Archive for the ‘personal’ Category
2016, art, black and white, connecticut, creativity, CT, glastonbury, hike, inspiration, land, landscape, life, local, mood, nature, personal, photography, pictures, poem, quot, river, tania palermo, tania palermo studio on main, trail, travel, tree
In Art, CT, landscape, personal, Photography, Uncategorized on December 13, 2016 at 6:28 PM
“Don’t forget that the land is always out there, making its way, doing everything it can so you can breathe fresh air; so you can eat fresh food; so you can move and see and feel and think, and it’s on your side. The world is out there doing what it’s been doing way before you came here, it’s firm and strong and it takes a lot to bring it down.
So from time to time, just go outside and look at this spectacle. This pure painting right in front of your eyes. No one created it. No one owns it. It doesn’t want anything. It doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. It simply is.
So maybe, try a little tenderness. Just give it a chance to do what it can do. Just let it help you
breathe
and eat
and move
and see
and maybe just try to live your life in a way that doesn’t kill this force of nature
that is just trying to give you a world worth living in. A clean world. A fresh world.
Paths, forests, oceans, animals, oxygen, water. That’s all it takes.
Just try a little tenderness towards this world we’ve been lucky enough to build our homes on.
If you take care of it, it will take care of you.”
[Charlotte Eriksson]
2011, 2016, atlantic, back roads, connecticut, CT, east coast, landscape, maine, manchester, nature, new england, oceean, pemaquid point, photographer, quiet, reflection, road trip, tania palermo, tania palermo studio on main, travel, travel photography
In Art, landscape, personal, Photography, Uncategorized on October 19, 2016 at 4:13 PM
“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
[ Attributed to Anais Nin though she did not take original credit ]
Pemaquid Point, Maine … 2011
2010, 2016, abandoned, america, architecture, art, back road, building, color, CT, historic, inspiration, layer, life, manchester, ohio, personal, photography, pictures, sandusky, small town, story, tania palermo, tania palermo studio on main, texture, travel, travel photography, united states, writing
In Art, personal, Photography, story, Uncategorized on October 15, 2016 at 4:48 PM
In 2010 I was laid off from a job that never really suited me. My boss, the CFO of the company, told me that he respectfully hoped I’d never get another office job again. Not because I hadn’t done my job well – but rather because he felt that I was built for more creative endeavors. He knew that my spirit was being squashed sitting for 8 hours a day in my cubicle, beneath fluorescent lights that gave me headaches.
I’d felt my own nudge from spirit – through prayer and meditation – to once again in my life – take the road less traveled. His words validated what I’d already been feeling. So a few months later I hit the road. With nothing more than a few dollars in my pocket, a belief that things always worked out and a sense of adventure, I spent several months exploring our country and teaching myself photography along the way.
I’d tucked most of those images away. Chalking them up to some of the [really bad] 10,000 photos one is supposed to make before even thinking that they have any idea about this craft. Lately I’ve been peeking through a few and thought I’d start sharing them. Not because they are spectacular shots – but because they are a part of my journey.
So here I give you a scene from Sandusky, Ohio in 2010. I love old buildings. Their layers of color, texture, cracked and peeling paint … remind me of my favorite types of people. Messy on the exterior but filled with stories, character and depth.
2016, aged, art, CT, empower, female, girl, manchester, mood, personal project, photography, pictures, portrait, STUDIO ON MAIN, tania palermo, vintage, woman
In Art, art portraiture, personal, Photography, Portrait, story, Uncategorized on September 29, 2016 at 9:58 AM
Mallory came in to help me play with light and shadow a while back. I keep circling around to a personal project that I’d like to do. I work with it – then find that it has changed or is not quite right. Sometimes the only thing that helps me move forward / get unstuck is to play around with what I have and to let it be messy and undone until more clarity arrives. I’ve heard that as a creative person I have to just show up every day to do the work and hope that one day a creative muse shows up to collaborate with me. Here is today’s showing up. Thank you Mallory for being my model and allowing me to experiment!
