Writer – Photographer – Educator
November is already here! Since November is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) here's a #tbt post from a few months ago: Ask an Author. Learning from books. ©Alina Oswald. Also, if you happen to be working on the first draft of a novel, memoir, or nonfiction book (or even a photography book, why not), November [...]
A look back at my first photography show I only caught glimpses of the 2020 Summer Olympics closing ceremony this past Sunday, August 8, 2021. Yet, the date and the event itself, brought back memories. "Backbone in B&W" original image featured my solo photo show with the same name at 32 Jones Gallery, Jersey City, [...]
...the story behind my obsession with (photographing) the VFT carnivore plant Here's an excerpt from my book, JOURNEYS THROUGH DARKNESS: A BIOGRAPHY of award-winning, legally blind photographer Kurt Weston: In 1993, Kurt Weston founded SWAN--Surviving With AIDS Network--a grassroots group that offered those living with HIV a safe place to be, socialize, and share their [...]
What I've learned about photography and life from award-winning photographer Kurt Weston In 2005, I came across an award-winning photograph posted online. It was called "The Last Light" and featured a man with a drawn face and ghostly eyes. He was sitting in a chair with his back at a tall window. He appeared as [...]
Over the years I've had the chance to interview and photograph amazing individuals, including writers and authors, award-winning authors, too. As photographers, as visual storytellers ourselves, we can learn a lot from them about painting with words and the art of storytelling itself. Here are a few examples of author interviews as well as book [...]
Photographing and interviewing ACT-UP activists March is not only Women's History Month, but it also marks the anniversary (the 34th this year) of ACT UP--the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power. Over the past twenty years, I've had the opportunity to meet, interview and photograph many LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activists, many of them ACT UP activists. [...]
In this special post, award-winning author T.J. Banks talks about her new book, rescue cats, Halloween and COVID-19 Almost twenty years ago I had a chance to read and review Souleiado, a time-travel novel by T.J. Banks. I'm not into reading time-travel stories, but Souleiado is not your usual time-travel story, but rather a profound, [...]
A new photo book provides a snapshot of a new series of black-and-white photography that explores the role of gesture in communication and self-expression in a world pre- and post-Coronavirus pandemic As I might have mentioned in previous posts, ever since the beginning of this year I've been working, on and off, on a series [...]
In this special post and with the help of author Joseph Pittman, Shadow, the Greyador rescue dog, shares stories from his new book, THE SHADOW DIARIES It's mid-September and this pandemic is still not over, and it seems that it will be with us for a long while. So, in an attempt to brighten our [...]
How I made that shot and the story behind my "No Surrender" image Those of you reading this blog might recall some of my previous posts mentioning a new series of hand portraits and self-portraits, which is still very much a work in progress. Here's the story behind one of the images in this series--No [...]
Alina Oswald 