Personal Shoot - Inside

I've always been drawn to the beauty of words ... and not just in their power to communicate. I love words as visual entities. I am fascinated by etymoloy, tracing the evolution of words as they have developed over time and through cultures. I adore the aesthetics of them, whether they're filling the pages of a cherished antique book or if they are making up the visual landscape of our daily world. But there is something truly magical about handwritten words on paper. They can reveal a vast range of personality, artistry, and intention through their form. From a creative perspective words have the ability to imbue great meaning but also to transform into a unique visual texture where that original message might be obscured. This is the passion that recently inspired me to reach out to artist Robin Plemmons, known for her handwritten works, to collaborate on a paper backdrop that would be incorporated into a portrait session. We selected a quote from ee cummings (the text appears in full below), and it was painted out by hand and brush. My lovely friend Rachel acted as model and muse. Some of my favorites from that session appear here.

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit." - e e cummings