For two Saturdays in a row, I've taken photos at Michael Earl's muppetry class, which my son and my husband were taking. (In my usage, muppetry is puppetry for TV, a la the Muppets.)

Michael worked for many years for the Hensons, appearing for several seasons on Sesame Street and I'm sure in other projects. So as you might imagine, his class was phenomenal; watching these actor/improvisor/puppeteers work with bare hands while dealing with a camera and the monitors was spellbinding.

Not only did the puppets come alive, but watching the puppeteers interact with their puppets when they weren't "on" was hugely enjoyable. I took a hundred photos last week before my memory ran out; this week, I took about 150 photos. (They did a lot of taping, and I didn't want the click of the camera on the tape.) And watching them lip sync to music, or improvise a scene, was pure delight.

The world of Puppetry is a small one. Everyone seems to know everyone else; and everyone knows which films need puppeteers, and when they're auditioning. A very select group of individuals.

I feel privileged to have been their photographer.