A Dress Set Free
I wasn’t even supposed to be there. And yet, there I was – in the middle of Elmer’s Barn with a photography assignment. I had almost forgotten about it, to shoot one item 20 different ways. There were so many things in that barn, it was easy to get lost in all of that stuff.
“Oh, here’s a dress. This will do.” This is how I first thought of her. I laid her on the floor first thing and shot her from a few different angles. Next, I laid her on a chair and then, crunched her into a ball. How many images, 20? I’m at about 7 and I’m already out of ideas. When I hung her back up, nothing worked. So we started walking around, crossing paths with other students who cast admiring glances and complimenting her – ‘what a beautiful dress!’ ‘Where did you find her?’ ‘Are there any more like it?’ As with any woman, she liked hearing those words – her power grew I think. And, she was starting to grow on me.
Then we walked by a staircase and with a little sway, she turned me. Oh, I thought absentmindedly, she wants to go down there, so I hung her at the bottom and took a beautiful image of her white linen on the stairwell. We continued to move through the dark overstuffed barn, (a massive graveyard for once-loved discarded objects) as we were drawn to the sunlight outside.
It was once we were outside that I started to pay attention. Though upon reflection, she had been speaking all along. I realized I was no longer setting up the shots, no, I was being led about as if by the hand of a small child. Over here! Over there! Look, look at this! The whole world felt light and bright, childlike and effortless. After all these years, she had been set free and her energy was palpable.
By Marli Thibodeau
This is a project about discovering what has “Set You Free” initiated by Marli Thibodeau at Maine Media Workshops, June 2015, Creative iPhone Photography with Karen Divine
Image by KD
Image by KD
Tomorrow I begin painting and exploring a new direction. “Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” ― Rumi, The Essential Rumi.
Here is my inspiration and what I hope will “Set Me Free”…
In June, I discovered an artist that opened a door for me, Robert Hamilton. I spent a few days in Portland, Maine prior to teaching my workshops at Maine Media. I felt I had discovered an artist who had set himself free. He taught at RISD for 34 years and after he retired he moved to his summer cottage in Port Clyde, Maine, painted all winter then showed his work in his own self-built gallery during the summers.
“My other heroes were the jazz giants: Louis, Bix, Hawk, Pee Wee, Teagarden. From them I knew my paintings had to be improvised, spontaneous, made up out of whole cloth, one thing leading to another, accidental, a series of metamorphoses, surprised arrivals. A painting without surprise soon fades into the woodwork.” Robert Hamilton
Bird and Friend by Robert Hamilton
Next week I will post more information for those of you who may want to be a part of this project about what might “Set You Free”…
