There is something really awesome going on in my life right now. All of my friends that I have made through many stages of my life are starting to do some pretty great things. In this particular post I want to talk about my wonderful friend, Shaunae Teske. I remember when I first crossed paths with her photography back in 2010. I somehow came across her blog and saw some of her amazing photographs. She has a style that I truly admire and respect.
Over the last few years she has grown even more in her journey with photography and I couldn’t be more proud of her. Below is a photograph of her in a new gallery for her latest project, Light & Love: a photographic celebration of mothers.
This last year, Shaunae had a personal revelation of the project she wanted to pursue within her photography. Here is a little excerpt from her blog post about it.
I absolutely love what I do. I love being the one to capture memories for others. It’s beautiful. It’s heart warming. It’s magical. And I never want to stop doing it. Ever. But lately, I’ve been yearning to do something for myself. To start a new personal project.
After recently visiting my mother in Georgia for her birthday, it hit me. I love my mother and she is a huge reason I am the person that I am today. It got me thinking about all mothers; what they are like, the fact that we all have them, what they have brought to the world. I started forming an idea on my way back to Green Bay and this is the beginning…
I want to photograph and interview mothers.
New mothers, expecting mothers, adoptive mothers, and everything in between. I want to hear about their experiences, their children, who they are as women. There is so much love out there between mothers and their children and I want to know all about it. So many wonderful stories to be shared.
I’m not sure where this project will take me but I’m along for the ride. I have my basic ideas of how it will go but I’m leaving everything up to the journey and the growth of the project. Hopefully, I will at least find a name for it. Until then, it’s just my project about mothers.
After learning about her project, seeing it before my own eyes on her blog, and reading about the stories of all the amazing people she had met, I knew I had to interview her all about it. I was lucky enough to get a window of time before her gallery opened last saturday and dive into the journey of the project. You can check out the interview below.
Light & Love: a photographic celebration of mothers from Kinetic Bear on Vimeo.
Shaunae has a special way with people. She is empathetic, a good listener, and loves you for who you are. That is something not easily found today, and not to mention in a photographer. I know she is already extremely talented, but I am excited for what her future brings and the amazing photographs she will bring into this world.
Start Your Own Project
Hearing all about her project and seeing it all printed out and physically visible in a gallery really had an impact on me. It made me realize that we all need to find a personal project that means something to us. It’s great to do a 365 project or something like that, but there is something deeply impactful about personal projects that change us not only in our skills, but in our hearts. I encourage you to search your head and your heart for ideas of your own. What do you truly love in life? Is there someone or perhaps a place that truly changed your life forever? How can you capture that in a photograph, a video, or perhaps even a song? These personal journeys that we celebrate through projects lead us to a physical product we can share and cherish for the rest of our lives. Hopefully this blog post and Shaunae’s video can send you some inspiration to start a project of your own.
To find out more about her project and see some of her amazing work with stories from it, just click on this link below.
Light and Love: a photographic celebration of mothers.
Shaunae with her mother and grandmother.
What an awesome project! Great way to think about a project….. what do you really love?
Hey Kathy! Have you figured out what your project for class is going to be? One of my projects this year is to photograph all of my friends that have inspired me and make a coffee table type book with short journals about each person and how they influenced my life. I’m pretty excited to start it!