aa is a champ.

can't seem to get enough of this song this weekend.
aa bondy - black rain




Black rain, black rain
Don't fall on me
Can't you see I'm doin' my best
Black rain, black rain
Don't fall on me
When I lay to take my rest

And love, it don't die
It just goes from girl to girl
Town to town, rose to rose
All around the world
Like a ghost upon a breeze
In a land of elegies

Black rain, black rain
Don't catch me low
And cover the sinner sun
Black rain, black rain
Where can I go
When you leave me nowhere to run

And love, it don't die
It just goes from girl to girl
Town to town, rose to rose
All around the world
Like a ghost upon a breeze
In a land of elegies

happy mind, happy eyes.

im f i n a l l y making progress towards my show! ptl.

for one of my classes we had to take 1,000 photos and do something interesting with them. dang.

all the while i was trying to brainstorm for my show, so i combined the two projects together.

below are a few sketches of ideas i would like to play out in my show.. really vague ideas at this point, but still ideas.

for these images i took a picture of my photo slideshow on my computer. as each image changed, they overlapped and i captured that overlap.

the interactions are so interesting and completely spontaneous, i had no control over their relationship, just over when i documented their interaction.

this was such a rich experience for me, i enjoyed every second.

i shot 500 of these interactions and printed 45 of them on vellum (an opaque paper substance) creating a book so you are able to see through both images to the images on the  next page.

this is just a teaser of a few, but i thought i'd keep you posted on what i've been working on/thinking about.

since this project i've made significant progress towards my show and it's changed quite a bit, which is great. not ready to post those yet though... you'll just have to see them MAY 2ND!

(copyright rachel mccord photography 2011... stealing is wrong)

i get paid to do this

just somethin for the yearbook.
even though i get paid to do this...i would still do it, even if i didn't get paid.
im making a divider for one of the spreads for the Biolan spelling out the word "academics" through books, by actually cutting through each word to spell it out.
it looks pretty rad, i'm really happy with it so far. even though i only have 3 letters, with like 2 hours spent on each... but nbd, i can never get enough of working with my hands and my headphones.
i love that this is my job. and that i get to do things that i love everyday, and get paid for it.
let's just hope that trend continues after my undergraduate career is over. [fingers crossed]

back from Italia.

wow wow wow.
just got back yesterday from my interterm trip to Italy.
my soul is still swimming with all that my eyes saw, all that my mind learned, and all that my heart felt. (photographic proof soon to come)

now i'm sleepily resetting my brain to school mode this next coming week and am preparing to look through all of the images i took while i was over in that beautiful country. i might have an art-attack while looking over them. and then may also have the sudden impulse to run back to the airport and catch the first flight to Florence that I can find/sell organs to afford.
but i'll probably refrain. probably.

my heart is so full, even though my mind and body are so weary.
that right there, is a feeling of great accomplishment.
ciao ciao.

poison & wine

this song is the most beautiful thing i've heard in weeks.
(and no, i didn't not discover it on grey's anatomy)

i think i can, i think i can, i think i can...

... i think.

once again, my life is so busy that its stupid.
and i've learned one thing from all of it - i can do whatever i set my mind to. seriously.

there hasn't been one project, one idea, one job that i've had the inspiration to do that turned out horribly. everything i've tried - i've completed. everything i've thought up - i've made into physical form.

this is something i've never sat down and thought about. and once i did, it blew my mind.
i've been so blessed with the opportunities i've had and the inspirations i've been given.

and the encouragement from my peers, my professors, my colleagues at work, my bosses at my internships, my family and even my friends who have no idea about what the heck i'm making... makes a  world of difference.

the positive reinforcement i've been receiving is the biggest motivator i have to keep going. even when my little brain is empty and inspiration is dry.

its making me realize more and more how invested i am & how energized i become when i'm part of a community.

so even in the midst of midterm-mayhem, i think i can... so therefore i can. PTL.

p.s... pictures of what i've been slaving over these days are soon to come.

This day in [my] history...

Every once and a while I skim through my old blog posts from previous years.
I always peek and see if there is one I wrote on the same day on which I'm browsing.
It's always so interesting to reflect who I was, what I was thinking about and what I was feeling months ago or even years ago.

So today [in 2009] this is what I was thinking... and I haven't changed a bit.

_____________________________________

It's days like today that get me super pumped for heaven.

I didn't have a particularly bad day today, just an average day.

A day like a million other days I've spent, living my life, day to day.

Because it's all I've ever known how to do.

I just can't wait for the fact that in heaven I won't ever wake up tired.

I won't ever have to do homework, take tests or go to class.

I won't ever have to work, save money to buy things, or to even have to deal with the whole mess of money in general.

