NUDE PORTRAITS: ‘BARING’ WITNESS
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Hi Friendly Souls,
Nature is ruled by the flow of cycles, and we experience these on both the macro and micro scale — from the big bang to the evolution of a cell — and my teacher has a term for this, called ‘the hero’s journey’ where the ‘hero’ (you) must leave the castle to fight the dragon and return home transformed.
Personally I experience these cycles daily, weekly, monthly, and so on, where there comes a ‘peak’ moment where I recognize that something must be transformed (the call to leave), but doing so requires letting go of what was (leaving the castle) and in that space between letting go of the old, and embodying the ‘new’ is tricky and unstable (fighting the dragon).
In my experience it’s an invitation to search for something deeper and more true than what was there before.
Though we are so much more than what we look like, in large part — not exclusively — that’s what we’ve got to work with in terms of understanding ourselves in this world, and from a place of deep intention, to be witnessed in our most intimate being, can be a means of validation that is stabilizing.
Validation has gotten a bad reputation in our society, but when it’s coming from a place of sincerity and respect, its value is profound in its ability to help us gain a more complete perspective of ourselves, that we couldn’t have had before.
To bare it all in the name of embarking on a personal ‘hero’s journey’ is to be transformed. To invite a witness to your being. To receive validation of your existence and the unquantifiable beauty that is the life and spirit within you.
During these tumultuous times, where the hero’s journey seems to be speeding up, a photograph acts as a stabilizing talisman of our true reflection and value, and when old hurts surface or we get a little out of alignment and lose our way that — it’s a reminder, a touchstone, an object to meditate and contemplate our thoughts and feelings about ourselves.
In essence, a photograph is an invitation to more deeply integrate aspects of ourselves that have been ‘exiled’ or shamed away.
Lastly, I am so honored to be the one to ‘bare’ witness to your expression, however it shows up, as it’s a validation of my existence, too.
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Important dates:
OPENING NIGHT ART SHOW - MARCH 8TH: This is a ticketed event, purchase tickets HERE
SHOOT WEEK - MARCH 10TH-14TH: Open to all, purchase photoshoot timeslots HERE
CLOSING DAY/NIGHT - MARCH 21ST: Invite only, to photoshoot participants. A Closing Brunch will be that morning at 9:30a with a guided healing by Collette Elosha, Closing Night Art Show and image reveal will be that evening at 6:30p
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Thank you, for being here
