shannon griffin photography
When did real life become undesirable?
When did imperfections become "fixable"?
I LONG for real. I LONG for raw.
This was a mom who took some space to explore herself.
After I left she probably made dinner for her two children in that kitchen and then washed the dishes with those very tools.
For a second, she got to mix her two worlds.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
That is art.
Read MoreBoudoir is about stripping down to bare bones.
But, not in the way one might think.
It’s the permission to let someone else see you in the most vulnerable and raw light.
It’s cracking wide open and letting the hard seep in so that the you can discover and fill in the holes.
Boudoir is pushing away the “one day’s” and “what-if’s” and embracing the right now.
It’s letting the skin that holds you fall apart.
It’s grieving who you once were, while saying hello to who you are.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It is...you are...encompassing.
I’ve been seeing a lot of videos that show Christmas in the 90s.
They suck you in with the nostalgia of it all. Bing Crosby in the background, while showing incandescent lights that are impossible to find these days.
You can almost smell the cookies baking in the oven, while mom is watching TV in the kitchen.
You feel a pit in your stomach.
Why is that feeling gone? Where did it go?
You hear other adults talk about getting back to that feeling; searching for something that no longer exists.
How does a feeling just disappear?
I’ve been longing for that feeling for over half my life. It’s been decades since I experienced that magic.
Then, I became a mom.
I dreamed of giving my daughter the Christmas’s that I grew up with. I envisioned how I could give her the same whimsy.
It hit me.
My mom was the magic.
Read MoreI was asked to present, as well as lead a styled shoot, at a workshop recently. I knew that I didn’t want a “model” who just showed up at the time of the session and that for this to be meaningful I needed to take the attendees through my process. That meant that I was going to take the woman I would be photographing through my entire process.
Read MoreHealthy love has allowed me to create my most meaningful art. It’s allowed a safe space so that I can let all parts of me leave and then come back anew.
My home life is pretty ordinary and safe. The idea of that used to bore and scare me. It’s most likely because I was so used to the explosions and everyday turbulence of love before.
My art pulls me apart and love reals me in.
I hope to teach my daughter that the greatest love in life isn’t romantic love, but rather love with oneself.
Read More
