Lisa MacIntosh, found at her website http://www.
Shoot what you love and let it evolve into a project. Put yourself in front of subjects you like as often as you can. If you like taking pictures of your children, take pictures of your children. If you like taking pictures of strangers on the street, take pictures of strangers on the street. If you’re not sure what you like to shoot, take time to review your image archive and look for connections or repeating subject matter and let your project choose you ~ Lens on Life
Do you have a lightbulb moment? I’ve had many, in all different areas of my life.
I love my photographic lightbulb moment…the moment when I knew what I shot really well, what made my heart sing. I wasn’t sure for a long time and was happy just shooting anything and everything…but something was missing. One day I had my camera pointed at the lovely Torie…that was the beginning of my journey…a journey filled with gratitude and thanks for this fabulous gift of being able to capture more than just a face and hear more than just a story.
I got my first camera, a polaroid when I was 16…I pointed that thing at everybody! My first film camera followed when I was 17, a Canon AE1 which I still have and sadly, rarely use. The world of photography fascinated me for along time, but that, along with everything else that mattered fell to the wayside when alcohol and drugs became my priority. Life went on around me and I was oblivious to all of it. When I was 24 I’d had enough. I packed that life in, only to return to it 6 years later. I can happily say that on August 17th I will be sober 15 years. I won’t go into all of the details around that journey but i will say that those moments, stories, tragedies made me the person I am today. My biggest gift in sobriety is my relationship with my boys who I adore…the next best gift was my return to my creative self. It didn’t happen right away but when it did, I secretly wept with joy.
I’ll fast forward to the last couple of years…you can read about the rest when I finally write that book!
Many of us that are connected through the lens and social media choose a word to live by each year. Last year was an easy choice for me, FEARLESS! I loved it and it pushed me beyond where I thought a simple word could. When the year came to an end I was struggling to find my word for 2013…it just had to be more powerful than the previous…a bigger, bolder word…and then I chose ASK…or maybe ASK chose me? Those three little letters, that tiny little word literally changed my life. FEARLESS had my back…I was ready to ASK! And I did, I asked everyone that I wanted to photograph if I could photograph them. I wasn’t going to be afraid of rejection, or self doubt as to whether or not I could really photograph someone well…dammit, I was going to do this! I spent the better part of a year wandering my city, looking through my lens and listening…always listening.
My journey continues…bigger than i could ever have imagined and I’m loving every step.
Here are some of the faces I’ve seen along the way…
Thank you sincerely for sharing all of this with us, Lisa!
beautiful imagery and words…. love the use of light in the portraits!
Love reading your story here, Lisa! Tremendous talent!
Lisa is a phenomenal photographer – so happy to see her featured here!
wonderful to see your work here Lisa and reading your journey xoxo
Thanks so much Cara for introducing me to Lisa’s work and to Lisa for sharing it here. These portraits are really stunning & I want to go back to them and study them to pull out these people’s stories.
love them all. love you. and so happy to see you here and hear a little bit more about your story, sweet Lisa!
Beautiful! You amaze me.. you inspire me. I am so honored to know you.
Lisa, you are an amazing soul! xo
I was so very happy to read this today! What a gift you are to all of us, to the people you photograph. Shine on mama, your light, inner light reaches so many people.
your honestly, integrity, creative brilliance, and big beautiful heart fill me up…and so so many others too. to be seen and heard by dear you is such a gift. thank you so much for sharing yourself with all of us. love, love, love you!
I love the way you see everything and how you expose yourself and how you send out a true feeling of welcoming and acceptance to so many of us out here who hurt or need a kind word and who are lifted when you call us “friend.” You mean so very much to so many and I and very thankful that your loving and strong spirit is in my life. Your heart and soul shine through your work. xxxooo
in tears here, for so much resonance, much that you know of, and much you don’t …yet! i’m loving hearing of the beauty unfolding that it is you, loving hearing the journeys back to what was true, filled with light and there waiting for you all along. sending much love to you friend, this was a joy and inspiration to read. your spirit shines and lights darkness always. xo
I was unfamiliar with Lisa’s work and her portraits are brilliant. I love her advice on being true to what we love to shoot.
lisa is a shining star….her loving heart and immense talent make each image sing.
Lisa’s work is incredibly inspiring. It’s been amazing to see where she’s come as a photographer. And then she’s also incredibly kind and compassionate, which I’m sure is a big part of why her portraits are so amazing. Love her!
You’ve been on an incredible journey Lisa and that rollercoaster has given you amazing skills. You are an inspiration x
stunning portraits!
Just brilliant, lovely Lisa. Brilliant. x
I loved reading this so much…a great choice. I love you Lisa AND your work.
Mad, crazy love for you and your art- but you knew that!
Lisa, you are such an inspiration to me. I love learning more about you here. Thank you for sharing!
So very inspiring, Lisa. Thank you for sharing your journey x
Such an amazing journey you’ve had so far.. and there’s so much more to come for you. Your work is inspiring and I feel so lucky and honored to know you dear Lisa. Congrats on finding your niche and doing what you love. xo
Thank you for introducing me to her work – truly incredible. She is indeed an inspiration to us all.
thank you all so very much for your heartfelt comments! the ride, or my life, has been filled with many peaks and valleys and i’m still riding. i’m so very thankful to have all of you in my life and to have a camera in hand to be able to capture the beauty i see on a daily basis. xoxo
Lisa! This is wonderful! So glad to see you here and love all your portraits! xo