2016, art, creativity, CT, gallery, gift, hate, inspiration, love, maine, manchester, muse, photography, pictures, portrait, relationship, self, story, STUDIO ON MAIN, tania palermo, ted talk, water, woman
In Art, art portraiture, for sale, personal, Photography, Uncategorized on August 11, 2016 at 11:16 AM
This image was created for and hung in a juried show at The Stone Crop Gallery in Maine. The title of the exhibition was “Love, Hate & Everything In-between” and was left open for wide interpretation. In the several weeks spent musing about what I wanted to create I listened to a TED Talk about creativity given by Elizabeth Gilbert. She explored where creativity comes from and offered a theory of a “creative genius” – that we all have one – rather than we can all be one. My interpretation of what she offered is one that is also encountered in the book “The Artist’s Way”. That is that we as artists are responsible for showing up to do the work – but this creative genius – or spirit – is responsible for the inspiration and the quality.
Still in the process of deciding what to make for this exhibit I visited a friend at her lake house. In the middle of telling her about the TED Talk, my “creative genius” tapped me on the shoulder and I had a vision of this photograph. It was persistent and insistent. I knew I had to make this picture that day. It took me several hours to talk my friend into climbing into the lake to be my model – and I’m so glad she did.
The original title for this piece was “Paralyzed by fear (thoughts of inadequacy)”. I’d decided that in relationship to self we can experience “love, hate and everything in between” and created a set of six images with themed titles. A fellow photographer came to me one day a little miffed and said he didn’t like the title because it limited what he saw. He found beauty in the image and thought others might as well. So in his memory I changed the title to make room for each viewer to take away their own meaning.
A 30″ x 22″ framed print of this image is available in the studio at 264 Main Street in Manchester, CT. We are open Tuesday – Saturday by appointment and be reached by email: tania@taniapalermo.com or phone: 860.306.0067.
2016, art, color, CT, experiment, female, girl, layer, low key, low light, manchester, photography, pictures, portrait, project, tania palermo, woman
In Art, art portraiture, personal, Photography, Portrait, Uncategorized on June 24, 2016 at 2:49 PM
Greta sat for me so I could experiment with some low-key lighting for a personal project I’m working on. It was going to be all black and white with minimal post processing. Now I find myself playing with color and layering of old, dusty, scratchy images. That seems to be how my creative process works. Starting off with an idea and playing around until what wants to be expressed reveals itself. Is that what it’s like for you?
2016, art, CT, dogwood52, dogwood52photographychallenge l, dogwoodweek1, long exposure, manchester, photography, portrait, tania palermo
In Art, art portraiture, CT, Manchester, personal, Photography, Portrait, story, studio on main, Uncategorized on May 24, 2016 at 6:52 PM
A local photography group I’ve just joined has decided to challenge ourselves with a 52 week photo project. Rather than coming up with our own list we are following along with one that has already been published online – the Dogwood 52 Photography Challenge.
It’s a lot of fun to see how other people choose to express themselves and it’s motivating to be accountable to a group of people. I’ve been batting around an idea for a while now, but always put it last on my list of things to do. This week 1 challenge at least ‘forced’ me to start playing with the idea and to take one step towards executing what I really want. Yay!
