We all like to dream. To imagine ourselves in a different place, at a different time. Where reality is suspended and we can fly, float or escape our mundane lives. Brooke Shaden has done just that by placing herself in surreal worlds in which she wishes she could dwell through her manipulated photographs.

Brooke Shaden Self-Portraits

The sharing game:

The creation of blood and bones:

Practicing make-believe:

To be prepared:

Born of wind and snowy mountains:

To life her up:

To dust:

Invading homes:

Nocturnal:

The almost circus and invisible audience:

The falling of Autumn darkness:

Gateway to River Willow:

Changing winds:

What life is made of:

Empty nest:

The path of lost souls:

Falling slowly:

The world above:

Finding rescue:

Wild birds burning:

Shown at top: Battle of cliffside hill

About the artist:

Brooke Shaden was born in March of 1987 in Lancaster, PA, USA. She grew up near the “Amish Country” until attending Temple University. Brooke was photographically born in December 2008 after graduating from Temple with bachelor degrees in film and English. She now resides in Arizona, USA with her husband and three cats.

She began creating self-portraits for ease and to have full control over the images, and has since grown into a self-portrait artist. Self portraiture for her is not autobiographical in nature. Instead, she attempts to place herself within worlds she wishes we could live in, where secrets float out in the open, where the impossible becomes possible.

Brooke works to create new worlds within her photographic frame. By using painterly techniques as well as the square format, traditional photographic properties are replaced by otherworldly elements. Brooke’s photography questions the definition of what it means to be alive.

Brooke has also published a book:  Inspiration in Photography: Training your mind to make great art a habit

buy it here

Prints of her images are available internationally. Please contact the nearest gallery for more information.

Select works are represented by:
• JoAnne Artman Gallery
Laguna Beach, CA, USA

• Morren Galleries
Amsterdam & Utrecht, The Netherlands

• Søren Christensen Gallery
New Orleans, LA, USA

See more of Brooke Shaden’s beautiful work here

a special thanks to Evelyn Morris Hecht for bringing this lovely work to my attention.