We had been in Nairobi for less than 

two years when COVID-19 arrived, temporarily sending us back to the US while we wait out the 

pandemic. We love being home in Seattle but enjoy Kenya and really look forward to returning. 

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13

My Photos Lead Me 

Back to Italy 

JUDES ROSELLI-CECCONI 

Member: American International League of 

Florence, Italy 

From: British, born in Kenya 

Lives: Italy 

Jude’s Story in Images 


Black/white photo of my 

brother throwing his 

daughter up in the air in a 

swimming pool. It inspires me 

because of the wonderful 

father that my brother has 

become and the love and 

trust his daughter has in him. 

14


Running and jumping on a beach. I 

like this photo as it depicts my sense 

of freedom and love for the sea. 


Black/white photo of a Christmas 

tree and two seats looking out over 

the Tuscan countryside. Just before 

Christmas, I was sitting with friends in 

Tuscany, quite at peace with the 

world. Three weeks later I left for 

Kenya. COVID-19 hit our world and 

six months later I am still in Kenya, 

unable to travel home to Italy. 

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A photo to be my legacy: 

Color photo of a man at 

an English fairground. It 

would be my legacy 

because I love the 

intrigue of not really 

knowing who is behind 

the smoke. 

An image where circumstances were not as they first seemed: 

Underwater photo. My brother swimming in a pool, quite content to be relaxed 

underwater, not knowing he would be dead a few months later. 

16


… nature: 

A photo of my sister 

snorkelling in the 

Indian Ocean. A 

surreal photo taken 

from a boat. 

… laughter: 

A photo of my brother wearing a 

joker’s mask. It makes me laugh 

as he is always playing tricks on 

everyone he knows. 

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… sadness: 

Black/white photo of my sister 

covering her eyes. A day where she 

felt unhappy and unloved, with a 

little glimpse of light. 

… admiration: 

A color photo of my mother. I admire 

her beauty, her smile, her courage 

and ability to live life to the fullest, 

one day at a time. 

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Jude’s Story in Words 

I grew up in Kenya, East Africa. My early life 

was about going on safari, seeing wild 

animals, travelling and living in places like 

Kenya, Ethiopia, Lesotho, South Africa, 

Washington, DC and Italy. 

My mother was a photographic journalist 

which I found fascinating. I was intrigued by 

photography by the age of 12. 

I ended up living in Tuscany, Italy after 

marrying my Italian husband. We married in 

South Africa and had two sons. After living in 

South Africa for 12 years we decided to 

move to Italy to an olive and grape farm 

which my husband inherited. 

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19 

Ellie Badanes, AW Surrey 

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Company

Ania Audi 

I was about 12 years old when my dad first lent me his reflex camera. He showed me how to load 

in a roll of film and focus by lining up the images in the top and bottom circle through the 

viewfinder. Little did I know at the time that this hobby would one day turn into a passion which 

would lead me to travel to many corners of the globe and inspire me on a quest to remote 

places in search of visions of nature’s beauty. 

“One of the most remote and unspoilt places I’ve ever been to: Mongolia. My family and our guide climbed the sand dunes in the Gobi 

to watch the sunset and contemplate the vastness of this desert. From a distance, we kept an eye on the approaching thunderstorm.” 

20

“Three pink flamingos taking off from a large salt flat in the middle of the Atacama Desert in Chile. The desert is surrounded by 

volcanoes, both extinct and active. It is known to be the driest desert in the world and home to the clearest skies thanks to the 

high altitude and cool temperatures compared to other deserts.” 

The travel bug really hit me during my freshman year at university, I saved up enough to buy a 

student fare ticket and a Eurail pass and left on a one month solo trip to Europe with little more 

than a suitcase and a point and shoot camera. Youth hostels and overnight trains were home. 

“The colors in the Andes are simply breath-taking. This lake near the border of Chile and Bolivia was spectacular in itself, but 

finding wildlife here made it even more special. The Vicunas live in mountainous areas at altitudes from 3,200 to 4,800 meters.” 

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Coupled up with meeting other student travellers or 

those on a gap year from down under, the 

adventures began. The following summer I went 

back again, but this time armed with addresses of 

new friends to visit. Each European city and town 

that I stopped in was explored and photographed, 

from Stockholm to Mykonos and Lisbon to Gdansk. 

After graduating, I moved to Paris and my travels 

expanded to Egypt and southeast Asia. 

A couple years later I was fortunate enough to 

meet the man of my dreams; very importantly, he 

also liked to travel! We’ve been to 34 countries 

together, some before and some with our kids. 

Although as with most photo enthusiasts, I’m rarely 

in our holiday pictures because I‘m the one behind 

the camera. 

“The sheer size and beauty of glaciers in Iceland is 

something to behold. Over the years due to global warming 

the glaciers have receded. I took this shot in February just 

before the lockdowns due to Covid-19 started.” 

Meanwhile, living in Paris I discovered I had talents 

as an artist. So when my kids started going to school 

all day, I started sculpting. Sculpting, modelage 

and stone became my second passion. Over 12 

years I worked in four different ateliers in Paris and 

its suburbs. With all the possibilities of inspiration and 

creativity Paris offers through its exhibitions and its 

galleries, I was fully immersed in the art scene. I also 

continued exploring photography through 

workshops and developing my own photos, but I 

found that it was nature and travel photography 

was my real passion. 

In 2010 my family took a trip to Namibia. Then and 

there I had my first taste of wildlife photography…and I was hooked. Africa is now one of my 

regular go-to destinations, Paris not being the best place for finding wildlife nor the kind of 

scenery I dream of. 

Luckily in the past couple 

years, now that both my 

children are at university, 

I’ve made a bucket list of 

places I still want to see 

and I have found some 

good agencies that 

organize trips solely for 

photography. It is a 

different experience from 

when you travel alone, in 

a group or with family; 

everything is organized 

for photographers to be 

at the right spots in the 

best light conditions 

possible and to have 

enough time to get in 

t u n e w i t h t h e i r 

surroundings. Without 

22 

“The purpose of my trip to Chile was not only photographing landscapes during the day, but 

at night this is one of the best places in the world for astrophotography. I went with a group 

of amateur astronomers to learn as much as I could; the unpolluted skies there were simply 

magical to see.”

others getting bored or 

impatient, you can be 

creative. Photographers 

are very willing to spend 

hours waiting for that fish 

eagle to swoop down 

and catch a fish or for 

the sun to peak out from 

behind a cloud to get 

the right light on that 

tree in the middle of a 

field of wheat. 

Being quite reserved and 

rather introverted, I’ve 

come to realize that 

surrounding myself in 

nature is a source of 

energy for me. It is very 

“This is an aerial photo of a hippo family in the Okavango Delta of Botswana taken from a 

grounding whenever I 

door-less helicopter. Tricky for photography because of the vibrations and the wind but it was 

am overwhelmed or not 

in sync with things going a very exciting experience and highlight of that trip.” 

on around me. It makes 

me automatically feel lighter, happier and more creative. And although one can find beauty in 

many things and places, nature seems to magnify the beauty and there is a sense of hypera 

w a r e n e s s t h a t 

comes from being 

surrounded and in 

tune with it. It always 

makes me appreciate 

this beautiful planet 

on which we live. 

T h r o u g h 

p h o t o g r a p h i n g 

earth’s beauty and 

wildlife, I wish to share 

what I see and hope 

other people will see 

t h e v a l u e i n 

preserving these gifts. 

Ania Audi, member of 

AAWE, was born in Poland. 

Her parents moved to the US 

when she was three. She’s 

Fascinating to see these pieces of glacier ice, sculpted by the sea, then washed ashore in contrast 

with the black sand beach. The challenge is to do long exposures without getting your feet wet! 

lived in Chicago, Phoenix and San Diego. After graduating from UCSD, she decided to take a 

year to travel…ending up in Paris where she has now been for over a quarter of a decade. She is 

currently a member and the photo editor for the Association of American Women in Europe in 

Paris and member of ASCPF, a French association of animal and nature photographers. She is 

now planning a future exhibition and website while in the meantime sharing some photos on 

intragram: aniainparis. Next on her bucket wishlist would be trekking with gorillas and 

primates in Rwanda or Uganda, landscapes and wildlife of Antarctica and South Georgia island, 

and finally making it down under to New Zealand, Australia, and diving the great barrier reef! 

23

Cyndy B. Waters 

The Island of Zanzibar sits east of the 

African continent where the magical 

mix of explosive sunrises are often 

enriched with storm clouds and the 

Indian Ocean’s emerald sea lying 

transparent over beautiful white sand. 

Seaweed growing and harvesting is a 

major cash crop on the Island and has 

rearranged traditional roles of women in 

the home and workplace. 

Traveling most of the Island with my 

daughters, I found several places where seaweed was being farmed and had made a 

significant impact on society. However, each location was unique. The depth of water 

throughout the day, water temperature, hours of work due to rising tides and the economics of 

the region, all affected the style of production. 

From my first sighting of beautiful, traditionally dressed African women moving about in the sea, I 

was hooked. I took a few photographs from a distance and went to get my daughters to help 

me find out what was going on. Having Judy and Nangesian with me was paramount. I quickly 

realized the women did not want to be photographed or bothered while they quietly sat 

seeming to weave, plant, and clean small bundles of seaweed. As we began to talk to Mwaka, 

24 

Mgeni Ali: “Tide is getting too high!”

All that glitters in the seaweed 

25 

Looking for lunch

they explained that I was their 

mother and she shook her head, 

giving me permission to start 

shooting. Being Kenyan by birth, 

they are fluent in Swahili and 

Mwaka understood we were not 

tourists, but that I was a 

photographer who also worked in 

Kenya as a missionary and project 

developer among very needy 

populations. We were able to met 

several of the women who also 

allowed me to photograph them. 

With limited time, I was already 

planning my next trip back. 

Pauline and her grandson 

When I returned months later, I 

brought a variety of photographs 

for every woman who had allowed 

me to photograph her. They were 

thrilled. It was early in the morning 

and Mwaka took me to their 

homes to give out the prints. I’ve 

returned several times and even 

though I’ve visited other seaweed 

locations, Mwaka and her friends 

have become dear to me. 

26 

Walking to work

I was welcomed by the small Islamic 

community and taught how 

seaweed affected their lives and 

culture. Fishing was hard in their 

location, as the bay is deep and 

shallow. The changing of tide gives 

them about five hours a day to work 

in the sea before it rises too high. 

Seaweed “mwain” is everywhere 

and it’s a family affair. Older 

grandmothers are found sitting on 

their porches cleaning mwain. Men 

help make the long sticks that 

hammer into the sand to run 

seaweed lines, while some help with 

collections in their small boats. On 

weekends, daughters run to the sea 

to play and collect delectable 

treats for lunch from the ocean floor 

while the tide is low. During harvest, 

families work together and the Giving out copies of the photos 

mood is happy, but the work is hard. 

The huge baskets of wet seaweed 

are very heavy and the profit is very small. Yet they appreciate the addition to their meager 

incomes and the women love the fact that with their profits they can help buy uniforms and pay 

school fees for their children. 

It is obvious they 

love their time in 

the sea. The 

seaweed has 

brought them 

out of their 

isolated roles in 

the home and 

invited them into 

the beautiful 

ocean where as 

non-swimmers, 

they would never 

have journeyed 

otherwise. They 

have allowed 

me in and enjoy 

s e e i n g 

t h e m s e l v e s 

through my eyes 

and my lens. 

They tell me the 

Fatima is 70 and travels to the village to grow her seaweed She has no children so she has to keep p h o t o g r a p h s 

working and she works long days and works too hard. This is her only way to survive. 

p r o v e h o w 

beautiful their 

lives are. 

