Behind the Mask - Our Stories
Beschermde donatie
Welcome March with its cold winds, snowy landscspe, and promises of spring to come.
********
Happy Valentine's Day. Wishing you love and peace today, and always. Sneaky and I have enjoyed our time with family and exploring Madison, Wisconsin, a little break after four months and 15,000 miles documenting everyday life out here. Now we are preparing to get back on the road and head for home. We hope you have many inspiring activities and/or plans to look forward to this year. Thank you for sharing a bit of your time with us on this journey, and for lending support as you have. We're grateful.
******
Happy New Year! It's been 16 weeks since Sneaky and I set out from home. Now we're preparing for the journey back, grateful for beauty, safety, and connections made. Thank you for being a part of this project...
*******
December 2023 - Heading for home, I'm nearly done with the documentation phase of this project and will soon begin work creating a coffee table book, traveling art exhibit and film. While Behind the Mask - Our Stories was inspired by the pandemic and my desire to document life during that time, it has organically evolved to documenting everyday life beyond the pandemic, capturing stories of places and people, a witnessing of human resiliency and tenacity, grief and tragedy. Everyone has a story to share and I'm delighted to be just one person out here willing to listen to others... Thank you for following along.❤️
********
November 2023 - It's been nearly 12 weeks since I drove out of Homer to document the Alaska Highway, , Canadian provinces, and the US East Coast states. What another fantastic adventure, meeting so many wonderful individuals, seeing beautiful places and experiencing everyday life out here... With gratitude for so much and so many. Should be all wrapped up by the end of the year, or early in 2024. And then, it's the coffee table book, documentary film, and traveling exhibit. ❤️
******
September 2023 - After a year's delay due to life circumstances, I'm heading back off down the road. This time out will be the final leg of documentation for this project, capturing everyday life along the Alaska Highway, across Canada, the U.S. East Coast and then as we make our way back home.
The last weeks have been a journey of their own with a lot of physical, mental and emotional planning and preparation for this multi-month, 10,000+ mile adventure.
Once I return home, I'll get to work on the next phase of this project, the creation of a coffee table book, a documentary film and a traveling art exhibit, with the first exhibit being held at Fireweed Gallery in Homer in October, 2024.
My gratitude to everyone I've met since launching this project in 2020 for sharing stories with me and to all of my financial and in-kind supporters for their kindness and generosity, making this ongoing project possible and believing in both its importance and in me.
For those who would like to continue to lend support, thank you. I'd be delighted to again send emails and postcards from the road. Just let me know if you would like to receive those.
I hope you'll plan to come along for the ride as I head off to document, sharing photos, videos and interviews on Facebook and Instagram as I have access to cell service and Wi-Fi.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2317927115178574/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/behind.the.mask.stories?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
❤️
********
December 2022 - Very excited to be heading to Alberta, Canada to see my family for Christmas, the first time since the start of the pandemic. Originally planning to head off on the last leg of this project in October, I've delayed my departure to mid February, at which time Sneaky and I will fly Alaska to Washington, drive from Washington to Florida, and spend several months documenting the East Coast states, from Florida north to Maine. We hope you will continue to follow along.
*******
August 2022 - My Facebook pages have been hacked/disabled. For now, I'm shifting to sharing on Instagram, @behind_the_mask_our_stories and blog behindthemaskourstories.blogspot.com. I hope you'll continue to follow along. After a wonderful summer documenting life in my home state of Alaska, I am making plans to head back off down the road for the last part of the documenting phase of this project, capturing life along the East Coast, from Maine to Florida. And then, my work will begin on my coffee table book, documentary film, and traveling art exhibit... But for now, the Far North slips into Autumn, with its cooler temps, bright colors and shorter days.
*****
May 2022 - Back in Home Sweet Homer - Excited to document my homestate...
******
November 1, 2021 - And so... here we go, back out on the road, my kitty Sneaky and me. Leaving our hometown of Homer, Alaska in the wee hours of the morning one week ago, we set off to spend the next several months driving across the country to continue documenting everyday life during the pandemic, chronicling how Covid-19 has impacted people and places.
Tucked in tiny Jellybean, our home away from home, we will meander, with a short term goal of documenting all of the states by spring 2022 and long term goals that include the creation of a coffee table book, traveling art exhibit and documentary film. You're invited to be a part of this project by posting your own story to the Facebook page - through photos, videos and writing and/or by joining as a supporter, making a donation to my Go Fund Me - http://gofundme.com/f/behind-the-mask-our-stories. As a supporter, you'll receive postcards from the road, recognition within my social media pages and blog, as well as in the book, exhibit and film, and, my unwavering gratitude!
