White Blood Cells - ISSUE 17

A 2001 CD collection & it's impact on me

Shot by Lux on his Leica R4S with FujiC200, the real stuff! Do you think I could be the newest member of The White Stripes?

Back in 2001…

So I have an older brother and he had a killer CD collection when we were growing up. His walls were plastered with Nirvana posters and he played guitar in a shitty band. When Dookie came out he made my mum dye his hair blue, then green and then back to blue again. We only had one computer and it was in his room and he never let me use it. When he had friends over I would always gaze at them like they were famous and I desperately wanted to know what they were talking about, listening to, wearing, watching and when they left the house, where they were going??

I spent the entirety of my teenage years wishing I was an adult. The funny thing is, being adult is nothing like I thought it would be. I spend most of my time now reflecting back on being a nightmare of an adolescent and apologizing to my poor mother who endured my antics but never made me feel like I had to change who I was. Thanks mum!

So back to my brother and his bedroom, which was like a pop culture goldmine I couldn’t wait to sneak my way into when he wasn’t there. I would wait until he had gone out with his effortlessly cool friends and rush down the hallway towards his door. From there I would proceed to try and navigate things on the computer, google imaging Courtney Love for fashion inspo or whatever new thing I discovered that I wanted to know more about. Admittedly I would also jump on his MSN account and occasionally pretend to be him, I know what a cruel sister I am. The computer was great and I loved snooping around trying to make my mundane suburban teen life more interesting but to be honest my favorite activity in that room was going through my brothers CD collection.

I have the fondest memories of sitting on the floor looking up at those big CD stacker things everyone had back in the day and running my finger up to the top looking for an album I heard him mention. This was where I learnt the lyrics to countless songs and poured over the images and artwork inside the booklets of these CD’s. The memory is so vivid and I think is one that shaped me for who I am right now typing to you, dear reader.

How do you do this now though? Spotify isn’t the same and I mourn the days of going to CD stores getting a new release or going through the bargain bin hunting for a gem. I sound really old, don’t I?

Anyway, one of the albums I remember looking through was White Blood Cells by The White Stripes. I am not like a die hard White Stripes fan but the early records are really good and Jack White is a total weirdo genius. White Blood Cells had this song on it called “Fell In Love With a Girl” and I had heard my brother playing it over and over and I fucking loved it! I wanted to know the lyrics AND I wanted to be the girl in the song that he was falling in love with. So naturally, I flicked through the CD booklet and learnt more about these two people, Jack and Meg White, dressed in red, white and black. Always.

I don’t think I knew then what an impact their color scheme was having on me but you need only look at my photography and general aesthetic leanings to see that red is a HUGE color for me! I thank this album, among many other things, for that inspiration. I think this recent shot, pictured above, that Lux took just screams make me the third member of The White Stripes already!?!

It was actually an accident that I was wearing this outfit and we stumbled upon this horse cart that matched perfectly but I think that makes the shots even better! Lux really nailed the shot though and it’s one of my favorite of me he has taken for sure.

Speaking of Lux, I have added a portrait collection to my print shop and added my all time favorites from the last few years of being in front of Lux’s camera. I have 30% OFF site-wide for the next week so get your orders in ready for Xmas! I have added one of these White Stripes inspired shots as well :) Go check it out!

Future Dreams Exhibition

In other news I had this photograph in a group show last night and I had so much fun seeing it on the wall and printed so big! Thank you to my lab Ikigai for re-scanning it so beautifully for me! I have also added this one to my best sellers collection on the shop so if you wanna see my best work from 2022 check it out over on my site. Don’t forget it’s 30% OFF so if you have been wanting to grab a print now is the time!

A huge thank you to everyone who has purchased over the last few days it is a feeling unlike any other as a photographer when you know someone values your work enough to purchase it. Thank you :)

Starting your own print store or need some advice or motivation?? Hit me up on IG come say hi in the DM’s and share your store with me so I can post about it on my story! I love promoting other artists and photographers that are putting themselves out there and I want to share the love!

Thank you to all of you for reading it means the world you share your time with me and I always look forward to sharing my thoughts with you all. Next weeks issue will hopefully be an interview with the AMAZING photographer Julia Elizabeth Ritter. If you don’t know her watch the video below and change that ASAP!