Cyndy B. Waters is a member and past Board member of AWA Kenya for many years. She is the Founder 

and Director of The Orbit Village Project operating in Nairobi, Kenya. www.Orbitvillage.org, 

Insta: Cyndybw cyndybwaters@mac.com 

27

Finding Myself in London 

Through a Lens 

HALEY GREEN 

Member: American Women’s Club of London, 

England 

From: Chicago, Ill 

Lives: South East London, England 

Haley’s Story in Images 


My son was dealing with 

depression from moving 

to a new country. He 

once told me his sadness 

felt like waves crashing 

into him. On this day, he 

spent a lot of time 

wading in the water and 

throwing rocks as far as 

he could. I had this photo 

made into a canvas and 

it hangs in our home to 

remind us that there are 

many moments of joy 

between the waves. 

28


Most of my early photos are 

similar to this one, but it lacks a 

bit of life. While I still think this 

photo is successful in expressing 

the cosy warmth of the café, it 

needs someone sitting in the 

booth, enjoying a drink to make 

it a success in my eye. 


My photos are a mix of locations in 

London not often seen and moments of 

London life. In this shot I particularly love 

how the dog is sitting at the table, 

enjoying a shared treat. My editing style 

is subtle so my family would recognize 

my photos based on subject matter 

more than anything else. 

29


My last ‘normal’ photo prior to COVID-19 

was this photo from inside the London Eye. 

The London Eye was celebrating its 20 th 

birthday and my family and I went for an 

early afternoon ride. Each pod was 

decorated in a different theme. Ours was 

a garden but this view of Parliament was 

so beautiful I had to take the shot. 

An image that could be replicated as 

a painting: 

I would love this photo to be 

reimagined as a Dexter Dalwood 

painting. Dalwood’s paintings 

communicate our everyday 

existence while bringing together 

the narratives of our memory, 

present and future. 

30

An image where circumstances were 

not as they first seemed: 

After lockdown was mandated in 

London, I began to work on 

p h o t o g r a p h i n g f o o d a n d 

documenting the process in a blog. 

This photo is a combination of two 

photos. In one photo I liked how the 

wind was blowing the towels on the 

line. In another photo I was pleased 

with how the cake on the plate was 

positioned. I married the two photos 

to create this homage to my mother. 



I don’t consider portraiture a part of 

my portfolio but I love this photo of 

my daughter. When I look at this 

photo, with her head tossed back, I 

can hear her laughing. 

31


This photo always makes me smile. There 

are so many magical London moments 

and on this day I happened to capture 

the end of a riding lesson in Hyde Park. 

… nature: 

Nature in London means 

something very different 

depending on where you are. 

32

… laughter: 

I laugh every time I see this photo, a 

London call box, next to a New York 

taxi, parked in front of a butcher 

shop which is named K & J Libretto & 

Daughters. You couldn’t make it up! 

… everyday London life: 

No matter the weather, a dogwalker 

has got to do what a dogwalker has 

got to do. 

33

… my most treasured possession: 

As if a child can be your possession...these 

two are my most prized possession and my 

greatest creation. 

I grew up in a southwest suburb of Chicago, in 

a typical blue-collar neighborhood where 

everyone knew everyone else and your door 

was always open. Each weekday my father 

would come home from work and brew a pot of coffee. My mother would arrive home shortly 

after the coffee was done. Both would fix their cup and, if the weather was nice, sit outside to 

unwind after work. Slowly, but surely, our surrounding neighbors would make their way to our 

home to enjoy a cup of coffee, some coffee cake, and local gossip. Growing up in a 

community like this made for a great childhood. Games of tag that spanned two blocks of 

houses, impromptu pool parties, and sleepovers are some of my favorite childhood memories, 

along with the many cups of coffee and slices of coffee cake. 

Haley’s Story in Words 

After moving to London, photography became my reason to leave the house each day. I 

would head to a new area of London to explore and quickly found that the city has many 

personalities. As time wore on, I connected with other London photographers and formed some 

amazing friendships. I share my photos on my Instagram account under the name 

Postcards.from.London and treat each post as if it is a postcard sent home, sharing tiny tidbits of 

our life. 

In the summer of 2016, my husband’s company moved our family to London. I left behind a 

decade long position as a middle school science teacher, my children left behind their friends, 

and we all left behind a life in a community we built one PTA meeting, church picnic, summer 

camp, and soccer match at a time. 

We settled in south east London, which is to say, my husband hit the ground running, my 

children started their new school without any hiccups and I became a stay at home mother for 

the first time in my life suffering from an identity crisis. Struggling with the isolation a longdistance 

move creates, I found myself lonely, feeling isolated and depressed. Determined to 

find my footing, I decided to explore my new home all the while taking photos to share with 

friends and family back in the states. 

34

Tharien van Eck 

There are numerous definitions of happiness with the simplest “the state of being happy”. The 

question then is - what makes people happy? It can be shopping, reading, eating, cooking, 

dancing, talking, listening to music, or playing a musical instrument. Traveling, and more 

specifically traveling in nature, makes me infinitely happy. 

I invite you to travel with me as we make our way through the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in 

Southern Africa, home of red sand dunes, small and large herbivores such as ground squirrels, 

and roaming herds of eland, springbuck, blue wildebeest and an abundant number of 

predators including lions and cheetahs. 

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is situated between South Africa, Namibia and Botswana and 

jointly managed by South Africa and Botswana. The meaning of Kgalagadi is “land of thirst”. The 

Park is situated in the southern Kalahari Desert and consists of red sand dunes, sparse vegetation, 

dry riverbeds, and scattered trees, an area of approximately 40,000km². The riverbeds are said to 

flow only once or twice per century, but with underground water providing for the camelthorn 

trees that are growing in the riverbeds. 

Happiness is... to drive, at a snail’s pace, on a dirt road, looking out of the window to spot 

animals, and then suddenly, in the shade of a small bush, to see not one, but two lions, right next 

to the car. And content to be stared at while resting in a small spot of shade! 

35

Happiness is... being 

able to stop at a road 

sign, wondering which 

direction to take, only 

to decide that any one 

will be good, because 

tomorrow is another 

day. The names of the 

water holes are a 

curious collection, e.g. 

in remembrance of a 

guide that worked in 

the area (Dalkeith), or 

an explanation of the 

area (Mabuasehube – 

“red soil”) or !Xaus 

(heart of the local 

communities). 

Happiness is... to 

watch a family of 

giraffes graze, a small 

group of the 40 or so 

that can be found in 

the Mata Mata area, 

which is close to the 

Namibian border. 

Happiness is... to travel 

on a road not travelled 

before and to marvel in 

a sky bluer than blue! 

The red dunes are 

parallel to each, more 

pronounced in the 

southern part of the 

park and the host of an 

abundance of flora. 

36


see color in a 

landscape almost 

devoid of color. 

Happiness is... harmony in 

nature, where small and 

big can enjoy drinking at 

the same time from the 

same waterhole. 

Happiness is... seeing 

a tortoise, so well 

camouflaged, slowly 

crossing the road 

knowing that it is his 

habitat and that we 

are just a passing 

visitor he can ignore. 

37


observe the cunning 

ways of a jackal, 

always on the lookout 

for something to eat! 

Happiness is... 

to see cheetahs 

drinking at a 

w a t e r h o l e , 

keeping careful 

watch of other 

predators that 

may want to 

come drinking 

as well. 


watch the sunset 

contemplating the 

wonders of nature, 

dreaming about, 

and planning a next 

visit post COVID-19! 

38

Happiness is... watching 

blue wildebeest and 

springbuck drinking at the 

same waterhole. 

Happiness is... travelling 

with someone that 

enjoys the same 

experiences as yourself, 

someone who is 

content to sit at a 

waterhole waiting for 

animals to come 

drinking, someone who 

enjoys a glass of wine 

with a simple dinner, 

someone who can 

stare into the distance 

waiting for a buck to 

appear or just to enjoy 

the scenery. 

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only 

one page.” – Augustine of Hippo. 

Tharien van Eck grew up in South Africa and studied 

medicine. She and her family relocated to Belgium in 2004 

when she started to work full time for Johnson & Johnson. 

Tharien is a member of the AWC Antwerp. She has a passion 

for helping and supporting others and since 2019, has been the 

Target Program Chair for FAWCO and has participated in the 

selection of S.A.F.E. as the Target Project. When she is not 

painting, she enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with 

her husband and two grown children, and COVID-19 

permitting, travelling around the world! 

39

Connecting Through the 

Camera in Munich 

MONICA HOEFFEL MURPHY 

Member: FAUSA 

From: Grew up in suburbs of Detroit 

Lives: Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia 

Monica’s Story in Images 


This is a self-portrait I took of myself a while ago. I created a series of them. Sometimes I don't 

have anyone to model for me and have to work out my ideas or lighting patterns on myself. This 

is one of my goofy alter ego trying to come out. 

40

A photo that could be replicated 

as a painting: 

I love the chaos that is happening in this 

back alleyway in Barga, Italy. If you look 

closely you can see that a Vespa has been 

turned into a plant stand! I am currently also 

an Urban Sketcher, so I believe this type of 

visual clutter would appeal to lots of onlocation-artists. 

Paul Wang (@paulwang_sg), Tomas 

Pajdlhauser (@captain_tom), Lena Sen 

(@electric_mirror), Teo Kim Seah 

(@kimseah_teoh) and Hosanna Lau 

(@hosanna9)are a few artists that come to 

mind. You can find their work on Instagram. 


This could be a legacy photo. One of 

the things I feel I do well, is 

photographing "non-models" in an 

editorial way. I search out interesting 

locations and pitch creative ideas in the 

hope of making a client's portrait 

sessions one-of-a-kind. 

41

A photo my family would know 

was mine: 

I love shooting environmental portraits. 

I usually get natural, relaxed results 

when people are placed in familiar 

surroundings. Portraits like this also 

quickly connect the viewer to the 

story. I think this is a style my family 

would recognize. As a personal photo 

project, I followed a year-in-the life of 

a historic beer garden in Germany. This 

portrait is of just one of the people 

involved in their famous brewing 

industry. I present to you Herr Schmid, 

he is a cooper and runs the last barrel 

making workshop in Munich. 

An image where circumstances are 

not as they first seem: 

At first glance this might seem like some 

sheaves of straw leaned against a 

fence. In truth, there is a young man 

tied inside all that straw. He is resting 

before portraying a traditional 

Buttnmandl that accompanies St. 

Nikolaus on his holiday rounds in the 

Bavarian town of Berchtesgaden. 

42


… a sense 

other than 

sight: I think 

this photo of a 

bride at her 

M e h n d i 

c e r e m o n y 

evokes the 

sense of sound 

(or lack there 

of.) We are 

viewing the 

bride in a 

p e a c e f u l 

c o c o o n , 

waiting to join 

the rowdy 

c e l e b r a t i o n 

right outside 

her door. 


This is a happy day of swimming at Buza Beach in Dubrovnik that delighted my "inner child". 

43

… nature: 

I love the repetition of the tall woman 

serenely standing amid the repeating tall 

trees in this nature photo. 

… laughter: 

These cows are being driven up to a 

communal pasture, but have stopped 

to eat the neighbors natural wallcover 

along the way. Hysterical. 

44

Monica’s Story in Words 

I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit. I was always a creative child, making and drawing things. I 

worked most of my life as a store display artist, but was always interested in photography. When 

my youngest child was nearly grown, I apprenticed myself to a wedding photographer and I 

learned the documentary style of photographing events. I also began photographing portraits, 

something I still love to this day. Connecting with people through photography has given so 

many great memories. 

