A Vibration

© Crystal Liepa

I am not constructing meaning rather provoking a feeling, a mood, an aura, a vibration.

There are people whose game is success, but others

hear distance: guided, often betrayed,

they wander their lives. Their voices go by

every day, outside of history, outside

of importance. They ritual whatever they do.

William Stafford:The Way It Is:Excerpt from: A Life A Ritual:1998

May, Mary Oliver

©crystal liepa

May, and among the miles of leafing,

blossoms storm out of the darkness –

windflowers and moccasin flowers. The bees

dive into them and I too, to gather

their spiritual honey. Mute and meek, yet theirs

is the deepest certainty that this existence too –

this sense of well being, the flourishing of the physical body–rides

near the hub of the miracle that everything

is a part of, is as good

as a poem or a prayer, can also make

luminous any dark place on earth.

Mary Oliver:American Primitive:1983

prairie grass

i have so much to learn, so much work to do. and i feel excited to begin. i’m referring to everything. every single thing. today i had a moment where i felt that i could be doing more, making my self better and calmer, working harder and embracing the people i care about more. i think this is the spring influencing.

rachel took this portrait of me at the Weisman Art Museum as we jumped around the rolling, shining facade. our playfulness is helping me to be a better person.

everything is gestation and then bringing forth-rilke

pregnancy can seem so still, soft , and meditative. it is a period of pure nourishment. i’ve photographed three pregnancies and each mother during the shoot seemed serene and filled with love. There is such gentleness in the mothers’ faces and it continues to blow me away. my goal is to shoot more maternity photos inside the mother’s home, a place where she is in her own environment, where the objects around her possibly define her and describe her.

rachel and mail art

rachel sent me some mail art. her poem ‘grain’ somehow gives me a feeling of preciseness and tenderness especially paired with the edward weston image. I’m inspired to combine her poetry with some of the  image-pairings i’ve been making. she’s good. real good.

she chose the smallest room in the house

© crystal liepa

anna: the excitable, nervous talking, blue eyed, messy, black dress wearing anna. she chose her room not for the size but for the light. if anna were the objects found in her room she would be coral,  a mason jar with lemon peel, crumpled tissue on the floor, and the girl in her grandmother’s painting.

anna, you are truly adorable and i love photographing you.

home galleries

times are tough. money is scarce. but that doesn’t mean we have to be depressed and bored! i have been hearing more and more about people curating shows in their own home–no middle man, no rental fee and other bullshit costs, and no time constraints. Here is a great article I found on mnartists.org about DIY galleries: click here.

Here is another diptych that has nothing to do with this post. poeple don’t like to look at blogs without images.

I am finally exiting my post-graduation lull–I am taking photos again for my own pleasure. I still cannot work on anything that involves seriousness and meaning rather I have been photographing things for pure aesthetics. For beauty. For joy.

Here is a self portrait (hoping to capture how serene I have been feeling lately) and here is also a diptych of something pretty:

http://www.belathee.com/

Click on the link to see wedding photography at its finest. Belathee’s images create a specific mood by capturing the nuances of a wedding and the essence of a couple. When I look at Belathee’s photos I feel relief because their photos provide a sense of accessibility yet professional artistry. I hope to be a wedding photographer as honest as I feel Belathee’s photos are.

Here is my own photo that I took while a couple was in between posing: