Uploads from brookeshaden, tagged trapped

dirty window

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 08:38:10 -0700

Inspired by Rebekka :) Behind the scenes video for this photo can be seen here, along with a closeup for detail.

It has been a busy week. I guess moving week always is, but I always think it will get done faster than the last time. I moved to a new apartment an area that I love. I never gave much thought to how your location can deeply impact your creativity. If you aren't inspired by your surroundings, that takes away so much of the inspiration that is readily available. But on the flip side, it forces us to push harder and create from within. I'm feeling quite desperate to shoot something new lately. I haven't been able to get out at the right time between moving and teaching classes...and while that might sound like a decent excuse, it really isn't. There is no excuse for not creating, none at all. So today I'm headed out to do what I love.

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flight of the trapped

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 08:20:11 -0700

brookeshaden posted a photo:

Sometimes going back to basics is the best thing for a photographer to do I think. I always want to push myself and explore new pieces of the photography puzzle, but it is nice to remember what I have always loved about photography and why I loved it. I started looking through my flickr, like way back in the distance - page 20 even. And I picked out 3 photos that struck me, 3 that I missed. They all included window light on skin, hair moving, and a sense of tension. My hair has gotten much longer than when I took those pictures and was quite a challenge to keep inside the frame. I remembered instantly the no remote days, as I was using my 10 sec timer, and as a result also remembered the "fling-your-head-til-you-want-to-throw-up" feeling that comes from hair flipping and then dashing, and repeating. So all in all, shooting this yesterday felt amazing and I hope you enjoy - a little piece of where I came from.

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how to break free

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:29:50 -0700

brookeshaden posted a photo:

This one is for Carlos :)

Despite repeating this theme for the 3rd time, I am forever in love with the fish tank idea. I can't get it out of my head, pun intended. I posed a challenge for myself on this one, which was to work in editing with intertwined glass. It is always scary yet rewarding to go after a challenge. So even though I've used this fish tank before (with myself, this dress, and this cloak), I tried to take it to a new place, conceptually and personally.

I've been really into doing self portraits lately. I go back and forth on the subject. Sometimes I'd take a model any day, any time. But it seems I'm back to my old ways, fully enjoying the creating process personally. Self portrait artists - do you feel the same way or are you always satisfied using yourself in photos?

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the path under the sky

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 09:45:35 -0700

brookeshaden posted a photo:

Brittle feet on brittle leaves
on very brittle, brittle knees.
She walks the path under the sky
she walks and walks but knows not why.

First I was reminded of the fun one can have with clouds thanks to Rosie's latest image, and then I stumbled upon the *incredible* work of Oleg Tchoubakov whose paintings transport me to another land.

I wanted to (without giving too much away) tell a story about going for your dreams, yet add a bit of a sad twist to it. I love the idea of portraying dreams and imagination literally, but of course there is always a nightmare to help better understand a dream, and a hardship to make one appreciate imagination.

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a blackbird trapped

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 06:44:27 -0700

brookeshaden posted a photo:

I'm home in the town I lived all my life, Lancaster PA. Sort of funny that this is the first pic I post while on my trip since I live in Amish country, and this costume looks quite Mennonite :) I'm traveling to NYC tomorrow, and while I'm not a fan of cities I am a fan of the people in them...and gosh, there are some mighty fine people coming to the workshop on Sunday. I'll be announcing my next two workshops soon - both in LA, one on land and one underwater :-)

I was iffy at first about posting this, but my mom really liked it and told me to share :-P Gotta love motherly words of encouragement!

Wishing everyone a very creative weekend filled with inspiration. Everything we experience has the potential to inspire, we just have to let it.

Model: Kathrine Stapleton

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upon pondering

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:56:54 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

I am having such a good time with this series I am doing...all about imagination. I am going to do a behind the scenes video that goes through my process of prop building and my thoughts on how to bring imaginary scenes to reality...at least how I am going about doing it...however successful that is :-P I got this dress yesterday in Goodwill...children's size...oops! As long as i don't show the back of it, I'll be fine ;-D

In other news - if anyone has emailed workshops@brookeshaden.com before last week, I likely did not receive your email. SO many apologies!!! That address has been broken which I did not realize. Fixed now! I wasn't ignoring you!

I hope that you enjoy this new series as I build it. I hope to begin building some darker images for the series soon :)

Model: Katie Johnson

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from the inside

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 11:01:08 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

I am so excited to share this image..I shot it yesterday and did a behind the scenes video for it, which you can see here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LchG62vtGXc
I hope you enjoy the behind the scenes! The camera died for most of the shooting portion unfortunately, but you get the idea :-P

My inspiration came from two places. The incredible Jamie Baldridge inspired me a ton for this. Also, I did a photo called "Fetus" a while ago and I was inspired to do an inverted version of that, where everything was right-side-up :)

Today I'm going to shoot with a 5 foot long snake! So excited!! :-D

Assistance from Kathrine Stapleton <3

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away for ages

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 11:11:30 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

Shooting has been incredible lately. I feel like there is a new force pushing me along. It is overcast today so I'll be out shooting for most of it, and I can't wait. I've never felt so motivated to pick up my camera and click.

