from the darkroom

I present to you my first prints from the darkroom! Obviously my scanner isn't the best, but that's alright! I've basically fallen head over heels for film photography, and that may be detrimental to my digital loving self. Haha you may never see another digital photo from me again! That probably won't actually be true, but I just want to spend every moment taking photos and hanging out in the darkroom. It really gives photography that handmade art feeling that really makes it feel like a fine art. And I love being able to combine creating something with my hands with photography. The possibilities of what I can do in the darkroom are literally endless, and I'm so excited to explore everything it has to offer.

superpowers

dress/shoes: target // shirt: thrifted // tights: diy




When I was younger, I went to a really conservative Christian school. The guys were only allowed to wear jeans on Fridays, and slacks the rest of the days, and girls were only allowed to wear slacks on Fridays, and skirts/dresses that touched the knee (or longer) the rest of the week. There were a lot of other strict rules about dress code, such as no shirts with words, sleeves had to cover your shoulders, guys' hair couldn't touch their ears and they weren't allowed to have facial hair. On Wednesdays they had to wear a button down shirt, and most of them just wore a tie with it (the girls were always excited about that). I'm not saying these things to put down my old school, because that was the best school I ever went to. The administrators said that one reason they had such a strict dress code was because of the fact that when students dress better, they perform better.




I've really taken that to heart over the years and have discovered that to one extent or another it's true. Clothes have this powerful ability to manipulate our emotions and how we feel, and oftentimes we aren't even aware of it. That's why my old school never let us come to class wearing sweatpants and t-shirts, because if we did we would be more likely to slack on our schoolwork. That's not to say that wearing sweats and t-shirts equates to slacking, but wearing something that resembles pajamas does have an impact on performance. But it's not only about fabric options as much as whether or not you feel confident in what you're wearing. Despite all the fashion trends that come and go, if you don't feel confident in what you're wearing, then it will affect how you feel. Clothes can make us feel sexy, powerful, adventurous, you name it, and they can also make us feel ugly, frumpy, sluggish. And the list goes on and on. Not only do clothes have this ability to change how we feel, but we have the ability to change our clothes. It's all an effort of tapping in to the power of a garment to feel a certain way as you go throughout your day. You don't necessarily have to dress up all the time. I have a few staple outfits that I wear over again on those days where I don't really feel like stepping outside of the fashion box, but when I still want to feel good. If you feel confident and alert in a t-shirt and jeans, then by all means, wear that. That's the joy of personal style. It is completely unique to each person. For me personally, I've found that I usually feel most confident in fun colors and patterns, and while that's not always "in style," those are the things that make me perform the best and make me feel the most happy about who I am. When we realize that a simple article of clothing has this power and when we realize that we can use that power to our advantage, then there's nothing we won't be able to do.





I hope you have a really beautiful day!

my week in instagram #34 + weekly roundup

three of my photos in the Anchorage newspaper! // watching the historical superbowl // dirty/cut up hands from working in the shop // my college at night // 365 photos all in a big pile // my first darkroom print! // new purple tips // my 365 gallery // epic pool time

You can follow more instagram awesomeness @impulsings :)

Weekly roundup (an effort to maintain my new years resolutions):

1. novel: I basically fail at this resolution.
2. photos: working on my second photo for this month!
3. diy project: still in the works.
4. outfit photos: not this past week. In my defense though the week was taken over by my 365 gallery show.
5. college street style: yep!
6. book: still working through my first one.
7. sketch: Not this week. :/

I hope you have a great week everyone!

365 Gallery Show

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted much this week, but I'm actually not that sorry because I've been busy with something really awesome. A couple weeks ago I was talking with my friend Ben, who encouraged me to show all of my 365 photos in a gallery on campus. Then fast forward to Tuesday when I casually went in to the Art Department (where Ben was conveniently the secretary at the time), and then three minutes later casually walked out with a two week show time starting this Saturday (yes, today). So my entire week has been consumed with putting this show together, skipping going to meals to eat in my room and work, staying up extra late to file photos and label and cut out things, and finally putting them all up one by one on display. Yesterday was the day to set up, and my friends and I spent about five hours in the gallery, but it was well worth it!



Before, with sad bare walls, taylor resting her legs before we even start, and Ivy modeling the gopro that was so elegantly taped to my tripod to film our endeavour.



Wall one, two, and three. It was completely surreal to see a year's worth of work all up on the wall. If I had known that all these photos would have eventually been shown in a gallery, I might have tried harder on the project, but I still am really proud of all of them as a whole. I love how you can see my progress from day one to day three hundred and sixty five, and how my style developed and changed, and I love how each photo has a unique story about it. Today I'll be hanging out at the gallery and hopefully people ask a lot of questions, because this is one thing that I am incredibly passionate about and I love being able to share it with other people.



And finally, here is a timelaps video of my day yesterday! Thank you to everyone who helped me in any way with this project, from finding materials for me to putting all the photos together, from lending supplies and bringing me food while I was working to coming and hanging out during set up, and thank you to all the people who have and will show up for the show. Photography is meant to be shared so I am incredibly thankful for everyone who allows me to share this little piece of me with them.

365 Art Gallery Show 2013 from Lauren Parker on Vimeo.