I’ve started getting back into the mindset I had when I was 15 and taking film pictures. Taking them to capture moments or landscapes or things I see beauty in like flowers, all for myself. The first time my work was published on a bigger platform when I was 18, I started losing myself and my excitement to create. It’s hard to be an artist when you feel like everyone around you is doing the same thing or setting the bar higher and higher. It gets lonely to think about creating in the world of publications and editorials and money ladders. I hit a burn out with my art when I turned 20 and felt like everyone was running laps around me. It’s taken a long and slow time the last two years since that point to realize that art does not exist to be competitive, it’s not created to just be seen, it’s not made to be posted, it’s the one thing in this world thats entirely inclusive and felt and admired and inspiring. I hate that I took that away from myself, but now I feel empowered to take my creativity back and pour my heart into all the things I make and pictures I take and everything in between. Someone messaged me about some of my photos last year saying that my pictures had an old beauty to them that made them feel nostalgic for things they couldn’t pin point in their life and every time I get my film back now I always think about that. Words are so special and art is so dear to my identity and they’ll never fully know how much that stuck with me. Here are some pictures from the last few months, the last picture is my favorite!