Magenta

I never thought I would be a part of the Pink Sisterhood but on May 24 of 2011 diagnosed with Stage 3A breast cancer, I joined the club.  A sore left breast and a swollen lymph node led to 2 needle biopsies, a lumpectomy, 8 wicked chemo treatments, 5days a week for 7 weeks of radiation and a lot of photos.

I have been told many times that I am not your typical breast cancer patient and I think that’s true.  I didn’t let the word Cancer or being sick beat me. I attacked it head on with my camera in hand!  My camera has been my partner in crime since I was a child and it's always helped me through the ups and downs life throws at me. My passion for photography is what helped me through this journey and what will continue to help me. 

I never thought pink was my color until my diagnoses but since then, I have been wearing more pink and playing with pink in my images. The stencil art on 7th Avenue in Manhattan stated exactly what I feel; "Art is my Weapon".  Photography is my weapon. I added a pink color tint to it to really represent me right now. My photography has helped me heal and will continue to do so.  As long as I can continue to take photos I will do so as my weapon against the bad stuff in life.  

Let’s make a statement today with bright, bold, beautiful pink and shoot images featuring the brilliant shade called Magenta! Don't forget to tag your photos with #sscolormonth. and add them to the OWP pool on Flickr. 

Image and words by our guest blogger, the courageous Darlene Cannup. 

rose-colored glasses

I headed out for a photo walk around my neighborhood today, wandering the cherry tree lined streets.  There is something about the act of walking even only a few blocks in search of photos that always shifts things for me.

When I go on these walks I feel like I put on my rose colored glasses and become a treasure hunter of beauty.  Today I find it in cherry blossoms that have fallen from the tree and their soft delicate petals.

No matter what else is going, when I make this space to wander, take pictures and look for beauty, it re-energizes me like nothing else does.   It invites me to slow down, to engage with the light and the natural world around me.  This practice of seeking beauty with my camera has been a lifeline from darkness to light.

When I first began exploring photography I was going through some drastic life changes.  I knew the way I had been living wasn’t working for me anymore.  I was living for everyone else and not for myself.

So I reverted into a cocoon for a while, craving even more time alone than my usual introvert self needed.  I wanted to be alone and figure out who I was separate from all the outside perceptions.

I went in search.  I didn’t know how to find what I needed or even that photography would lead me there.  It was just something I could do in which there was peaceful yet creative time alone.  I knew that was the first clue to finding my way back to myself and to happiness, simply because of the way it made me feel.

I went in search of beauty and when you go in search of beauty, you find it.

At times it seems like we aren’t supposed to tell our stories with rose colored glasses, muting out the rough in favor of the radiant, the flowery, the beautiful.  Yet looking for the positive, for little bits of beauty, isn’t denying that life has rough patches: that there are broken branches or muddy puddles around those gorgeous pink blossoms.  Rather, it is a way to focus on what is positive even if times are rough (especially when they are).  That doesn’t mean denying the rough patches, but rather using photography as a tool to engage with the world around us in a way that lifts us up. 

Even these years later, I’m doing the same thing I did when this creative journey began, seeking bits of beauty.

You could say that seeing the world through rose-colored glasses is what saved and transformed my life. Seeing the beauty around me helped me find my way back to happiness again and to discover the beauty within me by documenting the beauty around me.

Will you join me today in documenting some of the beauty around you?  Let’s put on our rose-colored glasses and go treasure hunting for beauty.  Be it a flower petal, a person you love, or the beauty you see in yourself today?

Image and words by guest blogger Vivienne McMaster.

my way of processing

 

When I talk on the phone, I walk, I pace, I wander. Being a very animated person I guess this makes sense. When I express myself, I use my entire body to do it. I notice this is especially true when I’m discussing something creative or when I'm brainstorming or when I’m processing.

The other day I was on the phone with a dear friend. We were having a major heart to heart discussion, as good friends do. It wasn’t unusual that I was walking the perimeter of my back yard. Pacing back and forth across the grass, talking, listening, processing. What was a little curious was that I was also shooting.

Yes, I hear what you’re saying.

Click.

Do you know what I mean?

Click.

Good point, I would have never thought of that.

Click.

I didn't really think anything of it until days later when I processed the photos and thought about what I was processing within myself at the time I clicked the shutter.

In a later conversation with that same friend, I asked her if she knew I was shooting photos while I was talking with her. She didn’t realize at the time but laughed at the thought of it and affirming that it didn’t surprise her at all. She knows that's how I do it. I work through things through photography.

I have discovered over the years how much the art of photograph helps me process my thoughts, ideas and emotions. How the very practice of seeing and shooting helps me make sense of whatever it is I’m going through in both my successes and struggles. Photography, time and time again saves me; in little ways and in big ways but most of all in ways that soothe my very soul.

My Best Shot Monday is one that was captured in my back yard during that conversation with my friend.

Share with us what you discovered this week in your Best Shot.

from the ground up

 I love how a picture can tell a story.  When I'm photographing something, I make a point to photograph not just the people, but those things that will help tell the story.   Last Sunday was my son's drumline competition and as I walked around getting photos from all angles, I made a point to shoot from the ground up.  Out of all of my photos from that shoot, this is my favorite.  To me, this photo epitomizes the whole day. Be it a pair of dancing shoes, sock encased baby feet or an intimate moment between a bride and groom, the story is all right there, no faces needed. 

Today, share with us your photos of an object or something other than a face that tells a story.  We'd love to see them. 

weekending by marina sorr

Marina_sorr lives as much as possible outdoors during weekends, enjoying nature. When she doesn't manage to get away from the city where she lives, she can be often found in its parks, capturing images that make her smile and relaxing under trees in bloom.

She shares her images on flickr as mar_s,and on instagram as @marina_sorr.

Where are you spending your time this weekend?

Share your weekeneding images today and if you want a chance to be featured here, email us!