Late night again, friends, but I’m here. There’s some troublesome energy in the universe, I think. I don’t typically put a lot of weigh behind “cosmic” magic shit, but it’s been hard to deny lately. I talked to 
I did an interview today for the French kustom culture magazine, PowerGlide. Really good interview and they asked some great questions […not all about photography, which was nice for a change]. Interviews like that are great for reflecting on big milestones and decisions you’ve made in your career. Hindsight is 20/20 and sometimes it takes being asked a specific question about your work for you to realize just how significant one shoot, relationship or opportunity really was. It’s also the same thing I love so much about Steemit. Until Steemit, I never would have thought about writing long form blogs on a daily basis. I’ve entered this creative renaissance because I think and reflect more and I have Steemit to thank for that.
Tonight’s photography is one of those reflective moments with a person who is close to my heart. One of my best friends, Laurel. She and I have been through it all together and these photos span our long, complicated and unique relationship together. She’s in the top five of human beings I have the most respect for in this world. A relentless achiever, ambitious student and teacher in life. Humble, confident, capable, beautiful and I could continue for another 500 words. When I think the quality people in my life; the ones that really have shaped the person I am, she is one of them.
I met Laurel years ago through unconventional means, and we’ll leave it at that. We became fast friends and shared much of ourselves with one another from the very beginning. Eventually, I decided that we needed to shoot, not wanting to miss a chance at capturing her colorful dreadlocks in the middle of the Minneapolis night. It was just that, too. I remember these photos were taken during a cold snap so severe we could only be out of the car for a minute or two before my fingers began to sting. As mentioned in my previous post “Revisiting old work is one of my favorite things about Steemit!”, I mentioned that I experimented with rear-sync, or rear-curtain flash, and these first images were taken around that same time. I utilized slow exposures in dimly lit areas, while Laurel threw her dreads from side to side, eventually being capture by a flash at the end. I encourage all photographers to try rear-sync at some point in their career. It’s a wild technique.
I’d gone through a severe break-up which directly affected my relationship with Laurel. We reconnected a few years later and picked up right where we left off. She’d gone through some significant life changes […as did I], and I remember her asking my thoughts on her cutting her hair. Laurel’s dreads have been a part of her identity for a decade, but knowing the transitions we’d both gone through, I told her “Do it!”. We decided that to celebrate, we’d shoot together again. We discussed a cool 70’s “American Hustle” esthetic, rented an elaborate space in uptown Minneapolis and brought her new curls in to the world with high fashion.
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