Massive amounts of Internet wiring become a blue roller coaster curved composition.

This week, for the first time in 5 years, I scheduled a time during my day to go outside and photograph.  This used to be my life.  My camera came everywhere with me and captured my life and the lives of others I saw along the way.  I stopped loving photography during my undergrad studies and have had a shaky relationship with it ever since.  But, after photographing two of my friend’s weddings, I am beginning to remember why I loved photography to begin with.

It is almost like I need to practice at not taking it so seriously.  I had to go to art school to learn how to technically take photographs and now I have to almost unlearn all of that–in order to take away that pressure to take the perfect photograph.  The best advice I ever received from a photographer was (I am paraphrasing) “Take as many photographs as you can because you will be lucky if you get one image out from one roll of film.”  1 in 36 is apparently the average for a talented photographer.  The digital age makes it a great deal easier to take a ton of crappy photographs in order to find that one gem.  And, reflecting on that advice today, what I really think he was getting at was, just take it!  Don’t think, just photograph.

I could not just take it last week.  I had a really hard time photographing.  It’s like I lost my touch.  It used to be automatic for me.  I didn’t think, I just pointed and clicked.  It was straight from my gut.  That’s what I love about photography.  It can be so genuine and honest if you approach it correctly.  That’s another part of me I will have to find again.

Photography used to allow me to look at a scene as though I had never seen it before.  I was like a 5 year old at the circus for the first time.  Instead of pointing my finger in awe, I was pointing my camera and recording that composition I framed in my head.  Where did that photographer go?  And can I get her back?

Wow!  I just got images back from my most recent solo exhibition at the Wiseman Gallery in Grants Pass, Oregon.  It is truly amazing what space can do for an artwork and concept.  The installation was done so well, I’m glad there was great care taken in producing a lovely “mini” exhibiton of my “I’m a Terrible Morning Person” Project.

I wish I could have made it to the actual space to see the exhibition.  I think the huge amounts of space left between the works and the fact that walls separated some of them really changed the vibe of the whole show.  I would have liked to see first hand what the work was saying to the viewer.  This is why I love showing my work in as many places as possible; it keeps morphing into something entirely new.

Check out the images and tell me what they say to you.