Welcome to Pairings

In one short paragraph author Flannery O'Connor nails down her work ethic — one that will motivate your creative soul.

Inspiration comes from many places. No use pretending it all comes out of our heads with no other stimulation. We rely on influences.

If you believe, as I do, that life is lived in the details, your camera must always be ready to take in what you can’t. Melk Abbey...

When You Can’t Change The View Water Over The Dam by Jann Alexander ©2016 Change Your Perspective Another Perspective: Water Over The Dam...

You’ve finished your epic novel and you’re querying agents. (You haven’t written an epic novel? No matter. Applying for a job? Same...

For every action, there is a reaction. Which makes choosing the right actions pretty important, even when the actions are pretty...

You voted with your eyeballs for your favorite Pairings this year ( Thank You! ), and your eyes revealed that my posts about the creative...

Inspiration shows up anywhere and everywhere. But motivation isn’t as reliable.

“You never know what doors are going to open up and why they are going to open up. You’ve got to be ready to walk through them.” —Lester...

Mondrian in Mexico by Jann Alexander ©2015 Show me a little symmetry , a vivid color or two, some kind of pattern, bright light and hard...

The Passing Train at Sunset by Jann Alexander ©2015 “It’s the journey, stupid.” —Variation on a 1992 campaign phrase attributed to James...

What I like best about photography is that there’s always another photo. Since I can shoot with the camera that's always in my pocket.

Glowing Orange Corduroy by Jann Alexander ©2015 Here’s a Few Ski Tips. Why should the visible surface of skis have all the fun? With...

Green in Maine by Jann Alexander © 2014 Happy Flowers by Jann Alexander ©2014 Done In Maine by Jann Alexander ©2013 “A life is lived,...

Silent Waterfall | iPhoneography © 2105 by Jann Alexander Nature and technology make two unlikely bedfellows, yet when it comes to...

Blinded by the Light    iPhoneography with iPhone 4s by Jann Alexander ©2015 Don’t you just hate Venetian blinds? When they’re open,...

Inspiration and creativity are some pretty crazy bedfellows. Plenty of more philosophical and scientific minds than mine have devoted...

Fresh Picked by Jann Alexander © 2014 I plucked a bowlful of blueberries fresh from the bush outside the small red Maine cottage where...

Though I’m not one of them , advocates of disorganization thrive on it. The truth is that even the most organized among us have lapses in...

Secrets by Jann Alexander ©2014 “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.” –Diane Arbus  Though...