You can of course donate at any level. Here are some categories I created just for fun:
Kitty Kare $25 - Food, treats for Sneaky
Hygiene Helper $50 - Showers, laundry
Snack Supporter $75 - Meals, snacks, coffee
Camping Companion $100 - Camping, hotel stays
Fuel Friend $100+ - Gas, oil, car maintenance
Project Partner $200+ - Book, exhibit, film
Thank you to these individuals who have already donated to this next phase of documentation -
Emily Ward, Janet Higley, Lorraine Stoby, Taz Tally and Terry Talbot. Thank you to TOTE Maritime Alaska for coming on board as my first business/corporate sponsor. AND a very special thank you to the following individuals who helped me launch this project one year ago, and keep it and me moving forward - Barbara Russell Glidden, Bud Johnson, Chet Ross, Chris Long, Deb Williams, Ed and Sara Berg, Emily Ward, Evie Carpenter, Gail Baker, Ginger Drais, Jamie Bauer, Janet Higley, Jon Stoby, Jody Bone, Karri Wickstrom, Linda S. White-Canfield, Lois Lane-Plampin, Lorraine Stoby, Maria Felland, Monica Sallee, Pam Breckenridge, Rika Mouw, Scott Price, Susan Braund, Susan Ford, Taz
Tally, Terry Talbot, Tina Day, and several anonymous individuals.
Behind the Mask - Our Stories is about inspiring community, connection and creativity through storytelling. I hope you'll follow our journey!
*******
June 2021 - Back in my home state of Alaska for the summer season and concentrating my documentary efforts on life here in the far north. In the fall, I'll head back out on the road again, making my way to the east coast and the southern states. Until then...
*******
March, 2021 - Behind the Mask takes to the road again - Follow along as I head out to capture stories and images, documenting everyday life during the pandemic, this time, in the northwest and midwestern states.
* * *
February, 2021 - After spending last October, November and December documenting everyday life during the pandemic while driving around the Southwest, and then the past months focusing my efforts on Washington's Whidbey Island, I'm now preparing to continue on, meandering back roads and small towns around Washington.
***
Beginning October 20th, I'll spend two months driving across America in search of stories, creating conversations, connecting with others, and documenting what life looks like during the pandemic.
I originally created "Behind the Mask - Our Stories" in May 2020 as a Facebook page, inviting family and friends and their families and friends to share photos and videos that provided glimpses into their lives, adjusting around Covid-19. Thanks to everyone who participated in this initial project for inspiring this next step!
Now, I am taking Behind the Mask on the road and expanding it, capturing stories of people, communities, places and landscapes through photographs, videos, and essays. My short term goals include creating communities of storytelling and documenting what I witness and experience and what others share with me, and my long-term goals include creating a coffee table book and traveling multimedia exhibit
that portrays how we now move through our lives, pivoting, shifting and adjusting our trajectories, with Covid-19 tugging at the fabric of our daily existence in endless ways.
I expect to hear stories of not only loss and tragedy, but also of unexpected opportunities, and gifts of beauty and joy. And so, it is my hope that this project will serve as both a chronicle of these days and a reminder that just as fear and uncertainty may spread throughout families and communities and a country, so may hope and a sense of unity be felt. While our experiences may differ greatly, we are all on this pandemic journey together, in one way or another.
As I meander the country, connecting with others, I will be self-contained in a rented camper van, confident in my ability to safely interact with people in very organic ways - at campgrounds, gas stations, rest stops, parks, on trails, in grocery stores - natural stopping points for a journey such as this.
If you would like to support Behind the Mask - Our Stories by making a financial donation to help offset expenses, that is wonderful! All donors will be recognized on the blog and Facebook page, as well as within the coffee table book and traveling exhibit. They will also receive postcards from the road and personal emails. Every dollar contributed is greatly appreciated. Here are some fun categories for your consideration:
$10 - Hygiene Helper (laundry and showers)
$25 - Snack Supporter (snacks, meals)
$50 - Fuel friend (gas, propane)
$100 - Camper companion (camper van rental)
$101+ - Project Partner (coffee table book, traveling exhibit)
Whether you make a donation or not, I hope you will follow my journey.
Behind the Mask Blog
Behind the Mask Facebook page
** Photo credit - Taz Tally
** Artwork credit - Gail Baker
********
Happy Valentine's Day. Wishing you love and peace today, and always. Sneaky and I have enjoyed our time with family and exploring Madison, Wisconsin, a little break after four months and 15,000 miles documenting everyday life out here. Now we are preparing to get back on the road and head for home. We hope you have many inspiring activities and/or plans to look forward to this year. Thank you for sharing a bit of your time with us on this journey, and for lending support as you have. We're grateful.
******
Happy New Year! It's been 16 weeks since Sneaky and I set out from home. Now we're preparing for the journey back, grateful for beauty, safety, and connections made. Thank you for being a part of this project...
