Inclusion. Intention. Interpretation.This letter exists only because I am a part of a wonderful community of artists who are collaborative and open to sharing their stories. As I mentioned in my Slow Photography Movement blog "Relational Nature Photography", I feel it's important that we photographers (and all humans) move away from competition and toward collaboration. You'll see that this Nature-Love Letter is centered around the thoughts/responses/insights offered by those I consider to be a part of my creative community, for which I am eternally grateful! Reflections for Summer: Who/where is your creative community? How do you/can you support each other? Because the blog "Into Photo Culture" shaped much of this Summer Equinox Nature-Love Letter, I want to share those thoughtful responses and flattering comments. The blog helped shape this letter and the lovely humans who responded solidified my perspective on the invaluable nature of community. Please also enjoy their Instagram pages by clicking on the quotes.
To help me articulate the concepts of inclusion, intention, and interpretation, I've invited two guest artists to share their experiences around creating meaningful art. Kristen's comments and questions above inspired me to invite our first guest, Mary Ogembo, the artist highlighted in the blog "Into Photo Culture." Artistic intentions |
 | As an artist, how have you dealt with your work, which is filled with your love, experience, and intention, being interpreted in so many ways? As an artist I believe my creativity is guided purely with passion. What I create is conceived in my mind since all my work is from memory. I majorly talk about the African woman as I am one and relate to most of the things that African women go through. I chose this topic after having been in a ‘dilemma’ of what theme to talk about, since I was new from college and had been taught a range of topics. In my case I started by painting from any topic like landscape, seascape, nature and so on. |
During this period of finding my artistic voice amidst so much confusion, I got the interest of painting women. I had observed that many artists were talking about women negatively. In their paintings, they fondly depicted women as victims of rape, violence, beast of burden... One painting whose memory has stuck with me to date is that of a woman painted carrying the globe on her head, on her back she is carrying a baby and she is pregnant, beside her were several children dragging alongside her, as she tried to bear all the weight and move at the same time.
From this point on I decided to paint women in a different light. I wanted to celebrate them. This I was going to do by talking only on the positive side. I wanted only to highlight in my paintings, the beauty and the importance of women in the society in a positive context. In my paintings I depict the progress of women into leadership, their education, their happiness… the general improvement of their lives.
This can also be seen in my choice of color. I use warm colors to bring about the happy mood in the painting. Beauty is also something I’m keen to show when painting women. I exaggerate on some body features, like wide eyes, round full/big breast, big bums, long necks. These are some of the features considered beautiful in most African communities when talking about African women. I also use beaded jewelry as beads are largely used in making ornaments. Hairstyle is also another form of way to depict beauty.
I’m driven with passion when painting. It is up to the viewer to either like or dislike the painting, it really doesn’t bother me. Whichever way, it doesn’t change my notion about my work once I’m convinced that what I have is what I wanted to put out to the world. I have been around all the regions of Africa and observed that women in Africa are so much similar in their way of doing things. Everything is somehow related. The fashion, the culture… it’s very similar from one region to the other. The African environment plays a major role in every painting I produce. The background always portrays the vegetation or the natural condition of a place where the person/my subject is.
From this point on I decided to paint women in a different light. I wanted to celebrate them. This I was going to do by talking only on the positive side. I wanted only to highlight in my paintings, the beauty and the importance of women in the society in a positive context. In my paintings I depict the progress of women into leadership, their education, their happiness… the general improvement of their lives.
This can also be seen in my choice of color. I use warm colors to bring about the happy mood in the painting. Beauty is also something I’m keen to show when painting women. I exaggerate on some body features, like wide eyes, round full/big breast, big bums, long necks. These are some of the features considered beautiful in most African communities when talking about African women. I also use beaded jewelry as beads are largely used in making ornaments. Hairstyle is also another form of way to depict beauty.
