Evelyn R. Swett Photography
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What's With the Smile?

10/21/2020

3 Comments

 
Picture
At the Club, 1984 Photo by Steven C. Swett
Picture
Self Portrait, Fall 2020
A dress
worn to a party
in 1984, re-imagined &
transformed
, becoming muse &
metaphor ​in ​2019. With text from Walt
Whitman's 
poem, This Compost &
embroidered ferns traced
from actual ferns
in 
​my garden,
Picture
Reflected Ferns, May 2019 Photo by ERSwett
Picture
Embroidered Ferns, August 2019 Photo by ERSwett
it took
over a year,
for the dress and
the woman to emerge -
smiling. ​
Picture
Selfie, May 2019
Picture
Self Portrait, Fall 2020
Always smiling.
Picture
Self Portrait, Fall 2020
"I am
terrified at
the earth," but I
drink my demitasse
and smile. Really? Is that all?
What an incongruous
sham!
Picture
Self Portrait, Fall 2020
But am
I allowed to show
fear or anger? Do I even know
what ​these emotions feel like? And if I
can't show them when no one
is looking, will I ever
be able to be
​real?
Picture
Self Portrait, Fall 2020
I've
buried them
for so long, always
hiding behind that ​smile.
Don't get me wrong. I've only
recently understood how beautiful it
is. But just as the demitasse is a

curious distraction, so is
a smile 
a fabulous
​cover. 
Picture
Self Portrait, Fall 2020
It
was
only after
these exploratory
photo shoots in Maine that
I started to go deeper. If I am going
to re-imagine my relationship to everything
and ​everyone, including myself,
I'll need to accept that it
won't always be
​pretty.

Picture
Self Portrait, Fall 2020
3 Comments
Sarah Young
10/25/2020 10:45:18 am

I think we can smile at a moment of joy in an otherwise terrifying world.

Reply
Lyn
10/27/2020 03:43:26 pm

Sarah - - You are so right. Smiles are necessary right now -- if they are real and come from a place of genuine warmth. The more real the better. And smiling now is such a great way to break the tension. I just think it's important to also allow ourselves the truly feel the sadness, anger or fear may be feeling, and not need to hide those very real emotions. Thank you for reading my blog!!

Reply
Kate
10/27/2020 06:46:32 pm

I'm with you, all the way-- especially this year! I love your dress and demitasse and the pics of the beach are lovely, as are you, whether you're smiling or not! I do think that the lace and flowery stuff somehow feels more at home with the smiling face-- somehow frivolous when accompanying the serious looks. Isn't that how life is? When shit gets real, the frills tend to go away. Love your blog!

Reply



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