One of the things I love about photography is the ability to capture and acknowledge the beauty and importance of a scene from everyday life. Something that you might walk past 100 times and never think twice about. But to me the magic of it all is that these seemingly uninteresting scenes are what make up the majority of the life you know. These mundane visuals are what create the character of the neighborhood you love or the hike you do each day. The graffiti covered fire hydrant, or the neighbors rusted car. I love to try to bring intrigue and attention to these small details and to remind myself that all of it is important. The images below are just everyday LA scenes. These images are valuable in that they capture real life at a specific moment in time. I do not want them to be anything more than that.
It's interesting to me that some of my favorite photos, if posted to social media will garner all of 3 or 4 likes, while anything that has someones face in it will get far more attention and love. There is so much of what I create that I am unable to share because I am limited in optics and restricted by the algorithm. It is hard to feel like sharing this nature of artwork is worth while, when they get such little attention compared to more immediately stimulating works of mine. I find that social media leads me down pathways of artistic expression that don’t always align with what I am most passionate about, but instead what will work on the platform. That is one of the reasons I am drawn to create this blog. As a way to curate and share freely, Without fear of the optics of making a poorly performing post.
As an artist a persistent question is; How can I focus on art and clear my mind enough to create in an authentic manner, While acknowledging that I too need to eat. I think it is common to have an attitude of abandon for ones well being. Your art is your sustenance, there is no need to want for anything else. I dont think it should be this way. My entire life I have wavered on either side of this line. balancing right between focusing solely on my art, and managing the part of me that wants to make a decent living. The goal is of course to attain both, but time and time again I have found that if I start to care about money in relation to the work, I start to minimize my creativity to appeal to the masses. I am saying this here because I feel that Instagram is a platform that feeds into this mindset. It’s an essential part to making a living as an artist, but it also is a constant roadblock between me and unhindered creativity.
Enjoy the Gallery below! Scenes from my daily life that represent the overlooked beauty of the mundane.
Laine 1/14/2022
