I enjoy taking pictures because I think I have always been a story teller and photographs can tell a story. However, with all the computer software available today we can no longer trust a photograph. But in its original form, a photograph could tell a story.

My favorite subjects are human faces and panoramas. I used to see the world in a 3 X 5 frame. It was incredible.  I would not be happy going anywhere if I did not have my camera. I used to annoy family, friends and neighbors. Now I am more selective. I've realized you can not take a picture of everything you see!

Photo by Rosemary Halawa. A friend of Rosemary's painted
a version of her photo (right)

One of my favorite pictures is one I took in Bolivia. I went there for a visit and as I was walking by one street it was about 10:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. I saw mother and child, colors, sunshine and I took the picture. Later a friend of mine made a painting out of the photograph and it dawned on me that what I had seen that morning was the painting and not the photograph. The photograph shows the grim story of a sad reality. While the painting shows the glow and beauty of mother and child!

My favorite photographer is Richard Avedon. He took a photograph of Brooke Shields when she was 13 - 15 years old. I looked at it and I was repulsed and amazed at seeing the uniqueness of the picture. She was naked but the snake covered her. I would like to create a portfolio of unique photographs of ordinary people. Photographs that one can look and then take a double look and then one can stare trying to find where is the magic, where is the essence, where is the uniqueness. 

People are in awe seeing movie stars and they try to imitate them without realizing how truly beautiful they themselves are. Most people are shy or they think they know which is their better side. I usually spend a couple of hours with my subject. I engage them in a conversation and as they relax and become themselves I take pictures. 

Long ago the person stood as a soldier and look in front and the photographer snapped the picture. So the photographs of people in different parts of the world and of different ages or sex have the same expression: eyes that are scared or surprised. The beauty of taking pictures is when a person is feeling at ease. Most photographers have no patience to discover the uniqueness of the person. I look at many photographs and recognize who they are and technically the picture is correct but the image is incomplete.

I want my photography to reflect the "uniqueness of the person". I want their husbands and children and mothers or fathers say: "You really capture her/his image".