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JESSIE PARKS

  • Iraqi Kurdistan
  • The Wilcoxens
  • American Journeys
  • Arrivals
  • Thapsana
  • Clerical
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Equally Grateful As I Am Exhausted

May 31, 2016

I'm pretty sure the only way to stop making images here is to either:

a.) close my eyes and never leave the house, or b.) walk around like a fool with a bag on my head.

It makes no difference where the sun hangs in the sky; whether a fella, lady, or little one passes me by; or if arms are linked in dance or one's simply bending to tie a shoe—this place and her people teem with images just waiting to be made.

And for that, I am equally grateful as I am exhausted.

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Jessie's Blog

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Missteps
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I Asked a Syrian Refugee What We Can Do
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International Holocaust Remembrance Day
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Hedges and Stops
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His Sorrow is Splendor
about 8 years ago
Holy Temple of Lalish
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I’m Not Daesh
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Her Chador Was Longer Than She Was Tall
about 8 years ago
On Refugees: More Than Escape
On Refugees: More Than Escape
about 8 years ago

Instagram

Indiana Jones, white russians, tacos, and s’mores with some of the finest friends last weekend.⠀ ⠀ Monroe, Georgia ⠀ May 2020
(Post 2/2) This post has literally nothing to do with anything happening in the world today. And honestly, most of you will have no idea who these people are, and will find few of these images interesting, if any at all. That’s alright.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ An
(Post 1/2) This post has literally nothing to do with anything happening in the world today. And honestly because most of you have no idea who these people are, you will find few of these images interesting, if any at all. That’s alright.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀
“All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.”⠀ - Leo Tolstoy, 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙆𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙖⠀ ⠀ That’s true in life just as it is in photographs, isn’t it? You can’t make a
“I know that was not easy,” Governor Kemp said of Georgia’s “faith communities” at the COVID-19 briefing yesterday following a visit to areas of the state hardest hit by early morning tornados that killed at least 32 peo
Employee wipes shopping cart at a supermarket Loganville, Georgia on Saturday, April 4 as part of the store’s effort to keep employees and customers safe from coronavirus.
As retailers respond to COVID-19, customers encounter changes, including limits on the number of shoppers inside. Signs around the store announce purchase limits and social distancing guidelines at Kroger in Loganville, Georgia on Saturday, April 4.
(Post 3/3) Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees are among the world’s most vulnerable groups. Few of them have the luxury of working from home, and even fewer have health insurance or paid sick leave.⠀ ⠀ One of the states that has received the
(Post 2/3) Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees are among the world’s most vulnerable groups. Few of them have the luxury of working from home, and even fewer have health insurance or paid sick leave.⠀ ⠀ One of the states that has received the
(Post 1/2) Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees are among the world’s most vulnerable groups. Few of them have the luxury of working from home, and even fewer have health insurance or paid sick leave.⠀ ⠀ One of the states that has received the
Three Anglican priests and their parish administrator set up in front of Holy Cross Cathedral in Loganville, Georgia Thursday before Holy Week 2020 to distribute pre-consecrated communion wafers and palm branches to parishioners curbside.⠀ ⠀ For the
(Forgive my lack of brevity!)⠀⠀ How remarkably appropriate the words below are in today’s crisis. I recall mulling over them for months 3.5 yrs ago. And although it was in a different context entirely, the “curriculum” I needed then
“‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day...⠀ ⠀ ‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with
I noticed his smile at the door. And after we came and sat down on the cushions inside, I noticed it still. He was just beaming.⠀ ⠀ “Tell him?!” I asked Hersh, "Tell him how I love his smile!” (photo 2 - swipe) ⠀ ⠀ I mean it, g
2 Feb 2020 - The Bossman and the second Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, Foley Beach.
Well, I found myself, once again, behind the camera in a place I never thought I’d be. Little Natalie Mae has changed her parents’ lives forever. And for reasons far less significant, she’s changed mine as well. ⠀ ⠀ No decent person
it was her habit to build laughter out of inadequate materials. ⠀ John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
