muriel knudson: the photographer who inspires me

As I sit here sipping my coffee on a rainy Saturday morning I am debating on what to make my first official blog post about. Honestly, I’m still not sure why I keep trying to have a blog. I’m not this super interesting human being who travels all over the world. I’m just a coffee addicted, 22 year old girl with a camera.

If there is one thing I have learned in my lifetime it’s that while my life may seem extraordinarily average, it’s still pretty damn awesome. It took me a really long time to fall in love with my life the way I have.

For my first post I’m going to write about the photographer who inspired me to be the photographer I want to be, not the photographer I think I need to be. Embracing the photographer I want to be was a very important step for me in accepting who I am. I’m not the best photographer in the world and I don’t have fancy photography equipment. I don’t need any of that though. All I need is my camera and my passion for photography.

The amazing photographer who inspires me everyday is Muriel Knudson. Muriel is a 20-year-old photographer from Minnesota. I first learned about Muriel because I was following the life of Lauren Sanderson, a singer/song writer from Indiana.

Muriel documents Lauren’s life and her career. The duo inspires thousands of people across the country to just be themselves. They both embrace every characteristic they have and live their lives to the fullest. They are honest and open and that has inspired me so much.

I am truly in love with every shot I take, even the imperfect ones, and I am absolutely in love with the way I feel when I have my camera in my hands. My hope is that everyone finds something they are passionate about as I am about photography.

I haven’t always been in love with my photos. Photography has always been something I have loved but I used to be very insecure about my photos and whether or not to post them. I would look at other photographer’s photos and convince myself that mine weren’t any good. I was obsessed with taking the perfect photo.

The thing is, your photos don’t have to be perfect. It took me a long time to realize this and an even longer time to actually believe it. Muriel has really inspired me to just be me. To take the photos I love. To post on Instagram 12 times in one day if I really want to. She has inspired me to not give a shit about what other people think and to just share my art. She taught me that what I do is in fact ART.

I never considered myself an artist. Artists are people who can draw, paint, or sculpt masterpieces. All I thought I did was look through a lens and push a button.

So yeah, technically that’s all I physically do, but there is so much more that goes into each shot. I put so much passion and love into my photos. Passion and love is what makes someone an artist.

Thank you, Muriel, for inspiring me to embrace who I am and to fall in love with every photo I take. I’m growing everyday as a photographer and as a person and I owe it to you. You encourage me everyday to be the best I can be in every aspect of my life.

From complimenting random strangers in Chicago on their art to pouring everything I have into my photography, I take steps everyday to becoming the person and photographer I want to be.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has stuck by me as I figure out who I am and grow more confident. A huge THANK YOU also needs to be given to my parents and grandparents who pitched in and got me my first DSLR camera for my 18th birthday. That camera has opened so many doors for me and I can’t thank you enough for believing in the girl who just wanted to take pretty pictures.