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| As The World Collapses Around Her © 2013 Heather Evans Smith Photography |
April 30, 2013: As The World Collapses Around Her
One can become wrapped up in their own world and turn blind to the destruction around them. This could relate to their personal lives, world events or the environment. I explored this topic a few months back in conversation, without giving it much thought as an image. After finding deforested land during a family visit, I immediately knew that this idea would later become an image.
April 13, 2013: Savannah, GA Workshop Wrapup
Almost a month has passed since my workshop in Savannah. I only conduct a few of these workshops a year and always come back inspired by the camaraderie and creativity of the participants.
The forecast was iffy. I was actually hoping for a little rain. A misty, cloudy day in Savannah is a perfect scenario. Savannah is a haunting city and I wanted to capture that spirit in the photos.
The first day of the workshop included a presentation, creativity exercise and a "getting to know you" session. Day two started with a planned shoot. Months before I was struck by the size and beauty of atlas moths online and was fortunate to locate a dozen from a humane dealer. (The moths live full life spans, dying of natural causes.)
Below are a few of the images:
The participants then split into two groups. Each participant had an allotted time to shoot their vision with other group members assisting. It became an informal morning that flowed organically. There were combinations of groups working together and single photographers shooting ideas planned in advance or inspired by the moment. The weather was perfectly cloudy. We could shoot anywhere without worry of patchy light.
One favorite spot among the participants was this horizontal tree. I couldn't resist taking a shot myself.
We took a break for lunch when a downpour started. Lucky for us, the sun began shining through the mossy oaks during our second session of shooting. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with headdresses and flowy dresses along the avenue of the oaks before parting ways.
I am so impressed with the photographs that have come from the workshop. Below is a video featuring some of the participants images. Take a look!
Thank you all for sharing and creating with me. I look forward to following your photography adventures. Thank you Tracy Moore for hosting me in beautiful Savannah. Also a big thanks goes to models Morgan Marlowe and Heather Richards, makeup artist Amanda Joiner and hairstylist Samantha Fletcher.
The next creativity workshop will be held in the UK in September. Stay tuned here and on my site for further information.
The forecast was iffy. I was actually hoping for a little rain. A misty, cloudy day in Savannah is a perfect scenario. Savannah is a haunting city and I wanted to capture that spirit in the photos.
The first day of the workshop included a presentation, creativity exercise and a "getting to know you" session. Day two started with a planned shoot. Months before I was struck by the size and beauty of atlas moths online and was fortunate to locate a dozen from a humane dealer. (The moths live full life spans, dying of natural causes.)
Below are a few of the images:
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| Experimenting with real Asian atlas moths! © 2013 Heather Evans Smith Photography |
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| No photoshop other than color editing. Just the right placement of bodies. © 2013 Heather Evans Smith Photography |
One favorite spot among the participants was this horizontal tree. I couldn't resist taking a shot myself.
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| The famous tree everyone fell in love with. © 2013 Heather Evans Smith Photography |
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| Black and white hipstamatic images by Melissa Hall. |
I am so impressed with the photographs that have come from the workshop. Below is a video featuring some of the participants images. Take a look!
Thank you all for sharing and creating with me. I look forward to following your photography adventures. Thank you Tracy Moore for hosting me in beautiful Savannah. Also a big thanks goes to models Morgan Marlowe and Heather Richards, makeup artist Amanda Joiner and hairstylist Samantha Fletcher.
The next creativity workshop will be held in the UK in September. Stay tuned here and on my site for further information.
March 9, 2013: The Hassles of Shooting, Old Rickety Steps and Italian Vogue
A few years ago I had the crazy idea to drag an old television set out to the beach. My vision was sitting in front of the t.v. with my husband, while the sun rose in the middle of it's gutted screen. Not too daunting a task, right? Turns out this project became one of the biggest hassles of all the images I have taken.
Step 1: Find an old t.v.
I learned quickly that the cool rounded televisions of the 50s and 60s were not up for grabs at the local Goodwill (or the neighboring Goodwill, or the Goodwill across the state, or online...). It took months before I stumbled across that perfect t.v. in a local antique store. It was bit more expensive than I anticipated but worth it considering how much gas I spent scouring the state for one. I picked up the television, loaded it in my car and nearly sideswiped every car in Winston-Salem. (Sorry about that fellow drivers!)
