Dance Without the Devil on your Back

I shot this image two weeks ago and finished editing the night before my birthday last week. It is a very simple image but holds a lot of meaning for me. Letting go and living freely from all ones demons has been something I thought a lot in the past months and I have actively worked towards that freedom. The night before my personal new year started I made the decision that it's time to shake things of and "dance freely". I wanted to remember this feeling with this image and published it that night.

"Breeze" and a video decision

Is there a deeper meaning found in everything? Do I only create images to express a thought or an emotion? Simple answer: No, I don't. Mostly, yes. But not always. Sometimes I create just for the pure fun of creating and the sole purpose of those images is their visual appeal. That's the case with "Breeze". I'm working on a few other concepts at the moment and until they come to fruition, "Breeze" scratched the creative itch ;)

I love watching other photographers' speed edit videos and have great fun making my own. I find it very inspiring to watch an image develop step by step and the added music contributes to the overall feel of an image, IMHO.  Sometimes, however, I just want to be "by myself" when I edit and don't want to worry about the recording software and the cutting and the music.....As much as I love making the videos, I have found that they sometimes stand in the way of being productive. An idea for an image comes to mind, I shoot, edit and rather quickly my idea is realized and I can move on to the next. When recording a video, an entirely new editing process begins after the image editing has just been finished. And instead of working on a new idea, I spend a lot of time putting together the video. So, this one is very quick. I decided to do these quick ones more often in the future but will also continue making longer ones. :) I hope you still enjoy it!

Fallen - including a video!

I finished my second image of this year yesterday morning! I had great fun shooting it and putting it together. I won't give my personal thoughts about this one, I'd rather leave it up to you to see perhaps a meaning or a philosophy in this image ;)

Additionally, I recorded the editing process and it turned out to be such a long video. That meant that I somehow had to cut an almost 2 1/2 hour video (and I didn't even record everything!) down to under 4 minutes....it was a process! I had to leave out or shorten many steps that went into "Fallen". I mean....who wants to watch me edit for such a long time! Hahahaha... I hope you still enjoy this slightly abridged version!

.....and here is the image:

Space - a few thoughts on my first image of 2016!

Here it is - my first image of the new year! The story behind it is a very simple one, at least in my mind. Firstly, I simply wanted to have an "upside-down" indoors image. There. Done.

Secondly and maybe a bit more complex, is the emotional story behind it. To me the image is somewhat of a summary of the last year. Looking back, I feel like I spent a lot of time in 2015 "hiding". Hiding as in needing time for myself, time to think, time to re-group. But I feel like I was also hiding a bit from opportunities, from taking action in many ways. Creating and withdrawing to my own "space" helped me a lot. Hiding is nothing bad or unhealthy as long as you come out eventually with a fresh mind and clear thoughts. That's what happened to me and I'm grateful for it.

I chose to blindfold myself for the image. I do like to keep my images more anonymous. In this specific one, however, I also used the blindfold as a key element of what I wanted to depict. When life gets very turbulent and you do retreat and find yourself in the middle of many small storms, you ARE blindfolded in a way. You DON'T know what's coming next. You need time and space and it doesn't matter at that moment that you ARE a bit blindfolded. Eventually, you will come out of your hiding spot, you will have learned, you will have new plans, and be able to see clearly again. I also got to incorporate being upside down for the same reasons. In this little hideout, you find yourself upside down more often than not. It's part of it and, in the end, helps you to regain your strength and your balance.

I went into shooting this without a clear concept (as so often the case with me), just a vague idea and a gut feeling. The concept, the idea or thought, the image represents comes as I shoot. I had a lot of fun doing this, above all because I'm back doing my fine art images.

For the set up I had to clear out our little cupboard, or whatever you want to call it, in our living room. Then I climbed in and out for over an hour, leaving me sore today! It was so worth it....also because this cupboard is sorted out and dusted too ;)