Gunslinger

December 15, 2024September 30, 2026 Dorothy PerryLeave a comment

Imagine learning someone waited patiently for years

for the best moment to break your heart and trust in others.

A seismic jolt to the core of me

at a time I was happiness on two legs,

ecstatic at my first solo show and at what

had manifested visibly so quickly in my life.

I am reminded of the Old West idea of a gunslinger.

The guy has such a vibe that everyone tries him;

everywhere a stranger stepping up to challenge him

with triggered, “knock you off your high horse” behavior.

Even with an attempt to make my memory a poignant anniversary,

I declared that I would see my special event joyously again.

I decided to reclaim my true energy signature around my exhibition and my artwork.

During my show’s run, I visited my photos, geeked out at the small details,

smiled, sang and felt good all up and down those hallways.

My little ‘sparkler’ awakened by my vulnerable questions

is a firecracker in my daily life, moving out all the nonsense

wanting and wasting her Dorothy’s valuable energy.

And no matter who tried to hate on it –

some with closer proximity than others –

I got its signal stream running clear again.

Dorothy creates portraits imbued with deep feeling. Contact her here.

Dorothy Perry specializes in personal portraits imbued with deep feeling. Contact her here.

Consciousness · Creativity · Dorothy Perry · Energy · Photography · Practice · Vision

Woo

October 29, 2024March 2, 2026 Dorothy PerryLeave a comment

Whether the subtle sensing of intuition

or the sparkling active energy of attraction,

‘woo’ is my personal word

and favorite feeling.

Creativity · Photography · Practice

What’s In A Name?

October 19, 2024December 27, 2024 Dorothy PerryLeave a comment

There is something glorious about saying, ” I created something that has my name on it.”

Not only your signature, but your standards.

The something you want to reflect your subtlety and style;

The thing that has your energy in it.

I am a photographer known for my attention to the feelings of things,

and early on, had lovely but shortlasted creative names like Dorothy Perry Portrait, Dance of Life and Double Happiness.

I also obsessed about fonts, but that is another story for another day.

Truly an airy and impractical soul, I did not learn about the value of domain names until I needed one: mine. Little did I know how hard it would be.

In those years, my name in combination with photography was taken off the board.

There are a number of Perry surnamed photographers as well as the other nice Dorothy Perrys living all over the United States,

and names that I desired were limited by others claiming all the variations of the names for profiles and screen names as well.

So now as I locate the threads everywhere to be rewoven back into my nest,

I will produce, post and control the quality of what I want to write here from my home base. THIS ONE.

The one that has my name on it.

Dorothy Perry is a Chicago photographer of peoples’ personal lives and celebrations. Questions or commissions through the Contact Page here.

Consciousness · Energy · Perry Portrait Art · Photography · Practice · Vision

The Suggestion

September 28, 2024September 28, 2024 Dorothy PerryLeave a comment

Yesterday I went to our neighborhood laundromat for the first time.

During the little banter you do at the counter, I asked for the bathroom key, and as he handed it to me, the owner told me to look out for the ghost in there.

With a straight face.

The act of suggestion and creating an image in another mind is a powerful energetic exchange. If you only knew how your words really affect and create all around you!

You better believe I THOROUGHLY searched the room for anything out of the ordinary. This restroom was a little larger than a bathroom, and the motion control light at the door was at a distance from the seat.

You would have this picture playing in your head when the motion sensor turned the lights off while you were in the room.

He couldn’t know that when I was 11 and away at camp the counselor scared me with a story so bad I was afraid of bathroom mirrors for years.

But as a grown @$$ woman I sang, laughed, and twirled the key above my head all the while I was there – and in leaving, asked if there was a ghost or unwanted energy, to leave the building and go in peace.

When I returned the key, the owner asked me if anything had happened, and said.”when the light goes off. the ghost grabs you by the throat” and made the gesture.

Did he believe there was a ghost? Was this a game? I can only have my impression of the interaction: he had a serious expression through it all.

But it was transmuted this time by my intention not to play along. I thanked him for warning me about it so I was prepared.

Interesting watching his expression change. I think I spoiled his fun a little. Or exorcised the ghost. Both situations are ok with me.

Look at the stuff that scared you when you were a kid in the light of day. Look and keep looking to reduce the energetic ‘hold’ it has on you. No shame if you need to have a blanket to peek from! But see it, laugh at it, demystify it.

And be free of it.

To Your Ever Abundant Health, Dorothy

Practice · Vision

Independence Day

September 25, 2024September 17, 2024 Dorothy PerryLeave a comment

Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place.

~Rumi

Dorothy Perry is a Chicago portrait photographer specializing in custom family portraits, modern headshots, & personal branding for women and executives.

Contact her studio for commissioned work here.

Creativity · Practice · Vision

The Albatross

September 24, 2024December 27, 2024 Dorothy PerryLeave a comment

The stereotype of the drugged, drinking or skirt chasing artist personality creates a ‘buzz’ and sells tickets, but actually creates formerly creative people that struggle to imagine and create to push out artwork: to “phone it in” and burn out.

Truth be told, it’s hard enough to find time, energy and artistic inspiration and create without also having the albatross of addictive behaviors around your neck.

The creative impulse is impulsive, and the ‘golden hours’ of activity and creative flow can get hijacked in bad habits and drugs, sometimes never to return.

My message to other artists is that success is not all it seems from the outside. To be successful in you have to turn off the phone, be physically healthy, spend time alone to know your mind, be independent of the crowds and fashions of the time.

To know your mind is to accept yourself, warts and all.

To accept yourself, you have to be in your body, to know when you are happy, tired, engaged, on auto pilot, or fully 100% here. And in time, to be grateful of the subtleties and beauty of your life more and more of your day.

Perhaps that will be what matters most: becoming a person that can experience and enjoy the steps of your journey.

Dorothy Perry is a photographer and a smiling happy warrior of awareness. Contact her here.

Creativity · Photography · Vision

Portraits That Do You Justice

September 21, 2024December 27, 2024 Dorothy PerryLeave a comment

To do justice: to treat or show (something or someone) in a way that is as good as it should be.

When we are active in our busy lives every day,

we don’t think about the photographs that ‘live’ after us.

But consider: what photos will family remember you by?

Amateur photos and selfies don’t always do us justice.

Have portraits with vitality and energy to choose from.

Meet someone that values and captures your personality.

My images of families and dynamic couples are calming, inspiring,

and beautifully displayed in elegant albums and framed art.

An amazing energetic now, for valued memory later.

Of you, your loved ones, or your life’s passion.

Images to do you justice.

Dorothy Perry photographs sensitive people and intimate events. Contact her here.

Creativity · Photography · Vision

Photos for Feelings

September 20, 2024December 27, 2024 Dorothy PerryLeave a comment

The image was a beautiful moment in the ceremony, deep within the photo, taken by a guest in the wedding party.

The groom is a photographer friend, and I know so well the axiom that “the shoemaker’s kids have no shoes,”

and how a photographer may sometimes never own any decent photos of their own important life events.

I saw another moment within the image – to be ‘brought out’ and brightened, so that it can be seen – and felt.

The difference between retouching and my creative ‘caress’ is that I use a quieter, more intuitive eye to see the newer photograph inside the original one, not just a cropping. I wrote another post about the technique in a June 6, 2020 post, Finding A Something More.

So happily honored to see that the bride posts this as her profile photo online. I wish Daphne and Jeff Happy Anniversary, and many dances together to come!

Dorothy Perry is a Chicago portrait photographer specializing in custom family portraits, modern headshots, & personal branding for women and executives.

Contact her for commissioned work here. Thank you.