Simplicity. Peace. Beauty.
That’s what I see when I look at this image. A brief moment in time captured, expressing something wonderful.
I also see a landscape. And I scratch my head quizzically, wondering, “When did I become a landscape photographer?”
The answer whispered to me: When you stopped telling yourself you weren’t one.
Oh, yeah.
When I threw out the rules for my photography and starting to follow what brought me joy. When I let myself have fun and play again. When I threw out the need for perfection and pixels and began to create with a terrible, low-resolution iPod Touch camera.
When I stopped defining myself.
That’s when I became a landscape photographer. And a painter. And whatever I feel like being today. Tomorrow it will probably be something different.
Because you know what? None of the labels matter. It’s just me and my art. Approaching each day as it comes, with openness and joy.
Well. If that doesn’t conclude my transformation of the last few months, I’m not sure what would. From the fear of change in October to the emergence of November to this acceptance that arrived in December. Completely unplanned, somehow my monthly Photo-Heart Connections tracks this dramatic transition to a new approach to my art. As I worked on my “eighteen months” project I was a bit shocked to discover that I hadn’t picked up my dSLR at all between October 22nd and December 14th, when I went out for my night shoot. I mean, I knew I hadn’t picked up my “big” camera for a while, but there was something about seeing it right there in Lightroom that was a bit shocking. And you know what? I didn’t care. Because I’m having so much fun with all of this! I’m going with it.
This month concludes the first year of the Photo-Heart Connection. It’s been an amazing practice! I’ve gained so much from it, as well as the community of people who have joined me this year. The guests posts from the last week have shared some amazing stories of connection, and I am truly honored to be able to play host to such a wonderful community of artists. I’m excited to continue for 2013. Who knows what will emerge?
To celebrate a new year of the Photo-Heart Connection, I’ve created a new button that better expresses my feelings about the whole practice. You can copy the code from the sidebar here.
And as a second part of the New Year celebration, I am going to give away a small matted print of this image, entitled “Windblown,” to one of the participants in this month’s Photo-Heart Connection. All you have to do to enter is to participate! So, what is your Photo-Heart Connection this month?