My book is finally out! TEMPORARY BEAUTY: A Memoir about Panic Disorder and Finding Purpose through Art & Meditation

 

TEMPORARY BEAUTY: A Memoir about Panic Disorder and Finding Purpose through Art & Meditation

I can’t believe the day has finally arrived! My book, Temporary Beauty, is officially available on Amazon. This book has been a long time coming and I’m so ready for the world to read it.

You can watch my YouTube video discussing my book release here!

I honestly can’t believe I got up to the courage to actually share this book. It’s essentially all of my deepest, darkest secrets tied up in a nice little bow. There have been moments where my stomach has dropped, knowing that people might read these stories. But I keep reminding myself that if I’m nervous, then I’m doing something right. I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone and testing my limits. I’m living my life to the fullest. When I was growing up and going through the dark moments of my mental health journey, I was constantly searching for books that would validate my thoughts and feelings so I could feel less alone. I loved angsty coming-of age novels and books like It’s Kind of a Funny Story and The Bell Jar. I like to think that I would have loved stumbling across Temporary Beauty during that time. In my more adult years, I fell in love with books like The Collected Schizophrenias, Educated and World of Wonders - creative memoirs and honest accounts of personal struggle. While I’ve never really been the kind of artist to be majorly creatively influenced by the work of others, I do think Temporary Beauty falls somewhere in the vein of these books. I’ve always marched to the beat of my own drum, which lends to a lot of loneliness and insecurity, but I think has also allowed me a lot of room to grow as an artist. Ultimately though, if I’m able to help even just one person to feel some comaraderie with this book, then it was all worth it. We’re all just searching for community and understanding, especially as we’re navigating difficult times.

Temporary Beauty is a collection of memories, poetic ponderings, travel adventures, journal entries, nightmares, and love stories, following Myles through her picturesque childhood in the Blue Ridge Mountains and on to her adventure-filled twenties as a photographer in the Pacific Northwest, discovering herself as an artist. After her diagnosis of panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder in high school, she spent her college years struggling to find her footing, finding solace in art, meditation, and travel. Temporary Beauty is a reflection of what it means to be a career-driven woman in modern society, an honest and unapologetic account of the darkness that mental illness can bring, and a conscious reminder of the fragility and beauty of human existence.

"And regardless of my mental illness, deep down I do believe that the day will come where I can walk through the woods, alone, and feel not an ounce of sadness or crippling fear. The grass will be filled with neon-green four-leaf clovers, and delicate pink blossoms will hang silently from the perfectly silhouetted fog-lined trees. I will smile to myself about all that I’ve accomplished. I’ll be proud of myself for defeating my unhinged mind. But that would mean that I’d have to have won the ultimate battle. The one between me and my anxiety. The one battle that never seems to end." — From Temporary Beauty

 If this book sounds like something you could relate to, I’d love for you to read it.

 And if you feel inclined, please leave a review on my Amazon page when you finish reading it! It will help others to be able to find my book too! And make sure to follow my author page on Amazon for future releases.

Purchase Temporary Beauty!

Thank you all for your support as I’ve been navigating this journey of becoming an author!

- Myles Katherine

 

Shooting Film in Paris, France! | Cameras & Cats Goes to Paris, Part One | Up on Youtube!

 

In case you missed it, I posted part one of my new video series last week on my YouTube channel, Cameras & Cats!

In this video, we travel from Italy to Paris and check into our cute hotel (Hôtel Le Pavillon), eat lots of macarons, walk to the Eiffel Tower, visit the Musée d'Orsay and the Musée de l'Orangerie and take a sunset boat ride along the Seine! And of course, I share all of my favorite photos I took along the way. :)

Part Two coming later this week!

<3 Myles Katherine

 

First roll of film with the Lomography LomoApparat 35 mm camera using Kodak Gold 200 | Review and sample photos from our trip to St. Augustine, Florida

 

I was SO excited when I found out I was one of the winners of the “Human Stories” Lomography TEN AND ONE 2021 Photography Competition. But I was even more excited when I discovered that my prize was the LomoApparat 35 mm film camera. It’s Lomography’s newest camera and is an experimental, ultra wide 35 mm film camera with a vintage, retro look and tons of features for creating unique, original photographs.

I received the camera right before my birthday and decided to try it out for the first time on my birthday trip to St. Augustine, Florida. I used a roll of Kodak Gold 200 to really give a golden beach glow to the photos. I LOVE taking Kodak Gold on any tropical or beach trip I go on because it adds such a nice, warm atmosphere. In a typical photo shoot situation, I actually prefer NOT to use Kodak Gold because I tend to favor cooler tones. But for the beach, ALWAYS Kodak Gold.

The camera itself was a lot less sturdy than I was expecting. It’s extremely light, made of plastic and feels more like a disposable point and shoot camera than anything else. But when it comes down to it, I don’t really mind. Mostly because I drop my cameras constantly. I throw them in my bag and drag them all over the world. I’m not the best camera mom, if we’re being honest. So I actually prefer that it’s not super fancy because I would destroy it. I still think the camera has a super cool, unique look to it. But ultimately what makes this camera special is all of the creative control it allows for. The various lens attachments, the colorful flash filters, the multiple exposure function and the wide angle lens. It’s just a fun camera to use, all around. The lens is much sharper than I thought it would be, however I did notice that when I used the kaleidoscope filter, the very center of the image would be out of focus. I was pretty bummed about this because I love using kaleidoscope filters. Though it does seem to be a bit sharper if you use the kaleidoscope filter for close-up portraits, rather than landscapes or distant shots. I love how all of the double exposures turned out and I LOVE the wide angle lens. I’ve always been more about composition than anything else, especially when I’m traveling, and the ultra wide lens allows me to capture everything I want and need in a photo.

The only thing I really had trouble with was loading the film. It took a few tries to figure it out and to be sure the film was grabbing as I was winding the film advance dial. Once it was loading correctly, there was much more tension and the film dial almost wanted to spring backwards. So, you’ll notice when the film is actually caught and is advancing through the camera. I’m planning on doing a more in-depth video about the film loading for this camera very soon, so stay tuned!

I just posted a video on my YouTube channel about the LomoApparat and our trip to St. Augustine, so make sure to check that out! Or you can scroll down to check out all of the photos from my first roll of film with the LomoApparat. Overall, I think the camera is super fun and versatile. I honestly can’t wait to take it on another trip and try out a few of the other features. If you love point and shoot cameras and you love having ultimate creative control, then the LomoApparat won’t let you down. I’ll be sure to share more full film rolls from this camera in the future, but for now, I’ve included all of the photos from my very first roll of film with the LomoApparat below. :)

PURCHASE THE LOMO APPARAT ON KEH CAMERA!

PURCHASE KODAK GOLD 200 35MM FILM ON AMAZON!

#CommissionsEarned

If you found this post helpful or if you’d like to see more of my work, I’d love it if you considered signing up for my Patreon! For as little as $1 a month, you’ll get early access to all of my YouTube videos, plus tons of photos that I don’t post anywhere else. Depending on which tier you choose, you could also receive seasonal prints and/or discounts! I always use all of the proceeds towards film & processing. Find out more here!

Feel free to leave any questions/comments/thoughts below! Have a lovely day!

<3 Myles Katherine