I won't ever have to say goodbye to the ones I care about. Just have continuous conversations.

I won't ever have to get sick, be late, or have to apologize for something I've done or haven't done.

I won't ever have to impress anyone or feel guilty about the things I'm not doing that I should be doing.

I won't ever judge anyone or look down upon those I subconsciously deem lesser than myself. 

I won't ever get cold, get lost while driving somewhere, stutter because I talk way too fast, or have to do my hair.

I won't ever have to fool others into thinking I'm smart, cool, hip or whatever it is I'm trying to prove at one time or another.

I won't have to read about celebrities and deem the ridiculous things they do as a point of interest.

I won't have to just sit and wonder what in the world I'm supposed to do with my life. It will be done, I will have learned, I will be content, and I will be relieved.

I'll never have to be anywhere other than in the presence of God and do nothing but praise the crap outta Him.

And it's day's like today that I can't wait to meet Jesus.

watch this, seriously.

most beautiful thing i have laid eyes on in quite some time.
[ i watched it three times in a row, couldn't get enough]

Dark Side of the Lens by Astray Films



breathtakingly gorgeous, right? yep.

happy thursday, friends.

tuition dollars paying off

since i've been chatting so much about how out of control my schedule is... i thought i'd show you why.

my second home is mcnally 82: the art lab.

i spend more time here than i do in my apartment these days.

but i don't mind looking like this, if my work looks like this. 

here's some tidbits of projects i've been working on in my advanced photo classes & at work:

large format 4x5 film camera with natural lighting 

printed digitally; triptych format (3 images)

large format 4x5 film camera & studio strobe lighting

35mm film camera layering of multiple negatives

(digital version, darkroom version still to come)

trying my hand in sports photography for work at the biolan.

so much different than what i'm used to shooting, definitely still rusty but learning.

i seriously learn something critically important everrrry day. 

all photo, all the time. nuts. great. love it.

yum.

"Every desire for good and happiness is for each person a great and insidious love... 

Love is the desire to possess what is good forever." - Plato

little box.

one of my fave photogs, spreading some juicy photog wisdom.

(here's some of his work, if you are not familiar)

so great.

learning from the greats

soaking up their thoughts & images...

"I photograph elements of my life, places where I feel comfortable, 

where my way of thinking is in line with that I am doing." 

-Sebastiao Salgado

"I think if you don't love people and aren't fascinated by them, you'll never

 succeed as a portrait photographer, because your pictures will look cold."

 - Rankin

"I get excited about authenticity. I try to find something special. 

I don't even know what it is. It's intuition." 

- Rineke Dijkstra

"The key is to photograph your obsessions, whether that's old people's hands or skyscrapers. Think of a blank canvas, because that's what you've got, 

and then think about what you want to see." 

- David LaChapelle

as if i don't talk enough already...

... i have a n o t h e r blog. haha.
this one is more directive, though.
for my advanced integrated photography class i have to keep a blog of my inspirations, ideas, fave artists, responses to readings, progress on projects etc.
and since i wanted to keep my life-brain and school-brain somewhat separated, i just started a whole new space in which to think. so what i'm saying is, feel free to follow me here and there because i will still be posting on both.

>> THIS << will be my art blog, but i am def not abandoning this blog so, bounce around, feel it out, see which you like better. ha, not really. you are of course required by friendship to like them both, duh. 


happy wednesdaying.

love this.

hmmm [[ . . . }} hmm

Do you remember when the oceans sang in hymns
Do you remember when the stars used to play
Do you remember when we used to share our food
Well I do every second of the day

Have you ever wondered what's behind the sun
Have you ever thought of kissing the moon's rays
Do you remember when we used to dream without any fear
Well I do every second of the day
{Trevor Hall - Mirror of the Sky}

{photos via}

happy things

travel.

taste.

butterflies.

color/texture.

simplicity.

energy. 

joy.

nature.

passion.

and really really good hair.

awake

"How fickle my heart and how woozy my eyes
I struggle to find any truth in your lies
And now my heart stumbles on things I don't know
This weakness I feel I must finally show

Lend me your hand and we'll conquer them all
But lend me your heart and I'll just let you fall
Lend me your eyes I can change what you see
But your soul you must keep, totally free

In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love, you invest your life

Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
Awake my soul, awake my soul
Awake my soul
You were made to meet your maker
You were made to meet your maker."


Awake My Soul - Mumford & Sons

dripping with goodness

"live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air..."

emerson

yes, sir.

"the key to change... is to let go of fear."

-rosanne cash

go get it.

"Whatever course you decide upon, 

there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. 

There are always difficulties arising 

which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. 

To map out a course of action and follow it 

to an end requires courage." 

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

now, it's time to run.