ARTIST STATEMENT: The Nightingale Queen

"My song sounds best in the green wood," said the bird.
H.C. Andersen

"Very old are we men; our dreams are tales
Told in dim Eden, By Eve's nightingales."
Walter de La Mare

These photographs we made on my most recent journey to Denmark, my third time there. The first time I visited, I felt a longing to be with the land and the sea. I traveled all around the island, seeing churches, castles and burial mounds. I was reminded of the light and land in Ingmar Bergman films and the Hans Christian Anderson stories I heard as a child, The Tinderbox and The Ugly Duckling. I was very happy.

"The Nightingale Queen" draws upon these memories, feelings and visions spanning both dreaming and wakened states, conveying the mystery and transformative power inherent in nature. Through self-portraiture, my intent is to reveal an aspect in each of us that is archetypal and ancient. Casting myself as the heroine with the land and sea, I allow the camera to depict the supernatural essence of life.

Shauna Angel Blue

« IMAGES: The Nightingale Queen