Expose Yourself, Stand in the Light.
It's not easy, but it's the right way to go about it.
My art is sacred to me. It's the way I communicate with the world; the way the world communicates with me. When the communication is smooth, the frequencies we broadcast on align, and a novel sensation of clickery takes over.
Later when I align my eyes with the bright screen, Timujin playing in the background, an emotional process begins. Similar to the one that took place when I was photographing at the scene, but different. I am not ripe enough to successfully express what it is that I feel, but it feels authentic, primitive, in the best way possible.
The photos I took talk to me, and I talk to them. We laugh, she cries, I frown, it ties. Like a DJ's equalizer, like the equalizer of life, I play with contrast and exposure until our emotions feel right. The photograph's, and mine.
Now comes the tricky part.
Social media became not only a tool for spreading your art, but also a tool for receiving affirmations. Affirmations in the form of 'thumbs up' or 'red hearts'. The more, the better. Or is that true.
Well, Although the quantification of likes and hearts doesn't go unnoticed, it ought to be taken with a grain of salt when you're sincere when it comes to the relationship between you and yourself. Put your art out there for the purpose of gifting the ones you love, not for gifting your ego.
The verbal feedback that you get, the personal texts those who care for you and your art send out is what really matters. Emotional fuel. "your picture touched me" ... "What am I SEEING?" ... "Just keep it up please" ... When what you think about your art meets people's hearts, it's ok to allow the feeling of relieve entrench your soul.
I am who I am, and I do what I do. I breath what I do, and only today do I feel confident enough to showcase it as my emotional, artistic extension. I feel connected to myself more than ever.
Stepping in the light felt counter-intuitive at first. But the warmth of this light is making the organism that I am develop a little more.
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." -Plato
Matan Tzinamon | XiMT Photography ©