Andrea Borden, Photographer. Storyteller.

I photograph the stories I tell myself. Iowa City, IA

Of Visions and Muses

Here you will find photo essays and stories of how I have designed my work. This series is usually inspired by an image I have in my head, which is then photographed and a short story sometime accompanies the image from a free write session. Some of these images are part of an overarching concept I refer to as Muse, and some are standalone images from sessions. From the dropdown menu above in you can select specific sets to read and see more about.

Muse is the series that wouldn’t leave me alone from 2013 to 2016. It was a waking dream I was lucky enough to photograph, and I am honored that all my participants placed their trust in me enough to help me achieve my vision.

Though my series is mostly ended, I continue to explore the ideas of the siren goddesses within the women around us and what they prove to embody when placed in nature.

Muse is a body of work that has been important to me in several ways.
Firstly, it embodies what I believe to be a “true self” in a clean, organic way. When I am inspired I naturally work from the concept of feminine and ethereal celebration. Each woman that I photograph has a new and completely different experience but each photograph shows the same serenity that I actively pursue as an inspiration. In each photograph I feel it unveils a bare, beautiful representation of each woman.
Secondly, Muse pushes me an artist. Every Muse session I have gives me a brand new look at what ‘feminine serenity in nature’ looks like. It also pushes me physically, as most times I am chin deep in icy snow runoff falls and lakes.
The final way Muse is important to me is a little less tangible. When I look at a Muse image it continually speaks to be on a level of inspiration. My series is self expression for me as well as inspiration.
Thank you to all of the women who have braved the bugs and cold with me, I am truly grateful.
 
  Muse in the Reflecting Pool
The muse in the clear waters of a mossy canyon is the perfect inspiration from a classical standpoint. She is pensive, beautiful, and like nature— she exists apart from the machinations of human design, she simply continues in her serenity.
I often think about what nature is doing while I am sleeping. The water does not stop its race to the delta when I leave it. It does not pause its frenetic crashing at the ocean’s mouth, it continues as it has long before I existed, and does not care whether I love it. Similar is the nature of a muse. A muse simply exists, and will be here long after I am gone.
See more from this set here.
This image was shot in 2014 and at that time I titled it “Waiting for the Tide”, and companion pieces were titled ‘Tidal Queen”. Five years later this series finally has the writing to be a companion to the work.
See more from this set here.
Mill Creek Muse
See more of this set by clicking here.