Over a year ago I did a photo using fake snow, and I said to myself that i'd never use fake snow again in place of fake cobweb...but when it came down to it, I had a ton of fake snow this year (I was trying to emulate the christmas spirit as seen in Pennsylvania) so I had to put it to use :)

Model: Christopher John Hills V

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preservation of fairytales

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 09:16:11 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

There are few things more important to me than creating images. Today is my 2 year photography birthday. I began photography roughly 2 years ago and I use the day that I joined flickr as my "photography birthday" :) I've written a blog post about it so that you don't have to be subjected to my rambles here, but do head over there for a huge THANK YOU from me...I am so fortunate to be able to share my photos and to create a dialog....so, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.

Model: Katie Johnson

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a school for girls

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 09:18:34 -0700

brookeshaden posted a photo:

Hi guys! I've been wanting to do this photo for so long! This is a selfie + Olivia Clemens looking very ghostlike. I put photos with detail in the comments, zoomed in at 100% :-D

I shot this with all the desks backwards, and then flipped the image in post to make the text backwards as well.

And a fun fact - I was trying to figure out what to write on the chalk board and Olivia suggested I write "Fear is the mind killer", which is what I have tattooed on my arm! So we did :-)

fb

moving in

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:48:09 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

I just moved out of the apartment pictured above (thank goodness) and I thought, what better way to remember the apartment than with a throwback picture to one of the first that I created in the apartment, "Retention".

That being said, I'm right in the middle of the move and my husband is going to kill me if I continue "flickring" while I'm supposed to be helping arrange furniture :-)

black

swallow

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:07:04 -0700

brookeshaden posted a photo:

We spit out what we can't swallow.

You know why I'm drawn to this picture, why I wanted to take this picture? It reminds me of literature, of reading a book and really searching for the symbolism and metaphor in every corner. To me, this is sad, it's tragic, it's full of symbolism, it's full of life and death, and it tells me a story. It's sexual, perverse, disgusting, but very raw. As I was shooting my beautiful friend Daniella, we kept coming up with more props to fill the frame, and I'm so glad we did.

Perhaps I'll offend people with this, but that's part of the excitement of photography for me - evoking a strong reaction.

If you don't like it, I would love to hear why. I want to hear something real.

black

sling

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:45:25 -0700

brookeshaden posted a photo:

Today I bought a dress. Now this doesn't sound like any great feat, but trust me it was for me. I haven't bought myself a single article of clothing, actually nothing but absolute necessities, for over a year now. It was a new years resolution that stuck. But today I went out with Anthony and we bought a dress. And I took a portrait of myself with it...which I put on my profile page :)

And...plastic wrapping yourself is not an easy job. trust me, I know.

black or large

updates: my tattoo says "fear is the mind killer" - for those asking.

and...

stickysweet dreams posted an interview that I did with her here

ripening eggshell

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:22:21 -0700

brookeshaden posted a photo:

Let me tell you [Isayx3], this parking garage was far too full for a Saturday. There was a car camera right that would not leave. A man was out there changing his clothes, which I thought was odd. Then he proceeded to play some interesting tribal music really loud. He then started opening all of his car doors + his trunk, then closing them, then opening them......And he was there for about half an hour doing this before I decided screw it, I have to shoot this. So i did, with him watching me over there. He left after my second shot - maybe I scared him away. And then a very large van started up from out of nowhere and came barreling down my corridor and scared me to death [literally]. I survived. All the while my "protector" was asleep in the car. Shame on him =P

update: my "protector" would like everyone to know that he was up until 4:30am playing a game, so he has a good excuse to sleep in the car while I narrowly escape death, haha.

I'm still not using my computer so I don't know if the color/saturation came out right on this one - last time it was way too saturated and looked stupid. but this time I'm not re-editing cause it looks exactly how I want it to on this computer...so I just won't look on any others :)

kitchen sprite

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:01:47 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

What's tiny, has strong bones, and lives in your drinks?

retention

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:04:14 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

Large

I worked with my husband on this one. I told him about this idea I'd had for a month but knew that I couldn't execute it by myself. So he helped tape a sheet to the wall for an hour, which consequently took a good chunk of paint off the wall...but that's neither here nor there ;)

And then I had to rip a hole in one of my sheets that I use for my photoshoots, but it was tiny so no harm done. I had to stick my arm through it, as you can see. All in all, this was so fun!

spin cycle

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:18:58 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

Keep the door closed, I might catch a cold.

wallen

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:49:30 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

...so this is what two hours of being plastic wrapped to a wall looks like...

selective vision

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:53:13 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

holly hobby

nobody@flickr.com (brookeshaden) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:13:32 -0800

brookeshaden posted a photo:

We are always in infancy.

LARGE

This photo was inspired by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, an excellent movie I might add.

There are few things that scream childhood more to me than holly hobby sheets and fort-building. And I like to think that I'm no further from those things now than I was then.