Dayle in the Forest

Aug 5

Hello dear readers,

It is August! In some ways, it feels like time has gone by quickly this summer, but in other ways it honestly hasn’t. I have packed more fun into this season than I have in the 5 years since the pandemic started—largely outdoor concerts, pool parties, and romping in nature with Rigby and his friends. It feels like my capacity for joy is increasing, as well as my capacity for grief in this crisis-filled world. I am learning to hold both with more softness.

On the artistic front, I recently joined Memory Cult, an online photography collective that has already become a huge catalyst for my work shifting and evolving in unexpected ways. The community there and the creative projects that we participate in together has been a very enlivening part of this last month.
Most recently, I participated in an challenge to create a photographic interpretation of a painting from history that depicts Madonna and the Christ child. It was really interesting to dive into art history in a way I haven’t before, since I had no formal education in photography. I decided on Paul Gauguin’s *la Orana Maria* (1891) as the inspiration for my piece, with my friend Rae and her 1yo babe as models. I’m very excited to share the results here.

Eternal procrastinator that I am, I shot this two days before we were scheduled to present our projects to the group, so I decided to use peel-apart Polaroids and skip the hassle of roll film. This project was so different than what I am usually doing with my camera, but I think my style really came through despite the unusual objective. Lately I’m finding myself really gravitating towards more experimentation and trying things outside my comfort zone, and I’m excited to see where that leads me!

And now, I have an extra special photo set to share with you all today. These images were an incredible blend of artistic fulfillment and paid work, which is really the Dream, at least for me. Dayle is a costume designer and sewed her own dress and corset, as well as bringing her absolute A-game to being a subject in front of my camera. All the details of this shoot were impeccable, and it definitely shows.