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Kate

@mythoslens

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📸 Mythos Lens | Unlock Your Legend | Narrative Portraiture by Kate Marie
📍Chicago and Travel Photographer- Book a Curiosity Call ↓

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One of the things I love most about my process is the joy that naturally comes up. It can be so easy to forget the joy and the celebration if you’re not intentional about it. I was reminded of that today in a beautiful expanding capacity week with @redefiningcapacity

I created these images after I had been with two clients in the studio and done a grief session for my aunt. I ate something yummy, pulled out the broom I bought when I was 15 and used my favorite conversation from Kiki’s Delivery Service to ground me. It is an exploration of joy, a reminder to celebrate and find my inspiration as I build my capacity to be a business owner and space holder that thrives. This type of narrative re-writing is so powerful and is a big part of how I hold space when folks come to have their photo taken. Feels only fair, and vital, that I should share my own version.

No AI ever used in my art, just me jumping and playing.
Photography by me @mythoslens

Conversation from Kiki’s Delivery Service:

Ursula: When I was your age, I’d already decided to become an artist. I loved to paint so much. I’d paint all day until I fell asleep right at my easel. And then one day, for some reason, I just couldn’t paint anymore. I tried and tried, but nothing I did seemed any good. They were copies of paintings I’d seen somewhere before … and not very good copies either. I just felt like I’d lost my ability.

Kiki: That sounds like me.

Ursula: It’s exactly the same, but then I found the answer. You see, I hadn’t figured out what or why I wanted to paint. I had to discover my own style. When you fly, you rely on what’s inside of you, don’t you?

Kiki: Uh-huh. We fly with our spirit.

Ursula: Trusting your spirit! Yes, yes! That’s exactly what I’m talking about. That same spirit is what makes me paint and makes your friend bake. But we each need to find our own inspiration, Kiki. Sometimes it’s not easy.

What does this bring up for you? I’m curious.

-Kate #narrativephotography #chicagophotogtapher #kikisdeliveryservice #witchyphotos #mythoslens by @mythoslens

This beautiful human made some narrative art with me!

When you create a session with me I send you curated journal prompts based on what we want to explore and co-create. @kingoddity was kind enough to give me permission to share some of their responses that inspired our time. Check out @kingoddity they are truly the coolest, as you can see...obvs.

Q: What does this cosplay mean to you? Why is it important? Who is this character and why did you create them?

A: Durge / The Dark Urge is a character you can create in Baldur’s Gate 3. They have their own backstory, but your appearance and choices are your own. They’re burdened with a curse that gives them bloodthirsty urges that they cannot always resist and it is your choice whether you want to embrace these urges or resist them (as well as you can).

As someone who deals with mental illness, I heavily relate to having a voice inside your head that you cannot control. Whether it be from anxiety screaming different daily horrors, or depression highlighting the dreadful aspects of reality; the voice is often uncontrollable and always unwanted. It can be difficult to manage the voice while trying to act like a normal member of society as well as managing relationships, which is what the player does as Durge throughout the game.

In a fictional world, it can be fun to embrace the urges without dire consequences, which is how “Pre-lobotomized Durge” a.k.a pre-gameplay Durge lives. But when reality sets in (Post-lobotomized Durge), suddenly we’re aware of the consequences of our actions, the urges become a mental illness, and every day could bring new horrors.

Q: Are there any mantras, themes, or life lessons you’re currently exploring that you’d like to bring into this session?

A:I’m just making the child in me happy. Here’s some lines from Astarion to Resist Durge during my favorite scene in the entire game that make the mental health comparison more clear:

“You’re not alone in this – none of us are. We can compare notes if you like.”
“This thing won’t have you. It won’t win.”

Muse: @kingoddity
Photography: @mythoslens

If this kind of play calls to you fill out the form in my bio by @mythoslens

A generous share from @michele_joy_stine about what it’s like to work with me.

Please do yourself a favor and check out their beautiful work (@alwayssometimesmaybe )and grab tickets to see the show as it travels this year.

Thank you to @imnelly_ambrose for the gorgeous video and collaboration.

If there’s a story you’re longing to tell, I’d love to hear it. Reach out.

#NarrativePhotography #StorytellingThroughPhotography #CreativeCommunity #ArtistCollaboration #MythosLens by @mythoslens

One year ago we had the honor and joy (crying and dancing) of getting to film Perla and her beautiful family as they prepared for and celebrated Día De Los Muertos!

