I wish pictures were enough.
Granted, sometimes they are, but more often, it's our stories - our interpretations of the context within which those images exist - that bring an added and sometimes necessary touch of life to an image's liveliness. That's why I love the pairing of the two so much. And I don't think that will ever change.
So, class, gather round and consider this my New Year's show-and-tell.
____________________________________
If I had to show you one thing, one image that represents the coming transition of a new year to me, it would be this one.
If I had to tell you why, I'd start with the surge of both relief and hope that flood my heart every time I see it. And then I'd tell you about all the times that it has nearly brought tears to my eyes. Because this picture, without me knowing it at the time of capture, says everything about who I am becoming and who I want to be - not just as a photographer but as a woman - as a believer, as a mentor, as a friend, and as a wife.
Photographically speaking, it is, of course, the people which have made this year of 2009, this journey into commerce and art, what it is. The tiny babies and darling children, the families who've opened up their homes and hearts to me - honoring me not with their business but with their trust. The couples with whom I have celebrated some of their most important days, thanks to my work with Gray Photography. The joys of those expecting and those marking the passing of time. It will always be the people that make this an incredible joy for me.
I'd be lying, however, if I told you that was enough and that in many ways, I've done both myself and my clients - my new friends - a disservice for the better part of this year. Not because of something I've done wrong, but because of everything I haven't been doing. Those things which this picture inspires me to do - starting with loving and honoring a particular person.
This picture evidently isn't that person. It also isn't some well-known landmark or travel photo. And it's not an award-winning wedding shot with my name imprinted on it. They're just berries. But at the time, they mattered enough for me to stop in the middle of a long hike and see something microscopic in all of the grandeur of an overlook of the Savage Gulf. A simple red berry in the company of blues.
I didn't know quite how much it would matter in the end though, as I've found myself reflecting with the approach of not just a new year, but a new decade. At the core of this image is all of the stuff about identity, worth, simplicity, courage, and beauty within which I hope to relish, in 2010. At the core of it, I see me. And not in a self-centered way, but in a way that recognizes how much I've bashed - belittled - belabored myself on so many levels. How much I have discredited my abilities by being the voice that compares, criticizes, and is careless with my own heart.
And so with 2010, I feel the call to do much with myself. To not bury the treasure. To dig so deeply into the center of who I am that I end up letting go of the needs I have to... control. be perfect. be noticed. be complimented. be... busy. second guess myself. live in fear. To remember, as often as possible, what my (to steal from Coelho) personal legend is. And mostly, to remember that "When you are loved, you can do anything in creation."
I matter. What I do matters. No matter what anyone tells me, either, including myself. Because at the end of the day, I am here and I am loved by Love Himself. And I will always be noticed like a red berry hanging on a stem of blues.
So the gift, then, is calling that truth out in others as I learn to do so in myself.
With, and without, my camera.
Granted, sometimes they are, but more often, it's our stories - our interpretations of the context within which those images exist - that bring an added and sometimes necessary touch of life to an image's liveliness. That's why I love the pairing of the two so much. And I don't think that will ever change.
So, class, gather round and consider this my New Year's show-and-tell.
____________________________________
If I had to show you one thing, one image that represents the coming transition of a new year to me, it would be this one.
If I had to tell you why, I'd start with the surge of both relief and hope that flood my heart every time I see it. And then I'd tell you about all the times that it has nearly brought tears to my eyes. Because this picture, without me knowing it at the time of capture, says everything about who I am becoming and who I want to be - not just as a photographer but as a woman - as a believer, as a mentor, as a friend, and as a wife.
Photographically speaking, it is, of course, the people which have made this year of 2009, this journey into commerce and art, what it is. The tiny babies and darling children, the families who've opened up their homes and hearts to me - honoring me not with their business but with their trust. The couples with whom I have celebrated some of their most important days, thanks to my work with Gray Photography. The joys of those expecting and those marking the passing of time. It will always be the people that make this an incredible joy for me.
I'd be lying, however, if I told you that was enough and that in many ways, I've done both myself and my clients - my new friends - a disservice for the better part of this year. Not because of something I've done wrong, but because of everything I haven't been doing. Those things which this picture inspires me to do - starting with loving and honoring a particular person.
This picture evidently isn't that person. It also isn't some well-known landmark or travel photo. And it's not an award-winning wedding shot with my name imprinted on it. They're just berries. But at the time, they mattered enough for me to stop in the middle of a long hike and see something microscopic in all of the grandeur of an overlook of the Savage Gulf. A simple red berry in the company of blues.
I didn't know quite how much it would matter in the end though, as I've found myself reflecting with the approach of not just a new year, but a new decade. At the core of this image is all of the stuff about identity, worth, simplicity, courage, and beauty within which I hope to relish, in 2010. At the core of it, I see me. And not in a self-centered way, but in a way that recognizes how much I've bashed - belittled - belabored myself on so many levels. How much I have discredited my abilities by being the voice that compares, criticizes, and is careless with my own heart.
And so with 2010, I feel the call to do much with myself. To not bury the treasure. To dig so deeply into the center of who I am that I end up letting go of the needs I have to... control. be perfect. be noticed. be complimented. be... busy. second guess myself. live in fear. To remember, as often as possible, what my (to steal from Coelho) personal legend is. And mostly, to remember that "When you are loved, you can do anything in creation."
I matter. What I do matters. No matter what anyone tells me, either, including myself. Because at the end of the day, I am here and I am loved by Love Himself. And I will always be noticed like a red berry hanging on a stem of blues.
So the gift, then, is calling that truth out in others as I learn to do so in myself.
With, and without, my camera.
1 comment:
Beautifully stated Kristine! I think you and I are on the same page. I felt like you put into words what my jumbled brain could never get out. It is so amazing to be loved by Love Himself :)
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