✤ N R . 7 ✤

Hi,
so this newsletter post will be slightly different. No photos yet. Instead I am sharing a little creative challenge I created for myself in the first place, but want to show to you too so you can:

a) join in. To also explore your creativity — and your self actually.
b) read what I will be working on.
c) understand the prompts that will lead to what I will show next time.

“Unpolished” — 5 days of creative self exploration

I was looking for a gentle way to foster my creativity — one that’s low-pressure, imperfect, and without a goal besides experimenting. So I’ve put together a little challenge for myself, but I’d love to invite you to join me.

Each day’s challenge is a playful, explorative, or unusual prompt for a “self-portrait” — and I mean that loosely.

📷 It can be a photo.

🎨 A drawing.

🖋️ A note to yourself.

🎭 A dance, poem or sculpture.

Whatever helps you play and explore. Feel free to interpret any prompt in a way that fits the medium you want to use.

How It Works

• Pick 5 days within May that work for you — no need to start today. (I personally will try to do the 5 challenges on 5 consecutive days to get into a small routine of creating.)

• You don’t have to share anything,

• but you can send me one of your creations at the end (more on that below).

You don’t need much. A phone or camera with a timer. Some music, a mirror, a prop from your home. And most importantly: yourself, and a little time. Any means of creative expression are welcome. Use what fosters your creativity.

Day 1 — “Soundtrack self”

Prompt: Choose a song you like, or one that means something to you. Take a self-portrait while you (really) listen to the song — while you feel the song. (For this photo it might help to have a timer for the photo, to be able to forget about the camera for a moment.)

Reflect: Which version of yourself do you see in the final image?

Day 2 — “Narrowed focus”

Prompt: Take a self-portrait using small (hand-held) mirror or through a small object. Force yourself to have a narrowed down view.

Reflect: What changed when the frame / view got more narrow? Which details did you focus on?

Day 3 — “Echo from the archive”

Prompt: Pick an old photo of yours that still makes you feel a lot. Respond to it today with a new photo.

Reflect: What stayed true over time?

Day 4 — “Layering” 

Prompt: Add a layer to your image or to yourself. This can be a physical one, or an invisible one.

Reflect: How did you choose to use the layer? Did you cover or reveal something?

*(This is also the theme of my Patreon group this month, so you are getting a little taste of how what we work on there.)

Day 5 — “Don’t show this to anyone”

Prompt: Make a self-portrait you explicitly don’t want to share with anyone. — Let it be awkward, too emotional, “too much” or not enough.

Reflect: How did the intention of not sharing it change the way you created?

💌 Want to share something back?

Before the end of May, pick just one (!) day’s / challenge’s result that stuck with you, and reply to this email with:

• the image or other piece of work

• which day it was

• a short note about what you reflected or noticed

I’ll curate a little selection of submissions (with permission!) and share them in the next newsletter / my instagram stories.

I would love to see some of you join me in this exploration!
If you have any question at all about it, let me know! 🙂 Simply reply to this email.


Yours
— Laura

If you want to connect further, or create together once every month:

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