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{ Category Archives } Essays

Selling Out and Selling Short

I know that social media is taking over our lives and is seeping into the real world little by little (or a lot by a lot). There are people, artists, photographers everywhere vying for attention and trying to get ahead in their respective fields. I know how it is all too well. I am one of those people after all, when you look at it objectively. I was artistically born online, and beyond that, began my career in photography largely due to the encouragement from people I’ve never even met before. I call them “internet people” ;-)

2011 12 29 Brooke Shaden Comments (14)

Looking Ahead: 2011 in Review

I know it is rather obvious and unavoidable to run into so many end-of-the-year-recaps, but I fall into that category of people who just can’t help themselves. I will probably recap my year every year until I die in some sort of blog-type-thing, or maybe just in my head in years to come. Either way…one [...]

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2011 12 26 Brooke Shaden Behind the Scenes
Inspiration
Uncategorized Comments (11)

The Joy of Nothing

The things we can do with $5 and a little imagination are plentiful. The things we can do with so little are incredible. The things we can make out of nothing astound. We call ourselves creatives, and sometimes our actions show that more than others. I got to thinking about what makes me tick, the [...]

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2011 11 28 Brooke Shaden Behind the Scenes
Image Evaluations
Inspiration Comments (11)

Thanking Yourself

Every Thanksgiving I write a list of reasons why I am thankful. That list is always impossibly long and getting longer each year. My family, my friends, my career, where I live, my cats…it is an obvious list, that is certain, but of course it means something to me. Everyone who celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday [...]

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2011 11 23 Brooke Shaden Inspiration Comments (3)

20 Reasons Why I Love Being an Artist

  1. I am as good as dead without being able to find passion in life. Creating art is to constantly find passion and suspend it in time, always there to come back to, always a reminder of all that is fulfilling. 2. Sometimes I wonder if I will remember the little moments that made [...]

2011 10 20 Brooke Shaden Inspiration Comments (5)

“I Wish You Would…”

Whether you are the type of person who gets comments like this, leaves comments like this, or both, there is something to be learned from examining the sentence “I wish you would  ________”.  Especially in the photography world where people are sharing photos on a daily basis, that statement tends to come up a lot. [...]

2011 09 25 Brooke Shaden Inspiration Comments (16)

Coloring Inside the Lines

“Create what you want art to be, not what you have been told art is.” It happens at a young age. Our earliest memories begin the foundation of what we think of as “art”. Our first teachers, our surroundings, our experiences; they all go in to forming our opinion of what art is. School starts [...]

2011 09 16 Brooke Shaden Inspiration Comments (11)

34-Year-Old Me

Dear 34-year-old me, I’m writing this to you 10 years in the past in the hope that you will remember the things that you know now and that you will have learned things that you can’t even imagine now. I’m writing to you in the hope that you have accomplished all of your goals and [...]

2011 09 08 Brooke Shaden Comments (15)

A Happy Life Means a Passionate Lifestyle

There is a lot to be said for owning your own business, most of which has already been said. But what I feel is lacking from the conversation is an encouraging tone and an “anyone can do it” attitude. If you’re looking for someone to tell you the pitfalls of owning your own business, or [...]

2011 08 27 Brooke Shaden Comments (11)

I’d Rather Be Fishing

Everyone go back to childhood and try to remember the first time someone told you that you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up. I’m guessing that most people were told this at some point or another, whether by a school teacher or a parent or another influence in your life. [...]

2011 06 28 Brooke Shaden Inspiration Comments (23)