Pay Attention, Find Water, Come Inside - Portrait Photography

Thank you Steemit for appreciating my last post and @photofeed for my first feature! I have so much work to share, so I'm pushing this next set into an entirely different but still similar perspective. It's so fascinating for me to rearrange bits of old and new work to see a common thread. I'm learning so much about my identity as an artist through this posts. As you'll come to see, I love shooting at night! But am beginning to feel limited with my Canon 6D and would like to upgrade to a much larger ISO range so I can become the night creature I always dreamed I would be, hah!

A little bit about the portraits, I was staying in Brooklyn for a weekend for my friend's wedding in Upper East Side, my first time to either place (what a world of difference!) and I managed to find Hannah last minute via my gracious host. Do you ever have a shoot with a complete stranger and everything just clicks? We hardly knew a thing about the other but our spontaneity and flexibility made a world of difference. I had done some very, very light scouting prior to us meeting, yet it managed to turn into this 2 hour long shoot in the dead of night in this beautiful and foreign, freezing urban place. Everything just aligned and collided in such a brilliant way. I hold onto these experiences with vigor, where you can collaborate effortlessly to create a completely new reality with a stranger. Absolutely loved working with Hannah. I haven't been back to Brooklyn since this shoot but am hoping I can manage to find my way back there to do some more shoots by the end of summer. Going into this shoot, all I knew was that I wanted to use this crown (made from ZIP TIES! via Etsy) and this special glass I use to distort the image. I love how it looks like I've fallen into another dream.

A little bit about the window; I'm in love with my apartment building. It was built in the early 1930's and the amount of character is so charming to me, even these dirty windows and heavy stone stairs. It must have been around 4:30p when I took these, the sun was already gone, but the sunset tends to glow in this beautiful pink hue. Obviously the color processing is not natural but the general foundation was there and simply enhanced. Sometimes the camera alone cannot pick up the vibrant drama in these quiet every day moments.

"your soul is inflamed.
good.
pay attention.
find water.
come inside." -map
Nayyirah Waheed

Location: Brooklyn, NYC
Model: Hannah Joyner
December 2016

I'm so tightly wound inside my idea of these places I've been.
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
December 2016

You are the universe experiencing itself; remember that, hold it, keep it safe.
Model: Hannah Joyner
Location: Brooklyn, NYC
December 2016

I just want to know how the soul knows what to take into the next life. What parts of me have always been there, beating inside concrete.
Location: Minneapolis, MN
January 2018

Migrating through the dark by first light. Are you humbled yet, Healer?
Location: Minneapolis, MN
January 2018

Thanks again for digging my work you guys. Always here to answer any questions on process/gear etc
<3 Lauren