Vintage Cameras in the Sun

Confession time! I'm a photographer that has never taken a picture with a film camera! I know..very sad. In college I took a photography course but we actually learned on digital. It is on my list of things to do and I was given a film camera and a bunch of lenses by an old coworker who was moving so I don't have much of an excuse. I just have to buy some film and use it!

So how did I get a hold of these beauties?! Well I recently missed a session for my mentoring project and had to attend what my teacher calls a "boot camp" makeup class. This entailed me helping her clean out her garage (no joke! she doesn't mess around) and while cleaning she showed me some old film slides and cameras that one of her neighbors gave her. She held up the slides to the light and they were hilarious. They were from the 70's so there was retro furniture and clothing galore! The cameras were so fascinating and each one had its own flair. I was surprised by how interested I was in the cameras. I have to admit I've been put off by film in the past by the hipster scene making it "cool". I like vintage but I don't want to BE vintage because I'm...well not. I hope that makes sense? It was a different feeling once I had them in my hands. You could feel the history and intricacy in how they were made. I can see how you could easily get obsessed and who knows maybe one day I'll get obsessed and look back and laugh at myself!

Part of the boot camp was to bring my camera and do a small project so when I saw these I was like ding! After we finished cleaning I spent a few minutes in her BEAUTIFUL and blooming garden taking these. It was fun to combine the blossoms of spring with these old tools. I used VSCO Film to edit these which is what I often use to edit my photos to give that vintage feel to my images but in a modern way because I can still use current technology to tweak it to my liking. I like the feeling of combining old and new and vsco is a beautiful tool for that.

Hope you enjoyed these as much I did. Have a bright weekend :)
Feda

Hazy Landscapes Part II

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
― Rumi

Hazy Landscapes Part I

“Be empty of worrying.
Think of who created thought!

Why do you stay in prison
When the door is so wide open?”
― Rumi

We went up to the Vermont/Newhampshire area for the weekend to ski and enjoy the scenery. Winter is beautiful up there. I have such a love hate relationship with winter ever since I experienced winter up north. The snow covered mountains just take my breath away!

I didn't take too many photos on this trip. I took a lot on my phone and posted on instagram if you want to check those out. I mostly wanted to take it all in and relax but we did a whole lot of driving back and forth so I decided to experiment a bit with the camera while in motion. I let the shutter speed drag a bit and because we were already moving it created a hazy/moody feeling. I wanted to capture an emotion and not necessarily a perfect image. I've been in an imperfect state of mind lately. Letting things flow and be as they are. I loved taking these! It was a good release. I had fun exploring the colors in the sky and the shapes of the trees and mountains. SO SURREAL! For REAL!

XO
Feda

P.S. I will now be uploading posts every Monday and Thursday!!! I've tried the whole do as you feel thing and I feel like I need some structure to help me continually create and work. The old way wasn't working so I'll try this out and see how it goes. When something isn't working you have to change something! Change is good. It keeps you moving.  I'm really excited to see what I can come up with. If there's anything you would like to see or if there's certain posts you want more of, please do let me know. I appreciate any feedback :)

She Who Tells A Story Museum of Fine Arts Boston

She who tells a story is an exhibit that gives meaning to the phrase "pictures can speak a thousand words". That through art the unspoken can be spoken, the silenced are given voices, and stories are brought to life in the most poetic and touching of forms. I was so impressed with this exhibit. I'm always impressed when women create art. It's a voice I feel doesn't get heard enough. I think every single woman has a story to share, through her own unique experiences in life.

I went to see this exhibit on two occasions. The first with my dear friend Maria, the founder of a very beautiful non-profit Found in Translation (shameless plug) and the second when I went back to see the Hippie Chic exhibit and stopped by again to get one last glimpse. I had some mixed feelings about it the first time and second time I was just absolutely in love. Sadly it's no longer being shown at the MFA in Boston but the exhibit will be traveling to different places across the world. Pictured below is some of the pieces that caught my eye.

Featured artists throughout this post in the order they are shown.
Shadi Ghadirian - Untitled
Lalla Assia Essaydi, Bullet Revisited

Newsha Tavakolian- Listen

Shirin Neshat- Mystified
Rania Matar

When you go to see any type of art, sometimes you have to take off your cap of judgement and leave it at the door to fully take in the experience. As I walked through taking in the images, many of the more political pieces relating to veiled women made me feel sad and angry. Limitations and restrictions on women just really, really bother me. Oppression in any form, being social, political or religious should not be tolerated anywhere and in any form. Other pieces made me reflect on war and how it changes society and the life of the common person.  Lalla Assaydi's piece called bullet showed the "exotic" middle eastern woman adorned with what looks like sequence, but upon further inspection are actually bullets. It touches on the idea of women often being the victims during times of war.

The piece I connected to most was Rania Matar's series of middle eastern girls in their rooms. She hit the nail on the head in my opinion. I can relate to the complexities of being a middle eastern, Muslim, woman in the US and the constant push and pull to conform from two extremes. The feeling that you never quite belong. I think that's what the rooms represent to me. The space where they can just be themselves whatever that encompasses. I also studied sociology in college and did my senior work on the identity of Muslim youth in America so this stuff is always sooo interesting to me.

Overall, I really enjoyed the exhibit. Each piece stirred my thoughts, and made me reflect. I think when art does that, it has done it's job. I hope that it brought another view of the middle east and it's women who are often depicted as "oppressed" and voiceless. These women, and many that I encounter in my personal life, are bold, courageous, and have important things to say about the state of women and the world. I was blown away by the level of artistic expression and it has inspired my own work in many ways. It was just one of those exhibits that gave me goosebumps!

If you're wanting to get more of an idea of the show from he perspective of the artists, I also enjoyed reading this article: http://artery.wbur.org/2013/10/09/female-photographers-middle-east-boston-mfa

Hippie Chic MFA Boston Exhibit

I visited the Museum of Fine Arts Boston a while back for the exhibit Hippie Chic. As someone who has always connected with the hippie era, I was excited to go check it out. As I expected, I was like a kid in a candy shop! The display of colors and textures in the clothing was beyond gorgeous. That, along with the wallpaper and decor really made it so you felt as if you were stepping into a hippie wonderland. They had everything divided into "types" of hippies ranging from crafty, to trippy, to retro and ethnic.

My favorite was definitely the ethnic hippie! I wanted every one of those dresses! The trip confirmed my relation to hippies is in fact very REAL, minus the drugs! I was really into the head gear as well ;) Specifically the flower crowns and turbans. I think I'm a blend of crafty, ethnic, and retro. Are any of you hippies? How would you categorize your hippieness?? 

I think today's fashion is in a way another hippie type of era with the borrowing of thrift and vintage styles, the rise in DIY fashion/accessories, and the overall experimentation that is happening these days. It's an exciting time in fashion!

Peace, love, and happiness,

Feda

First Snow