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.