Week One:
black and white, breast cancer, CT, fighter, manchester, photography, pictures, portrait, strength, survivor, tania palermo, woman
In art portraiture, personal, Photography, Portrait on October 30, 2014 at 8:51 PM
I’m struggling to find the right words for this post. And maybe for just now the image is enough. Carey came to me a few months ago and asked if I would help her document her experience with breast cancer. What an honor! It’s been such a gift to be trusted to share this space with her and humbling to know that some of the images we’ve made have been a cathartic part of her healing process. She’s gone through chemo, had a double mastectomy and is now preparing for radiation. We’ve documented her bald head, scars, drainage tubes, the love between she and her husband … and today some of the reconstructive surgery. I know this image is intense. Cancer is intense. Finding the strength and perspective to fight with as much grace and humour as Carey has must come from a deep place inside of her and I think what we see here is the warrior. Thank you, my friend, for letting me play a small part in your journey. ♥
[ Carey has given me permission to share this image. As she walks further down her path we may share more with the intent of giving other people in her shoes hope, shared strength and encouragement ]
beach, breast cancer, collaboration, cousins, CT, manchester, photography, pictures, portrait, rhode island, tania palermo
In Art, collaboration, landscape, local artist, personal, Photography, Portrait, twenty two on August 19, 2014 at 6:53 PM
Dear Cousin –
I’m breaking all the rules with this post. It’s a day early for one. Wednesday already feels like it’s going to get away from me – so I’m grabbing this free moment and squeezing every ounce out of it to make sure I blog my photos. For two – though I initiated the “let’s shoot with the same lens” idea and agreed to shoot with my 50 – I didn’t do it. My 35 came in the mail and I just had to give it a test run. I’m really loving it – and am so glad you nudged the project a bit because it totally rejuvenated me. Thanks lady!! :) My photo walk wound up being a few different days – from the first image made with my 35, to a trip to the beach – the one summer thing I’ve done this year!!, and one from an inspiring portrait shoot I did today. Here you go! Love you. Can’t wait to see yours. :)
The first image from the new 35 …. yay!! Wide open and sharp.
Beach cottage playfulness. Love the fluff container turned flower vase. When is the last time you had fluff? When I lived out West I met people who had never heard of it.
Photographer HEAVEN!! The perfectly blue sky turned cloudy and I began to salivate! Can you relate?
I bid so long to my beach buddies and moved on down the road. I just had to chase the stormy moodiness.
Lastly, and respectfully – one image from a recent portrait session. Carey just had a double mastectomy and we are going to document the changes, the scars, the recovery. She’s given me permission to share all the images – which I will do one day. It was an honor for me to do this with her – and she said it was very cathartic for her. ♥♥♥
Lydia is a photographer in NYC and I’m in CT. We decided a while back that we wanted to work on a project together – and we’re still figuring out what that is. Here is a LINK to my first post which explains the idea and here is a LINK to Lydia’s last post in the project.
CT, manchester, random act of kindness, tania palermo
In personal, story on August 13, 2014 at 4:55 PM
I had to run to the grocery store this morning. Last minute, 5 steps behind in my day – running from my car to the front door in the pouring rain. I got what I needed quickly enough, then made my way to the front of the store to find there was only one checker line open. No problem, I got in line with everyone else. The woman in front of me was turned facing the line – rather than the check-out – and she kept looking at me, wanting to connect over our shared predicament of the slowness of service.
Eventually she asked, “You wanna go ahead of me? I don’t mind.”
“Um, no – but thank you,” I replied. I wasn’t sure why she was offering.
She asked again, “Are you sure. You can if you want.”
“Thank you, but no” I repeated, “We have the same amount of stuff in our carts. No worries. Very kind of you though.”
We then joked about how it seemed like her cart was overflowing because she had no less than 5 bags of pet food piled up in it. They were buy one get one half off – so she’d decided her animals could live for another month. She indicated one last time that I could cut the line. I had an overwhelming sense that she just needed to talk with someone.
After a few moments of hesitation I told her …”You know – we are having a workshop in my studio tonight. In light of Robin William’s death we are going to talk about living from a place of gratitude and keeping our hearts open. I’m going to share with the group how kind you were to me. Sometimes all people need is for someone else to acknowledge them and connect in our humanity to make a difference in a day….”
She immediately welled up. She said she has cried twice over his passing and that she feels very concerned for many people in her life. I won’t go into all that she shared – just that she did need to talk for a minute. She needed someone to be kind to her – just as she was offering a random act of kindness. After she checked out she turned back to me, wished me luck in the workshop – and in life. Then she giggled and said “Don’t tell them this story – I didn’t do anything. Make something up. Make it really good ….” I laughed with her – but told her- it’s the smallest acts of love that make the biggest difference. She touched my heart with her gesture and really did make a difference in the course of my day.
Is there someone you can reach out to today?
Tania Palermo [Studio on Main] 