I was doing some spring cleaning today and found this poem handwritten by a dear friend on a piece of parchment, hidden behind a stack of books on my fireplace. I was brought back to last summer when she gave it to me. I read it a dozen times that night, crying harder than I ever had and letting go of a love I had clung to for longer than I should. It was a moment that I will always remember as being an intense time of brokenness, conversion and humble submission to the one who saw me, made me and knows my deepest desires. Later on today I was going through my phone deleting unnecessary data and I came across a text message from another friend that included a line from the poem. I was once again taken back to a moment late last fall in a beautiful home, reading poetry by candlelight. I can hear the voice of a friend reading it to me. His voice is something I cherish as a gift. A gift given in a time of vulnerable openness, and when this poem was read by him, I felt myself healing. As I read it again today, I was reminded of all the ways God has been working and is working in my life. Although I am a sinner and fail every day to be a true representation of Christ in me, I needed to read these words again, and again. Knowing that each season, each person in that moment is the present tense gift from God to me. Embracing these moments as sacred, while not holding onto them too tightly is what I am learning. I am entering into a new season of deepness with my creator and I felt this beauty was something I wanted to share. While this is a small moment in my daily life, it is one that is influencing everything I do, say, and create lately. It feels right to take time to embrace this change and share it with whomever is present in this place.
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Every photographer desires a muse. Odessa is mine. We met on a 5am photoshoot three years ago in Nashville and have been friends ever since. A shared apartment, European travels. I moved across the country, she travels the continents, we seen one another in the cities that we share present tense with, and we return home to Nashville once in awhile and practice yoga together. I have truly never known another woman like her, and our friendship only deepens over the years. Not only is she a talented musician, but a beautiful soul who has shown me more kindness and love than I could imagine. She is about to release her long awaited debut album and it will inspire you immensely.
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Last August, I gathered a group of Portland friends to be a part of the Lands End Canvas holiday campaign I was hired to photograph. We packed up Amos Lanka’s wagoneer and headed to the mountains for a weekend of winter wear, canoe carrying and dinner parties. Although it was still summer, we got into the holiday spirit quite quickly!
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The latest issue of Kinfolk magazine was released this week and I had the pleasure of shooting a feature on a dairy farm. I am always thrilled to explore outside of Portland because there are so many hidden treasures in the Oregon countryside. Pick up your copy of Kinfolk Vol. 7 to read more about this ice cream story!
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Zinzi and Jesse are two of a kind. I was able to spend a late afternoon with them in Santa Monica this past January and became enamored with them quite quickly. Although our first attempt at photographs was a fleeting moment due to the setting sun, our conversation following seemed to continue on effortlessly into the night. These two are the talented frontmen for the band BLOWKISSES as well as beautiful lovers who are getting married this fall!
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I met Brad and Leanne for the first time in person on New Years Eve 2012. This was, however, after several years of almost meetings, countless emails, text messages and phone calls from various parts of the country. With so many mutual interests and friends, it was meant to be. When our paths finally did cross, it is safe to say that it was friendship at first sight. Brad and Leanne were in Nashville, en route from Pittsburg where they were trekking across the country in their recently purchased Winnebago. This journey would consist of several stops in various states to pick up artists to join their caravan, eventually delivering them all to LA. Long story short, I was also in LA when they arrived, and was able to spend an afternoon aboard their travelling home. During this time, I learned more about their vision and creative agency ACRE. This is one talented team and I am so excited to see where their dreams take them this year!
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My dear friend, Robin Frost, was the lead model in my first Crate & Barrel photoshoot. Although she had never ‘modeled’ before, I knew that she would be a perfect fit for this project. Her natural beauty and effortlessly chic style lent themselves beautifully to the story we created together. I was so lucky to work with her, and when it came to capturing these moments in the kitchen we had a lot of fun! Her smile and laughter were quite contagious, especially when she was asked to cook a full Thanksgiving meal for her friends. It was fun to see her improvise and create in this new medium. Also on set for this shoot were new friends Rick and Ashley, amazing chefs and restauranteers at Antique Taco in Chicago. They catered my sister’s wedding this past summer, and I was blown away by their delicious and aesthetic food. They are also two of the kindest and most gracious people I have ever met. Truly a pleasure to work with them!
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Due to the whirlwind of work and travel that I found myself in over the past few months, this post is long overdue! I had the wonderful opportunity to work with the famed home furnishing company, Crate & Barrel, this fall on a series of photoshoots for their Holiday 2012 Catalogue. It was truly a magical experience that I was lucky enough to share with some of my closest friends. What made these shoots so much fun was getting to cast my family and friends as the models. They affectionately become known as the REAL MODELS. Here are some images from the first of four photoshoots I have worked on for Crate & Barrel called Friends & Giving.
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When I find myself on the road, I like to make it a point to share a meal with friends who live in the cities that I travel through. It was a sunny day in early May, when I met Amie and her blue bus downtown Denver, Colorado. A month earlier, when I found out I would be on tour with the bands Greylag and Augustana during the spring, we had made a plan to converge on this day, in this city. My longtime best friend, Amie Phillips, a talented Denver painter, had recently purchased a refurbished Schoolbus to use as her traveling studio. It was complete with a woodburning stove, vintage couch, succulents, and an amazing backend kitchen. She had been hosting intimate dinner parties in the bus over the short time she had owned it and these were getting rave reviews. Inspired by what I had already seen and heard, I wanted to share in this magic! The plan was to gather a group of likeminded friends who had been disconnected due to various travel schedules and projects over the winter months. Being a freelancing artist, it is hard to find a moment when all my friends are in the same place at the same time. However, there are those magical singular days, or a week here or there when the stars align and all can gather to be together. This was such a day.
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by lauradart
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