isawthatthere-blog

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Recorded 3 years ago on an iPhone in a bathroom. It's a shaky attempt and I want to redo it in the spirit of a new year, but for now I'm letting it go and sending it out there. Gah. (Was any of what I just wrote english?)

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Super excited to see an experiment (and project I've started) with light painting up on ELLE today. I was completely unsure of how this would turn out (since I'd never done it before...and was trying to do it in the chaos of backstage at Fashion Week), so I'm happy some shots actually worked!

Looking forward to shooting more of this in future.

Head on over to ELLE to check out the full set.

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(via Kiev Instagram Photos - Before and After Pictures of Kiev, Ukraine)

The gallery is worth a look through. (via @Instagram)

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

(featuring Aaron Paul and his wife, Lauren)

©Elizabeth Griffin

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In the kitchen with @bysarahashley for @esquiremag

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Not gonna lie: it's ALWAYS a risk to pounce on analog work before it's actually completed. When it's not digital and there are no second chances and the process is exceptionally tricky, as a photo editor (and photographer), you get, well, nervous!

But since I knew it was Victoria Will behind the camera, I couldn't have run more ferociously head-first into asking her to share these with us on Esquire.com...before they were shot.

And holy hell, these are just way more than I could have ever expected!

If you don't take risks (like Victoria did here with some seriously awesome darkroom help by Josh Wool), you just don't get the extraordinary images that set you apart.

So well done!

These are not 1860s ladies and gentleman who look and dress like your favorite actors and actresses. This is Michael C. Hall, Anna  Kendrick, Jesse Eisenberg, Elle Fanning, and William H. Macy, in exclusive tintype photographs painstakingly taken by photographer Victoria Will at Sundance Film Festival.

See the rest of the stars in the series here!

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Had a few quick minutes to shoot Downton Abbey's, Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) at Esquire Magazine's offices. Lovely gal.

©Elizabeth Griffin

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2013: a year of lists. Too many lists. Life distilled down to the best 10…, the most 31…, the top 60…..It was a year where the bullet points mattered and the little space in between seemed to vanish. This was a year where complexity and subtly and nuance weren’t allowed to even arm wrestle with obvious and I wondered if they might just shrug and go home.

And maybe because of their forced absence, we spent our time looking for them. Maybe we paid a little more attention, not in our ever-present online presence, but in our heads and hearts, to the things that are quiet but everlasting and meaningful. Maybe we stopped to realize that life isn’t lists and bullet points, but it’s really everything that happens in between.

It’s a family waiting for their sister, daughter, niece to arrive from surgery safely, it’s the dog with a cheerio on his face, it’s my dad laughing to the point he is crying or my little cousin trying on my sparkly shoes. It’s the dinner with a friend where you think your friendship will end, but it only becomes stronger. It’s your sister learning how to FaceTime and your dad asking: what is a Tweet? It’s the smile on a friend’s face when she meets the author she so idolizes. It’s the friend who remembers Hamborghini and sends you a photo of a stuffed animal pig, the friend who donates so much of what she has to help out a stranger, the woman at the store who shows up and hands you a basket when your hands are full and you’re drop-dead tired but trying to make it to the cashier with a load of stuff that reaches above your head. It’s the lobby security guard who always has a greeting, the new, beautiful, strong women you’ve met when you escaped your daily grind for a minute; it’s the dog who fishes by spending all day staring down into the waves. It’s the new friends who, when you are alone and pushing yourself so hard see that you’re alone from across the room and cheer you on…yell your name…make you keep going. It’s endless and un-list-able, but it is breathtaking. And sure, most of this might sound a cliché, might sound like something we already know. But so what? I needed to remember these things and find these things and I am so grateful I did.

2013 was not an easy year. It’s one that I want to leave behind for so many reasons; but it is also one that I could never replace because it made me believe in the goodness of people, the thoughtfulness of people, the strength of stepping away from the bullet points and into the in-betweens.

It made me pause to recognize those huge moments but also be quiet enough to absorb the small ones.

For that, I am forever grateful.

May 2014 be a year of the novel and not the list and may you all have the time, strength, and health, to read every last letter of it.

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Angels in the shadows. ©Elizabeth Griffin 2013

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Last night, I went to see my favorite nail artist, Miss Pop Nails, and together we created the Mileycure.

Thanks for indulging my crazy, MP.

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Amelia greeting the sea.

©Elizabeth Griffin

To learn more about Amelia and to support Project Amelia, please click here.

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President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, went on a date last night at this man's restaurant, a huge achievement for a new - or any - head chef! Why did they choose the place? Well, migrate over to Esquire.com for the full story....http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/chris-fischer-beach-plum-restaurant-0813?click=news

It was a pleasure shooting this piece for Esquire. Thank you to Chef Chris Fischer and his entire team and family for all of their hard work and time. I can say, first hand, Chris is doing a job (as we see now but have known for some time) worthy of recognition by the President. I encourage all of you to stop by The Beach Plum Inn on Martha's Vineyard to have a meal made by this most talented team.

Also, for some extraordinarily beautiful photographs from Chris's family's farm, Beetlebung, check out Gabriela Herman's work here.

All photos ©Elizabeth Griffin

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©Elizabeth Griffin 2013

A portrait of Huma Abedin I shot for Harper's Bazaar's September Issue (out August 20th), in which she has written an essay defending her husband, Anthony Weiner, entitled, "The Good Wife". For a preview, visit: http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/feature-articles/huma-abedin-defends-anthony-weiner-in-nyc-mayor-race-2013?click=pp

Stay tuned for some outtakes and a little backstory on getting this image (shot in about one minute in the sweltering New York City July heat).

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Stacy Keibler for Esquire

Had just a couple of minutes with her, but she was quite possibly the sweetest lady on the planet.

And, um...HOLY LEGS!

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Dita Von Teese for Elle Magazine.

©Elizabeth Griffin 2013

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Many thanks to NPR for running the work Amelia Coffaro and I have been doing on her experience of being 28 and living with cancer. I am extremely grateful to The Picture Show for sharing the story and to Amelia and her family for their graciousness. You can see the full story here http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2013/06/12/190321466/capturing-life-with-cancer-at-age-28

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I like to take snapshots. Here are some from this past weekend at Governors Ball for Esquire Magazine. http://www.esquire.com/the-side/governors-ball-2013-backstage-photos#slide-1