Audacity

"We all fear death and question our place in the universe. The artist's job is not to succumb to despair, but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence. "

by Gertrude Stein in the movie 'Midnight in Paris'.

The most interesting duality or should I rather call it choice that is currently offered to me by the universe (for the lack of a better word) is firstly the idea of hard work and structural thinking, following recipes to success and succumbing to reason. On the other hand, that which got me here in the first place, call it passion, call it talent, call it expression still remains the main focus of this expedition. Or does it really? The main focus initially was to just be able to be and to better one's being and find creative ways to do so. It is a constant wrestle between focusing all your efforts to find a place in this social structure that you as artist are comfortable with (what a contradiction) and fight of the nostalgic and bizarre indulgences that make you aware of your unusual presence within this existence, playing with life as if it was a puppy dog dressed in pink latex busy killing a bird. You are the bird.

How do I have the audacity to call myself an artist. It was a description I gave to myself. No one confirmed it or labeled me. 

We are taught in today's academia that throwing together some words and phrases of what label:important people have said gets you to a well rounded conclusion. It is essentially reordering and re-quoting information about a topic and receiving credit for finding it. An interesting phenomenon: Research. But how about the inner knowledge that gets lots? The ideas we wondered about that are unstructured. Yes some of us find it again and possibly understand it better but feel it less. An example is appropriate: A very talented young boy plays piano without having lessons. He is self taught. He composes songs in his head and plays them. His parents decide to give him the opportunity to receive formal lessons which he takes. Years later the boy is a master of his instrument. But everything he composes is based on a structure that he was taught is right and he understands. What happened with the untrained, unfiltered intrinsically felt knowledge he had before?

This post is not supposed to be about what is right and wrong as these things can not be defined in the amount of space I have available here. It is opinionated and might offend, and I am sorry if it does.  But what this post is all about is trusting your intuition for a change, that funny tummy feeling we experience. I know that mine is pretty spot on in 70% of cases as I would not know if it would be all the time as I only listen to it 70% of the time. It feels that sometimes we are blocking calls from the inside, and how rude is that? You would never willingly and/or without reason reject a phone call by a dear friend who just wants to say 'hi'?

But does it get me there? No, but definitely somewhere if I can decide!

New Website

I am happy to announce that my new website is live!

www.karolinarupp.com

I hope that it makes browsing easier and of course it has been updated. 

Thank you for all the support so far and I am looking forward to a great year even though it's all ready March :).

The ghost who is following me

by Karolina Rupp

It's a Sunday and it's raining.  The perfect time to play around in Photoshop and create something new.

Exhibition

 

I hope to see you all there! 

Nicole Dextras

I stumbled across this wonderful series by Nicole Dextras. She froze flowers and dresses in huge ice blocks, lit them and photographed them at night.

“This frozen wardrobe acts as a metaphor for the multilayered affinities between the self and the environment,” Dextras explained. “On a deeper level, the mercurial aspect of ice alludes to the transient nature of the environment and of the inherent poetic beauty of the ephemeral.”

All images by Nicole Dextras.

Of Writing Lists

The 'To do' list seems to be a creation of the 21st century. I write them often, possibly to often. Have I been socialised into this pattern? Is life in the 21st century so rich in possibilities that the mind can not keep track anymore? Or is it rather that we need a sense of achievement that we can monitor as every time we tick of a completed activity we feel less anxious about the fear of not achieving or forgetting something. The funny part is that people who don't write 'to do' lists seem to be doing fine. 

I guess what it comes down to is that worry in itself is the culprit. Trying to survive today is very different to the previous centuries, as now a malfunctioning cellphone or not being able to buy the right ingredient for a specific dish at the supermarket creates worries of strangely high proportions. The point that I am trying to make is that whether you worry or not, it does not seem to make any difference to the situation you find yourself in. The most important part is to continue, because survive you will anyway.

I wrote this post to hear myself say it. Or rather write it. To remind myself of it. And to write fearless 'to do' lists... or none at all.

