the magic of vera pash | in the woods on lake sammamish, washington

well, this was one of

those days

you can't really plan.

you know, one of those days that

carries with it

undeniable

serendipity.

-

there was an energy about this day;

guiding us in our decisions.

and what i believe

is that

this energy was cultivated by

both vera and i.

though it was

"just another rainy-ish + cold winter day

in the pnw"

vera and i each brought along with us:

(

our creative imaginings,

our collaborative soul searching,

our mutual desire to make something for ourselves

)

this collaborative energy

carried us beautifully

into the flow.

i use the word flow to describe;

that feeling we get when we are energetically

in sync with

the world

people

+

all other living things

around us

that easy kind of energy

that comes when

two or more individuals

decide to create

something together

with equal levels of

care

and enthusiasm.

for vera and i this collaboration was much about

exploring our relationships with

how we

as fellow photographers/womxn/creatives

experience/see our

own bodies.

our identities.

and accepting who/how/why we are as we are -

right

now.

not looking at what needs to be changed.

but celebrating what is.

we

are all

so often thrown off balance when we see

ourselves in images.

we look, immediately, for our faults.

for the "embarrassing" facial expressions.

or the "imperfect" hairdo.

the "awkward" wrinkles.

the "unseemly" shape we feel our bodies make.

"be perfect!" the world keeps screaming at us.

well, vera and i discussed how very tired we are of this.

so we said fuck that.

let's make something

that sings

truth

for

us as individuals.

as artists

as womxn

as living breathing human beings.

as i photographed vera

i

tuned into her movements.

i looked for opportunities to create images that were

not "the normal portrait" - how?

by adjusting my camera settings to a

slow shutter speed

and shooting (as i like to) in manual focus

as well

these tactics together can make for some fun af + trippy images

that

i just

love.

my goal over the past year or so has been to lean in to the uniqueness of

how i see the world.

and for me, much of the world i see can be summed up in that one line sung by billie eilish in "ilomilo"

"the world's a little blurry

/

or maybe it's my eyes"

so,

i decided to just start shooting this way more often.

plus it has the added benefit of allowing me to feel

more like

i'm painting with my camera.

for this session i brought along with me also some props:

i feel the details of this session all came together

divinely.

the soft textures

the airy florals

the deep greens juxtaposed with the

warm and cool tones

of vera's yellow skirt + her purple hair.

and the

playf