“In The Book of Embraces, Eduardo Galeano has a short story that I love. To me, it is a splendid metaphor of writing:

There was an old and solitary man who spent most of his time in bed. There were rumors that he had a treasure hidden in his house. One day some thieves broke in, they searched everywhere and found a chest in the cellar. They went off with it and when they opened it they found that it was filled with letters. They were the love letters the old man had received all over the course of his long life. The thieves were going to burn the letters, but they talked it over and finally decided to return them. One by one. One a week. Since then, every Monday at noon, the old man would be waiting for the postman to appear. As soon as he saw him, he would start running and the postman, who knew all about it, held the letter ready in his hand. And even St. Peter could hear the beating of that heart, crazed with joy at receiving a message from a woman.

Isn’t this the playful substance of literature? An event transformed by poetic truth? Writers are like those good thieves. They take something that is real, like the letters, and by a trick of magic they transform it into something totally fresh. That is the best part of writing: finding the hidden treasures, giving sparkle to worn out events, invigorating the tired soul with imagination, creating some kind of truth with many lies.

Good fiction is not only the thrill of a plot. At its best it is an invitation to explore beyond the appearance of things, it challenges the reader’s safety, it questions reality. Yes, it can be disturbing. But there may be a reward at the end. With some luck, the author and the reader, hand in hand, may stumble upon some particles of truth. Usually, however, that is not the intention of the author in the first place. The writer merely suffers from an uncontrollable need to tell the story. There is nothing more to it, believe me.”

- Nina

Speaking of changes, the site will be changing soon! My friend Vaha is a genius at web design and is planning to make this thing look great, so look for that – as well as new pics up soon!

Really, honestly And am looking to really get into my blog so look for more activity on this end!

- Nina

I have some new shots from my recent trip to Amsterdam and Kenya, so some favorites will be up shortly, as well as work from a recent fashion show I attended.

Hope all of you are well! Take care and all the best,

~ Nina

Thanks so much for the support of the new site; I’m quite pleased with things! Still figuring out a few kinks, and gradually going through some photos to add.

What’s new:

I added a new gallery for Fashion, with shots from the Nordic Heritage Museum‘s Arctic Summer fashion show during Sweden Week in Seattle in May 2010. I also added the photo essay I Am Keffiyeh, with photos of keffiyehs which people were wearing during pro-Gaza protests here in Seattle after Israeli military ships attacked a humanitarian aid flotilla heading to besieged Gaza. I have also added a Wedding gallery as well.

Also, if you are in the Seattle are at all this summer, be sure to stop by the Seattle area Red Cross’ photographic exhibition “Our World At War: Photojournalism Beyond The Front Lines.” They also have a special event series running throughout the time that the show is up, so if you are interested in hearing more about a certain topic, please RSVP!

I hope you all enjoy the site! All the best & many greetings from Seattle,

~ Nina

First of all, a big thanks to everyone for being so patient in waiting for the new site!!! I appreciate all of your support, suggestions and help. Firstly, a big than you goes to Erik Zidowecki for all of his website-savvy skills. Also, my friends and family for all of their feedback and suggestions about my site, ideas and layout, etc…

I hope you enjoy the new site! Navigation tabs are at the top of the page, underneath the image banner, and some links have drop-down tabs so that you can then access other related pages. [However, should you happen to click on the primary tab itself, never fear; there are links on that page to the related links, as well as the site map on the right-hand side of the page.]

If you have an interest in attaining any of the photographs as a print, please send me an email at nina@ninaboe.com. Also, I am available around the Seattle area for hire for photography; please send me an email if you are interested, and let me know what you are looking for!

Check back for more info about upcoming shows, updates, and other events!