creepy – Promoting Passion

19/31 July Challenge

brookeshaden — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 18:12:23 +0000

These are the places only she knows while

counting soul shifts in the movement of her wild rhythm.

There in the in between spaces where a throat clears into a cough

where no one hears the misstep as loudly as she does in her own ears.

There in the play dough thudding drum roll empty moldable way

that her tongue tries to form the words to a song she can’t remember.

These are the places only she goes.

These are the places only she knows while

sitting without breathing hoping loudly her wild chest won’t sing.

There in the laughter where her sighs get drowned out

where no one knows the sound of groping breaths and sharp inhales.

There in the sweated palms lines drawn etched deep down

her curses puddle in the creases on the long river to the ocean.

These are the places only she knows.

Promoting Passion Week 71: Simple Self-Portraiture

brookeshaden — Wed, 27 May 2015 11:55:05 +0000

Ever since I started photography I have loved simplicity. Heck, even when I was in film school I would always think to myself: Can’t we just use natural light? And so when I discovered I had full control over my camera and what I produced with it, I ditched the lights and the confusion in favor of simplicity. I have always loved photographing against a blank white wall, and still crave shoots like that. I used to spend hours brainstorming what I could put in front of a white wall that I haven’t done before.

A little while ago I found a big black feather and took it home with me, hoping to use it for a photo. I promptly forgot about it until it suddenly appeared in my car, and I decided to put it to use. I love the way that the human form can be so evocative, expressing emotion much the same way as our faces. Contorting a certain way, lighting a certain way, and through editing we are able to create atmosphere with almost no help from outside elements. In this case I wore an ace bandage and made sure the lighting was more severe than I normally utilize.

I chose to pose against a wall that had only one light source: a window coming from the left. After that, it became simple to find a pose that felt right, and the shoot was over quickly.

How often do you use a white wall or blank canvas to create your art? Share it if you’ve shot it!

The Third Hand

brookeshaden — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:46:01 +0000

Let’s have an honest talk about why we create. The real insides of what it takes to do what we do, why we do it, and why we keep doing it. Creating isn’t always easy. It can be motivating, inspiring, and downright amazing. But that doesn’t make it easy. Every artist will go through a period of questioning: Am I good enough? Do I deserve to do this? Will anyone care? And finally, the biggest question of all: WHY? That is the heart of it all.

When an artist skips the question of WHY, it becomes difficult to answer any of the other questions. For at the heart of our journey is why we are walking, and when one no longer knows why they are walking, they tend to stop. Such is the reality of creating art. We walk and walk and walk, fueled on by passion and in turn, inspire ourselves. But when we forget why we create in the first place, the rest falls apart, too.

I recently took a journey through my portfolio, from day one until now. I like to do this a few times a year to keep myself on track, show myself the progress I’ve made, and equally to show myself how far I still have to go (eternity). While I was going through my works I remembered, suddenly and happily, why I create. It isn’t to hear other people’s reactions. It isn’t to hear a shutter click or to have fun frolicking in the woods. Those also come after the real reason why I create.

I create to find beauty in darkness, to shed light on the life of death; to pursue my own vision of the world and project that, as strange as it may be. I am in love with creating because I am in love with my imagination. I care so little about cameras and lights and technology, but I care infinitely for my ability to astound myself.

We all have the opportunity to be amazed by what we do. It doesn’t have to be the finished product that we love, or even the process of doing it. For me, it is the simplicity of being able to create. It is knowing that I have the power to express myself, change myself, and grow. It is knowing I have the power to, possibly, do the same for someone else. I have a voice and a message and a way of relaying that message to the world.

My art is an extension of myself, a third hand that serves my thoughts and dreams to the world. It is dark and I happily use the word creepy, yet it can also be whimsical and sad and surreal. These words do not define the process, simply the end result. What we are is more than what everyone sees when the process is complete.

We are amazingly powerful.