artist

All photos available for print and licensing >

I deleted Instagram off my phone on Tuesday night.

It may not seem like a big deal to some, but for me it was. I’m going to be open and honest here because I just got done talking about this with my friend, Alejandra and I felt inspired to share the story…

I woke up Tuesday morning at 6a. Not an unusual time for me to wake up if I’m not shooting the sunrise. Usually I’d wake up around 4:30-5 if I were. So 6am is kinda like I’m sleeping in. Just like everyone else, one of the first things I do when I’m fully awake is go on my phone and check out what’s been going on social media. One of the first things I see is that there was this amazingly beautiful sunrise, pinks, purples, the whole 9 that morning. I took a look out my bedroom window (which is facing west) and noticed that the sky was so pink. From my experience I know that if the sky facing west is pink then it had to be an amazing sunrise. I immediately felt upset. I missed out on an opportunity to capture one of my favorite things in the whole world, a colorful sky.

So that’s how I started off my day. I spent the rest of the morning thinking about where I would have gone if I went out to take pictures, what my composition what have been like, etc etc etc. Basically just beating myself up about missing the sunrise. But I felt like there had to be underlying reason why I was upset. I was upset because I knew that my most popular images on Instagram are the ones with skies just like the one I had slept through. They are the ones with the most beautiful sunrises with a memorial or something iconic in the foreground and I had missed out. This winter has been so grey and foggy that I couldn’t believe I stayed in bed for this one! I was missing out on the likes. I was missing out on new followers. I was missing out on other people’s confirmations that they like me as an artist and in turn them liking me as a person.

How freaking crazy is that?

So obviously one thought lead to another and I ended up having a really hard mental day. Everything was getting on my nervous. I started getting really antsy and impatient about some projects that I’m working on and why it’s not all complete. Even though nothing had really changed as far as the progression, I just expect things to come sooner, better, and I could not get over it.

I realized at the end of the day I was putting so much pressure on myself to be perfect, to create the type of images I was expected to, and to get as many ‘likes’ as I possibly could. What’s crazy is that I even have this magical number in my head that if I don’t hit it within the first hour of my posting, then it’s not a good image. I just couldn’t deal with it anymore and decided to delete instagram from my phone and take a little “instabreak”. I don’t know how long it’s going to last but I already feel like some pressure has been taken off.

As an artist, I shouldn’t be so concerned with what other people think of my work. I should be concerned if I like the work. I should worry about if the image I created is a true representation of who I am as an artist and if it conveys the thoughts or emotions that I want said.

I don’t know. Those are just my quick thoughts about being an artist on social media now. Please let me know if I’m not the only crazy and if you feel the same way as well. I’ll be back on instagram eventually. Probably within the next week because I still love it for artistic inspiration and I’ve made some amazing friends from the app. I just need to take a little bit of time for myself. I’ll still be out there taking pics even if I’m not posting on instagram… I’ll be posting them on twitter now instead. LOL. FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER!!! I took this one this morning at the Iwo Jima Memorial 🙂 JK I love taking pictures and sharing them with everyone. I just felt like I was putting too much pressure on myself and don’t feel the same pressure from facebook, twitter, etc…

Other thoughts that passed through my head yesterday were not being my true self on the internet vs. real life and the need for everything to be perfect in my images before posting them. If you’re interested, let me know and I can write another long ass blog post about those topics and hopefully start a discussion.

And for those who are only here for my camera settings they are F10 at 20 seconds ISO 160 on my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens.

All photos available for print and licensing >

Before we left on this road trip, we had all our stops planned. But the original plan was to stay in Roswell, New Mexico because Sue’s bananas over aliens. But days before we left I was on tripadvisor.com and everyone was saying how Roswell was very disappointing it was. Skrt Skrt– change of plans.

Luckily we were able to adjust our plans to stay in Santa Fe instead. In hindsight this new plan was a 100x better. Not knocking Roswell or anything but we drove through it and the 15 minutes that we spent in the town was all we needed. It probably would have been cool at night time but for us to get the most out of the trip, Santa Fe was a much better idea.

I was so excited to be visiting. It’s one of those places that I’d heard of before but never thought I’d ever visit. My mind immediately went straight to the Georgia O’Keeffe museum. One of my all time favorite artists. I just admire her paintings, creativity, and boldness so much. I could not wait to visit!

georgia okeefe museum, exhibit

Thats me looking at some images of the artist. I swear I’m wearing shorts!

We ended up staying one extra night in Santa Fe so we spent the next day in Tent Rocks National Monument. I guess I was still thinking about O’Keeffe’s flower images while walking the trail because I see some of those abstract qualities in the image above. I took the image while we were walking through the extremely narrow slot canyons. Everyone was concentrating on what was ahead on the trail, I ended up just looking up.