*******
December 2023 - Heading for home, I'm nearly done with the documentation phase of this project and will soon begin work creating a coffee table book, traveling art exhibit and film. While Behind the Mask - Our Stories was inspired by the pandemic and my desire to document life during that time, it has organically evolved to documenting everyday life beyond the pandemic, capturing stories of places and people, a witnessing of human resiliency and tenacity, grief and tragedy. Everyone has a story to share and I'm delighted to be just one person out here willing to listen to others... Thank you for following along.❤️
********
November 2023 - It's been nearly 12 weeks since I drove out of Homer to document the Alaska Highway, , Canadian provinces, and the US East Coast states. What another fantastic adventure, meeting so many wonderful individuals, seeing beautiful places and experiencing everyday life out here... With gratitude for so much and so many. Should be all wrapped up by the end of the year, or early in 2024. And then, it's the coffee table book, documentary film, and traveling exhibit. ❤️
******
September 2023 - After a year's delay due to life circumstances, I'm heading back off down the road. This time out will be the final leg of documentation for this project, capturing everyday life along the Alaska Highway, across Canada, the U.S. East Coast and then as we make our way back home.
The last weeks have been a journey of their own with a lot of physical, mental and emotional planning and preparation for this multi-month, 10,000+ mile adventure.
Once I return home, I'll get to work on the next phase of this project, the creation of a coffee table book, a documentary film and a traveling art exhibit, with the first exhibit being held at Fireweed Gallery in Homer in October, 2024.
My gratitude to everyone I've met since launching this project in 2020 for sharing stories with me and to all of my financial and in-kind supporters for their kindness and generosity, making this ongoing project possible and believing in both its importance and in me.
For those who would like to continue to lend support, thank you. I'd be delighted to again send emails and postcards from the road. Just let me know if you would like to receive those.
I hope you'll plan to come along for the ride as I head off to document, sharing photos, videos and interviews on Facebook and Instagram as I have access to cell service and Wi-Fi.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2317927115178574/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/behind.the.mask.stories?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
❤️
********
December 2022 - Very excited to be heading to Alberta, Canada to see my family for Christmas, the first time since the start of the pandemic. Originally planning to head off on the last leg of this project in October, I've delayed my departure to mid February, at which time Sneaky and I will fly Alaska to Washington, drive from Washington to Florida, and spend several months documenting the East Coast states, from Florida north to Maine. We hope you will continue to follow along.
*******
August 2022 - My Facebook pages have been hacked/disabled. For now, I'm shifting to sharing on Instagram, @behind_the_mask_our_stories and blog behindthemaskourstories.blogspot.com. I hope you'll continue to follow along. After a wonderful summer documenting life in my home state of Alaska, I am making plans to head back off down the road for the last part of the documenting phase of this project, capturing life along the East Coast, from Maine to Florida. And then, my work will begin on my coffee table book, documentary film, and traveling art exhibit... But for now, the Far North slips into Autumn, with its cooler temps, bright colors and shorter days.
*****
May 2022 - Back in Home Sweet Homer - Excited to document my homestate...
******
November 1, 2021 - And so... here we go, back out on the road, my kitty Sneaky and me. Leaving our hometown of Homer, Alaska in the wee hours of the morning one week ago, we set off to spend the next several months driving across the country to continue documenting everyday life during the pandemic, chronicling how Covid-19 has impacted people and places.
Tucked in tiny Jellybean, our home away from home, we will meander, with a short term goal of documenting all of the states by spring 2022 and long term goals that include the creation of a coffee table book, traveling art exhibit and documentary film. You're invited to be a part of this project by posting your own story to the Facebook page - through photos, videos and writing and/or by joining as a supporter, making a donation to my Go Fund Me - http://gofundme.com/f/behind-the-mask-our-stories. As a supporter, you'll receive postcards from the road, recognition within my social media pages and blog, as well as in the book, exhibit and film, and, my unwavering gratitude!
You can of course donate at any level. Here are some categories I created just for fun:
Kitty Kare $25 - Food, treats for Sneaky
Hygiene Helper $50 - Showers, laundry
Snack Supporter $75 - Meals, snacks, coffee
Camping Companion $100 - Camping, hotel stays
Fuel Friend $100+ - Gas, oil, car maintenance
Project Partner $200+ - Book, exhibit, film
Thank you to these individuals who have already donated to this next phase of documentation -
Emily Ward, Janet Higley, Lorraine Stoby, Taz Tally and Terry Talbot. Thank you to TOTE Maritime Alaska for coming on board as my first business/corporate sponsor. AND a very special thank you to the following individuals who helped me launch this project one year ago, and keep it and me moving forward - Barbara Russell Glidden, Bud Johnson, Chet Ross, Chris Long, Deb Williams, Ed and Sara Berg, Emily Ward, Evie Carpenter, Gail Baker, Ginger Drais, Jamie Bauer, Janet Higley, Jon Stoby, Jody Bone, Karri Wickstrom, Linda S. White-Canfield, Lois Lane-Plampin, Lorraine Stoby, Maria Felland, Monica Sallee, Pam Breckenridge, Rika Mouw, Scott Price, Susan Braund, Susan Ford, Taz
Tally, Terry Talbot, Tina Day, and several anonymous individuals.