Two years ago I returned from Munich where I lived for a number of years and was a member of 

the Munich International Women's Club. While I was there, I created a photo blog about 

traditional clothing. I spent a lot of time photographing people in traditional clothing and 

exploring local festivals. It was a fascinating way to connect with people, even with my poor 

German language skills. Because I was increasingly traveling back and forth to America, 

helping out with ill parents, it became difficult to resource content for the blog. So, my last year 

in Munich I spent creating a photographic "Year-in-the-life" of the Augustiner Beer Garden as a 

personal photo/blog project. I traded out photos for access to the inner workings of one of 

Germany's oldest beer gardens. It made it much easier to jump right back into photographing 

there, after returning from a trip to America. I made lovely friends that I still am in contact with 

today. 

Since I moved back to the US I have renewed a practice of drawing after 40 years away from it. 

This work can be seen on Instagram at "Littlehistoriesart". 

45

My-Linh Kunst 

For me the subject of a picture is always more important than the 

picture. And more complicated. – Diane Arbus 

The world of photography would not be what it is today 

without the lens of female photographers. They helped 

shape the storytelling value of the art, bringing to light 

social issues and marginalized people. They bring out the 

story behind the image, the uninhibited character of 

their subject and the emotion of the moment. 

I was asked to write about iconic female photographers. 

There are so many. For this article, I concentrated on a 

few of the American greats. 

Credit: AWARE Women artists, Femmes artistes 

Dorothea Lange (1895–1965) was an American 

documentary photographer and photojournalist 

who is best known for her Depression-era work. 

Lange's photographs not only humanized the 

terrible circumstances of the Great Depression, but 

also influenced the development and purpose of 

documentary photography. She was later 

commissioned to photograph Japanese 

internment during World War II. 

46

Diane Arbus (1923–1971) was a New York-based 

photographer. She was best known for her intimate 

black-and-white portraits, normalizing people on 

the fringes of society, including the mentally ill, 

transgender people and circus performers. 

Helen Levitt (1913–2009) was particularly noted for 

street photography around New York City and has 

been called "the most celebrated and least known 

photographer of her time." Throughout her long 

Credit: AWARE Women artists, Femmes artistes 

career, Helen Levitt’s photographs have 

consistently reflected her poetic vision, 

humor and inventiveness as they 

honestly portrayed her subjects – New 

Yorkers acting out the daily drama on 

the streets of their city. 

One of my absolute favorites was Vivian Maier (1926- 

2009), because of her unconventional story when it 

comes to photography. She worked as a nanny for 40 

years and carried her camera around in her spare 

time to capture moments in the streets. She took over 

150,000 photographs during her lifetime and has 

greatly impacted the development of street 

photography with these images. 

47

Her images were completely unknown and unpublished 

while she was alive, only to be discovered in her derelict 

storage locker after her death. Her life and work have 

been the subject of books and documentary films, 

including the film Finding Vivian Maier (2013). 

One of the most well-known of the living 

photographers, Annie Leibovitz (born 1949) has 

achieved commercial success with celebrity 

portraits in intimate settings and poses or 

beautiful staged settings. One of her most 

famous photos was of John Lennon and 

Yoko Ono in their bed. She began working 

as a commercial photographer at Rolling 

Stone magazine and soon became the 

first woman to be named chief 

photographer. She left and began 

working at Vanity Fair in 1983, where she 

developed her style of staged and brightly 

lit portraits. Today she still regularly 

contributes to the magazine, as well as to 

Vogue too. 

Sally Mann’s (born 1951) work is known to make people uncomfortable because she 

photographs her young children in the nude and sometimes with small injuries. She is an 

American photographer, widely known for her large-format, black-and-white photographs - at 

first of her young children, then later of landscapes suggesting decay and death. 

48

Nan Goldin (born 1951) is known for her 

deeply personal and candid portraiture. 

Her work often explores LGBT bodies, 

moments of intimacy, the HIV crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Many consider her most notable 

work to be The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (1986), which documents the gay subculture and 

Goldin's family and friends. 

Cindy Sherman (born 1954) is a New York Citybased 

photographer who has produced 

photographs examining the identity and gender 

roles that exist in society using self-portraiture. 

Sherman isn’t using her self-portraits to express 

different aspects of her character, but rather to 

examine society at large. 

Coming back to empathy and story-telling, whether through street photography or staged 

portraits, these female photographers portray mostly people, in their moments of joy or struggle. 

This was but a small list. There are great female photographers all over the world. And every year 

there are more and more talented women photographers taking the scene by storm. The 

Phoblographer blog has a good list of young 

talents to inspire you in 2020. 

My-Linh Kunst, former president of FAWCO (2011– 

2015), is a published and exhibited photographer 

based out of Berlin, Germany. Her books Beyond 

Borders: Portraits of American Women from 

Around the World (2008) featured inspiring 

FAWCO women, and to accompany the FAWCO 

Symposium on Human Trafficking, Hope is the 

Thing with Feathers (2016) portrayed human 

trafficking survivors and change-makers based in 

the Netherlands. 

49

Souvenirs from Across the FAWCO World 

Saint Basil's Cathedral is regarded as 

a cultural symbol of Russia. Built in 

1555-1561, the original building, 

known as Trinity Church and 

later Trinity Cathedral, contained eight 

churches arranged around a ninth, 

central church. A tenth church was 

erected in 1588 over the grave of 

venerated local saint Vasily 

(Basil). The building is shaped like the 

flame of a bonfire rising into the 

sky. It is like no other building – 

a strangeness that astonishes by its 

unexpectedness, complexity and 

dazzling interleaving of the manifold 

details of its design. 

Annalize Smith, FAWCO REP AWO Moscow, 

Region 2 

Frankfurt is a vivid mix of old and 

new architecture. This is a view 

of Frankfurt skyline with Römer 

Cathedral in the background from 

one of six bridges right in town 

across the Main River. 

Danita Waterfall-Brizzi, President, AIWC 

Frankfurt, Region 5 

50

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most 

iconic structures in the world. Just 

like the Statue of Liberty in NYC, it 

represents a city and the feelings 

and ideas associated with that city. 

For me Paris represents creativity, 

stimulation and romance. I choose 

this photo of the Eiffel Tower because 

it was taken at sunrise when the 

city is still sleeping; you have the 

impression you are alone to take in 

the beauty of the iron lady and keep 

her as your own personal secret and 

romance with no one else around. 

Krystal Kenney, Member at Large, AWG 

Paris, Region 3 

The streets of Bogotá are filled with 

the shouts of "Aguacate, aguacate!" 

from mobile vendors with carts piled 

high with bright green orbs. Choosing 

the right avocado is a quintessential 

skill and art form in Colombia, 

utilizing all of one's senses. You 

don't just tell the vendor the number 

you want to buy, but when you want 

them for to ensure they will be 

perfectly ripe when you need them to 

be. "Four, please, two for today and 

two for Thursday." To me, there's no 

better souvenir than experiencing 

Colombia's rich agriculture and food 

culture in this way. 

Mary Stange, FAWCO Rep, AWC Bogotá, 

Region 10 

51

Dunnottar Castle is a must. It is one 

of the favorite locations for our 

Photography Club to meet as you 

always get a different photo. 

Caroline Aylmer Sanford, AAW of 

Aberdeen, Region 1 

Sunset on the Arabian/ 

Persian Gulf at the 

Saudi Aramco beach. 

This beach is popular 

because it is one of the 

few places in Saudi 

where people can wear 

bathing suits to enjoy 

the beach and the 

beautiful waters of the 

Gulf. The people in the 

photo are dressed in 

traditional Saudi garb. 

Therese Hartwell, former 

President and FAWCO Rep, 

AWEP, Region 9 

52

Hassan II mosque This beautiful 

mosque in Casablanca was built to 

commemorate the former king’s 

(Hassan II) 60th birthday. The 

mosque stands right at the edge of 

the water and its 210-meter-tall 

minaret is one of the city’s major 

landmarks. The building showcases 

the talent and craft of Moroccan 

artisans. The miles-long coast of 

Casablanca and Ain Diab are very 

important to the citizens. Walking, 

running, swimming, football are 

enjoyed there every day. The minaret 

can be seen throughout this area. 

Cynthia Smith-Ayed, RC and FAWCO Rep, 

AIWC Casablanca, Region 7 

This photo, taken from Piazzale 

Michelangelo, is emblematic of 

Florence and its status as an 

open-air museum city, the 

cradle of the Renaissance. 

Diedre Pirro, FAWCO Rep, AILO 

Florence, Region 8 

53

Our favorite place to visit will always 

be the Grand Place. Filled with 

festivals all summer long and special 

events throughout the year. It never 

disappoints. One event takes place 

every two years, a carpet made of 

flowers. The carpet, measuring 77 m 

x 24 m, is prepared by about 120 

volunteers with nearly one million 

begonias in less than four hours. 

Heather Bloemperk, FAWCO REP AWC 

Brussels, Region 4 

One of my favorite places 

to walk is along Elliot Bay 

and the Puget Sound in 

West Seattle. The views 

extend from Mt. Baker in 

the north, the Olympic 

Mountains to the west, Mt. 

Rainier to the south and 

across Elliot Bay to the 

Seattle skyline. The 

outdoor art along the way 

complements the natural 

beauty of the area. 

Michele Hendrikse DuBois, 

Regional and Seattle Metro 

Coordinator, FAUSA 

54

For months, I walked across this 

bridge over the Limmat river every 

evening to the main train station 

after my German class, so I equate 

this view with me becoming a part of 

Zürich. I guess, when I close my 

eyes and think of Zürich, this is 

what I see. 

Laurel McDonald, FAWCO REP AWC Zürich, 

Switzerland, Region 6 

The dabbawalas are a lunchbox 

delivery and return system that 

delivers hot lunches from homes and 

restaurants to people at work in 

India, especially in Mumbai. 

Between 175,000 and 200,000 

lunch boxes are moved each day and 

it is frequently claimed that 

dabbawalas make less than one 

mistake in every six million 

deliveries which sparks interest of 

many business studies. 

If you have the chance to visit 

Mumbai, go to Churchgate at 11:30 

a.m. and watch – fascinating! 

Karen Boeker, now member of AWC 

Denmark, in 2014-2015 member of ACIW 

Mumbai, Region 11 

55

A Club Inspires: AWC The Hague 

The American Women’s Club of The Hague, Netherlands is in FAWCO’s Region 4. Club president 

Barbara Brookman answers our questions about the club and what life is like living in The Hague: 

When, why and by whom was your club started? The American Women’s Club of The Hague 

was founded 90 years ago. The 25 th Anniversary History of the Club describes its founding as 

follows: “True to our national genius for sociability, a group of American women residing in The 

Hague gathered regularly at the hospitable home of Mrs. E. Daniels, who was one of the oldest 

American residents. In 1930, when her health began to fail, and in order to relieve her of this 

responsibility, it was felt the time had come to organize an American Women’s Club.” 

“The first meeting was held at the home of Mrs. Jesse van Wickel in the beginning of August, 

1930. Four women attended, and it was agreed to send out invitations to a luncheon to be held 

at the Hotel Vieux Doelen to all American women residing in The Hague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam 

and surrounding cities – saying that as prospective members of the club they could join at this 

luncheon. The affair was a great success as practically everyone invited came. The club was 

started with 55 charter members.” 

How many members do you have and what are their nationalities? The club has 175 members, 

126 of whom are US citizens. The other nationalities include Dutch (25), British (15) and Canadian 

(5). About 16 of our members have dual citizenship. We also have 22 Honorary members who 

have earned this distinction by being continuous club members for at least 25 years. 

How does the club run? We have monthly general meetings from September through June. 

