Nature’s Course
Nature’s Course is more than an ongoing body of work; it is a practice. In an attempt to embrace the natural aging process, I have decided to turn my lens on the changing parts of my face and body that would normally be negatively judged by society. Instead of a critique, I have chosen to honor those parts by pairing them with elements in the wild that hold the same physical characteristics, yet would be deemed beautiful in the natural world. Giving my own body permission to freely exist as is, not only in natural spaces or the new space the photographs create, but in my everyday life as well. Allowing it to be equally celebrated as one of nature’s beautiful works of art, instead of flawed and in need of fixing. We never question Mother Nature and the shapes or sizes of her creations. We admire and are in awe of them instead. Nor do we judge the textures and lines carved out on her surfaces by time, or left behind by the storms she has withstood. We view them with fascination for the journey and respect for her endurance. Our culture teaches us from an early age that our physical appearance needs to meet a particular set of standards to be valued. This pressure is intensified as we begin to age in a youth-obsessed world, where growing old, especially as a woman, is an unfair damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. The concept of aging naturally feels archaic in today’s era, where we are bombarded daily with messaging that our natural state is something to fight, and easy access to the weapons to do battle has become commonplace. But I don’t want to be at war with myself. With this work, I look to Mother Nature to be my teacher instead. A guide to show me how to see my ever-changing body as a muse: a playground for new discoveries, not a war zone. As with our beautiful planet earth, our bodies should be protected, taken care of, and their own natural cycles of life honored. Every changing season, this earth’s and our bodies’, behold unique states of beauty. It is my wish to be able to peacefully marvel in them with liberated splendor, all the while, letting nature take its course.