floral shirt/belt: thrifted // skirt/tights/boots: forever 21 // cardigan: borrowed // jacket: shoxie via chicpoints
Hey guys! The other day Amber nominated me for a Liebster Award, and one of the rules is that I have to write eleven random facts about myself. I'd like to think that I'm pretty transparent here on Introvert's Introduction, so it might be hard to come up with eleven things, but I'll try.
1. I love cheese. Haha how's that for kicking off this fact list? But I do. It's delicious.
2. I listen to every genre of music, save for a lot of country and heavy metal. But I love rap, indie stuff, and dubstep, among others. I'm currently listening to a lot of Matthew and the Atlas, Peter Bradley Adams, Radical Face, and M83, but my itunes is constantly shuffling through all kinds of music.
3. When I picture myself as an old lady, the picture is this: me with bright purple hair, sunglasses, driving a black huge ford truck, with a cat sitting in the passenger seat, while I'm thugging down the street, dropping a hard beat. Fo sho.
4. Poker is an awesome game. So is monopoly. My friends and I love monopoly so much, we added extra rules, like bank accounts and jobs being able to rob the bank. It's so complex and it's the best thing ever.
5. I play Age of Empires. II, mind you. It's a great game.
6. My favorite video game ever is Legend of Zelda. Some of them are kind of dumb, but some are fantastic and I am basically in love with it.
7. I love the ocean and feel a huge connection to it. Being in nature is one of the best things to me.
8. Despite painting my nails every week, I hardly ever paint my toes. I think the last time I painted them was Christmastime.
9. Nine is my least favorite number. Just look at it. So menacing. Seven is my favorite, if I were to choose one.
10. The two games I play the most on my phone are sudoku and phase 10.
11. At the start of the next school year, I'm going to dye my hair purple.
Amber's questions:
1. Where is your favorite place to shop?
I love shopping at thrift stores. You never know what you'll find. It's like a treasure hunt.
2. If you had to explain your style in one word what would it be?
Colorful.
3. Do you think in pictures or in words?
This is hard, as I love both pictures and words, but I think I am a visual learner, if that is what this question is getting at.
4. What is the best book you've read lately? And why?
I'm currently on the tale end of reading Quiet by Susan Cain and it is one of the best books ever because it deals with introverts vs. extroverts and the world that we live in today. Everyone should read it.
5. What is your biggest pet peeve?
Incorrect grammar. Cease the nonsense.
6. Book or movie?
Book. You get to create everything yourself, so to speak.
7. Who is your favorite villain from Disney?
Maybe Hades from Hercules. He's like that sassy gay friend.
8. What's at the top of your bucket list?
The first thing on my bucket list is actually to go into space, haha. We will see how that works out.
9. If you could move anywhere in the world where would it be?
New Zealand or Iceland.
10. What was your favorite thing to do when you were a child?
I loved playing outside.
11. What do you collect?
Oh gosh. I collect rocks and bottles, for starters. Really I love collecting little trinkets from places so I can have a memento to spark a memory.
So these are my eleven questions:
1. If you had to get rid of one of the five senses, which would it be?
2. Favorite drink?
3. What is something you wear now that you would never have thought you would wear?
4. Where do you see yourself in five years?
6. What is one thing you love about yourself?
7. If you could spend a day doing anything you wanted, what would you do?
8. What is one food you wish you could love but don't?
9. How would you describe your personal style?
10. Favorite childhood story?
11. If you could go back to any even in history, what would it be and why?
And the people I choose are: Katie, Elana, Hannah, Sara, Shay, and Bethany, but if you wish to do this, then I nominate you too!
Have a great day everyone!
+ photos from 2010-2011: when I was just starting out in photography
I have been writing this post over the course of several weeks, as I keep letting this idea smolder in my mind. This part was written from March:
This is brought to you by: the fact that this is mostly just my word vomit. Thank you, vomit.
Viewing photography as an art is something that I've been struggling with recently, brought on by the fact that I realized a couple months ago that I never really considered myself an artist, at least when it came to taking photos. And even more recently, I heard that a photographer who considers that subject their art doesn't say they "take" photos, but rather they make them. And it makes sense. Painters don't take paintings, sculptors don't take sculptures, so photographers don't take photos. I've been trying to say that I make photos in an effort to really see it as an art again.