November is our annual general meeting, where our budget is approved by the membership, 

and the election of the officers of the board takes place at our April general meeting. The club's 

constitution states that our board must consist of a President, Vice President, Treasurer and 

Secretary. The President and Vice President are required to be Regular members. Other board 

positions with voting privileges include a Club & Community Officer, Communications Officer, 

Clubhouse Administrator and Board Member at Large. A Board Advisor and Parliamentarian 

attend the monthly board meetings, but do not have voting rights. The slate of officers is created 

by a seven-person nominating committee, and typically we can only find one candidate per 

office, so officers run unopposed. 

AWC Board: left to right, Mary Ellen Brennan, Treasurer; Michelle Voorn, Communications; Carin Elam, Club & Community; Sarah 

Dunn, Treasurer; Melissa Rider, Vice President; Barbara Brookman, President 

56

What kind of events do you have in your club? We have several different types of activities in the 

club: ongoing activities, which take place weekly or monthly; one-of-a-kind activities, which 

happen only once as the name implies; arts activities, which include our many museum visits and 

lectures; and tours, which take place more infrequently. Our Vice President coordinates all 

events, helped by a group of leaders for the various ongoing and arts activities. 

In March, the pandemic forced us to reinvent 

ourselves quickly into a virtual club. The Club 

showed its resilience as we moved our 

activities online using Google Hangouts and 

Zoom to continue our general meetings, 

book clubs and even BYOB Thirsty Thursdays. 

We also quickly adjusted our print magazine, 

Going Dutch, to document what we’re living 

through individually and as a club. 

As we’ve come out of lockdown, we still 

don’t know what the fall will bring and what 

long-term changes are required to our usual 

activities, our Club events or even our ability 

to get together in person. What I do know is 

that this club will build on its strengths and find 

the spirit to adjust. 

Handbag Auction: AWC The Hague is rethinking the 

format for this year's Handbag Auction given the 

pandemic. In February 2019, we raised 4,070 euro for the 

FAWCO Target Project Hope Beyond Displacement. 

Do you raise money for any particular cause? Club member donations support a variety of 

charities during the club year through seasonal events like the Sinterklaas toiletry and gift drive or 

the Easter baskets drive. Our yearly TLC Dinner lavishes special attention on Club and community 

members going through a tough time. Club members meet once a month to sew heart pillows 

that are donated to women with breast cancer receiving care at area hospitals. 

We raise money and awareness for FAWCO’s target project through special events and the 

Handbag Auction. Our 2019 handbag auction raised 4,070 euros for the Hope Beyond 

Displacement target project. 

Our yearly Holiday Bazaar is a well-loved event that raises 

money for the club’s operations and philanthropic 

endeavors. The club also supports Overseas Americans 

Remember’s Fourth of July picnic and Thanksgiving 

celebration in the Pieterskerk in Leiden. 

What was your own favorite activity/event last year? From 

the great vendors to the bake sale, the raffle and an early 

visit by Santa, my favorite event last year was the Holiday 

Bazaar. Nothing brings the club together like those two 

days in November. The bazaar draws in many of our 

members, even those that don’t normally participate in 

club events, and is a real teambuilder for the club. 

Bakesale: Our bake sale is a popular stand 

at our yearly Holiday Bazaar. 

What else would you like us to know about your club? As a 

proud founding member of FAWCO, the AWC of The 

Hague has contributed greatly to FAWCO over the years. 

Five Club members have been President: Ruth St. John 

(1959-61), Virginia Roth (1985-87), Georgia Regnault (1987- 

1989), Celeste Brown (2005-2007) and Emily van Eerten 

(2003-2005 - AWC Amsterdam then, 2019-2021, The 

Hague). Several members have also served on the 

57

Foundation Board or been Committee Chairwomen. The club has hosted one FAWCO 

Conference in 1961, two Interim Meetings (1935 and 2004) and many Regionals. 

In addition, the King has named four of our club members (Jane Choy, Roberta Enschede, 

Georgia Regnault and Anne van Oorschot) Knights in the Order of Oranje Nassau. This signified 

not only that these women have played an active role in their club, but also that they have 

made exceptional contributions to Dutch society through their volunteer work. 

Tell us a little about your city and country in general. I grew up in The Hague but left for the US 

almost 30 years ago, in my early 20s. I returned two years ago to a city that has changed a lot 

since I lived here before. It’s far more international and it’s a lot more fun than I remember. 

While often overshadowed by Amsterdam as a top tourist destination in The Netherlands, The 

Hague is better known as the International City of Peace and Justice, being home to the Peace 

Palace and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Amsterdam is the capital of The Netherlands, but 

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, so many embassies are located here as well. 

The city is rich in culture, with the Mauritshuis museum housing many famous artworks including 

Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp and Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. 

M.C. Escher's masterpieces are magnificently displayed in Queen Mother Emma's winter palace. 

Not to be overlooked is the Panorama Mesdag, a cylindrical painting more than 14 metres high 

and about 40 metres in diameter depicting the sea, beach and village of Scheveningen in the 

late nineteenth century. 

Prinsjesdag: On Prinsjesdag, the opening of Parliament by the King, the 

club hosts a luncheon at a restaurant which gives us a bird’s eye view of 

the royal procession, which ends with the balcony scene. 

58 

One of The Hague's most regal 

pageants is Prinsjesdag – on the 

third Tuesday in September – when 

the King officially opens 

Parliament. King Willem-Alexander 

and Queen Máxima travel by 

Golden Coach from the 

Noordeinde palace to the 

Binnenhof in a large procession of 

carriages, military bands and other 

escorts on foot and on horseback. 

The procession snakes along the 

downtown streets lined with school 

kids, tourists and ordinary citizens 

wearing lots of orange. Once 

arrived on the Binnenhof, the King 

delivers the Speech from the 

Throne in the medieval Knight’s 

H a l l , a n n o u n c i n g t h e 

government’s plans for the 

upcoming year in the presence of 

both houses of Parliament, the 

government ministers and foreign 

dignitaries. Afterward, the procession returns to the Palace for a balcony scene. 

For many years, the club has organized events around Prinjesdag: a luncheon at a restaurant 

overlooking the procession and a walking tour along the route the week before to learn more 

about the event, the Dutch monarchy and the historic buildings along the route. Last year, I had 

the opportunity to lead the walking tour, which had me brushing up on everything I learned in 

civics class many years ago. 

This year, the ceremony will be held in The Hague’s oldest church to allow for social distancing. 

It’s not clear yet how the pandemic will change other aspects of the event.

BLACK LIVES MATTER 

A 

CONVERSATION 

IN PHOTOS 

“Show me your strength” (Mahawa) 

59

In a time when we are dealing with a global pandemic, we were confronted with an issue that 

was long overdue attention. But in life, often the biggest growth happens in the darkest times. 

“We all matter” was my first thought. But the murder of George Floyd in front of that camera 

made me witness an act and I couldn’t look away. It made me think of my own childhood 

experiences, how different they were than for many others and how privileged that made me. 

In later years, my travels in the Congo in Africa had already given me a chance to change my 

thoughts and personal opinions. But here I had an opportunity to do something else. 

So, I invited people with African roots inside my photographic studio and started a conversation 

with them about how they are experiencing these times and what I might be able to do to 

make a difference. 

As a white female photographer, I never had the experiences I was hearing about. Never had 

to think about if my child was going to be accepted in school or not. Never had to think about 

my strolls through the streets and being stopped or hearing words that made me feel less 

worthy. Our society, or so I had thought, was getting used to being made up of a mix of people 

from all over the world. We were travelling more easily and people from different backgrounds 

were melting together. We were seeing people of many different generations living in countries 

different from their ancestors. But this was my world and my experience, not that of everyone. 

The models that came to the studio all expressed the same feelings. Every one of them was 

positive about the BLM movement, about the extra attention and the fact that the world is 

listening to them now. 

In the brief time I spent with them, what did I see and learn? I saw greatness, love and a joy in 

life. I believe that it is this passion that will start to eliminate the past issues. Determination and 

focus will be the elements of success. But most of all, it is LOVE that will win, especially if we stop 

focusing on the color of our skin and instead look inside the souls who share the same planet 

with us. 

Today with COVID-19, we are living in a time where our comfort zone has been smashed to 

pieces. I think this gives us a unique opportunity to stop, think, learn and grow. We can make a 

better community for us all. There are treasures to be found in the middle of this awful 

pandemic if we look hard enough. I have faith that it is all going to be for the best. 

I am honored to have had the chance to make this contribution, to share what I saw and to tell 

a small story to this big world. No one should be born to feel less worthy. 

Through my work as a photographer, I hope to show the beauty of their souls in a black and 

white setting. 

Thank you for this opportunity to share my thoughts and give my eye a taste of change. 

Brigitte Meuwissen is a member of AWC Antwerp who was born in Belgium 

and raised in different countries. She is a freelance photographer and the 

mother of two wonderful daughters. With her images, she is bringing a 

sparkle of laughter and fun into someone's life. For her art is irreplaceable in 

challenging times and a photo is a moment in that will last for generations to 

come. Currently she is teaching the “Art of Seeing,” a photography course 

through which she is helping people to understand the light and beyond. 

She has taught this course previously at different universities. Her fascination 

in telling stories and showing emotions through her portraits is a gift in which 

she specialises. She is also working on her book “Women We Are,” portraits 

of women in their favorite place. www.brigittemeuwissen.be 

60

“African 

Roots” 

(Annabelle) 

“The Future” 

(Guy) 

“Happy 

“Happy 

in My 

in My 

Skin” 

Skin” 

(Ken) 

(Ken) 

“Love yourself” 

(Rania) 

61

62

A Love Story with 

Sorrento, Italy 

MAUREEN CAMELO WHITING 

Member: American International Women’s Club of 

Naples, Italy 

From: Vermont, USA 

Lives: Between Queensbury, NY and Sorrento, Italy 

Maureen’s Story in Images 


I met Gennaro from L'Antica Trattoria Ristoranti in Sorrento which is a very special place to me. 

Not only is the cuisine delicious but it is art and you are always made to feel very special. When I 

have visitors come to see me in Sorrento I love to share the experience even if it is just for a glass 

of prosecco and a flower for your hair. 

63


The 14th century Cloister of San Francesco in Sorrento is one of the serene spots close to the city 

center. It is also the home of many exhibits, weddings and concerts. But the true tranquillity is 

the rooftop. It 

inspires me to 

stop and take a 

breath, to take 

in the beauty 

around me. The 

swing is always 

there, art in itself. 

I frequent this 

spot often, even 

if just for a few 

moments… a 

reminder to me 

that life is short, 

and I should 

take in the 

beauty when I 

can. 

One of my early photos from Italy: 

On the outside wall of the Sassi in 

Matera, Basilicata. One of the most 

interesting areas of Italy. Famous for its 

extensive cave dwellings, it is now a 

UNESCO site. The brilliance of the 

flowers added such beauty to the stark 

setting. I have been back since that first 

visit and able to explore even more. 

64

An image my family 

would know was mine: 

This is Mount Vesuvio as 

seen from the beach 

in Castellammare di 

Stabia. 

I have such a 

fascination for her. The 

fact that you can see 

the volcano from so 

many different areas. 

She graces so many of 

my photos. 


... a sense other than sight: 

Contentment… no COVID-19! My dad at 93. Not a care in the world. Well deserved. 

65

… peacefulness: 

Lake Champlain waiting for the ferry from Vermont 

…nature: 

Homer, 

Alaska. I love 

the beauty of 

the glaciers 

and of the 

fireweed. The 

scent of 

berries and 

citrus in the 

air is amazing. 

