My Exhibition 2015/2016! A little piece of me...

I have had three exhibitions so far. All of them showing my other photographic work which you can see on www.busybee.at. Every time I was nervous, every time was nerve-wracking. With these fine art portraits I thought that it would take me much longer to build up the courage to show them publicly, printed and framed, on a wall, spotlights on. Surprisingly, it didn't take me that long. The thought WAS nerve-wracking but then everything happened very fast.

first set of images

first set of images

I got a lot of encouragement from the people around me, a date was set, images selected, printed, hung. Instead of planning an opening and making myself even more nervous, I decided against an opening and went with the "they hang, it's too late anyway" attitude ;) . An exhibition is always unnerving. But it gets really bad when it takes place in your hometown. Many people know you, see you around town and many of them see your images. In the grocery store, or anywhere else, you start seeing yourself as "the girl dressed in blue fabric, emerging from a giant birds nest". It is pretty funny when you really think about it!

Nerves and insecurities aside, the images are received really well (at least that's what I heard) and for me it was a bit of an ice breaker. If I do get the chance to show my new work again towards the end of 2016, I will feel less nervous and I can promise right now that my images will be bolder :)

Typically, I sell my images "off the wall" and they are sent or delivered after the exhibition ended or customers can order prints without the frame, I collect the order forms and get to work. It doesn't happen too often that I get to meet buyers. The day before New Year's Eve I DID meet buyers from Denmark that had decided to purchase the image "Curiosity". This was absolutely exciting and it made me truly happy to package and hand over this "little piece of me" personally. The buyers told me where they lived (an island in the North Sea!) and what meaning the image has for them. BEST part of my exhibition adventure! :) These are the brief moments that are the BIG reward for working on concepts, finding dresses and props, shooting in awkward places and/or positions, and hour-long, sometimes daylong edits. It reminds you why you create. I don't create to use up space on my computer's hard disk. This would be a very lonely and unfulfilling existence. I create and give a small piece of myself which then finds a new home, gets new meaning, and, hopefully, makes somebody happy!

my second set of images

my second set of images

"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 ;)