It's kind of challenging when people say that Art isn't really a "real" major, and it's even harder when people say that photography isn't even a "real" art. Yeah, I've had people tell me that, or that photography is easy, like it's their excuse as to why I'm good, because it's easy and anyone can do that. I mean, a lot of it these days is computer programs. I spend most of my time on photoshop, and probably only one tenth of the time actually taking the picture. But I know that photography doesn't come easy for everyone and there are certainly people who just aren't good at it. I guess the other complex thing about it is that unlike painting or drawing, there's a whole industry around photography. There's commercial, portrait, wedding photographers and while I would consider all of those snapshots, I wouldn't necessarily consider them art.
Perhaps my problem is not in convincing myself that photography is art, but that my creative photography is actually art. But what really constitutes art in the first place? Is it the amount of time spent creating it? Is it the use of the elements and principles? Is it the concept and meaning behind it? While I think these are all true some of the time, I don't think they're true all of the time.
And now we come to today:
In doing an art project for class, I've been researching a lot about the great Ansel Adams, who was the most significant landscape photographer in America. The text above shows my previous feelings towards snapshots, but in since hearing what Ansel had to say about them, I've changed my mind. "The snapshot is not as simple a statement as some may believe. It represents something each of us has seen—more as human beings than as photographers … While to many the snapshot is a symbol of thoughtlessness and chance, it is a flash of recognition—something which for many reasons we wish to perpetuate. It may have real human and historic value. The more we look, the more we see, and the more we see, the more we respond. When we begin visualizing our responses to the world in terms of images, we become photographers in the most rewarding sense of the term."
I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that not every photo has to be some big endeavor in order to be art. Some of my most favorite photos are the ones that are simplistic, yet have something, maybe even one thing, that makes it surreal. My favorite photos are the ones that show the magic in life. I've been pulling a lot of inspiration from my favorite photographer ever, Greg Pths, as well as from Vilde Indrehus, Jack Batchelor, (among others), and artwork that I discover on tumblr. I'm no longer happy with this hyper realistic, expansion, photoshoppy look that a lot of photographers (including myself) have been doing (that's not to say I can't appreciate it, because some of those people are my friends and I admire them deeply), and while a lot of my photography has that style, when looking through my old photos, it does that have spark of what I really want my art to look like.
When I create a beautiful photograph, that makes me incredibly excited and passionate to shoot the next one and then the next one and the next. It's hard to push through when your pictures don't do that for you. I've talked with my photo professor about this too, that the 365 is really exhausting in that you keep having to outdo your previous photo, and when that doesn't happen, you get discouraged and start to feel like you're no good at all. It's a constant battle against yourself to be better and I suppose a lot of my thoughts about this whole photography thing have come from not only battling through myself for three consecutive years now, but also because now I'm no longer doing a project and now I'm just counting the casualties, to keep the metaphor going. Now I can be deliberate with my style and it's freeing and terrifying at the same time.
Basically, I'm deliberately changing my photographic, artistic style. Or, better yet, I am honing in on the glimmers of greatness that have been in my current style for the past three years of me doing photography. Phlearn did an awesome article about changing your photographic style right in the middle of all my struggles, which you should definitely read here. And my friend Sarah also wrote a great post that is similar to this discussion and came at the perfect time as well.
It's scary to change a style, especially when people have become so familiar with my work, and so naturally I'm afraid people won't like the things I will produce in the future. But it all goes back to creating art and me being happy with what I make and being confident that I can call it art. I always always go back to this video, which is so inspiring and exactly how I feel. My work right now isn't up to my ambition. I know there is a spark of something awesome in it, but now I am entering the stage where I am trying to take that spark and light something on fire. The photos in this post are some of the ones from 2010/2011, when I literally just started picking up a camera and feeling really passionate about photography, which I feel have that little spark (and even some stuff from 2012/2013 have that element, but since they are already all on my blog I figured it would just be redundant). I don't know how the next few months will look. I may be taking more photos than ever, or it may be weeks at a time where I don't release anything. We will see. But coming from being afraid that my photography "phase" was over to being really excited to produce new art that I'm proud of, I'm really happy how things are beginning to settle.
dress: mom's closet // cardigan/shoes: thrifted // belt: dad's closet // earrings: diy
Look! My hair is long enough to braid again! I haven't been able to braid my hair for years, ever since I decided to cut all my hair off back in 2011. That was when I was just starting to get into personal style and blogging outfits and things of that nature, and I cut my hair off before I knew of the wonderful world of braids. Previously, all I did was straighten it (for two hours in the morning before school ... sheesh), and then when it was short it was so much more manageable. Would I go back to having it that short though? Probably not. It was fun while it lasted, but growing it out was a pain. But now I'm starting to reap the rewards in the form of long locks and braids and bows and all sorts of loveliness. For you long haired girls out there, what's your favorite updo to do?
