Brenda Landrum

I started this project with a little defiance driving it. I can’t be the only one that is tired of the noise online about what one should and should not do with their online presence. People have created empires telling people what to do. Then we have the algorithms dictating our every move. If you don’t serve it what it wants then you get punished for it. Like video reels.  I’m a photographer, I take stills. This online game also changes at least once a year so you feel like you have to change with it. So #Unfolio was about sharing images just because I loved them and in the background I was taking a sledgehammer to the Meta box I felt trapped in. 

There were many times I about stopped myself from posting some images. The elephant shot, the road sign, the camera hanging, and the pots. They felt risky to me. I’m glad that I pushed through the wanting to back out (I had thoughts of wanting to ditch the last week) because as I look at the images all together below, I see life. I see joy. I see appreciation. It’s a story shown in images of me just enjoying where I’m at and slowing down to capture beautiful moments. Sharing them isn’t about ‘look at me and how amazing I am’. These are simple everyday moments. A family day trip. A hike. A home. A life.

Freedom has been found in this exercise and clarity as to what I want to portray and inspire online. Every day Brenda takes these photos no matter what. She doesn’t stop just because it isn’t a portfolio shot. She photograph’s everything that inspires her. Online Brenda feels like a slave to the Meta rules and stops herself from sharing things that might fall outside of a box that has been created. Yes, I contributed to building that box but felt forced to do so. Today I feel more free from those rules. Free to share the story of a person who loves photography and see’s the beauty of the world and life through a viewfinder. 

The last week of the images are below without any explanation, just to view. 

Thank you for reading today. I hope it inspires you to share something that you have stopped yourself from putting out there for others to see.