It’s midnight, the rain is beating down the windowpane, a cup of almost lukewarm tea sits on the desk, warm amber light falls upon the empty page, and the smell of old perfume lingers in the air.
That’s when inspiration hits best. Well, after the shower, the ultimate thinking place of the modern woman. (It’s the only time that we can escape…)
I sometimes stumble across ideas for a self-portrait, not knowing whether it will work or not, because really, the best ones come from experimentation. Not looking at reference images, not testing the light, not doing everything technically correct; just picking up the camera and letting the eye do its thing.
I’ve always loved shots of raindrops, because there’s something utterly romantic and they just call for a photo to be taken.
The problem being, it’s easy to shoot from the inside, it’s not so from the outside when your camera gear isn’t waterproof, and the water is drying up, and you’re supposed to be working on a deadline.
And there’s quite the distance between pressing the shutter button and the inside of this window, which has to be crossed in under 10 seconds, including pose. (In the end I set up the camera wifi…)
I didn’t edit these photos straight away. I rather like to leave them alone, obviously preview them on my camera, but returning to them is like retracing the memories of that photoshoot, and continuing that process of experimentation at a later date, when my emotions have shifted.
And isn’t that what a looking glass is?
-nat 🖤🥀