"shadowland", a woman's right to choose, conceptual fine art photography ©2007 kelly angard

Across the broad continent of a woman’s life falls the shadow of a sword. On one side is all correct, definite, orderly; the paths are straight, the trees regular, the sun shaded; escorted by  gentlemen, protected by policemen, wedded and buried by clergymen, she has only to walk demurely from cradle to grave and no one will touch  a hair on her head. But on the other side is all confusion. Nothing follows a regular course…
- from the essay, Harriette Wilson; by Virginia Woolfe

I wish for all this to be marked on my body when i am dead. I believe in such cartography, to be marked by nature. Not just to label ourselves like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communial books, communial histories. All that I wished was to walk upon an earth that had no maps.   – from “The English Patient”

"human nature" conceptual fine art photography ©2008 kelly angard

As an artist, there are some pieces i create which are so personal, so poignant, so evocative, i find it difficult to share them with the world when they are finished.  As much as a part of me wants to share my favorite and most meaningful work, i end up keeping these works to myself…waiting for the time i feel enough distance from them, separated from them personally.  i wait until i feel i can put “them” — and therefore, myself — out there for the world to see. this one took a year and a half…

For some, this may simply be an image of two anonymous people captured in a moment…nothing more, nothing less.  and that is fine; it is what it is to the viewer.

But for me, this work, this image speaks of so much more.
for me, this image is a bank of a thousand thoughts…a catalyst for heart-breaking stories or song lyrics yet to be written.
for me, it whispers to a curious mind…i want to know  more.
i want to imagine more.
i want to create more.
i want to be more.

As an artist, there are some pieces i create which are so personal, so poignant, so evocative, i find it difficult to share them with the world when they are finished. as much as a part of me wants to share my favorite and most meaningful work, i end up keeping these works to myself…waiting for the time i feel enough distance from them, separated from them personally. i wait until i feel i can put “them” — and therefore, myself — out there for the world to see. this one took a year and a half…

For some, this may simply be an image of two anonymous people captured in a moment…nothing more, nothing less. and that is fine; it is what it is to the viewer.

But for me, this work, this image speaks of so much more. For me, this image is a bank of a thousand thoughts…a catalyst for heart-breaking stories or song lyrics yet to be written.
For me, it whispers to a curious mind…i want to know more.
i want to imagine more.
i want to create more.
i want to be more.