Shutterbug

⚠️WORK IN PROGRESS⚠️
.photo reference by @randhleese
In photography and in life, always look for the light - if you don’t see it, bring it. John Waite
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This is a painting of a girl who spent the last 10 years in the kind of darkness a darkroom knows nothing about.
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The full story:
It’s been said that you can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at a picture for a second and think of it all your life.
This portrait was taken in 2006 and I hadn’t seen it in probably 13 years. I’ve never seen a more accurate portrait of my twin sister @somerrunner.📸
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I never saw much of my sister when we were growing up, half her face was behind the view finder or she was busy in the garage that she converted into a dark room.
She became nationally acclaimed for her photography in high school, I remember flying to New York so she could accept her Gold Key award on stage at Carnegie Hall.
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She went on to graduate University of Washington’s BFA in Photography program. Photography was her A plan, physical therapy was the “safety” B plan. However, she didn’t make it out of art school unscathed. The various wounds from art school were deep enough to make her put down the camera entirely as soon as she got her diploma.
I watched as she swiftly went on to get a doctorate in Physical Therapy and a career in the field soon after.
Not until a few months ago did she find her way back behind the lens, after 10 years.
Ten godd*mn years.

I cannot tell you how sad I am for all the photos she never took in the past 10 years.

lt took me 6 hours to dig up this portrait, even reaching out to the ex-boyfriend who took it to find. It was exactly how I remembered it.
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TL;DR:
Always find the time for whatever makes you feel happy to be alive.

Oil on canvas (acrylic under painting still quite present!) 24x36”