I’m driven with passion when painting. It is up to the viewer to either like or dislike the painting, it really doesn’t bother me. Whichever way, it doesn’t change my notion about my work once I’m convinced that what I have is what I wanted to put out to the world. I have been around all the regions of Africa and observed that women in Africa are so much similar in their way of doing things. Everything is somehow related. The fashion, the culture… it’s very similar from one region to the other. The African environment plays a major role in every painting I produce. The background always portrays the vegetation or the natural condition of a place where the person/my subject is.
 Click the "Sunny Day" image above to visit Mary's Gallery | Looking at the painting ‘Sunny Day’ the lady is lost in her own thoughts and looking like she is enjoying the morning sunshine which is rising above the hilly horizon. Her beauty is seen by the mohawk hairstyle. She is adorned in a necklace and earrings. Here I’m purely showing beauty. She has a full bust and the colours are warm. The rest I leave for the viewer to decipher. - Mary |
Reflections for Summer:
How does Mary's journey toward finding her voice as a painter relate to/differ from your journey?
What values, cultures, passions, and identities are you communicating through your images?
How does Mary's journey toward finding her voice as a painter relate to/differ from your journey?
What values, cultures, passions, and identities are you communicating through your images?
I am inspired by Mary's awareness of and grounding in her artistic voice. I tend to think that, for the most part, photographers don't do the greatest job considering our artistic voice in our images. It seems we spend most of our time discussing gear, camera settings, technology, and rules, and less time discussing values, visual storytelling, emotional interpretation, and historical/cultural context.
It is my intention to add to the emotional, relational, and loving voices in nature photography.
In my Spring Equinox Nature-Love Letter, I offered readers a one-on-one coaching opportunity to deepen their relationship with nature, their camera/compositions, and themselves, and I was fortunate enough to have the chance to explore this deepening with my friend and fellow creative, Ravelle of Inherent Peace, over six sessions in April and May. If you are moved by Ravelle's process below and would like to financially support her work, you can do so here.
Through my intake survey for this coaching experiment, Ravelle informed me that she wanted to use our time together to clarify goals, set intentions, and outline experiments around composition strategies in order to tell visual stories that convey the message of peace, quietude, tranquility, simplicity, and minimalism. We also ended up having deep discussions around intentionality and interpretation. As a long-time appreciator of Ravelle's images, I will add that when I encounter her most recent images, I feel like I am peering directly into soul of the entire Universe, which sends a reassuring whisper of peace right to my heart!
Into the Heart: Falling in Love with Photography
by Ravelle
writer, photographer, Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher
 Click the photo grid above to visit Ravelle's Instagram page | Introduction: My Photography Journey Although falling in love with photography was easy, staying in love took time and commitment. I struggled to find a style that was authentic to me and it took years before I found subjects I genuinely enjoyed photographing. I dabbled in portraits, wedding photography, and real estate photography. I tried high contrast, vibrant colors, and dark and moody images. Yet, none of it felt “right”. Moreover, my skill level took a long time to develop, and I am still working on it. In fact, I took photography in high school where we used film and, with my first assignment, I totally missed the part about the light meter. So, my first pictures were a complete disaster! As technology evolved, so did my style, because I was changing too. |
Thanks to my dear friend, Kristin of "Present to Beauty", I am falling in love with photography all over again. Together we explored what I needed to do to intentionally create my vision and refine my images. Now, I recognize that 4 components came together to help me discover my authentic style.
Four Components: My Authentic Style
The 4 components to discovering and achieving my authentic style, and falling in love with photography again involved intentionally choosing the right subjects, mood, skills, and stories.
1. The subjects that called me and inspired me: Real estate photography didn’t inspire me. I found events stressful and portraits were tough because I was constantly confronted with people’s insecurities. I didn’t feel like any of it suited my temperament. But I knew that being out in nature gave me joy! I typically notice nature's textures and details. I always feel called by a plant or leaf. Sometimes it’s tree bark or a rock. I feel a great sense of peace around nature, even if I’m just sitting with one tree in my backyard.
The 4 components to discovering and achieving my authentic style, and falling in love with photography again involved intentionally choosing the right subjects, mood, skills, and stories.
