I was reflecting this week about pivotal points in my life, and each memory brought me back to the same four words: You Can’t Do That.

Those words have been spoken or written to me so many times, it must be fun for people to say.

When I made creepy films about death I was told I shouldn’t; when I made creepy photographs about death, I was told I can’t. But every time I did something that was weird and unfavorable, it brought me to a place of lush goodness. There must be a correlation between them.

Subconsciously, I began to associate things I shouldn’t do with happiness, prosperity. I started to believe that the more I did thing that upset some people, the opposite would also happen. Polarizing art means that people hate it and love it. And it is that love that drives my passion.

We place too much confidence in other people – their opinions, their beliefs, their experiences – and not enough on our own. On what could be. On what we might make happen.

This week I’m taking that back. I’m claiming my passion for my own and my path for myself. I’m walking toward my passion with the confidence that if I can build it, I can live in it. If I can imagine it, I can make it.

My words for this topic are short because they are direct, sincere, and final. It’s simply time we took back what we rightfully own: our dreams.

Share two things with us:
1) What have you done despite being told not to?
2) Do you think you could be more bold in your life?

I had the most perfect morning imaginable. I really mean that, even more than other days that I say the same thing (what can I do, I’m an eternal optimist.). I awoke early from a nightmare at 3:45am so I decided to make use of my extra 15 minutes and drive out early to scout. I went about 45 minutes away to find a beautiful forest. As I walked through the trees a family of elk grazed in a nearby field. It was blue out. I felt like the only human for miles. I was completely at peace.

My mind wandered through the forest to the farthest reaches of my imagination and back again as I took a moment to lay quietly on the ground. An ant crawled up my hand and back down again, and I let the tickle linger before wiping it away and going back to my equipment that lay a few feet away. As I set myself up for a portrait I noticed the absence of something. The anxiety that is ever-present in me, be it big or small, was gone. I wasn’t thinking of how much time I had or if my idea was good. Where it would have been there was only calm.

Portrait finished, I began setting up for video. I knew only that I wanted a loose narrative and to learn slow motion. I spent the evening before reading forums and tinkering with my camera until I felt certain I could achieve what I wanted. As I began filming I let the narrative take over and lead myself to different parts of the woods, each shot becoming what it wanted to be. I never forced it. I became it.

I hope your day is as kissed by the sun as mine has been. I’m quite proud of today’s content, and for that I am grateful. Day 8, I love you.

I have been creating so many images lately with heavy compositing, and I was loving that experimentation. I have no plans on stopping, either. But in that haze of image editing I decided to try for a simpler composition and shoot in my favorite spot in the forest. I went with my friend Kyna to take some photos. We had tea and chocolate and then sat in the ivy, burning candles and playing with wax.

Earlier in the day we visited a local Goodwill and found many books for the photo shoot. I bought about 25 of them and decided to make do with those. One that we found, which was extra special, was a huge anthology of Shakespeare’s works, with illustrations. It was incredible timing, as I was fashioning the character of the image around Ophelia.

When we got to the forest I opened up the Shakespeare book and turned to Hamlet where I found the page you see in the final image. I put a vine in her hair and posed her quite similar to the woman in the book, and decided to go for a play on characters: one mimicking the other.

To read is to escape; to become someone else; to wish for a new life. So much of reading is becoming, not just imagining. We can feel what they feel, and in doing so, become those characters, even if for a brief time. Escape, release, and imagination. These emotions are what books are made of. Enchantment.

Who are your favorite storybook characters?