Hex is a Cleveland-based photographer. Her superpower is capturing a moment in time. Something subtle – a glance, a shrug – but in that moment, everything.
For someone who often photographs people, the shutdown posed a particular challenge. Moment-stalking gets orders of magnitude trickier when you can’t go very far or be around anyone. But she found creative ways to safely make it happen, and to make it deeply meaningful.
Here is her story.
What inspires my creative work? Simply put – life. In all its forms. Sometimes I will be listening to music and a certain lyric or the way a song makes me feel evokes an emotion in me and I’ll get a mental image of that emotion. Then, before I lose sight of it, I have to capture it. It can be a movie, walking down the street and noticing the way a flower looks, or my Mom’s smile. I sometimes like to sit in the park and watch as people go by. See parents with their kids, couples stealing a private moment, or someone enjoying the fresh air like I do. I see the looks on their faces or the interactions they have with each other and it makes me want to snap that moment and lock it away in a little box to have forever. Photos can often help us to recall the events leading up to and after it, or sometimes an entire day. It’s about capturing memories and feelings.
My biggest challenge is always myself. I am always thinking that I am not good enough, or that I am too amateur to let my art really make a difference. That, because I still have so much to learn (and always will), that somehow makes my art less valuable. But then I remember that that’s part of the journey. Creating will always bring new challenges and will always leave me questioning things. The best times I have on shoots are when I’m able to see what inspires me in the moment. I give something totally new a try and look at the camera like “Wow! I did that!” and it’s a really cool feeling. So when I have the opportunity to be creative or step outside of my comfort zone, and it works out in a way that was even better than I imagined, it encourages me to keep trying.
In the beginning of the pandemic, I did a small series of “porchraits” where I went to the houses of family and friends and we took photos on their front porch. It was a way to safely connect and see each other during that time. I asked them questions about what they were most excited to get back to and what lessons they had learned. Everyone had beautiful and unique perspectives and it made me happy that I could find that in such uncertain times. It’s reminded me that life really is too short. We have to value our time as much as we possibly can. We have to move away from the mentality that we should spend the majority of our lives working so hard because, one day, maybe, we’ll be rewarded with the time and means to do what we want. We have to find the time and means to do what we want now. To do what nurtures our souls even in the smallest ways. Make time for yourself and the things that you love.
Thank you Hex for sharing your work and your story.
You can find her work on Instagram at @capturedbyhex.
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