we're all related through our art...Robert Henri

I don't think we can ever know how a simple act of kindness can touch another. Today I know as a recipient of such a kindness that it can change everything.

As I was pulling together the final edit of 12 images from my Winter Nudes project to submit to the B&W Magazine's annual Portfolio Contest (see above), I saw that an email had come in. I opened my Mail program but didn't recognize the name of the sender. It was notifying me that a comment had been posted on this blog, specifically under the entry, "Thanksgiving Weekend." It was from a photographer I have never met but admire greatly. He was taking the time to tell me how he had searched Google to find me and then had gone to my website and looked at my work. His response touched me to my core. It will warm me from this day forward. I can't even thank him because he didn't leave his email address, but my thanks will be to do for another what he has done for me...

amazing news!!!

This year sure is ending on a high note! On Sunday night I heard that my project, "Falling Into Place," has been awarded 3rd prize in the 2010 FotoVisura Grant for Outstanding Personal Photography Project. This was totally unexpected. I'd been pleasantly surprised when it was named one of the 40 finalists, but never imagined it might end up being one of the three winners. It just didn't cross my mind.

I wonder if other folks feel this way when they win awards. As I said to my husband, failure is a lot easier to accept than success. Does it make me weird to feel that way? I mean, we can always give ourselves excuses as to why our work is overlooked, unappreciated, or even rejected. I've been in the art -- and now, the photography -- worlds long enough to have had my share of rejections. Anyone who submits their work to competitions, juried exhibits, magazines, newspapers and online blogs or zines better get used to that possibility or they're in for a lifetime of misery. No, it isn't fun to knock on closed doors, but you've got to believe that one day a door will open and you will sail through. That certainly happened this week with the FotoVisura grant, but it also happened last week when the respected Los Angeles photographer/editor/writer/teacher/curator Aline Smithson featured "Falling Into Place" on her blogzine, LENSCRATCH.

So how am I handling success? I like it. It feels good. But it especially makes me happy to know that this particular project will be seen by lots of people. From the responses I've already received, it is clear that my honest approach to self portraiture is making a difference. And the inside view I give of what it's like to live with a disability touches people in ways I could never have imagined.

You know, I think I'd forgotten to mention that "Falling Into Place," the book, is now available for sale. It's a self-published Blurb.com book that you can buy online. If you want it autographed, just email me and I'll send you a signed archival sticker to paste in the front of the book.

And don't forget to visit my website -- http://www.patricialaydorsey.com -- where you can see several of my photography projects. I'm always updating it so it bears checking every so often.

Happy holidays, everyone!