Step 2: Gut the T.V.
The hard part was over right? Hardly. Finding a repair shop that would even touch an old tube t.v. was impossible. No one would gut it for me. My dad saved the day and removed the contents within 30 minutes. Thank you Dad!
Step 3: Take it to the beach
My husband and I were already planning a beach trip for our anniversary. Since the coast is quite a distance from our home, I planned on doing the shoot while there. We woke up before sunrise in our "outfits" and lugged the t.v. down these stairs. Thank you husband!
Step 4: Take the picture
Ok, the t.v. was purchased, gutted and carried down rickety old steps to the shore. We were sitting there just before sunset in our outfits. Everything was in place; now we wait.
and wait...
and wait...
and, is that the sunrise over there? No, that's a ship.
and wait...
(turn head to the left)
oh no!!!!
The sun rises in the east right? Well, yes, but NC beaches are a little tricky. We were down in a divet where the sun rises over a random sand dune. To get to a beach where the sun rises directly over the ocean we would have to go to the Outer Banks (quite a drive). Being the impatient person that I am I knew I had to shoot this today!
So I thought fast. We turned the t.v. around, ran and got "in" the screen. The result is the image below. Often a shoot does not go as planned, but something just as good if not better results. I love this image and that we are part of the show. Life is better than anything on television.
Two years later the image is published in the February 2013 issue of Vogue Italia. And while I didn't get that sunrise in the t.v. set pic that I had originally wanted, I got something better. Italian Vogue isn't too bad either!
Step 1: Find an old t.v.
I learned quickly that the cool rounded televisions of the 50s and 60s were not up for grabs at the local Goodwill (or the neighboring Goodwill, or the Goodwill across the state, or online...). It took months before I stumbled across that perfect t.v. in a local antique store. It was bit more expensive than I anticipated but worth it considering how much gas I spent scouring the state for one. I picked up the television, loaded it in my car and nearly sideswiped every car in Winston-Salem. (Sorry about that fellow drivers!)
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| Finally found my perfect set. |
Step 2: Gut the T.V.
The hard part was over right? Hardly. Finding a repair shop that would even touch an old tube t.v. was impossible. No one would gut it for me. My dad saved the day and removed the contents within 30 minutes. Thank you Dad!
Step 3: Take it to the beach
My husband and I were already planning a beach trip for our anniversary. Since the coast is quite a distance from our home, I planned on doing the shoot while there. We woke up before sunrise in our "outfits" and lugged the t.v. down these stairs. Thank you husband!
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| The tretcherous stairs! |
Step 4: Take the picture
Ok, the t.v. was purchased, gutted and carried down rickety old steps to the shore. We were sitting there just before sunset in our outfits. Everything was in place; now we wait.
and wait...
and wait...
and, is that the sunrise over there? No, that's a ship.
and wait...
(turn head to the left)
oh no!!!!
The sun rises in the east right? Well, yes, but NC beaches are a little tricky. We were down in a divet where the sun rises over a random sand dune. To get to a beach where the sun rises directly over the ocean we would have to go to the Outer Banks (quite a drive). Being the impatient person that I am I knew I had to shoot this today!
So I thought fast. We turned the t.v. around, ran and got "in" the screen. The result is the image below. Often a shoot does not go as planned, but something just as good if not better results. I love this image and that we are part of the show. Life is better than anything on television.
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| Tune In © 2011 Heather Evans Smith Photography |
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| Me holding the February 2013 issue of Vogue Italia. |
March 3, 2013: New Mexico
I feel quite honored to have been invited to David Bram (Fraction Magazine) and Jennifer Schwartz's (Jennifer Schwartz Gallery) Roundtable
Retreat in New Mexico a few weeks ago. I must admit, in the weeks leading up to the retreat I was extremely nervous. I felt good about my work, but knew as a whole it was all over the place and that my series was not near completion. I didn't feel fully comfortable explaining my work to others but that, after all, was the purpose of the retreat. After fretting for a bit I remembered a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, "Do one thing every day that scares you". I bought my plane ticket, packed up my prints and was on my way.