I can’t wait to share this story and these moments with you all- this will be the last chapter (of 7) of “death, me, dying tree”.

Thank you to all our ancestors for bringing us together.

Also huge thank you to my producers AND crew @kaseyobs @mythoslens @boeder3000 and my Mexico producer @marialancon

BTS Photo credits: @mythoslens

#documentary #film #filmisnotdead #dayofthedead #diadelosmuertos by @mythoslens

Whimsy, magic, and pleasure may be exactly what we need to heal.

So often we treat self growth as hard and exhausting. We fill our schedules with workouts, self help, therapy, and all the things meant to make us better. But I think we forget how essential play is to being human. To thriving, not just surviving.

I think Halloween reminds us of that. We get to dress up, step into another world, embrace magic, and play.

But there’s something deeper about this time of year. In the traditions surrounding Samhain, the veil between worlds is thinner. We remember that death is part of life. That someday, we will all leave this world.

And maybe that’s an invitation to live more fully while we’re here.

What stories will you leave behind? What magic will you have allowed yourself to experience?

I’m someone who can forget to play. Who forgets pleasure, and how much better life feels when I make room for it.

These photos are of me and my best friend during a particularly hard week. I knew I needed to put on a mermaid tail and a dress I hadn’t worn since high school, go to the lake, and play.

We told the story of a woman torn between two worlds, land and sea. I was feeling torn between two worlds myself. Two possible futures.

Playing inside that story brought me back to myself. I felt alive and seen and spoken into existence again. Suddenly my trials felt more like an adventure than a hardship.

I went home thinking, my life is amazing. I get to play in a lake in a mermaid tail with my best friend!

I think secretly many of us want to live in a book. To live in the stories we love. And we forget how much of that magic is within our grasp if we choose how we tell the stories of our lives.

That’s what I love about photography. Not just capturing how we look, but exploring who we are and who we might become.

If this kind of play and storytelling calls to you, I’d love to create with you. You can book a curiosity call through my links.

Happy Halloween. May you find a little magic, pleasure, and room to play.

Photography @mythoslens
Muse @straubhandmade by @mythoslens

When @jay.gootz reached out to do a birthday session with me I was deeply honored.

Why?

Because Jaime is a true artist. They are constantly creating from a place of honest and authentic self and the world needs more of that. Whether it’s through music, bodywork, or their dragon/ cicada burlesque they inspire.

A Bowie quote comes to mind when I think of Jaime “Never play to the gallery… Always remember that the reason that you initially started working is that there was something inside yourself that you felt that if you could manifest in some way, you would understand more about yourself and how you coexist with the rest of society. I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations — they generally produce their worst work when they do that.”

Thank you for the art and for being you, Jaime. Thank you for trusting me without self and your @castle.rat vision. May this year be the best one yet. Happy Birthday!

Muse: @jay.gootz
Hair and Makeup: @jess_pennach
Fit: @goblinprops
Photography: @mythoslens

#birthdaymuse #castlerat #bowie #narrativephotography by @mythoslens

We don’t honor rest enough as business owners. I was hitting pretty intense burnout and am now resting in Italy in between pleasure and photographing during @jenunderwood_ ###storytellingthroughphotos #mythoslens #narrativephotography Peak Pleasure Retreat. I’m excited to show up in Iceland soon fully rested and present.

There are differnt kinds of rest. I’m a fan of all of them. My therapist taught me about them recently. They come from Saundra Dalton-Smith MD.

The 7 Types of Rest
* Physical Rest: Restores the body and relieves physical tension.
* Includes: Passive rest (sleep and naps) and active rest (gentle yoga, stretching, and massage).
* Mental Rest: Quiets an overactive brain and stops racing thoughts.
* Includes: Short breaks every two hours during work, mindfulness exercises, and writing down stray thoughts before bed.
* Sensory Rest: Resets a nervous system overwhelmed by modern stimuli.
* Includes: Closing your eyes, turning off bright lights, stepping away from background noise, and taking a break from screens.
* Emotional Rest: Eliminates the need to “people-please” or wear a mask.
* Includes: Freely expressing true feelings, setting firm boundaries, and sharing honestly with a trusted friend or therapist.
* Social Rest: Differentiates between relationships that drain you and those that uplift you.
* Includes: Spending intentional time with supportive, positive people and limiting interactions with energy-draining individuals.
* Creative Rest: Reawakens awe, wonder, and inspiration.
* Includes: Immersing yourself in nature, visiting an art gallery, listening to moving music, or looking at a beautiful view.
* Spiritual Rest: Connects you to a sense of belonging, deep value, and purpose outside of daily tasks.
* Includes: Meditation, prayer, gratitude practices, or contributing to a meaningful community cause

Sometimes pushing yourself to do something unique can be restful, sometimes it’s laying on a beach. Sometimes they both happen in the same week.

