I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their comments and encouraging words. I am very committed to my work, but I guess still trying to develop a confident voice. By that I mean, to discover the best method to communicate my ideas. It is easy to get caught up in the conceptual, but it is more important to be willing to fall flat on your face and take risks. I think it is time for me to do more of that. Whether people like 100% of what I do is not important. How the work helps me grow in my ability to express myself is much more valuable.
And a special thanks to Christian Harkness for passing on this quote from a painter:
He was asked for his definition of a successful artist and he said something like this, ‘any artist who is doing what he wants to do is a successful artist.’
I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.
Also, a word about an artist who absolutely has everything together. Lynne Cohen has a retrospective up at Hasted Hunt Gallery. I remember vividly after I started my beauty project, when my photo teacher Joel Sternfeld, first showed me her work. I did not take a picture for a month afterward. She not only has an incredible visual sense, her work has political and conceptual depth. But there is subtly and beauty in all her images. I am so happy to see her getting some attention. I often find it strange that she does not have more of a presence in the photo cannon. If you are in NYC, I highly recommend you go. She is one of my photo inspirations.
HASTED HUNT Gallery
529 West 20th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10011
11 AM – 6 PM Tuesday – Saturday
Ground Glass 
Hey Cara, glad you liked that quote – I have often found it reaffirming!