Moving Forward

It seems things are slowly but surely moving in a direction, a good one. My images are being published and soon exhibited as well. All the details will follow closer to the time. 

I would like to share a quote by Steve Pavlina who seems to have the right idea:

Head directly towards the peak until you reach an obstacle you can’t cross. Whenever you reach such an obstacle, follow it around to the right until you’re able to head towards the peak once again.

Sometimes I forget that.

As artists we seem to hover over a project or concept not noticing any progress and only when it all comes together we suddenly forget how lost we felt before.

Shooting Fashion

Recently I shot a couple of fashion images. The last time I took these kind of photographs was quite some time ago so I felt a little nervous, but in the end it turned out great. A big thank you to the wonderful models, Michael and Vincent.

By Karolina Rupp Photography

By Karolina Rupp Photography

Waking up in the Mind Palace

Recently I started experimenting more and more with image reflections and photo manipulation as you can see here. I found it to be necessary to explain myself with regard to these images in a little more detail as they seem to slightly resemble kaleidoscopic imagery and odd combinations of visuals, but they in fact are built on a system of meaning which I will explain here. 

We all find ourselves in situations where we look inward and feel a little or very confused about ourselves, our actions and the outside world. Being aware of these thoughts and actively trying to understand and analyse them in order to better one's 'beingness' sometimes seems like an incredibly overwhelming and difficult task. This effort of realising what these thoughts are and the serious inner stroll amongst the pillars of ideas and the big open mind palace with high ceilings and intricate paintings and pattern on the walls, is what I am trying to capture in this new series of images. Instead of looking at results and answers I am trying to capture the middle or in between stages of actions that develop from thoughts. 

I hope that this makes things a little clearer, even though it deals with confusion.

Tribal Forest Daemon

Today I photographed mountains covered partly with snow as you can see here.

I started admiring trees that look like skeletons against a white pale backdrop consisting of fog and clouds hiding nature. After playing around with the images I realised that within them natural creatures or faces can be discovered as they might also be in fact hiding away. I decided to enhanced them. 

The result as you can see below is no photograph anymore but rather something else, a forest creature. 

by Karolina Rupp

Question

Seeing or being in a different environment is always inspiring! I am planning on shooting quite a bit of film in the following days and weeks but will not forget about my digital camera either. It's exciting! This is the first time where I feel absolutely no pressure shooting, it's just fun. What an amazing feeling! 

In the next couple of days I will try and post some new images on facebook.

And the question for the day: Do you wake up or open your eyes first?

Liminality

I find myself in a transition phase as this year is nearly over with lots of things that I've done and a new year to come with more things to do and conquer. A perfect explanation for this phase (that I continue talking about) is the concept of liminality.

It is an "intermediate state of being "in between" in which individuals are striped from their usual identity and their constituting social differences while being on the verge of personal or social transformation." Reference.

I find that this concept itself would be a great exploration in terms of a photographic series, possibly in black and white film as artists themselves are viewed as 'edgemen'.

And for some inspiration, here some infrared portraits by Nir Arieli.

Change

After many years of being torn between joining or not, I finally did it. My photographs, or rather some of them, can now be found on facebook.

This it seems is quite the step as next year will be the start of something I don't yet understand. In about a weeks time I will have completed my studies. Exciting on the one hand, but also nerve wrecking on the other. I have so many plans but at the same time non at all. I have so many ideas, but question all of them. I am confident about the future but struggle to fully believe my own thoughts. It feels like at this particular moment I just am here. 

I think a very good description of how I feel is a photograph that I took recently. I must add though that I do find it being applicable to many feelings or ideas which is relieving. I hope that others can also identify with it. 

by Karolina Rupp Photography

It is over

Today everything is quiet. After exhibiting my work yesterday, I feel that I can finally rest!

Click here for a link to the showcase.

Showcase November 2013

Things have been quite hectic lately. The last assignments had to be handed in, preparations were made for my final exhibition, exams are coming up and finally I am starting an internship very soon. In these times I question how far I can push my stress levels. The only thing my mind is filled with is what still needs to be done or arranged and how I will possibly fit it all into my oh so busy schedule. 