Does this resonate with you?

If you want to hire a rested photographer, DM me. Let’s chat. by @mythoslens

An anniversary session at Independence Grove today and thought I would share some of the tranquility. by @mythoslens

He was a college football star and she was the track statistician while studying opera and communications, and they fell in love.

Together, they combine legacies. Hers, the legacy of multiple generations of Dutch flower farmers. Him, a legacy of creativity and resilience. And from that, they build something entirely new. They build a flower shop (@flowermanflowers). A life together and raise two kids (@mythoslens and @smith88jake ). They love deeply, and they give deeply.

Even 43 years later, they are fully living their lives. They work together. They dance to their favorite song (Get Here). They go out, they still have amazing friends they see weekly. They spend time with their kiddos and grandson. They still laugh together, and they still go to the same beach every year that Jane’s parents introduced them to, where so many beautiful memories were started (the beach in these photos).

Constantly showing up for one another and going on adventures is such a deep act of love. Something most people only dream of. Happy 43rd anniversary to my Mom and Dad, Steve and Jane!

Photos by @mythoslens
Muses: @gladiola.jane by @mythoslens

This photoshoot with @mythoslens was so amazing. I still can’t believe we got these shots.) You better believe that they’re gonna be making more appearances in the coming weeks.
#fringe #photography #chicagoartist #clown #puppetry by @mythoslens

How can we heal our audiences through PLAY? …and can that audience be found via a puppet in a bag at a coffee shop? ☕️

Host Chloe Baldwin (actor, drag king, variety artist) sits down with fantasy photographer and multi-hyphenate artist & healer Kate Smith, and David Roston, musician, healer, and puppeteer of Esmerelda the Puppet and her expanding cinematic universe. They discuss the power of play in engaging an audience, creating audiences where you least expect it, and how being healers leads Kate and David to art and storytelling again and again.

Now streaming on Spotify & YouTube! A Mystify Magic Festival Podcast ✨🪄

#podcast #varietyartist #magicfestival #puppets #fantasyphotography by @mythoslens

Grief Is Best Tasted With A Tale

We are meant to process big emotions through story. I believe we are all creative beings and that story is a gift for each of us to heal ourselves.

The big emotion I want to unpack today is grief.

Have you noticed how many stories in our culture touch on loss?

Romeo and Juliet, The Titanic, Coco, Bambi, the list is long. And there is a reason for that.

Story helps us process, heal, feel seen. The story becomes the conduit for all the pain, sadness, anger, apathy (name your emotion), that you are feeling.

There is a pressure to feel grief briefly in America and then let it go, but grief becomes part of our story forever and needs tending to. If you leave it in the body it sucks into crevices you can’t get it out of and causes depression, funk, pain, even illness.

Which is why grief is best tasted with a tale. And a tale is best shared so it can be communally processed. I don’t believe we are meant to grieve alone.

These images came to me when I was dealing with the passing of my aunt and also personal and relational mortality.

The picture is of the vampire losing control when trying to turn his Love. He can’t control himself and then loses her forever. The images leading to the main one are foreshadowing, she is a bride to his flame and she senses he can’t control himself, that he isn’t ready for this step. Once she is gone, he can’t even see himself grieve. And there is no one there to hear his sorrow or his tale.

This is what grief looks like in isolation to me. A story about how we need a community to heal and to hold us in transition. When we go it alone we can become trapped.

If grief is stuck in your body, a Narrative Photography experience is one of the many ways you can help move it.

Reach out by putting “grief” in the chat below and I’ll message you.
 Muses: @runcocorun and @mikedizzlehuh
Photography by me @mythoslens
Photography for those who wish to write their own story before the world authors it for them. by @mythoslens