1. The subjects that called me and inspired me: Real estate photography didn’t inspire me. I found events stressful and portraits were tough because I was constantly confronted with people’s insecurities. I didn’t feel like any of it suited my temperament. But I knew that being out in nature gave me joy! I typically notice nature's textures and details. I always feel called by a plant or leaf. Sometimes it’s tree bark or a rock. I feel a great sense of peace around nature, even if I’m just sitting with one tree in my backyard.
 Past |  Present |
2. The mood I wanted to share in my images: After struggling with my mental health for years, I finally found inner peace through meditation, mindfulness, and my spiritual practice. I knew I wanted to create a similar sense of peacefulness in my photographs and that high-saturated, high-contrast, high-vibrancy photos seemed too loud and noisy, almost like the emotional and mental turmoil of anxiety, depression, and mania. Despite how strikingly beautiful these pictures are, I sometimes find them overwhelming. I now reduce the saturation and vibrancy in my final edits. I don’t need my photos to stand out, I just need them to be more genuine to me and my experience. For me, that means having an equal “volume” of color, lighting, white balance, and composition. This style of editing brings my images in flow. With no one element speaking louder than another, I feel calm. Balance brings Oneness.
 Past |  Present |
3. The skills I needed to recreate my view of my subjects: Skills bring confidence, which allows more possibilities. Prior to my photography coaching with Kristin, I was clear on the first two components. Although I had the skills I needed, I had to make some minor adjustments to build confidence. My past photos were always under-exposed, but now I’m creating brighter images. I had learned that over-exposing meant I would lose details in the highlights, but with Kristin’s help in defining new experiments, I realized that details were also being lost in the shadows. Yep, there was that light meter lesson again! After experimenting, I now have both the skills and the confidence to find that perfect balance and I no longer have to rely on post-processing as my primary tool for creating peaceful imagery.
 Past |  Present |
4. The stories I aspired to share: After nailing down the first three components, it felt like something was missing! I was ready to explore the story-telling aspect. Kristin’s line of questioning was invaluable for this. The photography coaching encouraged me to be more intentional. I knew if I didn’t try new experiments, I would continue to look at things the same way. So, I chose to be open to the questions in order to create more possibilities of peace. Staying open, I discovered that, when I connect with my heart, I allow the subject to tell its own story. Since nature brings me so much peace, I needed to honor that. In other words, I had to intentionally slow down, breathe, and become quiet inside to really see my subjects from the space they spoke to me from.
 | Conclusion: My Shared Love Now, people tell me all the time that when they see my photography in the sea of photos on social media, they know right away that it’s one of mine. Often, they will say, “your images are so peaceful” or “I love the peaceful vibes on your feed”. That feedback makes me feel like I’ve done my job, I’ve told the story I wanted, and I’ve honored my experience with my subjects. Additionally, I think people are also slowing down and becoming quiet within if they are noticing what I saw and felt. |
Although I am not the most skillful photographer, I think falling in love with photography is about connecting with your subject from the heart. So, if you’re trying to find your unique style, I'd say the heart is a good place to start!
- Ravelle
- Ravelle
Reflections for Summer:
How can Ravelle's "4 Authentic Style Components" help you tell your story?
Which components are your strengths? Which need further reflection?
How can Ravelle's "4 Authentic Style Components" help you tell your story?
Which components are your strengths? Which need further reflection?
Thank you again for your time, attention, and contemplation!
I consider each of you to be a part of my thoughtful, loving creative community.
And a special thanks to Mary and Ravelle for sharing their experiences, vulnerabilities, creations, and love.
I consider each of you to be a part of my thoughtful, loving creative community.
And a special thanks to Mary and Ravelle for sharing their experiences, vulnerabilities, creations, and love.
Enjoy the contents of this letter in whichever way best nourishes your life and photo practice and
be on the lookout for your Fall Equinox nature-love letter, which will be delivered to your inbox September 22nd, 2021.
Until then, hope you have a beauty-filled Summer!
💚 Kristin
be on the lookout for your Fall Equinox nature-love letter, which will be delivered to your inbox September 22nd, 2021.
Until then, hope you have a beauty-filled Summer!
💚 Kristin
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