Over spring break, my roommate Annette bought me some henna (she knows me so well), so everyone has been tatting themselves up. I'm trying to ration the stuff so it will last at least the rest of this month, but I've already drawn two more designs on myself, so we will see how self-controlled I really am. All my friends want to get a tattoo to commemorate us graduating college (in a few years, so I have time to prepare myself for massive pain), and I've been drawing up designs in my new tattoo obsession. I definitely don't want anything huge, not only because I want to experience as little pain as possible, but also because putting henna all over myself made me realize that I don't really want a lot of stuff permanently on my skin, just because I am so self-conscious about it. But man, if I wasn't, then you can guarantee I would have tattoos everywhere. (But for my mother, it's safe to say that that is never going to happen, haha.)
I hope you have a really wonderful day.
(my week in instagram)
airport in Alaska // flying over the mountains // in the darkroom making magic // favorite Oregon scene/on the way to pick up Matt // holding hands for the first time since January // copying Matt's instagram picture // coffee and breakfast with the most handsome guy
Surprise surprise! Matt came to visit me at college this weekend! He is considering transferring, so he came down during his spring break to check out the school and see me. On Wednesday his dad and brother came down for the day to tour the college with him, and we all got to walk around the campus, looking at art from the student art show as well as a lot of the buildings and dorms. Afterwards we all went for coffee and just hung out around town. I'm not really the most outgoing person in the world, so I'm really glad I feel comfortable around Matt's family and don't worry about what I'm going to say around them. They are pretty great people.
On Thursday Matt and I spent our time roaming around the trails, watching birds bathe in the river, talking for hours and hours, and just enjoying each other's company. It's great to be so comfortable, feel so completely yourself with another person. I guess that's what being in love feels like, companionship and laughter and wholeness. Friday we dressed up all fancy, he carrying an umbrella and me locking onto his arm, and we headed out for a night on the town. We went to a Mexican restaurant and talked for more hours and ate yummy food and told stories to each other and conspired about life and possibilities and the future. We talked about how we started dating, and the whole way we became a couple was completely by accident. It's really funny because when I first met Matt, I thought I would never be cool enough to date him, and when he first met me, he thought he could never see himself dating me. Oh how the tables turned, and I'm so so thankful I have him in my life. I know he would say the same thing. After dinner, we walked around town to various art galleries for the Art Walk, looking at beautiful art and pretending we had all the money in the world. After that we hunkered down and had a huge New Girl marathon. Finally I got to introduce him to a show instead of the other way around! The marathon was pretty extensive--over the course of the weekend we watched the entire first season. Yeah, it was intense.
Saturday we both woke up, walked to coffee in the rain, where we watched a customer flirt with the barista (so cute) and stood around looking for a seat before coming back to campus to sip on our hot chocolate and mocha. We ate a yummy breakfast, talked for more hours--I don't think I'll ever get tired of talking during meals with Matt--and then watched more New Girl until we accidentally fell asleep. It was a nice afternoon nap with the rain falling outside. Eventually people started returning home from weekend excursions (some of my friends had left for an overnight trip) and we got to hang out with them for a little bit, until Matt had to leave. The rain certainly added to the dismal mood of that walk we had to take to the car that was picking him up. I was being super melodramatic (But then again, I always am. I can't help myself.), but it's always really had to say goodbye to your best friend and be separated yet again. So now we are back to Age of Empire competitions and skype dates and texting and snapchats for the next two months. Is it too early to count down the days until the semester ends? I think not. At any rate, he is more than worth the stinkiness of a long distance relationship, and I was incredibly thankful we were able to be together for a little bit of time. I love you, Matt. I'll see you soon.
my partner in crime.
Sorry for making this post so sappy, but sometimes I just have to make a girly diary entry, especially since this weekend was so fantastic. I hope your weekend was really good as well!