Behind the Mask - Our Stories is about inspiring community, connection and creativity through storytelling. I hope you'll follow our journey!
*******
June 2021 - Back in my home state of Alaska for the summer season and concentrating my documentary efforts on life here in the far north. In the fall, I'll head back out on the road again, making my way to the east coast and the southern states. Until then...
*******
March, 2021 - Behind the Mask takes to the road again - Follow along as I head out to capture stories and images, documenting everyday life during the pandemic, this time, in the northwest and midwestern states.
This is very much a collaborative project. Join my family of project supporters by making a donation to this Go Fund Me project page to help with gas, snacks, showers and stay expenses, and you'll receive postcards mailed from the road, name recognition in my upcoming coffee table book and traveling art exhibit, and of course, my unwavering gratitude. Have a story to share? I'd love to connect!
* * *
February, 2021 - After spending last October, November and December documenting everyday life during the pandemic while driving around the Southwest, and then the past months focusing my efforts on Washington's Whidbey Island, I'm now preparing to continue on, meandering back roads and small towns around Washington.
With a short term goal of documenting everyday life during the pandemic in all states, and a long-term goal of creating a coffee table book and a traveling art exhibit, I'm incredibly grateful to the many, many amazing individuals I've met through this project who have shared their time and stories with me. I'd also like to recognize my project supporters whose donations helped me launch and keep going - Barbara Russell Glidden, Bud Johnson, Chris Long, Deb Williams, Ed and Sara Berg, Emily Ward, Evie Carpenter, Gail Baker, Ginger Drais, Janet Higley, Jon Stoby, Jody Bone, Linda S. White-Canfield, Lois Lane-Plampin, Lorraine Stoby, Maria Felland, Monica Sallee, Pam Breckenridge, Rika Mouw, Susan Braund, Susan Ford, Taz Tally, Terry Talbot, Tina Day and several anonymous individuals. Thanks to the generosity of all of these individuals, my initial fundraising goal of $2,500 for 2020 was not just met, but surpassed!
If you'd like to join my family of supporters and receive recognition on social media, in the book and exhibit, and have postcards mailed to you from the road, welcome, and thank you!
Have a story to share? Feel free to post it to my project page, Behind the Mask Facebook page
or reach out! Christina ❤️
***
Beginning October 20th, I'll spend two months driving across America in search of stories, creating conversations, connecting with others, and documenting what life looks like during the pandemic.
I originally created "Behind the Mask - Our Stories" in May 2020 as a Facebook page, inviting family and friends and their families and friends to share photos and videos that provided glimpses into their lives, adjusting around Covid-19. Thanks to everyone who participated in this initial project for inspiring this next step!
Now, I am taking Behind the Mask on the road and expanding it, capturing stories of people, communities, places and landscapes through photographs, videos, and essays. My short term goals include creating communities of storytelling and documenting what I witness and experience and what others share with me, and my long-term goals include creating a coffee table book and traveling multimedia exhibit
that portrays how we now move through our lives, pivoting, shifting and adjusting our trajectories, with Covid-19 tugging at the fabric of our daily existence in endless ways.
I expect to hear stories of not only loss and tragedy, but also of unexpected opportunities, and gifts of beauty and joy. And so, it is my hope that this project will serve as both a chronicle of these days and a reminder that just as fear and uncertainty may spread throughout families and communities and a country, so may hope and a sense of unity be felt. While our experiences may differ greatly, we are all on this pandemic journey together, in one way or another.
As I meander the country, connecting with others, I will be self-contained in a rented camper van, confident in my ability to safely interact with people in very organic ways - at campgrounds, gas stations, rest stops, parks, on trails, in grocery stores - natural stopping points for a journey such as this.
If you would like to support Behind the Mask - Our Stories by making a financial donation to help offset expenses, that is wonderful! All donors will be recognized on the blog and Facebook page, as well as within the coffee table book and traveling exhibit. They will also receive postcards from the road and personal emails. Every dollar contributed is greatly appreciated. Here are some fun categories for your consideration:
$10 - Hygiene Helper (laundry and showers)
$25 - Snack Supporter (snacks, meals)
$50 - Fuel friend (gas, propane)
$100 - Camper companion (camper van rental)
$101+ - Project Partner (coffee table book, traveling exhibit)
Whether you make a donation or not, I hope you will follow my journey.
Behind the Mask Blog
Behind the Mask Facebook page
** Photo credit - Taz Tally
** Artwork credit - Gail Baker
Organisator
Christina Whiting
Organisator
Homer, AK
