I have this notebook. This notebook has a running list of all of the creative ideas I develop, mostly conceptual photography. 2016 was the year to finally commit to at least some of these ideas and begin to create these series without fear (ok a little fear), and without boundaries. In my previous post, I discussed the idea of remembering why I started. My career is solely based on me being able to produce creative solutions, designs, and images in many facets. When a creative being is working every day to manufacture and produce creative products sometimes you lose your sense of spontaneity where authentic creativity draws from. It's a cycle. I begin. I create. I produce. I meet demands. Pay the bills. Repeat. Sometimes, I forget why I started.

These conceptual ideas are projects that feed my creativity for me, for my work, and for the people around me. If we don't take the time to create without boundaries, outside of the standards set around us, that we set for ourselves, then we cannot fully let our minds wander and tap into undiscovered thoughts and outpouring of what lies beneath the surface.

Dissonance with Nature.

An idea I had a few years back, that has finally come to life.

A woman who once lived in a time and place where she was only valued for her status and outward beauty. She always felt a dissonance between the world in which she lived, and what existed beyond what she knew. The idea is, that she left behind the standards that had been placed on her, and now resides in nature, representing the natural way of the world, the way things ought to be. However, once the woman enters nature she begins to struggle with belonging in that space as well. Her preconception of the world and attempting to decipher truth inhibits her from fully belonging to either world.

My model and dear friend Maggie allowed me the great honor of photographing her for this concept. Outside, barefoot, in a dress, running around Cucumber Falls at Ohiopyle on an oddly cold and busy day. Oh yeah, and she even got in the water for me. Before we began the shoot, I described to Maggie the character that I had developed for this series, and as soon as I raised my camera, she transformed into the woman from my story.

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