66


Paris with my 

daughter 

67 

… laughter: 

Starting our Sicily adventure with ladies from our club, AIWC Naples. Five women, 

one car: Mamma Mia!

… admiration: 

Bernadette 

Clahane, the 

bravest, most 

adventurous 

travel partner 

there ever was. 

Maureen’s Story in Words 

I grew up in a small town between the edge of the Adirondack Mountains and historic Lake 

Champlain. Only hours away from New York City and Montreal you could find excitement, 

culture, museums and art. 

My heritage is Italian and Irish. Family was a very important part of my life as it still is today. 

Sundays were special as my parents, brother and sister traveled to my grandparents for Sunday 

dinner with my extended family. This carried through to my adult life. After high school in the 

early 70s I left for college in Vermont where I graduated with a Physical Education degree. 

Marriage, teaching, children followed. I transitioned to doing childcare at home after I lost my 

childcare. It was an easy transition, as I adapted my home to mini gym and was able to stay 

home and work at the same time. As the children all left for school, I pursued my second career 

as an RN, moved on to Care Management. Children grown, single again I was given a chance 

for a new chapter of my life to travel. 

My daughter graduated with a degree in photography, hence the family photographer. Up 

until this time traveling was mostly wherever my children were. So, I was fortunate to see parts of 

the country and my children at the same time. Thanks to my parents, who had become world 

travelers after we had all left the nest, a door opened for me. They were unable to take a 

planned trip due to my mom’s health. So, I stepped in and took the trip instead. I was off to 

Ireland and never looked back. 

With my new travel bug, I decided I wanted to record my adventures. In pursuit of that perfect 

photo or at least "that's nice Mom" from my daughter. I’m still looking for the perfect photo, if it 

really exists, but I am enjoying trying to find it. The pursuit brought me to Sorrento where I found 

my second home and life. I fell in love with Sorrento and have made such wonderful 

relationships and was introduced to AIWC Naples. Was fortunate also to be able to go to the 

conference in The Hague. Today I share my time between home here in Queensbury NY and 

home in Sorrento. I have the best of both worlds this way. 

68

Karen Axelrad 

It’s a most liberating feeling not carrying a heavy 

camera with lenses, tripods, etc. I travel with my 

iPhone and an iPad to process the photos. My 

camera is always with me as well as a mini, 

lightweight selfie stick (to take photos from 

angles and stabilize the camera) and also a 

remote control. 

Being a bit of a gadget freak, I have 

downloaded many apps, a few of which I will 

explain here. 

When David Hockney published his cubistic 

Polaroids I desperately wanted to try a similar 

technique, but taking hundreds of Polaroids was 

simply too expensive. Years later I jumped at the 

chance to buy my first digital camera. I could 

Looking Down #seethis #distressedfx 

shoot away and it didn’t cost extra. Later I 

discovered the free app You Gotta See This 

and I was hooked. It turns out that it was 

known for the “Hockney Effect”. 

The photo Looking Down was taken with this 

app and then a texture was added with the 

distressedfx app. 

69 

Observing the Observer #hipstamatic #johns #maximuslxix

Night #hipstamatic #johns #blackeyssupergrain #triplecrown 

Stairs #hipstamatic #lowy #canocafenol #triplecrown 

One of my favorite apps is Hipstamatic. Each photo is taken with a lens, a film, and 

with or without a flash which is a software treatment. You can save favorite 

combinations or be surprised by using the shuffle function. I’ll often make multiple 

shots of the same photo to see which treatment I like the best. Hipstamatic is also 

great for black and white photos or sepia photos like the one above. 

Eye #hipstamatic #doubleexposure #johns #ina ’s1982 

J Wrapped #hipstamatic #doris #inas1935 #doubleexposure 

with Bernar Venet sculpture 

One of my favorite features of Hipstamatic is the ability to take double-exposures. For those of 

you too young to remember, in the old days of film cameras one had to pull a lever to advance 

the film to the next shot. If you forgot to do that, you got a double-exposure: the 2 nd photo was 

on top of the 1 st one. Hipstamatic has a lever to make double-exposures in-camera. Beware of 

accompanying me to an art museum — I’ll photograph the art and then turn the camera on 

someone near me. It is serendipitous when the gap in the painting occurs on the eye. 

70

DianaPhotoApp will randomly choose two 

photos and make a double-exposure out of 

them with various blending effects. There are 

many other apps that will also let you blend two 

or more photos together. 

Hang on to Your Mask #slowshutter #icolorama #stackables 

#oilist #distressedfx #superimposeX 

Another favorite app I like to use in art 

museums is Slow Shutter. It takes long 

exposures resulting in weird figures and 

movement. It also eliminates the fear of 

being sued by a stranger for posting their 

face online. 

Rambling #slowshutter #icolorama # distressedfx #superimposeX 

Recently I’ve been experimenting with a new 

app called Imaengine. It turns a pixel photo into 

a vector graphic. All photos are made with pixels 

and the quality decreases if blown up too much. 

A vector graphic is made with lines and can be 

blown up immensely without losing quality, but 

the gradations are too sharp and obvious for a 

normal photo. It can, however, be used to 

achieve unusual artistic effects, made with just a 

few colors. 

4-Toned Me #imaengine 

Self-portraits are fun for experimenting and the 

model is always with you. In this self-portrait, I 

painted a number of the effects. 

71 

Hiding the Spots #iPhone5s #iColorama #mexturesapp

Last, but not least, the app I 

recommend if you only have one 

app as it is free and incredibly 

versatile: Snapseed. The 1 st photo 

was taken with Hipstamatic at the 

MuCEM in Marseille, but I used 

Snapseed to bring out the sky and 

tones in the 2 nd photo. 

This photo won an award for the Mira 

Mobile Prize and was exhibited in 

Porto in 2019. 

Wet Reflections #hipstamatic#kaimalmarkii #blackeyssupergrain 

Karen Axelrad was raised in Los 

Angeles, studied at UC Berkeley and 

got her Masters in Architecture at 

UCLA where she met her German 

husband. They had an architecture 

partnership (Schiedhelm-Partner) in 

Berlin until his death in 2011. She has 

two grown s ons and one 

granddaughter. She is politically 

active in American Voices Abroad 

and Democrats Abroad. You can 

see more of her photography on 

Instagram: 

h t t p s : / / w w w . i n s t a g r a m . c o m / 

iphotami/ 

and Flickr: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ 

karenaxe/ 

72 

Wet Reflections 2 #hipstamatic#kaimalmarki#blackeyssupergrain 

#snapseed

Candidly 

Documenting Life in 

Moscow 

DEBORAH HOEHNER 

Member: American Women’s Organization 

Moscow, Russia 

From: Grew up in Dallas, TX but calls Boston, MA 

home 

Lives: Moscow, Russia 

Deborah’s Story in Images 


These kinds of photos convince me more and more of the love I have for documentary 

photography. There is just no repeating an exact situation. I had known this boy since he was 

about six months old, and he was always full of energy. As he was playing on the playground, 

he decided that these girls, who were eating a snack and having a conversation, just needed 

to be given a ride. 

73


I named this image “The Three Gymnasts”. I went to my friend’s daughter’s gymnastics class my 

first year in Moscow in 2009, and I happened to have my camera with me. To me this image is 

timeless and brings out three emotions and personalities of these little girls: calm, stressed and 

determined. Also, the diagonal line on the wall makes the composition more interesting. 

A photo people would know was mine: 

I’ve done many spontaneous shoots, and you can see elements of that spontaneity in these photos. I 

like this photo of my friend, a former ballerina in Moscow. We were having coffee in front of the 

Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC after her ballet class when she slipped her ballet shoes back on 

and posed in what she was wearing that day. 

74


My brother and his family had lived in Ukraine in the early 2000s for six years. They returned in the 

summer of 2013 to visit places and friends before the situation changed dramatically in that country 

less than six months later. I joined them for a bit of the trip, and it was special to take part in their walk 

down memory lane. In this image, we were having lunch and tea on a train from Yalta to Donetsk. 

An image where circumstances were not as they first seemed: 

I took this photo on Nikolskaya Street (near Red Square) during the World Cup 2018 semi-final game 

between Russia and Croatia. Despite Russia’s low-ranking, their team got really far in the games. 

There was so much spirit, excitement and anticipation in the air, even though, in the end, they lost. It 

was a memorable night! 

75


… a sense other than 

sight: 

Hearing. The Choir 

Boys. After listening 

to the angelic voices 

of these boys, I 

watched them storm 

out of the hall after 

their practice. 

… nature: 

A traditional Russian country home, called a dacha, about an hour and a half north of Moscow. 

76


Moscow, 2018. Playing in the snow in the magical winter. 

… laughter: 

A documentary style family photo session on Red Square, where the parents are letting their 

kids be kids! 

77

… tears: 

Russia’s May 9 

Victory Day 

walk called 

“The Immortal 

R e g i m e n t , ” 

w h e r e 

p a r t i c i p a n t s 

carry pictures 

of their family 

or friends who 

had served 

and died in 

World War II. 

… a woman in your life you admire: 

My Mom, who is the most giving and 

caring person I know, in her beloved 

New England. 

78

Deborah’s Story in Words 

I grew up in Dallas, Texas until my university years. However, two of those years were spent 

overseas. When I was seven years old, my family moved to Germany for a year, where my 

father taught us to count to 10 in German and then sent us off to German schools. Also, when I 

was 16, we lived in Cambridge, England for a year, where I attended a British school. 

I had been taking photos all my life, but it wasn’t until the spring of 2009 that I finally got this 

urge to “try” photography. My sister and sister-in-law had taken photos of their children 

through the years, and I loved how they captured many candid and now cherished moments. 

My father, too, many years earlier, had been interested in photography. It surprises me that I 

didn’t pick up photography earlier on, as I have always been best inspired visually. 

Being immersed in cultures not my own has taught me to appreciate different cultures and the 

people living in them. Over the years, I have learned to adapt more easily to various 

situations and changes. These experiences gave me the determination to live overseas upon 

graduation from university. Six months before I graduated from the University of Texas, I 

traveled across Europe, visiting Russia for the first time. After graduating, I worked for the 

student organization I had been involved with at the university, which brought me first to Minsk, 

and then to Russia, where I have lived for the past 25 years. Almost five years ago, I began 

working as a freelance photographer. 

79

Judy Furukawa 

When facing the question, “Is it a mountain or a hill?”, the answer was always easy. Hills don’t 

have snow year-round, mountains do. I will admit to having chuckled and sneered when my 

husband pointed to “Mount Tom” in western Massachusetts during my first trip to his hometown. 

Late November, no snow, don’t waste my time… A few years later, my mother joined us there 

for Thanksgiving and asked what the name of the “hill” was. He was sure I’d put her up to it. 

Not at all, she was a Seattle native who knew her mountains. Yes, I am, as Richard says, a 

certified mountain snob. 

The Yakima Valley in 

Washington state is where I was 

born and raised. The majestic 

snow covered peaks of the 

Cascade Mountains are 

within a short driving 

distance. The Native American 

tribes in the region believed 

that powerful demons lived on 

the peaks and watched those 

below. Hiking above the 

timberline would disturb them 

and was discouraged. Now the 

Cascade Mountains are 

popular recreational areas, 

both for hiking in the summer 

and skiing in the winter. There is 

a viewpoint on Highway 82 

where you can see Mount 

Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount 

St. Helens and possibly Mount 

Baker if you are lucky. 

80

Views of Mount Hood grace the city of Portland, Oregon. I’ve also included a photo of Crater 

Lake, Oregon (near Medford), which was formed when a volcano erupted and the 

cone fell inward. The cone is now known as “Wizard Island” because of its conical shape. 

