Through my lens

What a week. One minute, life is merry and happy go lucky. The next? Everything is on lockdown. Everyone is freaking out. And every grocery store is out of toilet paper, water, and from my experience today, apparently purple cabbage too. Seriously – what’s with the purple cabbage shortage?! Ah; yes. #COVID19. In which people frantically (and sometimes aimlessly and quite randomly) grab up anything and everything and stock pile it. Whoops. I forgot. Anyhoo. I already talked about COVID19 right here, and if you’ve been keeping up with my FB/Insta story #FiresideChats (wink), then you are fully aware of my thoughts on both an economical + biological level with this madness. I’m not going to talk about that tonight, though I do suggest giving this video a watch. Ok; the end! *puts mic down*

This morning I ran a blissful, easy peasy (but still a smidgey #SORE from yesterday’s long run) 3 miles with some live worship music to block out small town traffic vibes. Running is my thinking/praying time. I can practically LIVE in my head when I am running, and so much so, that sometimes I literally forget that my feet are moving, or there’s sweat and snot seeping down my face. Did someone say “Unsexy reality”? And so, I was thinking about a lot…this week’s current events, upcoming races I could sign up for, blog drafts, and then it donned on me:

I’m either known as AG the Artist, or AG the Runner. But most don’t know me as the blend of the two. Just one or the other.

My tribes are made up of everyone in the road racing, running, sweat + spandex, massage therapy/anatomy geek/kines junkie on end of the spectrum, and then photography, stage/performance (at least in my late teens), wacky/abstract/creative visionaries on the other. And so, depending on which takes precedence, it’s either AG the Photog, or AG the Runner/LMT. As of the last 3ish years, I have mostly been involved in the athletic/sweat + spandex community. My line of work, training schedule, and many in betweens sometimes revolve around it. I recently setup an engagement shoot with a dear friend of mine from high-school + her fiance, and it reminded me: Ya know…you should dig up some images that speak to who you are as an artist…the side that no one really sees as much anymore.

And so, as the world around us has been a tad crazy lately, I want to give you a breather this evening. Below, you will find my artistic/moody/sometimes a smidge Type B eye, and what I see through my lens. I was blessed to experience watching a BIRTH (it. was. incredible.) back in summertime. And today, I was reminded that life is a lot like a sweet little babe being born. The PROCESS can be absolutely painful, grueling, and seem like it will never end…but as the contractions reach their climax; when it becomes unbearable…LIFE is born. From me to you: Even in your darkest moments – there is redemption. There is life. There is resurrection. Enjoy some of my fondest photographs from 2015-2019. I find photography to be soothing – both shooting and scrolling through beautiful images. It’s kind of therapeutic; like watching a betta fish swimming around in its tank. So, from me to you: This is my art. This is a piece of my soul that’s been buried a while now. And This is what things look like through my lens.