Andrew Niesen

   
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” Mark Twain

Last night, as I excitedly watched Slumdog Millionaire win Best Picture at the Oscars, my heart danced back to India. In January, our family traveled to India to visit Andrew's youngest sister, who is living there for a year.

My first impression of India was the smell. Strong scents embrace you; India assails and inspires your senses. The feeling is visceral, internal and is very hard to articulate. The only thing I can say is: you MUST go!

Hopefully, this slideshow will give you a glimpse of Incredible India!

When the Livebooks team asked me if I was interested in contributing to their new blog RESOLVE, I was thrilled!

At LaCour and ShootQ, our mission is to empower photographers to create profitable and purposeful businesses by providing them with the tools they need to succeed.

RESOLVE's mission is consistent with our mission. Together, we connect photographers to each other and to valuable resources that will help them grow their businesses.

Check out RESOLVE to read my first contributed article, WPPI Survival Tips: A Photographer's Perspective.

We've enjoyed hosting Me Ra Koh and her husband Brian this weekend at our studio. Me Ra and Brian are soulful, gifted teachers who have a passion for empowering women. As I listened to the workshop attendees share about their lives, I was amazed by Me Ra's ability to elicit the passionate storyteller in every woman. Instilling confidence and curiosity were two important goals of the workshop. Each woman had a chance to share her artistic journey with the group, as well as reveal her fears in an encouraging environment. Of course, we also had the chance to practice shooting adorable children and their mothers! Enjoy these photos from the weekend and be sure to check out Me Ra and Brian's story HERE.

On Thursday night we hosted a holiday party for all of our full-time employees. This year has been a busy adventure with a lot of unexpected hurdles as well as numerous blessings. Our team is AMAZING! We feel so fortunate to be surrounded by such caring, passionate, fun and energizing people. Thank you to all y'all! We're looking forward to a fabulous 2009!


Tasty Treats that Rachel LaCour Niesen and Melissa Roth concocted


Jeremy and Melissa Roth, LaCour's studio and production manager | Rachel LaCour Niesen and Jessica Hill


Toasting the Team


ShootQ Code Poet Laureate Jonathan LaCour weaves a story


ShootQ Code Poet,Ryan Petrello and his wife, Brittany.


Jonathan, Ryan and Will Godfrey DJ up some geek-inspired holiday music. Serve up some 8-bit Jesus for your next holiday party. It's Christmas songs made entirely from classic Nintendo game tunes!


ShootQ Genius, Travis Schreer and ShootQ's newest team member, Adam Linke, Director of Sales.


Adam Linke and Jonathan LaCour


Andrew Niesen and the ladies of LaCour and The Decisive Moment


Travis Schreer and his partner, Jessica Hill


Adam Linke scaring the kids


Melissa Roth and Jenn Linke


Too much wine and Mark Adams and Adam Linke turn the beautiful evening into fight night.

Humans love to create.

We have an uncanny, universal desire to make our mark.

It's why we photograph and paint. It's why we build towers and businesses.

One of my favorite shows, MadMen, dedicated a recent scene to the concept of human creativity. The scene lingered in my memory for weeks.

Two characters are discussing a Kodak marketing campaign about memory and legacy. Harry says to Don:

"I've always been fascinated by the cave paintings at Lascaux. The bison get all the attention, but there are also these handprints, tiny by today's standards...It's like someone is reaching through the stone right to us, saying "I WAS HERE."

These cave paintings are among the earliest known works of art. They were discovered in 1940 near the village of Montignac in central France when four boys stumbled into a cave. Inside, they found paintings that were nearly 17,000 years old.

Secluded cave walls bear real imprints of humans who created the most beautiful Stone Age art. Something about these ancient human handprints is magical.

I remember when I first saw them. My Art History professor turned off the lights and projected an image of tiny handprints onto the classroom wall. The class was hushed, as if we were hearing a sacred secret.

Why does something so simple impact us so deeply?

I think it's because we are witnessing a tangible legacy left by fellow humans who responded to their desire to create. They made their mark. They reached through stone to tell us WE WERE HERE.

How will you make your mark?