Currently, we live in the United Arab Emirates. After more than 14 years in Belgium, we moved 

here in 2014. The UAE borders the Arabian Gulf and much of its early and current economy - 

shipping, tourism, water sports, sailing - relies on the water. The sale of natural pearls was the 

basis of its economy for decades in the past. The desert, however, is what most 

people associate with the UAE. 

Today the 

government 

Dubai 

is 

trying to restore 

the natural wildlife 

- the Arabian oryx 

and mountain 

gazelle. 

Falcons 

are not native to 

the area, but they 

are trained for 

hunting. The first 

were captured 

while on their 

migratory routes. 

They are now bred 

for sale. Because of 

the efforts of the 

UAE 

government 

81

to restore natural wildlife, no 

hunting is allowed in the UAE. 

Falcon owners therefore must 

travel to hunt. Falcons are the 

only animals permitted in the 

cabin of commercial aircraft in 

or out of the UAE. 

The Liwa area, where the Empty 

Quarter of the Emirate of Abu 

Dhabi meets the Empty Quarter 

of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 

is the high desert. This is where 

the largest dunes of the UAE are 

to be found. 

Most of these photographs were taken with an iPhone 8Plus. Aerial photos were taken from 

the window of a commercial flight. The Crater Lake photo was taken with the standard 

daylight filter on the 35mm lens with a Pentax DA SLR. 

Judy Furukawa is originally from the Pacific 

Northwest. She and her husband have lived 

in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates since 

2014 after more than 14 years in Waterloo, 

Belgium, where they raised their daughter. 

As there is no longer an active club in Dubai, 

Judy remains a member of the Brussels AWC. 

She is a past president and board member of 

the AWCB, has served as FAWCO 

Parliamentarian and has been the 

Citizenship Chair on the US Issues Team since 

2012. Her professional background is in 

education, and immigration and farmworker 

law. Her hobbies include travel, mah-jongg 

and photography. 

82

Krystal Kenney 

Now, more than ever, it is important to 

be able to take photographs. People 

are traveling more, raising families, 

starting businesses, and we all have a 

camera with us at all times, it’s called 

a phone! Social media is a useful tool 

for our private businesses and it's 

important to share with people in our 

lives and at work. 

I have been a photographer for over 

10 years and traveled the world 

photographing people and events 

before finally landing in Paris, where I 

started my full-time portrait company. Today, I would like to teach you how to take better 

photos of people with any type of camera including your smartphone, point and shoot camera, 

or a big DSLR professional camera. The following techniques can be used with all of the above 

types of camera and will help you to feel more confident while creating beautiful photographs 

of people in your life. 

#1 Timing is everything! 

Whenever possible it’s so important to shoot 

at sunset or sunrise. I always push for sunrise 

because there are usually fewer people 

around as well. These “golden hours” are 

the best time to shoot because the light is 

soft and airy, and it also creates a beautiful 

halo effect around your subjects' faces and 

bodies. Whenever possible, try to put the 

sun behind them, because no one looks 

good with bright sun shining in their face 

and blinding them, leaving them with 

squinty closed eyes. 

83 

#2 Never force a smile. 

The goal of my photography is to always create a natural 

impression. Whether I am shooting family portraits or an event I 

constantly chat with my clients to put them at ease. I never say 

SMILE!!!! Anytime you tell someone to smile on cue you will get the 

fakest smile; everyone turns into a deer in the headlights in that 

situation. Instead, I give verbal cues such as “Look into your 

partner’s eyes” or for children I tell their parents “Give the kids a 

tickle, or a big hug, tell your mom a secret.” The key to being a 

good photographer is anticipating moments, coming up with 

situations to create the moment you are dreaming of capturing. 

Also, especially for children it is important to give them more 

control. I ask kids “Would you rather run to the camera, or jump off 

that bench?” If you give kids some control in the situation, they are 

more likely to give you more of what you want. 

#3 Change your perspective. 

Whenever you are shooting children or pets it is important to get on their eye line. And by that, I 

mean the eye should always be your focus point; after all it is the window to the soul. Make sure 

to get down on the ground so that your camera is even with their eyes. If you are shooting your 

family with different sizes of kids, I recommend the taller kids pick up the smaller kids so they are

all on the same horizon for sight. If 

you shoot down a kid's face it will 

make their head look huge and not 

give you the realistic angle you are 

searching for. When it comes to 

shooting adult women, I do just the 

opposite, I try to shoot down a little 

at their heads because this creates 

a slimming effect. I climb up on 

benches or stairs to get these 

angles. It also creates a more 

interesting photograph for the 

viewer's eye if you can change your 

everyday perspective. 

#4 Give people something to do 

with their hands. 

People are always uncomfortable in 

general with being photographed 

and never know what to do with 

their hands. For couples I always tell 

them to hold hands and look at 

each other as they walk to me. For 

business portraits I have the subject 

hold onto a book or use a 

computer. If they are a chef have 

them prepare a plate or hold a 

cooking utensil. There is always a 

way to work a prop into your photos 

which will help your subject feel 

more comfortable and create a 

better photo. 

#5 Focus on the eyes 

As mentioned above the eyes are the windows to the soul and it’s so important that no matter 

the camera, you put the focus box on the subject's eyes. To put people at ease sometimes I tell 

them to close their eyes and take a deep breath and think of something funny, or I tell a joke, 

then I tell them quickly to open their eyes. In that split second you can capture someone's true 

relaxed look. 

#6 Simplify your backgrounds 

If your main subject is the person or 

people make sure you don't have 

any distracting backgrounds. I try 

to put people in front of wide-open 

spaces or plain walls. Also, make 

sure you don’t have anything 

strange sticking out of their head 

like a tree branch or a building; you 

can easily move yourself to avoid 

objects creeping into your shot. 

Remember that people are trusting 

you to tell them what to do. Pay 

attention to your surroundings. 

84

#7 Leading lines and the rule of thirds 

This comes down to the foundations of 

photography. Leading lines are lines that 

lead the viewer's eyes into your subject. They 

can be anything from a row of trees to a 

house or a wall. You want to attract the 

human eye to your subject. The rule of thirds 

consists of placing your subject a bit to the 

left or the right of your photo. You never 

want to place your subject directly in the 

center of a photograph because this is 

unappealing to the human eye. I 

recommend turning on your grid lines so you 

can practice using the rule of thirds. It’s easy to do either on a smartphone or a DSLR. 

#8 Imagine a fist above your subject’s head 

You always want to imagine a human fist above the person’s head before you take the shot. 

This is important because when you print the photo, the printer will always crop the photo, 

leaving you with a smaller image. If you do not leave some extra space above your subject’s 

face you will end up with chopped heads and body parts. Try not to chop your subject’s limbs 

off either, such as their feet and hands. 

#9 Shoot through something 

This idea comes back to composition. If you 

can shoot through flowers or a tree to 

frame your subject you will create a more 

interesting photo. Also, you can use 

landscapes to frame your subject, such as 

shooting through a bridge or buildings to 

create an urban frame around the people 

in your photo. 

#10 Have fun and break the rules 

Every great artist knows we learn the rules 

so we can break them. I hope the above 

rules will help you to take better photos of 

people but also don’t be afraid to play around and bend them. People will give you better 

poses if they feel comfortable around you. They will feel your energy, so make sure to laugh and 

have fun with them! 

If you want more, I also offer one-on-one photo lessons online from everything for iPhone to 

DSLR cameras on any subject. Contact me today to learn more and 

don't forget to check out my podcast, where I interview a different 

creative in Paris every week. La Vie Creative Podcast can be found 

on iTunes and Spotify. 

Krystal Kenney, a member of AWG Paris, is from Maryland but has called 

Paris, France home for the last eight years after she decided to move her 

photography business abroad. Since then she has won multiple awards for 

her photography and worked with many highly acclaimed clients including 

the American Ambassador to France, the Musee d’Orsay, and the Louvre. 

She specializes in event and portrait photography and runs a podcast 

based in Paris in which she interviews creatives weekly, called La Vie 

Creative Podcast. https://www.missparisphoto.com/ 

85

Always Thinking Big 

Picture in Germany 

ANNETTE WENDLAND 

Member: Munich International Women’s Club. 

Germany 

From: Germany 

Lives: In a small town on one of the two lakes just 

south of Munich 

Annette’s Story in Images 


This image was taken at the Tate Modern, during an exhibition of Olafur Eliasson. I love the way 

we became part of the art work, our silhouettes clearly defined. But the reason I chose this 

image is that I have made it my screensaver on my mobile phone, reminding me daily to think in 

broader terms, be open, explore whenever possible and most importantly to stay curious! 

86


One of my earliest images, taken on the 

beach of St. Peter Ording, northern Germany. 

The beach is the Wadden Sea World Heritage 

site, wonderful for long walks and many sports 

activities. For me it is important, as it was one 

of the first images I sold as a free-lance 

photographer; in this case it featured in the 

UK edition of the Condé Nast Traveller. 

An image where circumstances were 

not as they first seemed: 

This is an image of my youngest 

niece, which was taken for the 

book The Family Kitchen Garden. 

Both my nieces had been very 

generous playing model for the 

day, but to get that last shot in 

before the sunset, the only thing 

that got that inquisitive and cheeky 

smile was thanks to my sister 

emptying a bottle of water over my 

head while I was clicking away. It 

worked - it caught my niece’s 

attention and she could not stop 

laughing at me! 

87

A photo my family would know 

was mine: 

Flowers! Close-up, in a bunch or 

caught during a garden tour, they 

are filling up my archives more than 

any other subject. Following a 

couple of trips to the well-known 

English gardens of the Loire, more 

had been planned for this year, now 

next year… It is always a fun week 

with friends, staying in boutique 

hotels, exploring regional food and 

of course visiting glorious gardens. 


For many years now a group of us 

have been organizing a yearly girlie 

weekend. We do not always 

succeed but mostly we manage to 

find a time to suit us all. At the end of 

January we traveled to Bologna: 

what a wonderful city, just perfect 

for a long weekend. It really has so 

much to offer on the food and 

cultural front that it did not matter 

that it rained most of the time. This is 

a view into a shop selling 

homemade pasta – just one of many 

they have! 

88


… a happy 

day: 

W h a t a 

glorious view 

early morning 

in December. 

I was just on 

my way to the 

airport to visit 

my nieces, so 

not just a 

happy day 

but a happy 

week! 

… a treasured possession: 

Those who know me will 

not be surprised to learn 

m y m o s t t r e a sured 

possession is my cat 

(although the word 

“possession” may not be 

100% correct.) In this photo 

still a kitten, she is now just 

over 18 months old, keeps 

me on my toes and also 

keeps me sane, especially 

during these bizarre times. 

89

… laughter: 

In September 2018, this art installation of King Ludwig II was exhibited in the park of 

Nymphenburg Palace - just a reminder that there is always something to do and see in Munich! 

… nature: 

The view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, Switzerland: gorgeous views and hikes and a 

place I have spent many a holiday. 

90

Annette’s Story in Words 

I was born in Germany, but we moved when I was eight years old to the San Francisco area. A 

great experience, not knowing a word of English and the first time overseas - it was an exciting 

time for me! 

My family continued to move regularly between the US, Germany and Switzerland, after which I 

studied Hotel Management in Switzerland. I continued to travel frequently, working in the UK, 

Germany, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong before moving back to London and restarting 

a new career in photography. 

Photography was always something that I was interested in, but admittedly I did not venture 

beyond the traditional family photo until I started working and was able to take evening 

courses on various subjects from basics to developing film to using large-format cameras. When 

I reached a point in my career where I had to decide what my next step would be, I asked 

myself, what is it I really want to do for the rest of my life, budgets and marketing plans or 

perhaps photography. It was something I had to give a go, so off I went to study photography. 

