Amanda Shopa

Week 38 of 209 Weeks: “I think I have come to a place where I’m able to feel more comfortable about being honest.” —June Jordan Photo Notes: This photo was taken at Jogyesa Temple in Seoul, South Korea during Buddha’s Birthday Celebration, May 2024.

Week 37 of 209 Weeks: “Shine your light while you got one.” —Dave Matthews Band, “Drunken Soldier” Photo Notes: This photo was taken at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, December 2023.

Week 36 of 209 Weeks: “What I want to say is / that the past is the past, / and the present is what your life is, / and you are capable of choosing what that will be, / darling citizen.” —Mary Oliver, “Mornings at Blackwater.” Photo Notes: Chicago, December 2023

Week 35 of 209 Weeks: “I care about you because I want you to care about me. I care because I have become aware of my absolute dependency upon you, whoever you are, for the outcome of my social, my democratic experience.” —June Jordan Photo Notes: Chicago, December 2023

Week 34 of 209 Weeks: “Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” —Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Photo Notes: Chicago, December 2023

Week 33 of 209 Weeks: “We’re exploring the possibility of building a wall to stem the exodus.” “Don’t be ridiculous,” Goddard said, “only idiots build walls.” –Neal Shusterman, The Toll Photo Notes: Chicago, December 2023

Week 32 of 209 Weeks: Polish your own corner of the world. Photo Notes: I have no idea where this was taken.

Week 31 of 209 Weeks: “The morning is wiser than the evening.” –Vasilia the Beautiful Photo Notes: Photographing a black cat on a white blanket is a fool’s errand! Louie, date unrecorded.

Week 30 of 209 Weeks: “With a new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” –Eleanor Roosevelt Photo Notes: This photo was taken at William O’Brien State Park on January 1st, 2022.

Week 29 of 209 Weeks: Be brave, Silence is sustenance, drawing (the artistic act) the heart open, be gentle with those you cherish (especially yourself). Photo Notes: I feel like the footsteps and the tent (?) on the lake say it all.