Corona New Mexico is a beautiful place and in the middle of nowhere! I believe the entire town consists of a gas station, a grill and cattle. The nearest grocery store was over an hour away. Cell phone service was non-existent (though I can't say this was necessarily a bad thing). My fellow retreat mates (Lisa Blair, Elizabeth Libert, and Marina Font) and I spent the majority of the retreat working at the ranch from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. We reviewed our work, wrote artists statements, developed 12 month plans, discussed social media, made dinner, checked out dance moves, laughed and ate way too many Oreos. We joked that it was the Real World without the hot tub.
David was kind enough to take us to the "dump" so we could collect as many bones and antlers as we could fit in our suitcases. Our group name naturally became, "The Bone Collectors".
Even though this was not a shooting retreat, I brought a couple of prop dresses in hopes of squeezing in a shoot or two. On Saturday at sunset, the ladies and I packed up the bones and headed to a different section of the ranch. I felt like I was on a fancy set with my many assistants. Often the majority of my shoots are me and a camera. The image that resulted from our excursion is below, The Collector.
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| The Collector © 2013 Heather Evans Smith Photography |
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Of course I couldn't resist taking a picture of this Charlie's Angelesque outtake.
Marina Font, Jennifer Schwartz and Lisa Blair (aka The Bone Collectors) |
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| Behind the scenes of me getting ready to shoot "The Collector". Photo by Jennifer Schwartz |
Later on Saturday evening we had two special guests, Katherine Ware (curator of photography at the New Mexico Museum of Art) and photographer Daniel Coburn. Daniel had just received his MFA and brought work from his recent show Domestic Reliquary. We each had a chance to sit down with Kate and Daniel and show them our work, receiving feedback and advice. They were both open in their advice and experience of the photographer/museum relationship.
On Sunday we took a break from work and traveled to White Sands National Monument. We arrived there an hour before the sun started to set and immediately turned into six kids in wonderland. The landscape was vast, white, windy and beautiful. Of course I brought with me my two trusty prop dresses and persuaded my fellow bone collectors to model for me. This seemed all well and good until the sun started to set. The cold set in and my dear model Jennifer almost froze her toes off. Eventually she defrosted and I have this picture as a result.
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| © 2013 Heather Evans Smith Photography |
After another day of work, I left the retreat with a 12 month to do list. I am working slowly on making the steps to take my work even further, with clarity and focus. David and Jennifer have already checked in on us, seeing what progress we have made in the past week.
This retreat was invaluable. Not only do I have the knowledge to take my work to the next level but I have developed working relationships and friendships for years to come. Oh, and antlers too!
Thank you David and Jennifer!
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| iphone pics from the Corono, NM retreat. Middle picture by Jennifer Schwartz. Middle right picture by David Bram. |
February 12, 2013: Pieces of Me
It has been some time since I have taken a self-portrait, since July of last year. I have found that the more distance away from that type of photography, the harder it is to get back to. I started my photography career with self-portraiture. Though it is not as prominent a role in my work as it once was, I feel it is necessary from time to time. Particularly when I want to express certain emotions that I am feeling and don't want to rely on a model to convey that for me.
My latest self-portrait, Pieces of Me, was born out of two ideas. Visually I wanted to play with pieces of a face used to mask my own. The idea of obscuring the face, yet leaving parts visible, creates a trick of the mind. A familiar person becomes a stranger.
The second idea was born out of the idea of personas, particularly online ones. I am grateful for the internet. I have gotten almost all of my photographic opportunities by having an online presence. But I do realize that what you see isn't always reality. We show our best side, our most successful, confident selves and rarely expose our vulnerabilities, insecurities and disappointments. And who can blame us? We want to exude confidence and success, not drone on about our shortcomings. The old saying "Fake It Until You Make It" does have its rewards. Unfortunately, we don't see through the fake and assume that we are alone in our struggles. That is definitely not true. Though I won't spill every insecurity out to the public, it is there. We all have it and we are not alone.
My latest self-portrait, Pieces of Me, was born out of two ideas. Visually I wanted to play with pieces of a face used to mask my own. The idea of obscuring the face, yet leaving parts visible, creates a trick of the mind. A familiar person becomes a stranger.