Today I live in Bavaria, close to Munich, about an hour south on the Ammersee, one of the two 

lakes just south of Munich. I had been living and working in London for some time, and my initial 

plan was not to move to Munich. I came back for family reasons. The plan was for a short stay, 

but Munich and the area are so lovely that I got stuck and have now lived here for about 10 

years. But I found myself missing the English language and the international vibe. I joined MIWC, 

so that void has been filled now and I am enjoying my time here more each year. 

THE INSPIRING WOMEN TEAM IS 

“AUDITIONING” FOR ITS NEXT 

ISSUE! WE ARE ON A ”STAR 

SEARCH” FOR STORIES, PHOTO 

FEATURES, ARTICLES (OR PERHAPS 

A POEM!) FOR OUR THEME 

“WOMEN IN DRAMA”! 

91 

We are looking for 700-800-word max. pieces on women in drama (front of house or behind the scenes). 

Interested? For more details contact our editor now at: inspiringwomen.editor@fawco.org 

The deadline for submitting the feature is October 9th.

On a warm spring afternoon, my grandmother 

was busily painting flowers of the season while 

occasionally explaining the techniques to me. 

Since retirement as an art historian, she got a 

job painting Chinese watercolored plants and 

writing poems on white silks that are made 

into handkerchiefs and Chinese dresses for the 

foreign tourists. In the 1990s, tourism was 

becoming an important industry in China, and 

visitors to Beijing adored the traditional 

Chinese arts and crafts. Occasionally, I asked 

my grandmother questions about how to use 

the brush to bring liveliness to the petals and leaves. It never occurred to me to try to paint 

since I have been too busy trying to adjust to new school systems, languages, and cultures. 

Vickie Bu 

Suddenly, I heard a buzzing sound and it took me a while to realize that it was my alarm clock. I 

slowly woke up from my dream. I was actually in my humble one-room apartment in 

Heidelberg, Germany on a cold rainy morning at the end of November. I got ready for 

breakfast before starting my morning 

routine of reading books and learning 

languages. In addition to reading, I 

have also been enjoying crochet and 

knitting once the colorful autumn 

leaves start to fall. Throughout the 

day, my thoughts turned to my 

childhood adoration of colors and 

feeling of coming home whenever I 

visited art museums. 

It took me a few days to find a store 

where I could purchase decentquality 

yet relatively affordable art 

supplies. I tried out my first watercolor 

practice on December 2, 2019, after 

visiting the Christmas Market with a 

friend. I love the atmosphere of the Weihnachtsmarkt with its warmly lit shops selling all sorts of 

Christmas specialties from spiced tea mix and sweet delights to decorative candles and cookie 

cutters. While tasting some Wurst and drinking Glühwein, we talked about my friend’s recent 

vacation to Peru and her other adventures throughout Latin America, Southeast Asia, and 

Europe. Once I got home, I tried out my watercolor set and brushes immediately. My first 

attempt was awful and it took me some time before I could control the amount of water. I 

drew a series of Christmas cards and gave them out along with my crocheted Christmas tree 

ornaments as presents. 

92 

New Year 2020 started with the usual selforganized 

fireworks celebration in 

Heidelberg and probably in much of the 

world as well. As I admired the beautiful 

explosion of colorful flowers lighting up 

the sky, I was grateful for the usual scene 

of conviviality. I had been following 

closely the news about new types of lifethreatening 

coronaviruses coming out of 

Wuhan, China. It was important for me 

to get a holistic picture of the situation 

through watching various media in

Chinese, Japanese, English and a few other languages 

that I could understand. It was disheartening to watch 

reports of lives lost and the authorities scrambling for 

answers. My carefree days of just picking up a bag and 

purchasing a train ticket for spontaneous trips would be 

over for the unforeseeable future. I also stopped going to 

gatherings, because I recognized the severity of the 

situation and I could potentially be a target for racist 

crimes against East Asians. 

I prepared myself mentally from Christmas onward, since 

lockdown could mean spending most of the time at home 

in isolation alone, and the days are easily meld into a 

seamless whole. The word pandemic brings to my mind 

historical and faraway stories such as the Black Death that 

swept through medieval Europe and Spanish Flu of 1918. 

As the number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19 

increased worldwide, travel restrictions came into effect. A 

sense of euphoria was in the air at the bar near my home 

the day before the lockdown on March 24, 2020. After five 

years of absence from Facebook, I reconnected with 

many of my friends from around the world who work at 

hospitals, grocery stores, and other essential lines of work. 

They expressed fear and a sense of responsibility. I sent out numerous messages of 

encouragement because it was difficult remembering our conversations about their excitement 

and aspirations during our schooldays and now they were going to risk their lives. 

I used the time wisely to reflect on new directions in life and 

my connection to the world through drawing my own 

calendar this year with a theme of celebrating subtle 

seasonal transformation and writing a creative journal about 

my journey. My family members, friends and I sent each 

other interesting stories, practical tips, self-made masks, 

recipes and photography on various topics during the 

lockdown. The only thing I would do differently in the future is 

to accomplish my dreams as quickly as possible and to visit 

family and friends more often. 

Vickie Bu is a Canadian 

citizen who was born in 

Beijing and spent her 

early years in Tokyo 

before attending high 

school on the west coast 

of the United States. 

After graduating with a 

B.A. in Political Science 

and Public Policy from Toronto University, Vickie also studied in 

Paris and Vienna before moving to Germany. These days she 

works as receptionist in a hotel in Heidelberg and is a member 

of the Heidelberg International Women's Club. Vickie is always 

looking forward to exciting new adventures in life. 

93

Photographing the 

Dream from Paris 

COLLEEN SHAUGHNESSY-LARSSON 

Member: Association of American Women in 

Europe, Paris, France 

From: ”Originally, the United States” 

Lives: Paris, France 

Colleen’s Story in Images 


This is Beijing, October 1988. My 

husband, Erik, is always taking 

photos of me taking photos. I like 

this one because it has history and 

was taken in a different era of 

China. We traveled from Sweden to 

Finland by ship, then a night train 

from Helsinki to Moscow. The Trans- 

Siberian took us to Beijing, which 

was the only place we had made a 

hotel reservation. 

It was an interesting trip. We found 

that individual travelers were 

restricted from making plane 

reservations and eating in westernstyle 

restaurants. Then in a smaller 

town we were able to make one 

flight reservation. We were bemused 

once on the flight, when the 

captain said, “Prepare for landing”, 

all the passengers stood up, took 

their bags out of the overhead bins 

and stood for landing. 

94 

In China, we were truly visual to the 

inhabitants. We were asked to 

smuggle out photographs to the 

West. It was intriguing. The country 

would experience Tiananmen 

Square seven months later.


While on a Senegal river voyage on a converted freighter, we stopped in the Thiangaye village. 

The girls were excited to be using my phone to take a photo of me. They followed us everywhere 

through the village we were visiting. 

The image makes me smile more than laugh when I think that young women are similar in all 

cultures: curious and liking fashion, jewelry and gadgets. They want to break out and try new 

things and be more confident. 


I have many photos even 

earlier, but this is one of those 

that stands out in my memory. 

It shows three sisters from 

Canada at Crystal River, 

Florida. There were no waves, 

but seeing them holding up 

their shorts and their standing 

positions, it was too irresistible. 

95


Spontaneity makes my images 

recognizable. When I walk around with 

my camera I look for movement or an 

object that will change the static view. 

This location is an oasis village in 

southern Morocco. I saw these girls 

peeking around the corner. It was one 

of those “blink of an eye” moments. 

Anyone who knows me knows that, 

when I have the camera, the walk will 

take longer as I spend time looking at 

everything possible. 

My legacy photos: 

These images on the streets of Beijing and the Forbidden City are from 1988. They are part of a 

set. Before the negative was damaged, all four were printed and hung together in four 

separate frames in my apartments. In 2010 my niece, Elyse, wanted to carry on the set and has 

hung them wherever she moved. She guards the legacy of a bygone era. 

96

An image where circumstances were not as they first seemed: Why are these people sitting next 

to a cow’s head in a field in Elerai West Kilamanjaro, Tanzania? The man is accompanied by his 

mother, in the middle, and his wife. He has turned 50 and will now be able to drink alcohol in 

front of women. Younger men will butcher the cattle and he will be the mentor. 

Villagers from the surrounding area walked miles to attend. The sight of hundreds of them 

coming through the fields towards us, all in their colorful attire with impressive hair, ear, neck and 

ankle beaded adornment, was a remarkably, visual experience. 

For the coming 

- o f - a g e 

ceremony, the 

cow’s head is 

carried on the 

shoulder of 

another Massai 

in a parade 

c e l e b r a t i o n . 

There is often 

much singing, 

dancing and 

drinking during 

a celebration. 

An image that 

could be replicated 

as a painting: 

Coincidentally, this 

is the latest photo 

of mine that my 

artist sister, Kathy, 

saw and wanted 

to paint. The 

location is Rue 

Cremieux, near 

Gare de Lyon on 

a street noted for 

i t s c o l o r f u l 

facades. This 

house stands out 

as being different 

from the others 

because of its 

p r o v i n c i a l , 

p e a c e f u l 

a p p e a r a n c e 

during the COVID- 

19 lockdown. 

97



Sound. April 15, one month into lockdown. No planes, no boats, barely any people. Even the 

water was silent. 


Every day is a happy day when traveling. It is always difficult to choose. But these were 

especially happy Massai girls in Lake Natron, Tanzania, playing with the water and chasing each 

other around. 

98

… laughter: 

As with any 

d e p a r t u r e 

from a fun 

destination, 

there is lastm 

i n u t e 

scurrying in 

the airport 

gift shops to 

take back 

s o u v e n i r s . 

Across from 

the cigar 

shop was this 

publicity cutout. 

I couldn’t 

miss out on 

the lastminute 

idyllic 

image of 

Costa Rica! 

Although our vacation was entirely in nature with green and cloud forests, full of colorful birds, 

volcanoes and scenery, who could resist Santa on the beach? This ironic image makes me 

laugh with smiling memories of an enjoyable December vacation 1,000 km/670 miles north of 

the equator. 

… tears: 

This image conveys more shock and sadness than a tear. This is April 16, the day after the Notre 

-Dame fire. This member of the fire brigade became like one of the perching, staring 

grotesques 

designed by 

E u g è n e 

V i o l l e t - le- 

Duc in the 

1840s. With 

his phone, 

h e i s 

r e c o r d i n g 

images of 

t h e 

damagehe 

can see of 

the roofless 

Notre-Dame 

de Paris from 

above. 

99

… anger: 

My maternal uncle, Johnnie, 

believed in reincarnation. One 

day, while I was in rural Haines 

City, Florida, I looked out and saw 

a larger-than-normal Eastern Black 

Swallowtail on a recently planted 

bush, blooming in my mother’s 

favorite color, powder blue. 

Butterflies are unknown there. 

I grabbed my camera and moved 

in closer and closer. The butterfly 

kept sipping the nectar as if I were 

not there. After I had taken about 

30 shots from different angles, it 

finally flew away. 

I knew it was my mother come back to say hello before she took her final flight to the garden 

in the sky. A few days earlier, she had been in a tragic car accident, crushed when a speeding 

Ford Explorer drove on top of her. The inebriated driver, wearing no seatbelt, was thrown from 

the vehicle, landed in a field and eventually went to jail for 10 years. She was released in 2020. 

That makes me a little angry, but I know my mother went to a happier place. 

