In the Madrones
Happy New Moon, dear readers.
I love new moon energy because I love composting that which is no longer serving me. I love endings! When I end something, I am always making room for something better and more aligned to come along. It has always given me a sense of agency during the most difficult times in my life. There is so much in life you cannot control, but one thing is a guarantee: every sunset is followed by a sunrise.
Today, what I am ready to start the process of composting is my presence on Instagram. I can feel in my heart that this is the year that I leave for good. I am starting this composting process simply by saying to all of you that I am going to leave sometime this year, so that I don’t back out later. It is terrifying for me to step away from something that has brought me so many of my friends and clients, but to be honest: it has changed a lot. It's no longer the app that it once was, and although it still connects me with cool people occasionally, I believe that if I turn my attention to other ways of connecting, the right people will continue to find me and I will continue to find them.
To prepare myself, I have been filling my cup with as many supportive resources as I can about leaving social media (and operating a business without it). I have been so inspired by the work of Kening Zhu, Amelia Hruby, Cody Cook-Parrot—all brilliant creators who have left Instagram and speak about it in their work. All of them have achieved business success off Instagram, but none of them are chiefly visual artists, much less photographers. Honestly, I am so curious if a person even can have a successful photography business in 2024 without Instagram. I have to know. And what I find out I am going share far and wide—especially for the sake of all the incredible artists out there who are fed up with Meta but can't see a way out.
For now, I have some really sweet family photos to share with you on this rainy Seattle Sunday. In January I traveled down to Olympia, WA, to meet up with Ellen—a new friend I met at a broom-making workshop last summer. For their photos, she and her family took me to their favorite place to spend time together outside—a beautiful nature preserve at the edge of the woods. The weather blessed us with some gorgeous sunlight and we made some film magic!
In my work, I always strive to emphasize relationship—relationship to self, to our loved ones, to the land that we are on. It felt really meaningful to shoot with Ellen and her family at a place that they come to often to spend time getting to know each other—and the natural world—better. I am always trying to dig deeper into what different relationships looks like for different people and, of course, I find that photography is an amazing way to explore that.
Wishing you all a lovely end of Winter—Spring sure feels close here! The Magnolias, Daffodils, and Rhododendrons are already starting to bloom, filling Seattle with color. I'm so excited, but resisting the temptation to rush into the next season. Each day is part of its slow unfurling, and I am lucky to be a witness.
Until next time,
Holly
