I picked up a camera in 2023 with absolutely no idea, or intention, of it becoming my work.
My life was slowly unraveling, and I was called to be present. To slow down. To get off my phone and be intentional with how I saw the world.
I felt like an imposter when a friend suggested I take pictures of people, like I didn’t deserve to step foot in a fully-saturated room of talented humans.
But I kept getting asked to capture people,
so I did.
I truly believe it’s my calling to give others a view of how the Creator sees them. It’s my job to protect, to see, to create, and to remember. To be a fly on the wall in some of the most intimate spaces, a gift I’ll never take for granted.
This craft has been one of the only consistent hums in my life for the past three years. This underlying joy that has helped bring me back to life.
When I say I can’t believe I get to call this work, I genuinely mean it. The honor I have to capture someone else, the weight of that responsibility, I carry that with so much intention. And I LOVE what I do, more than I think I’ve ever loved anything!
I’m just so grateful for you all. Thank you for letting me see you. Thank you for choosing my viewpoint. 💖
(And thank you @cobyryanmclaughlin for taking this and seeing ME.)
I’ve had a lot of conversations lately about our story. I forget, often, what our life looked like just a year ago.
Maybe it’s my mind protecting me, maybe it’s actual healing, maybe a bit of both.
My mom tells me it’s important I remember.
Not wallow in it, but remember just how desolate it was.
Because now?
This LIGHT?
The magnitude of it is crystal clear because we sat in that darkness for so. fucking. long.
God I’m so grateful we chose joy. We created it in pockets of time, we searched for it at the bottom of the pits we found ourselves in. We were showered in it when it didn’t make any sense.
I’m so grateful for time and love and laughter and grace.
I’m so grateful for this sweet, rich, beautiful, vibrant little life of ours that seems to just expand by the day.
Allowing happiness is a journey but I’m learning to receive it. And I’m just.
So.
Grateful.
• +*
Remember that one time I convinced @thesarahgerald to let me shoot her show at The Bluebird?
Here to remind you to shoot your shot (quite literally).
❤️😆
Coby Ryan McLaughlin at @bluebirdcafetn . One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