Life in South Dade County, south of Miami, 

was about boating in Biscayne Bay or slow 

cruising along the many Florida rivers. Next 

came the camping period in small family 

groups around Florida, heading north for family visits or crossing the United States several times. 

Due to a medical issue, my father was able to combine his vacation and sick time. In a country 

that provides 1–2 weeks vacation, we spent six weeks annually on vacation. 

Colleen’s Story in Words 

At the age of 16, I began my travel and photo independence by me traveling to Canada and 

the World’s Fair. By the age of 22, confused with life, unhappy in marriage, I “prostituted” myself 

you could say and followed a military husband to Germany in order to travel. After the tour of 

duty, I knew I would return to Europe anyway possible. After many ups and downs in life, 

securing college degrees and planning, within the decade I returned to Europe traveling with a 

friend and basically never left. 

Photography became important in my life with my first Kodak Instamatic. When my camera was 

stolen in Greece, I felt lonely, empty and had to replace it. I think a camera gives me a 

temporary sense of confidence, not shyness, not wanting to invade another’s space if they see 

me, even though I was educated as a photojournalist. 

Living in Paris has been a long European journey that started in 1992. I also met my soulmate, 

Erik, who had a job in Paris. By this time I was working with American Airlines, commuting 

between Paris and Chicago for 20 years. During that time my website colleensparis.com came 

to life; it is resting right now with occasional updates. 

Since 2010 I have been a member of Toastmasters International. Toastmasters gave me the selfconfidence 

(which is still a work in progress) to test my leadership abilities in various club and 

district roles. Today, I am the Division Director in North France with 700 members and 31 clubs. 

Many of the older photos in this collection are from scanned images in photo albums. Life 

doesn’t stop until it stops. To quote myself: “Enjoy the moment, it only happens once.” 

100

“Between worlds, time, space, matter, air and 

ice. I stumble about staring indecently at 

erotic auroras, blindingly blue glaciers, at 

landscapes so giant I feel curiously dwarfed. 

Immersed, untethered, unable to absorb. This 

fragile sacred place makes me weep and 

warp. Ghostly pioneers and portals appear, I 

disappear….” 

[DIARY EXCERPT / EXHIBIT INTRODUCTION] 

It’s October 1, 2018. We set sail at sunset. Near 

midnight we’re still gliding through the crisp 

Arctic waters. Below deck, many are grasping 

their phones, watching their 

connection with the “real world” 

dwindle. Above deck, a few souls 

are braving the tooth-chattering 

cold. We’re sprinkled with snow and 

admiring deadly icicles dangling 

from the rigging. Not a bone in my 

body wants to go indoors, not until 

my nose freezes off! 

Barquentine tall ship. My shipmates are 

scientists and artists. Feeling elated I look up to 

welcome the snow. I yelp loudly as I watch a 

green fleck turn into a giant aurora that soaks 

the ship and the entire bay in its magical 

dancing light. My heart bursts with glee, and 

it’s only our first night on board! 

Four weeks spent in utter glorious awe of true 

adventure: it’s exhilarating, purifying and 

awakening. I feel change and sense that 

nothing in my life will ever be the same. The 

“musts,” “needs” and incessant “doing” melt 

away and morph into a delirious, curious 

childlike state of simply “being.” 

“This is actually happening,” I 

remind myself as a lifelong dream is 

unfolding. I’m on an Arctic 

expedition, heading north in the 

Svalbard Archipelago, on a 

101

during landings: laying down a line of road 

markings made of waxed parchment as a 

symbolic intrusion into this pristine world. 

We push up north through treacherous 

weather and eventually make it to 400 km 

from the North Pole. I witness everything with 

newfound awareness. We stand on rocks 

where whalers stood centuries ago and visit 

ghost towns that tell tales of broken dreams. I 

feel akin to the pioneers who risked their lives 

to explore these unchartered territories and 

find myself obsessed by them. 

With epic hiking adventures and long spells to 

do our art, I’m in my element. I photograph the 

landscape, document artwork, wear my 

replica of Captain Scott’s snow goggles and 

do a performance ritual “Paving the Way” 

Our expedition on the Antigua feels urgent. 

We sit on deck, our silence broken 

occasionally by a passionate discussion about 

current issues, but in hushed tones. It seems the 

landscape requires this reverence. The further 

north we sail, the more silent I fall. This place 

takes my breath away. I feel humbled, 

insignificant and dwarfed into oblivion. 

Oftentimes I can’t even move my camera to 

my eye and choose instead to simply merge 

with this divinity. I begin experiencing a state 

of being “between,” a feeling of transient, 

unseen energy. 

The expedition becomes symbolic for my inner 

journey. The endless Polar desert, the stark 

mountain peaks, melting glaciers, white 

belugas, the armed guides, the bear tracks, 

the light shockingly diminishing by twenty 

minutes a day, all of it a message, an insight, 

even now. And how it moved me. The Arctic 

still pulls at my heartstrings today, like a lover 

lost at sea. 

I lost – and found – myself on this journey. I 

have always struggled to do what I love and 

likely what I was born to do. My quest 

102

continues through a new series of 

art. Using a process of photocompositing, 

I place human 

figures (archetypes of the human 

condition) into the purity of the 

Arctic landscape. It’s a symbolic 

“reclaiming of the self” process 

and a reminder to consider our 

fragile blue planet and also our 

time on it. As Mary Oliver so 

profoundly wrote, “What is it you 

plan to do with your one wild and 

precious life?” 

103 

Patricia Ramaer, member of 

AWC Central Scotland & AWC 

Amsterdam, got stranded in 

Scotland after graduating with 

her Masters in Fine Art and 

Humanities and fell in love with 

the wild, remote landscape. 

Originally from Vancouver, 

Canada, she is addicted to art, 

early photography, mysticism 

and exploring the great 

outdoors. The Quantum Artist. 

Mystic. Visionary. Explorer 

www.patriciaramaer.com 

www.authorinteriors.com/ 

spotlight-on-the-makerpatricia-ramaer

Inspiring You 

Founded in 1931, FAWCO is a global women’s NGO (non-governmental organization), an 

international network of independent volunteer clubs and associations comprising 60 

member clubs in 31 countries worldwide, with a total membership of around 10,000 women 

and men. FAWCO serves as a resource and a voice for its members; seeks to improve the 

lives of women and girls worldwide, especially in the areas of human rights, health, 

education and the environment; advocates for the rights of US citizens overseas; and 

contributes to the global community through its Global Issues Teams and The FAWCO 

Foundation, which provides development grants and education awards. Since 1997, FAWCO 

has held special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. 

OUR MISSION STATEMENT 

FAWCO is an international federation of independent organizations whose mission is: 

• to build strong support networks for its American and international membership; 

• to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide; 

• to advocate for the rights of US citizens overseas; and 

• to mobilize the skills of its membership in support of global initiatives for education, the 

environment, health and human rights. 

MAGAZINE FEEDBACK 

We want this magazine to be interesting for all FAWCO members. In an 

effort to provide articles of interest to all of our readers, we have created 

an online feedback questionnaire. It should only take a few minutes of your 

time to complete and will be a great help to us! 

Please click on the link or paste it into your browser 

to complete the survey. 

SURVEY 

THANK YOU! 

ADVERTISING DISCLAIMER 

FAWCO receives financial remuneration for page space from advertisers. Views expressed or 

benefits described in any display advertisement, advertorial or in any webpage visited online 

directly from these adverts are not endorsed by FAWCO. 

104

More About This Issue 

For more information about this magazine, please contact a member of the Inspiring 

Women team: 

Editor in Chief, Liz MacNiven, inspiringwomen.editor@fawco.org. 

Advertising and Sponsorship Manager, Elsie Bose, advertising@fawco.org. 

Distribution Manager, Karen Boeker, iwdistribution@fawco.org 

Social Media Manager, Berit Torkildsen, iwsocialmedia@fawco.org 

Club Features Coordinator, Michele Hendrikse Du Bois, inspiringwomenclubfeatures@fawco.org 

The Inspiring Women Team 

Liz Elsie Karen Berit Michele 

Acknowledgements: 

Thanks to our profilees Annette, Colleen, Deborah, Haley, Judes, Maureen, Monica 

and Tamara, and to Barbara (AWC The Hague) for taking the time to participate in 

this edition and for the use of their photos and those of their friends and families. 

Thanks also to Ania, Brigitte, Cyndy, Judy, Karen, Krystal, My-Linh, Patricia, Tharien and 

Vicky for their pieces, as well as to all the people who contributed to the Souvenir 

Photos feature! 

Special thanks to the proofreading team of Karen Boeker (AWC Denmark), Laurie 

Brooks (AWC Amsterdam/AWC The Hague), Sallie Chaballier (AAWE Paris), Janet 

Davis (AIWC Cologne), Mary Dobrian (AIWC Cologne), Janis Kaas (AAWE Paris/ 

FAUSA), Carol-Lyn McKelvey (AIWC Cologne/FAUSA), Lauren Mescon (AWC 

Amsterdam), Mary Stewart Burgher (AWC Denmark) and Jenny Taylor (AIWC 

Cologne and Düsseldorf). 

Copyright 2020 FAWCO 

Inspiring Women© Magazine is owned and published electronically by FAWCO. 

All rights reserved. All bylined articles are copyright of their respective authors as indicated herein and 

are reproduced with their permission. The magazine or portions of it may not be reproduced in any form, 

stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, 

photocopy or otherwise – without written consent of the publisher. 

105

The Cover Photo 

”Me2: Lindsey” (2009) - by Aviva Brooks 

“I could have become the person I ‘should’ have become in 

New York. But I forgot to leave Paris. That day, my life 

changed paths. And the funny thing is that this path crosses 

others, lots of others, that are where they are also by chance 

or a split-second decision. These are photos of me, they’ve 

become photos of us.” 

30 years ago, Aviva Brooks, member of AAWE Paris, left Wall 

Street for Paris, where she lives and works today in 

photography, painting, and video. In 2009, during an artist 

residency, she took a look at her childhood friends’ lives in 

New York and brought back a series of photos that, although 

very personal at first, touched on a more widely shared 

feeling: apparently, a lot of us often ask ourselves “What 

would my life be like if…?” It’s about the life that we didn’t 

live, our “normal”, that in turn - and with time - became a fantasy of its own, and to which we 

often refer in our moments of reflection. 

A cross-disciplinary American artist, Aviva draws on the contrast between American and French 

cultures, she explores the interstices, the tension that separates – or unites – the visual and the 

written, the action and the thought, the energetic immediacy and the distant elegance, the 

present and the past, childhood and adulthood, American black or white and European 

shades of grey. On her way, she paints artifacts from the passage of time, thus documenting 

the tipping point where an era becomes the “past” : telephone booths, public benches, 

Volkswagen "combis", neon signs… 

In addition, Aviva works with Parisian hospitals to transform their environment, incorporating 

soothing and uplifting art into waiting rooms, examining rooms, and patient rooms https:// 

www.steakfritesproductions.com/the-h-art-project https://avivabrooks.com 

The Back Page Photo 

“From Below” (2017) - by Ania Audi 

“When not traveling I regularly go out to do some street 

photography around Paris. In July 2017, I heard of an interesting 

event by artistic director Pierre Sauvageot called ‘Grand 

Ensemble’. It was described as a dialogue between an 

apartment building and a symphonic orchestra. 

The orchestra played on a building’s balconies and the public sat 

or stood and watched from the square down below. It was a 

great success as hundreds of people turned up to watch and 

listen. I sat on the ground to take photos of the musicians, at one 

point looking up and seeing a woman taking a photo right above 

me. I thought the perspective was funny and took this photo of 

her taking a picture.” 

Ania has also created a photo essay for the magazine which you 

can find on p.20 

106

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