Because i love my sister, think she is incredibly beautiful, and i needed to entertain myself with something.....

I decided to take some pictures of betsy, my 16 year old sister.
There is this wash at the end of my neighborhood, which is basically a mini-desert type area.
So, we had a little photoshoot there.






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I think i want to start taking more pictures of people i care about.
This might even be a new year's resolution for me.

I used to fear photographs; being in them, taking them. It just seemed like such a hassle. To me, taking photographs reduced my ability to fully experience each moment in my life honestly. I think one major thing that bothered me and still bothers me about pictures is that they are often construed or minipulated to show something or someone in a way that isn't completely honest. Whenever there is a camera around, people are trying to look their best, act the happiest they can, pose in the most flattering way for their specific body type. And i, more than anyone, fell prey to what disgusted me the most about taking or being in pictures. I hate that people can't just 'be' when it comes to photographs, but that we feel the need to be something beautiful or happy or sexy or desirable or funny. To me, the camera took away the freedom i felt to just 'be'.

The thing that i've been learning in life that also applies to photography, is that people are deep wells of complexity. To say that people 'have layers' is a huge understatement. The human soul is such a vast, complex thing that we aren't even aware of our own depth. But does this mean that we don't try to understand others? Does it mean that we give up trying to understand ourselves?

I'm learning that complexity is beautiful. Even when photographs are full of fake smiles and perfectly posed figures, there is still honesty to be found in these pictures. There is still honesty to be found within people who seem to hide behind their construed smiles. There is honesty in the masks that people wear; in the pain that they try to hide. There is honesty in the fact that a smile is more acceptable than a frown and that the sound of laughter is more tolerable than the sound of crying.

So, i guess to sum up all of what i'm trying to say: people are the most beautiful when they are the most honest. Photographs, in my opinion, are the most beautiful when they are the most honest. I can't give up on people just because they don't always seem genuine. I can't give up on photographing people just because they are sometimes not completely genuine in pictures. I can't stop striving to find truth and honesty in people, just as i cannot give up capturing this honesty with my camera.

Photography to me isn't about taking pictures of pretty things. It's about taking pictures of real things; to me that is beautiful.