Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (2004)

TW: ED MENTION

Healing from an ED has been singlehandedly the most difficult journey. It's one that is continuous, and it's one that crops up every once in a while.

I often think in terms of "enough"

Am I skinny enough?

Pretty enough?

Personable enough?

Healthy enough?

And on and on.

Tonight it hit me as I was trying to put my thoughts in order:

If I were to answer honestly the question "what about my body is not 'enough'?" right now, the answer would be my heart is not tender enough or compassionate enough towards a body that has accomplished countless things.

Be kind.

Be tender.

‘the mirror’ - sir frank bernard dicksee (1896)

Ruby

welcome to my animal crossing island

Pamela Anderson’s beach cottage from MTV Cribs

16th February 2023

Golden days ✨

JONATHAN CHERRY: What did you want to be growing up?

TATIANA SAAVEDRA: Both my parents worked in photography. My dad became interested in the area upon seeing my mom develop film. After that the influence cascaded towards me. Both of them offered me cameras at a young age. Film and photography cameras respectively. I would basically treat them like toys and they eventually became my favorite things to play with.

I would bring them to school and direct stories that I created even before learning how to write. Specifically horror short stories. I would bring them to life with the help of my friends and other children. Everyone was very eager and the goal was always to have fun with the spontaneity of it all.

As I grew I kept writing stories and portraying them through photography and film until eventually I decided to pursue an education on film. Looking back, the only relevant change was that I stopped writing horror stories. Perhaps I lost interest in spooky elements and I felt more drawn to human aspects, which also can be spooky or even horrifying, in a more subtle way.

JC: Who or what is inspiring you at the moment?

TS: Many things. Firstly I would say cinema and paintings are the foundation of my visual inspiration, which then is focused a lot on nature and it’s colors, from the moon to the sea. But most importantly, I feel very drawn to humanity, people and people’s words or music.

JC: What are you up to right now?

TS: Right now, I want to avoid being stuck doing nothing. I’m trying to encapsulate as much knowledge about photography as I possibly can. It’s very important to use these difficult times to deepen and reflect upon things that you wouldn’t normally have the availability for. But above all I’m looking forward to living off a career in photography and exploring new grounds of creativity with a lot of people who are booking me for after the lockdown.

JC: Have you had mentors along the way?

TS: I got my college education at University Lusófona, with a degree in Cinema, Video and Multimedia communication. Which gave me the opportunity to have contact with amazing professors. However, the person that inspired me the most was my teacher Margarida Cardoso. She’s an incredible person and film director. I truly advise everyone to see her work, especially Yvone Kane, a film led by the equally magnificent actress Beatriz Batarda.

Apart from Cardoso, I also have a strong sense of admiration for many other teachers who I could even call mentors. Such as Mário Cardoso, Amândio Coroado, Tony Costa, Vitor Candeias, Júlio Barata and many more. They shaped my education and me as a person to the point where I still share brief but soulful conversations with most of them. Even though I found my mentors in my academic years, I feel it’s terribly important to be open to people who can add something to your professional journey. I find it detrimental to exchange things with other photographers and filmmakers, especially ones who you admire. You never know what could happen. A lot of times projects are born from a honest approach, sometimes even friendships start to flourish Right now, I would say I’m really drawn to the work of filmmaker Claudia Varejão and the photographer Pedro Gabriel.

JC: Where are you based right now and how is it shaping you?

TS: Being an artist in Portugal is not easy. Especially when you’re living off being a photographer. But it’s my goal, a hard one nevertheless, but it’s my own. Also the pandemic really puts me and other people working on the area to the test. But I believe that even in the darkest times there are some windows of opportunity, you just have to look from them and to know how to open them. There will always be challenges to your life path as a human being but especially for an artist in this world. Right now, I’ve put everything in perspective and used this time to improve my technique but also to mature my vision. Ultimately I’ve learned that nothing is set in stone, even life as we know it.

JC: One piece of advice to photography graduates?

TS: Artistically speaking, perseverance and honesty directed to your craft are key. On the other hand, you need a very strategic business plan. Cause at the end of the day, if you wanna live off your craft, you need to see it as more than art and as a business as well. That aspect should never be forgotten since it can even help you grow, creatively speaking.

JC: If all else fails - what is your plan B?

TS: I always have a plan B, various actually. But right now, perseverance is the plan A and also the plan B. I really wanna keep exercising Photography as my profession. It’s my passion and I feel the drive to seek multiple ways to make it work.

JC: Is it important to you to be a part of a creative community?

TS: Most definitely, being surrounded by creative people is immensely rewarding. Specifically people that I look up to or that have accomplished things that I’m trying to create. In a way it kinda humanizes the pedestal and the people you’ve placed there and it ultimately makes me believe that I can also produce the content that I admire.

I also feel that creative people are more dynamic, which eventually motivates me to experiment more or to develop new things and projects. I could say I’m the happiest when I’m creating something. It’s the definition of being alive, that you’re doing some with your existence apart from existing.

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