13 June 2016 – I was in Scotland summer 2016 when I wrote the words below in a notebook. I was staying at a friend’s farm outside Glasgow on a little stopover/rest I created for myself before diving back into America. I’d only just
Most consider Iraq dusty, war-torn, and a place no one wants to be. But the crazy thing is, she’s beautiful. I was left breathless often.⠀ ⠀ Swimming here w my buddy, Trent, was one of those days. That emerald water cuts through the rock &mdash
19 September 2017 - (Post 3/3) 10,000 Kurds gather for a PDK rally at Soran University — a sea of red, green, yellow, and white, the colors of the Kurdish flag. They danced and chanted along with others across Northern Iraq and diaspora Kurds a
Indiana Jones, white russians, tacos, and s’mores with some of the finest friends last weekend.⠀ ⠀ Monroe, Georgia ⠀ May 2020 (Post 2/2) This post has literally nothing to do with anything happening in the world today. And honestly, most of you will have no idea who these people are, and will find few of these images interesting, if any at all. That’s alright.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ An (Post 1/2) This post has literally nothing to do with anything happening in the world today. And honestly because most of you have no idea who these people are, you will find few of these images interesting, if any at all. That’s alright.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ “All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.”⠀ - Leo Tolstoy, 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙆𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙖⠀ ⠀ That’s true in life just as it is in photographs, isn’t it? You can’t make a “I know that was not easy,” Governor Kemp said of Georgia’s “faith communities” at the COVID-19 briefing yesterday following a visit to areas of the state hardest hit by early morning tornados that killed at least 32 peo Employee wipes shopping cart at a supermarket Loganville, Georgia on Saturday, April 4 as part of the store’s effort to keep employees and customers safe from coronavirus. As retailers respond to COVID-19, customers encounter changes, including limits on the number of shoppers inside. Signs around the store announce purchase limits and social distancing guidelines at Kroger in Loganville, Georgia on Saturday, April 4. (Post 3/3) Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees are among the world’s most vulnerable groups. Few of them have the luxury of working from home, and even fewer have health insurance or paid sick leave.⠀ ⠀ One of the states that has received the (Post 2/3) Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees are among the world’s most vulnerable groups. Few of them have the luxury of working from home, and even fewer have health insurance or paid sick leave.⠀ ⠀ One of the states that has received the (Post 1/2) Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees are among the world’s most vulnerable groups. Few of them have the luxury of working from home, and even fewer have health insurance or paid sick leave.⠀ ⠀ One of the states that has received the Three Anglican priests and their parish administrator set up in front of Holy Cross Cathedral in Loganville, Georgia Thursday before Holy Week 2020 to distribute pre-consecrated communion wafers and palm branches to parishioners curbside.⠀ ⠀ For the (Forgive my lack of brevity!)⠀⠀ How remarkably appropriate the words below are in today’s crisis. I recall mulling over them for months 3.5 yrs ago. And although it was in a different context entirely, the “curriculum” I needed then “‘What is REAL?’ asked the Rabbit one day...⠀ ⠀ ‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with I noticed his smile at the door. And after we came and sat down on the cushions inside, I noticed it still. He was just beaming.⠀ ⠀ “Tell him?!” I asked Hersh, "Tell him how I love his smile!” (photo 2 - swipe) ⠀ ⠀ I mean it, g 2 Feb 2020 - The Bossman and the second Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America, Foley Beach. Well, I found myself, once again, behind the camera in a place I never thought I’d be. Little Natalie Mae has changed her parents’ lives forever. And for reasons far less significant, she’s changed mine as well. ⠀ ⠀ No decent person it was her habit to build laughter out of inadequate materials. ⠀ John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath 13 June 2016 – I was in Scotland summer 2016 when I wrote the words below in a notebook. I was staying at a friend’s farm outside Glasgow on a little stopover/rest I created for myself before diving back into America. I’d only just Most consider Iraq dusty, war-torn, and a place no one wants to be. But the crazy thing is, she’s beautiful. I was left breathless often.⠀ ⠀ Swimming here w my buddy, Trent, was one of those days. That emerald water cuts through the rock &mdash 19 September 2017 - (Post 3/3) 10,000 Kurds gather for a PDK rally at Soran University — a sea of red, green, yellow, and white, the colors of the Kurdish flag. They danced and chanted along with others across Northern Iraq and diaspora Kurds a