Meet me in Paris

 

 Last Friday, I shot senior photos for the lovely and hysterical Amanda.  She is a French major who lives across the hall from me, and often invites me into her room for impromptu tea.  (Her roommate works at Teavana, so it's the good stuff.)  For this session, I wanted to incorporate Amanda's fun, carefree personality and unquenchable femininity.

Finals week is just around the corner, but of course I am procrastinating as long as I can in regards to studying.  Instead, I am editing buckets and buckets of photos.  I think I have edited more photos in the last two days than I have in the last two weeks.  Two senior shoots, a magazine unveiling, and a music festival all add up to lots of work for me. The good news? I love it.

Some big news: my website is finally up and running!  I will do a post on it in the future, but for now, click here to check it out.

Where the night is so warm and so strange

That no one is afraid of themselves

 I've wanted to do a shoot with this coyote skull for awhile.  My boyfriend and I picked him up in Arkansas last fall while we were in the wooded hills biking cross-country.  He lives on my desk, nestled among glass jars and dusty baubles, blankly watching me go about my business.  I'm sure he was happy to get some fresh air and enjoy his time in front of my lens.

If you want to favorite these, a few of them are on my Flickr.

The measure of myself

None of us deserve anything.

I don't deserve to be getting an education at a private school, and yet I am.  I complain about its rules and restrictions, but the fact is there are people who would take my place in a heartbeat.  Who am I to quibble over frivolities?

I don't deserve to have people who care about me, and yet they persist.  I don't deserve such a loving boyfriend, who helps me realize when I'm being ridiculous, who doesn't take shit and tells me I'm beautiful.
Some people fucking kill themselves because they feel like they're alone, and I feel sorry for myself when nobody texts me.

I don't deserve to be part of a family that is whole and that, for whatever miraculous reason, still loves each other.  So we've had financial crises and stress and pills and children in behavioral centers.  We've also had road trips and board games and raucous laughter and meals where we've all sat together as a family.  How often in America does that happen?  My parents are still married.  I take it for granted.

I don't deserve the clothes on my back, nor the "toys" I've accumulated over the years that now gather dust on my shelves, nor the ability to go and buy a $4 cup of Joe.  I complain about my hair or the state of my complexion, never once pausing to list the things my body can do.  For instance, I can run 2 miles without passing out, I can climb 6 flights of stairs, and I can wear a bikini (if I wanted to).

I don't deserve anything. But I've got it.

Now what?