WHEN A CAMERA BECOMES A MIRROR...

Clipped Wings

This exhibition image almost never happened.

The concept behind this image explores the ego & the ways fear, self-doubt, & vulnerability can leave us disconnected from faith, ourselves, & our purpose. The dark hands & scissors symbolise those often unseen forces that operate through internal narratives encouraging us to question ourselves, diminish our worth, seek the impossible, or abandon what we believe in.

What I didn't anticipate was how closely the creative process would mirror the concept itself.

Throughout the project, I found myself battling the very forces I was attempting to portray.

For this scene, I wasn't just the photographer. I was the hands, the angel, the prop creator, wing maker, fingernail painter, lighting assistant, & editor.

Perfectionism convinced me the backdrop was too underwhelming. Frustration suggested the idea wasn't working. The nagging, unseen voice in my head was firm in its belief that the composition was never going to work together. Self-doubt encouraged me to abandon the image long before it was finished.

The real issue had nothing to do with the backdrop, the lighting, or any of the above.

It was me having to confront:

Perfectionism.

Frustration.

Impatience.

The urge to quit when something doesn't immediately match the vision in my head.

The image that nearly got abandoned became one of the strongest pieces I have ever photographed!

Not because my perfectionist tendencies disappeared, but because when my ego pushed hard for everything to be perfect, I worked through whatever arose to finish what I started.

What began as an exhibition piece with a powerful concept soon became something else entirely.

It reminded me that the creative process often reveals more than the finished artwork.

What I wanted from the image was there the whole time. I simply had to change my perspective.

Sometimes a camera becomes a mirror that reflects the parts of ourselves we'd rather not examine.

In this case, it revealed my perfectionism, my impatience, my need to control the outcome, & my tendency to judge unfinished work too harshly.

Yet while confronting these unseen forces, I also discovered something else: my resilience & my willingness to keep going.

Artists are often encouraged not to make their work personal, yet how can we not when our work inevitably reflects us?

While I judged myself harshly throughout this process, it also revealed something important: I seek perfection because I genuinely give a shit about what I create!

Perfectionism should not always be viewed as a negative. It comes from wanting to say something meaningful. To create with purpose, intent, & impact.

Caring about your work is a STRENGTH!

The challenge is learning when that care is serving the process & when it is quietly working against it.

This image is only one chapter to a whole concept of impact, purpose & intent.

And for the right audience, it won't just reflect a piece of me, it might just mirror a piece of you too....