Please welcome our very first Guest Judge, Kate Densmore Photography! 🙂 I am very excited to introduce you to Kate’s work, and to explore how she uses emotion to enhance her photography journey. <3
Hi Kate, please tell me a bit about yourself.
I’m a fine art and documentary photographer living in the wilds of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. I am 45 minutes from the nearest grocery store, but 45 seconds from the beach. I’m married to a park ranger, and I’m the mother of two girls. I can’t ever manage to say no to chocolate chip cookies.
How do you incorporate emotion into your photography work?
I use light and the moment to bring emotion into my photography, as well as my fondness for black and white conversions. I see the world through eyes that are often in awe of that around me, be it the delicate strands of my daughter’s hair, the immense rugged beauty I live in, or the way the light falls on a discarded mitten. Sometimes I want to cry, for fear that I won’t be able to hold on to it all.
What has photography taught you about your own emotions?
Photography has given me a way to explore my feelings towards motherhood, and my place as a woman in this world. I am very reserved, but not in my love for certain things, and those things are what taught me to be an emotive photographer.
Has photography ever provided a healing outlet for you during a difficult time?
Not a difficult time, but a life changing time. Becoming a mother, especially for the second time, was overwhelming in the best, yet most consuming, way. Photography gives me an outlet, something that is purely for me, and it gives me a way to preserve for my family my love for them and our surroundings.
Please share five favorite images with emotional meaning for you.
This image is a visual representation of that feeling at the end of the day, of being completely “touched out” after having two little beings crawl all over me all day, but yet still missing them the moment I close their doors.
I’m not sure why, but there is something about my daughters’ hair that I can’t get enough of. I think its a connection to all the nights I spent snuggling their soft heads in the wee hours of the night while nursing. I can’t stop touching it, playing with it, and photographing it.
I took this image one evening when my oldest daughter and I needed some alone time together. We just needed a break from the baby and dad, and we needed to recharge in nature. This image is a literal portrait of her, but a figurative portrait of me.
A beautiful reminder of how preciously, beautifully ordinary our days are. We laugh, we play, we enjoy each other, and we love each other fiercely. We were pink tutus in the kitchen, and life is just really simple and really sweet for us.
Is there anything sweeter than a baby sleeping? This image is emotional for me because she is my last, and although I have tried to hold onto her babyness, she has insisted on doing things quicker than I like – such as falling asleep in her own bed.
Thank you so much for joining us this week, Kate! I love your soulful work and you have such a great eye for creating emotional images with creativity and intention. <3 To see more of Kate’s inspiring work, please follow her on Facebook or visit her website, www.katedensmore.com. Kate also teaches an amazing workshop over at In Beauty and Chaos, called Voice and Visual Intent.