But then again, is it just me who stresses? Some people seem to cope with so much work and just wing it somehow. They just do the things they feel are necessary and all seems to be working out fine. I will need to learn that!

But this post has a different purpose because as mentioned above my as well as my fellow students' final exhibition is coming up. Here the details:

Hope to see you there!

Edward Weston

Having to shoot in the style of someone is sometimes a little difficult. This time it was Edward Weston. Telling stories and triggering emotions by photographing objects such as peppers or shells is the key to his still life pieces.

The image here is my interpretation of his work as part of an assignment.


Title: The Mourning Sister

By Karolina Rupp Photography

NSPA Manifesto

What is happening around you? What are you doing? Where are you going? What is the meaning of life? 

Who are you? 

It is important to remember these questions and to attempt answering them throughout your life.

Guidelines to a manifesto that tries to free you and make you aware of or and become one with 

natural phenomenon.

Nutrition:

Be aware what you eat. Don't eat processed goods. They contain things that are harmful to you. And you might not even no why. Just remember, don't eat what you can't pronounce. Make sure you source organic produce and meats that are free range at the least, as we are not here to harm or make animals suffer but to embrace their presence. They are helping us out to survive. We should thank them for that. 

The Self:

Be strong and open minded. Embrace what you see. You were given to everyone and everyone was given to you. Some people might be 'bad' or 'good' but essentially you need to decide what that means to you. Start thinking and then do. But don't forget to do. The aim is to be a content human being, not by comfort but by exploration and the seeking of knowledge to in the end form your own opinion and reflect inward to finally understand yourself and most importantly like yourself while still staying humble. This is difficult, but doable. 

Production:

What are you doing with your life? What is your calling? Your aim? The aim is to make good art. To create something meaningful and unique, even that uniqueness is rare and is not a must. The most important thing is to express something that makes you feel fulfilled and that has no other purpose than to make others think or happy. Don't work for money. Money is needed but humans give it too much value. You as the human are the key, not what you have in your hands. If you create good art, you won't need to worry about survival, as you are fulfilling yourself and everything else will come. Don't believe, create. 

Aim:

The aim of this way of life is to live an inspired and curious life, similarly to the view of a child. Stay excited as everything will eventually come together and you will finally be able to say: 'I understand'. What this will be and how you will get there is your choice but if you practice self reflection and are open to creative and interesting thoughts and stimuli, you will hopefully arrive at the place of content sooner than later. Content in the end refers to becoming one with your surroundings, which includes mother nature as well as the unanswered world we don't understand, reaching from consciousness to spiritual phenomena. 

NSPA, being nutrition, self, production and aim becomes the motto: 

NOTHING SEEMS PARTICULARLY ABSTRACT

Foresting

Today's excursion:

By Karolina Rupp Photography

By Karolina Rupp Photography

And to end this post:

"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." - Banksy (original variation by Finley Peter Dunne)

Start Playing

Traveling around without a digital camera is quite a strange experience which lead me to use a small point and click belonging to my mom. This camera has quite interesting auto functions I experimented with. Here some examples straight out of camera:

By Karolina Rupp Photography

By Karolina Rupp Photography

I found that sometimes it's a good thing to look away from your normal routine within the field or equipment and let go. I was surprised by the results obtained with a camera I would normally regard as... lets say a toy. But that might be the key... cut the seriousness and play again!

New Perspectives

Recently a friend and I went to Hartbeestpoort Dam visiting a dairy farm. We decided to take some shots to keep shooting and try some new things. Here an image I like:

By Karolina Rupp Photography

I think in this life one needs to find things that make you see why you are alive. This can be as simple as a beach holiday to putting a complex idea into practice. Once you know what you must do or experience, things become easier and better. 

As Roger Ballen said:

If an artist is one who spends his life trying to define his being, I guess I would have to call myself an artist.