dreamyeyed:

The wonderful Mariah Huehner (@tiredfairy) has come up with an incredible idea. It’s called “MONSTROUS”, and it’s going to focus on “The relationship between girls/women and their bodies through the lens of storytelling in different mediums and genres.”

[Please reblog to get the word out!]

Click here for more information on this fabulous project and how to submit!

MONSTROUS

Project type: collection/anthology

Looking for: Prose/comics/poems/art

Genre:  fiction (horror, sci-fi, fantasy, etc), auto-bio, non-fiction

For: Girls/Women

Open to: contributors of any age and gender, on the general theme of “body image & girls/women”.

Purpose: Let girls/women know they are not alone when they struggle with their body and our narrowly defined, “beauty” obsessed culture. Positive overall message, but, the stories themselves can be in any genre and be difficult/upsetting. Focus is on being meaningful explorations of theme.

Stories can be about: Any body image related topics, from eating disorders to self-harm to sexual identity. Not limited to these topics, so stories will be evaluated individually.

(Photo: Brain Goblins and “ED” = eating disorder, art exercise)

deluxvivens:

Nonexistent tumblr ndns: I present to you Native women that are hotter than a hipster girl in a headdress standing in a field.

(my SECOND attempt at doing captions.)

(via pandarican)

jtyoung:

Lights: A Conversation #2. With Katie West.

By the time you read this, I won’t be around for a bit. But enjoy. There’s another set of Madysun upcoming but I think I’ll interject a set of Amythia in between (if she hasn’t posted them all before then…)

jtyoung:

Lights: A Conversation. With Katie West.

Artist’s Statement

A photographer’s goal is to control and shape light, to bend it to his or her will. Sometimes that control comes from correct timing and waiting, other times the photographer will engage in direct manipulation of the light. But what if the photographer gives control of the light to the subject? Then the only way for the photographer to manipulate the light is to directly engage the subject, to suggest, to try to convey the unfolding tableau to the subject from the photographer’s perspective. 

The goal of the series is to explore this dynamic, to understand how to yield something new and interesting through the conversation, that the conversation itself becomes the means by which the image is forged. 

jtyoung:

Rebel with a Cause. With Katie West.

Second in the set I’m posting. All of these are part of the Light: A Conversation series — look for an artist’s statement on that series in the near future.

jtyoung:

Let the Light Have a Hold of You. With Katie West.

It’s Sunday morning (my time). It’s overcast and the light outside is somber, almost brooding. Yesterday I subjected myself to crowds against my better nature on numerous occasions — I feel I still need to decompress from that (even if half the crowds were undead) but yet feel restless somehow. It’s the beginning of the week again for me. I know many treat Monday as the first day of the week but to mark the week by the rhythm of working seems too depressing. 

For me, this image is quintessential Katie. Her gaze is direct and bold, challenging you to engage with her yet holding the possibility that in doing so you will swallowed whole. There is no shame, merely a body suspended by place and context. Juxtaposed together is mystery and revelation; it’s as if she wants you to know but remains hidden.

I’ve been trying to meet Katie in person for awhile — for the last couple years, work has been teasing me with the possibility of travel to Toronto. My general indifference to business travel has probably complicated this endeavour but the first time it came up, I contacted Katie on whim to see if we could meet. That never panned out. Then, out of the blue, this trip came up with barely a few weeks notice. I didn’t hold a lot of hope for the ability to organize any kind of social activity outside of work but I threw the idea out to Katie anyways. 

Long story short, it worked. Katie and I had a long conversation. And this happened. It wasn’t really planned — I hadn’t mentioned anything about the possibility of shooting beforehand. But I dragged a suitcase full of lights and light bulbs halfway across the country and it seemed a good idea at the time. After shooting and before I had a chance to really look at the images, I was a little concerned that the images would be all Katie but I’m glad what is there is a fusion, a blend of our styles. There is something to be said for serendipitous harmony.

There’s a few of these that I missed when they were first posted.

You know when you first meet someone and within a few minutes you’ve pretty much decided if you like them or not and if you’re going to get along well? Within two minutes I decided I liked jtyoung and that we were going to get along just fine. Fast forward 6 hours later and my initial assessment would prove correct.