I can see why O’Keeffe loved New Mexico so much. It’s a such a beautiful state and I’m so glad we got to spend extra time traveling and sight seeing. I really look forward to visiting again.

All photos available for print and licensing >

This past Wednesday I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Roni Horn exhibit at the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland. First of all, this space is amazing. I had no idea that such a modern museum was located in MD. As soon as I drove on to the property, I was super impressed.

The best part of the whole experience was touring the Horn exhibit. First of all, Emily Wei Rales, Director and Chief Curator of Glenstone led the tour which was so thought-provoking and interesting. I felt like I could listen to her talk all day. She explained how Horn’s art explores the idea of a person’s identity, differences between pairs and the use of words, colors and phrases to create art while being influenced by places such as Iceland. This immediately resonated with me since I just got back from Iceland and I’m already ready to go back.

The biggest take away I got from the exhibit is to be mindful and stay true to who you are as a person (whoever that may be). I really got inspired to learn more about myself, how I’m perceived by other people and to learn more about how other artists view the world. I just bought this book. Let me know if you read it. I’m really interested in reading more about current artists and how they think.  So if  you’re in the area and you’ve never been to Glenstone, it comes with my highest recommendation. I’ve already booked another ticket to go back in a couple of weeks.

You know what’s funny? If you asked me a couple of years ago, I would of never called myself an artist. I was never comfortable with the label even though I loved taking pictures. I just saw myself as someone who loved photography but as I grow and learn more, I’m beginning to feel comfortable with the identity and it feels good <3

roni horn, american artist, photographer, painter, sculpture, glenstone museum, potomac, maryland, gallery, exhibition, exhibit, emily wei rales, director, chief curator, thought-provoking, interesting, iceland, identity, self awareness, mindful, inspired, book, art, artist, photography

Here’s a photo my friend, Jenn (Instagram: jennrightmeow) took of me while in Glenstone museum. I was learning so much that I felt like I had to sit down and get it all down on my phone before I forgot.

All photos available for print and licensing >

Here’s one more from the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Room exhibit: All the Eternal Love I Have for Pumpkins, currently at the Hirshhorn Museum.

This has got to be my favorite room out of all of them. The first time I visited the Kusama exhibit, it was closed. Someone was trying to take a selfie and things got out of hand and smashed one of the pumpkins. I’m so glad everything got fixed and I was able to see the room in person on my second trip. Don’t get me wrong, all the rooms are AMAZINGLY beautiful, but theres something special about this one. First of all, the pumpkins themselves are soo cool. If I could have a pumpkin like that for Halloween, I’d have the most popular trick-or-treat house on the block. I love how they are in all different sizes and shapes. But I think the coolest part of the room is being able to see the reflection of the pumpkins on the ceilings. Seriously theres so much attention to detail in these rooms, it’s unbelievable.

To get this shot, I was in the room by myself and I immediately sat on the floor. The change of perspective really showcases the size of these pumpkins. BUT THAT GLOW THOUGH! Obviously the ISO was cranked really high for this one. My settings were: F/4 1/400th sec ISO 5000.

By the way, the music video I linked above was my absolute favorite from when I was in middle school. LOL. It reminds me so much of when I’d come home from school, turn on MTV’s Total Request Live and eat a hot pocket. Even to this day, if I hear Smashing Pumpkins on the radio, I’ll turn it up. Andrew’s always impressed that I know all the words to their songs. Don’t get me started on “1979”.

All photos available for print and licensing >

It finally happened! I went to the Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum. It was so beautiful. So much more than I thought it was going to be. So let me break it down for you:

The Bad: One of the rooms was temporarily closed 🙁 Turns out someone was trying to take a selfie and broke one of the pumpkins. We were not allowed in that room and who knows how long it will be closed for. Secondly, all the other rooms were timed. We were only allowed in each for 20-30seconds. Hardly enough time to composite a descent image. I felt like I was rushed the whole time I was there. I’d love an opportunity to take my time and really be thoughtful with what I’m doing. More than that, I’d love to have time to really have it all sink in and appreciate what I’m really looking at.

The Good: Everything else!! Its hard to believe one person created such a beautiful, thought provoking exhibit. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The creativity and just pure magic of it all was so captivating. I’m really looking forward to going a couple more times before it leaves DC.

This room was unique compared to the others. It was the only room where it was light. All the others were really dark and I believe all those mushroom-y things on the bottom are made out of cotton. So in total there were 6 rooms. We were only allowed to see 5 but every single one of them have mirrored walls so it looks like you’re experiencing an infinite amount of space. Pretty cool if you ask me.

What’s also crazy is that this was my very first time inside the Hirshhorn. After this visit, it made me want to go back and see the rest of the museum. If it’s as awesome as this exhibit, I know I’m going to love it.