The second idea was born out of the idea of personas, particularly online ones. I am grateful for the internet. I have gotten almost all of my photographic opportunities by having an online presence. But I do realize that what you see isn't always reality. We show our best side, our most successful, confident selves and rarely expose our vulnerabilities, insecurities and disappointments. And who can blame us? We want to exude confidence and success, not drone on about our shortcomings. The old saying "Fake It Until You Make It" does have its rewards. Unfortunately, we don't see through the fake and assume that we are alone in our struggles. That is definitely not true. Though I won't spill every insecurity out to the public, it is there. We all have it and we are not alone.
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| Pieces Of Me © 2013 Heather Evans Smith Photography |
January 16, 2013: Framed Award Nominee
I was taken completely by surprise when I learned that I had been nominated for a Framed Award in the Emerging Photographer category. I want to thank those of you who nominated me. I really feel like I live in my own little bubble taking pictures. When something like this happens, I am always stunned that there are people out there watching. Thank you for watching and sharing in my work. Your support means so much to me.
Take a look at the amazing talent listed and vote for your favorites here. You can vote once per day per IP address until January 31st.
Take a look at the amazing talent listed and vote for your favorites here. You can vote once per day per IP address until January 31st.
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| A peak at the Emerging Photography nominees. I am one of them. Well I'll be!! |
December 29, 2012: The Unraveling
I certainly thought that my last blog post would be the final one of the year. However, an unlikely burst of determination and inspiration resulted in an image that I sketched over 14 months ago.
Last year I set out to create a dress made entirely of rope. I bought over 400 feet of rope to create this garment. A variety of things pulled me away from the project. The rope continued to sit in my laundry room, one third finished, mocking me every time I walked by. I guess the timing was not right. For a year my computer sticky note read "work on rope dress". I ignored it until a few weeks ago.
Something in me was determined to finish it this year. I started working on the dress again from scratch, undoing all the previous work. It surprisingly went pretty fast, even on top of what might have been a mild flu. (See below for iphone pics of the work in progress.)
I find the landscape around Eastern North Carolina to be a wonderful backdrop for many of my images. The farmland is flat, sparse and compliments my subject well. With an upcoming trip there for our family Christmas gathering, my deadline was set. I called on my niece who modeled for me a few months back. She is a big supporter of my work and a great model as well. Within the span of an hour she was wrapped up in the dress and ready for the shoot. We shot in a harvested cotton field.
The image turned out better than I had imagined earlier in the year. Perhaps there are larger forces at work when we procrastinate. Had I shot it earlier both the shape of the dress and the location would have been different.
Now having deleted my "work on rope dress" sticky note, I see this as a lesson. Those "props" will no longer haunt me in the laundry room, but sit patiently waiting for the right time to come out and play.
Since this will be the last blog post of 2012, Happy New Year to all! Looking forward to a creative and fufilling 2013.
Here is a short video that gives a better idea of just how heavy the dress was. It was a challenge walking a short distance into the cotton field.
Last year I set out to create a dress made entirely of rope. I bought over 400 feet of rope to create this garment. A variety of things pulled me away from the project. The rope continued to sit in my laundry room, one third finished, mocking me every time I walked by. I guess the timing was not right. For a year my computer sticky note read "work on rope dress". I ignored it until a few weeks ago.
Something in me was determined to finish it this year. I started working on the dress again from scratch, undoing all the previous work. It surprisingly went pretty fast, even on top of what might have been a mild flu. (See below for iphone pics of the work in progress.)
I find the landscape around Eastern North Carolina to be a wonderful backdrop for many of my images. The farmland is flat, sparse and compliments my subject well. With an upcoming trip there for our family Christmas gathering, my deadline was set. I called on my niece who modeled for me a few months back. She is a big supporter of my work and a great model as well. Within the span of an hour she was wrapped up in the dress and ready for the shoot. We shot in a harvested cotton field.
The image turned out better than I had imagined earlier in the year. Perhaps there are larger forces at work when we procrastinate. Had I shot it earlier both the shape of the dress and the location would have been different.
Now having deleted my "work on rope dress" sticky note, I see this as a lesson. Those "props" will no longer haunt me in the laundry room, but sit patiently waiting for the right time to come out and play.
Since this will be the last blog post of 2012, Happy New Year to all! Looking forward to a creative and fufilling 2013.
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| The Unraveling © 2012 Heather Evans Smith Photography |
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| The dress in various forms of completion. |
Here is a short video that gives a better idea of just how heavy the dress was. It was a challenge walking a short distance into the cotton field.
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