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My MFA Journey has been a very fulfilling one! I am so happy that we were able to complete and present our Thesis papers and projects in June of 2020, despite the pandemic. It is really wonderful that we will still have an opportunity in the future for a live exhibition (anticipated in a Special Event Space at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, July 2021), in addition to our online participation in the National MFA show! Here are links to my presentation, and my paper!

But I can still hear you playing in my heart.

A wanderlust is a good thing to pass along.

A salesman and a card player, you could captivate anyone with your stories and your laugh.

You couldn’t control it, but for far too long, no one knew.

An incredible life that was undeniably faithful, musical, outspoken, and true to herself for 107 years.

About the life lived inside.

I am a high school teacher, the mother of three young adults, a wife, a daughter, and an artist.  This should be enough to indicate that my life tends to be loud, busy, full of activity and often – sorting through a lot of drama – both real and imagined.  I love my family and my kids (both my own and [most of] my students), and I am honored to be someone who is available to help them navigate life and it’s ups and downs.  As for myself – and especially in my role as an artist, I find myself drawn to spaces and places where I can seek moments of quiet.  I find peace in my art, and seek peaceful places to be and to photograph.  I enjoy the creation of peaceful scenes that allow for contemplation.  As I grow in my art, and as a human, I realize more and more that these quiet spaces are something that I desperately need, for my own strength, voice, health, peace, and creative vision.  I am so lucky to be able to create images that serve a purpose for me, and hopefully for others as well!

Rainy window – It was a beautiful day.  We had never been to South Carolina.  The heat and humidity were a bit stifling, but the scenery and sky were just gorgeous.  We drove around the Capitol city of Columbia, toured the Capitol building and learned a little about the State, the economy, the people, and the history of the area.  We were in town to see a concert by one of my husband’s favorite bands, Hootie and the Blowfish.  We were headed toward the University of South Carolina campus for the show, and noticed some dark clouds in the distance, and the wind starting to pick up.  Before we knew it, the clouds were overhead, and the sky opened up and it suddenly started to rain, hard.  It was pouring down so fast that the gutters filled and it was impossible to see while driving.  We had to pull over in a drugstore parking lot to wait it out.  As we sat in the warm car, listening to music, the beauty of the moment struck me.  I was on a trip to new place with my husband of almost 30 years.  We were not in a hurry, and had time to sit and wait out the storm.  We sang along to the radio, and laughed about the sudden storm.  As I looked around at the rain, the drips on the window, and the slowing down of the city hustle due to the rain – I thought about how often I miss these moments in the rush of my daily routine.  I took some pictures through the car window in the storm to remember this lovely moment in the midst of a sudden storm.

Several of my mentors and advisors have commented on the fact that I should play with some writing to accompany my imagery.  Here is an attempt – let me know what you think!

The One Who Wasn’t There –

My Mother-in-Law, Stella Bymakos-Ross, was a wonderful, difficult, and tortured woman.  My husband and I met in elementary school, and Stella was the Mom in our community that everyone loved to hate.  She was loud, opinionated, politically incorrect, and not intimidated by anyone or anything.  She attended parent-teacher conferences, school board meetings, city council meetings, and any other meeting in town where she felt that she could make an impact on her life, or that of her children, and she would speak her mind, loudly, about whatever issues were at hand!  Her children were often horrified to see her coming into the school building, or hollering at the umpire or coach at a game.  When my husband and I started to date in high school, my Father said to me “Have you met his mother?”  Her reputation was as loud as she was in our community.

As years went by, and my husband I began to fall in love and develop a serious relationship, I went through many serious ups and downs with Stella.  She was threatened by me, angry at me, and sometimes loving and proud of me.  She wanted to be my friend, and could also be my worst enemy.  My parents were occasionally fearful of her tirades, and I found her to be a real mystery and never knew where my relationship stood with her.  Steve, her oldest son, and my then boyfriend – now husband of 30 years – always told me to ignore her, and to just stay our of her way.  He said that their family never knew what would set her off, and that she was “moody”.  Years later, after a LOT of drama, a bitter divorce from my husband’s father after 27 years of marriage, and even an incident of setting items in the house on fire, we learned that Stella was bi-polar and that her moodiness was actually a severe chemical imbalance that had tormented her for years.  The daughter of Greek immigrants, her family NEVER discussed any illness or weakness, and certainly nothing that could fall into the category of mental illness.  She fought her diagnosis and treatment, but at the urging of her children, and in hopes of maintaining a relationship with them into their adulthood, she did finally seek treatment.

Age and treatment changed Stella.  She was calmer, and she was a truly loving grandmother as her extended family grew over the years.  My children loved playing games and reading with her.  They did not see the volatile woman that I had known from the past.  She was a cheerleader of all that her grandchildren did, and was kind and generous with them.  Her tumultuous past turned into a sad future, as she battled dementia and heart disease.  It was hard to visit her in the assisted living facilities in her later years, as she did not like being there, she did not feel well a lot of the time, and each successive visit proved to be filled with more confusion and memory loss.

Upon her death, while going through her belongings and sorting things out, we discovered a key to a safety deposit box.  A trip to the bank and opening of the box unveiled some family photos, letters and documents from her divorce, and a bank statement.  She had been setting aside money for years.  It was her hope that she could take her children and grandchildren to Greece, to see where her family had come from and to learn about their Greek Heritage.  She did not get to accomplish this goal in her lifetime, and it was her hope that upon her death, that her 3 children would honor her wishes and use the funds she had set aside to take her family on this pilgrimage to Greece.

After 18 months of planning and coordinating the schedules of 13 people, we honored her mission.  Her 3 children, their spouses, and our collective 7 grandchildren (ranging in age from 15 to 25) took the trip that Stella had only dreamed about.  We visited Greece, and took several tours learning about the culture and the amazing history of this beautiful country.  We immersed ourselves in the food, and connected with distant relatives still living in the villages that several generations of Stella’s family are from.  It was a deeply meaningful trip for all 13 of us.  We discussed feeling her presence along the way, and we all believe that she knows that we took this trip, and that she was watching over us.  We visited several Greek churches and lit candles in her honor.  We toasted to her, told stories about her, and said prayers for her.  It was just so deeply sad that she was the only one who wasn’t there……..

This month I read many of the essays in the “New History of Photography” edited by Michel Frizot.  A fascinating book, that had information that I knew, and many new things that I did not know, presented in a very readable and enjoyable way.  The book contains hundreds of beautiful images, and is going to be a valued part of my own library!

C. Ross MFA Fall 2019 Paper 3 – Summary and Reflection on A New History of Photography