I was recently asked to define the benefits of working with Sarah Sloboda – an idea I loved – because to date, I am unsure as to whether I have truly written anything that captures the essence of my mentality when I am photographing something, or otherwise creating something. Here is the description I wrote:
Sarah Sloboda has developed a trust in the subtle connections made by the subconscious mind, and knows that art occurs spontaneously, when continuously offered the forum of an open mind, a conscious heart, and a reliable means of expression through a medium. Sarah’s life practice is a dedication to creating the fertile ground from which art can spontaneously spring, and so inspiration is always within reach.
As a photographer, and in the other mediums in which she dabbles, such as ceramics, writing, and design, her method is simple: to assess fully the essence of what exists in front of her, drinking in its nuances, and drawing from what already is; she then puts her attention fully and lovingly on the beauty present and allows it to get organically captured in the work.
Sarah defines beauty both as visual attractiveness/symmetry/the composition of lines and form, and also as love/spirit/individuality/the essence of what gives us life. Knowing that we can find beauty all around us, her work requires that she enter a somewhat meditative state where she can focus solely on the beauty. Through that focus, beauty is what is captured when she is at the helm of her craft.
Her work is delineated by her deep trust in the subconscious mind – in other words, instincts or non-linear trains of thought that often arrive at a solution instantaneously. In her technique of honoring the subconscious, success is measured by how fully the ego and conscious mind have stepped out of the way, and often by how effortlessly all the elements in the moment of creation have aligned. Therefore she knows, even as the work is being created, when it will be a success, simply by the way a moment feels.
