finding a voice

One photographer another participant mentioned was Sheye Rosemeyer.  She is a remarkable photographer whose daughter, Ava, died at the age of three.   Her blog and photos are amazing.  Inspiring.

http://www.sheyerosemeyerphotography.com/blog/

The photographer holding the workshop said Sally Mann was a huge inspiration for her and when looking through her site, I saw a photo that has inspired me for years.  I just never remembered the name of the photographer...

For me, its the look of defiance in the all their eyes.  I love that look on their faces and added to that the fact they are children and aren't ashamed of being shirtless.  I think I've been trying to duplicate it all along- the defiant look, the lack of shame that is part of childhood.

Another one of my favorite artists, although not a photographer,  is Andrew Wyeth.  I had an Andrew Wyeth poster collection in my room during high school.  His favorite subjects were Christina and Helga.   Christina had an unidentified muscular disorder, but her image in Wyeth's paintings always spoke to me.  "Christina's World" is a classic and one of my favorites but my favorite Wyeth painting is "The Chambered Nautilus" with Christina looking out a window and the linens from the four poster bed flying and the chambered nautilus on the trunk at the foot of the bed.  I can look at this image for a long time.

This is what good photography is.  You can stare at the image for a  long time and not tire of the image or the sentiment/feeling behind the creation of the image.  

I really wanted to learn how to paint because of Andrew Wyeth.  My mom was and is probably still an excellent painter but I look choppy when I try.  I think it is sadly ironic that I was so obsessed with these paintings when I was young.

I am also greatly inspired by Mumford and Sons and one song in particular "After the Storm", especially this refrain:

As I write this I remember reading this article about Johnny Depp (again "Deep Thoughts by Nicole Lenzen") about how he came up with the character of Jack Sparrow.  He said he imagined one part Keith Richards, one part drag queen and one part Pepe LePew.  I think when trying to think of what inspires you to do anything you need to pull from whatever you know and if you're lucky enough, you can use the material that is truly a definition of who you are.

More inspiration to come because I've been inspired by so many of your blogs and websites.... just need to learn how to link it to my blog.

And Katie, so sorry about the evening.  This Denver weather... you were absolutely right.