#strangerthings

#outdoorart

#statues

This self portrait was created in August 2022, after chemotherapy and radiation for breast cancer. Earlier that year, during treatment, I started watching Stranger Things. I saw parts of myself in Eleven from the beginning of the series. Different. Isolated. Powerful in ways that are not always visible.

Photography became survival. It quieted my mind when everything else felt loud and out of control. Creating gave my emotions somewhere to go when cancer tried to take up all the space. This image is not about a Netflix show. It is about reclaiming strength, identity, and self in the aftermath of something that changes you forever.

Mail day!

Just as I’ve had to become a closeted Nightmare Before Christmas fan, due to the over saturation and its annoying (newer) fanbase, I don’t really talk about Stranger Things. As much as I enjoy it (aside from the atrocious last season), the fans make me not like it. I no longer have Netflix, so when this was announced a month ago, I was pretty sure I was gonna eventually get it….when it got cheaper at least. Then I started worrying it might go out of print, and become rare or something, so I pulled the trigger and pre ordered it. It came a day early, and here it is.

Annoying fans aside, this show hits all the feels. I remember (a decade ago now) after watching the first season and how I felt back then. When a second season was announced, I rolled my eyes. I thought it wasn’t necessary, and maybe it wasn’t…but I loved the other seasons too. I think the 3rd season might even be my favorite. It makes me feel the most nostalgic. The whole summer backdrop. Really tugs at all my childhood memories.

Anyway…$130 bucks is a bit steep, but I’m still glad I have this for when I want to revisit it.

There was also a more expensive set, with stupid little trinkets I didn’t need. And a 4K version, too.

#strangerthings #physicalmedia