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leah gray

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the everyday

miss these hot as heck women 😭
everyone can thank @ericsteltenpohl for this delight of a capture
“Everything in him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.”
home on a snow day 👋 (what my dreams are made of)
don’t need much else
color in disguise
Beannacht: A Blessing for the New Year / John O’Donohue
/
On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
/
And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
/
When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
/
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
/
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.
santa has good taste
Whitey lookin good 🐮
got some good days in! now we’re laying in bed watching the ❄️


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PROCESS

August 20, 2014 in inspiration, personal, photography, words
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I love the process of photography. There are so many different parts and all of them go into capturing moments of aesthetic, moments of a specific place, person, time, style. I'm not one to over analyze the initial idea for a shoot, I like to just always have my camera on me, seeing the day through the lens as moments come and go. I think in space and lines and ever since I picked up the camera in early high school I've applied the way I see things to photography.

The second step of the process, after first shooting a few images of the overarching aesthetic, I start looking at the faces and the landscapes, I start scanning the surroundings for empty space. This empty space gives me what I want out of a photo - something to think about, something to stare at, something to just be with. I start taking photos slower, more intentionally.

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The third part is the most interesting to me. It's the part when I give up (typically) the work I've done to someone else. For color I use a place called Dury's, the man there does great work for a good price, and for black and white I take it to Fort Houston's Darkroom. I've only developed one roll by myself and it was the most methodical and calming thing I've done in a long while. Once I get a place of my own I'm going to spend more time developing my own photos, but until then working as a sort of team with these people makes the process that much more interesting.

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The last part is probably the most emotional. I love going through photos, remembering faces and scenes and atmospheres. I don't like taking photos of people or places I'm unfamiliar with, there's a disconnect and it comes out in the final product. It's in these photos that moments in time are brought to life and the first look is really satisfying. I don't edit, I just organize, normally stories or series ideas pop in my head during this time.

Discovering my process and why I shoot has been really important for me. It's given me reason and motivation to keep going and inspiration for furthering the development of my work. So I figured a good ramble on my website was a smart idea.

See my portfolio here -- cargocollective.com/leahgray

← ELIZABETH MANSFIELD MAGGIE ANTHONY →
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email: leahgraystelt@gmail.com // find me: @leahgraystelt