A collection of photos w/ the Minneapolis Nightingale!

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 @tarotbyfergus about sending him some STEEM for a reading this week. Other than being told I’m going to die, I’d like to make sense of whatever is going on in my life. 

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.

Thanks for reading. For more photography, art, illustration and the stories behind the work, follow me here at @kommienezuspadt!