FEAR IS THE BEACON

 

Shane Rocheleau is helping photographers trade stale processes and worn out imagery for novel ideas, new approaches, and honest dialogue.

 

We carry our egos into the creative process by creating subconscious rules intended to protect us from criticism and risk. In practice, these rules yield increasingly repetitive results and creative blocks.

Creative breakthrough comes when we stop:

Employing the same tired concepts, techniques, and styles to overcome our creative blocks.

Prioritizing the surface expectations of both social media and the art industrial complex.

Suppressing stories and experiences that would otherwise enable personal and artistic ownership of your unique perspective.

Meet Your New Mentor, Shane

“Meaningful work grows from an intentional creative process. As a photographer of 20 years, I’ve learned that I must engage in honest, unflinching self-discovery in order to expand my creative vocabulary and discover the meaningful connections between the world within and the world without. There, at the intersection of the internal and the external, I can refine my distinct photographic voice to communicate a more honest artistic vision. Making pictures is not about likes and accolades, it’s about a deeply present, vulnerable, and empathetic creative process.”

 
 

Services

  • Doesn’t every emerging artist need an honest and enthusiastic mentor? I know I did! As a mentee, you can expect up to 4 hours a month of 1:1 online mentorship sessions guided by my holistic, passionate, and non-judgmental approach. While our meetings will evolve based on your needs, there will always be time to look at, critique, and discuss your work. Further, we will seek and explicate all manner of personal, historical, and cultural inspiration; we will focus on your goals with a collaborative eye toward developing and personalizing assignments, techniques, and practice to help you achieve those goals. You can expect portfolio reviews, conversations about the PhotoBook and gallery exhibitions, technical instruction, and all manner of artistic writing assistance. Everything goes. As your mentor, I am dedicated to your personal, professional, and artistic growth.

  • Looking at work is fun! And, critiques are necessary. Like all artists, what you want your work to say and what your work actually says can diverge, and that disconnect often impedes your project’s growth. In my experience, the best work arises out of confusion and the ineffable instead of a specific, sustained, articulable idea. During our one-hour portfolio review session, we will read your work and collaborate to articulate and examine its many prospective meanings. Based on our discussion, I will provide recommendations for defining and expanding your photographic language, and, if necessary, for shifting or growing that language to a voice more relevant to your stated intentions.

  • What photographer doesn’t dream of publishing a Photobook?! With three Photobooks under my belt, I’ve encountered almost every challenge you’ll likely face in pursuit of your dream. I can help you evaluate your images for visual consistency, develop and refine your concept, and/or pare down your project’s cache of images. Further, we can sequence your images and consider design as we hone in on your vision. Finally, you’ll need strategies to get your PhotoBook PDF or maquette in front of prospective publishers. I’m in if you’re in!

  • Are you a tech geek? Well if you’re not, I will be for you. None of your tools represent reality in an unbiased or unmediated way. Truly understanding your equipment — all of it — is a fundamental but oft overlooked necessity for finding and refining a personal yet comprehensive and fearless voice. Whether or not you insist on a conceptual foundation, your art practice only succeeds if you’re technically able to execute. I love photo gadgetry, and I’m super excited to help you better understand your tools in the service of making more technically proficient AND personally vulnerable work. Would you like to learn a new camera format? Let’s do it! Large format? Yes! Interested in wet scanning your negatives? Me, too! Finding it difficult to make gorgeous prints? I’m stoked to help! Bring any of your technical questions and problems to me, and we’ll work through them together.

  • Let’s be honest, writing about your own work can be so hard. How long can you look at the blinking cursor taunting you from a blank screen before going mad? In spite of having a bachelor’s degree in English and writing consistently for the past 25 years, I still know the feeling; I can say from experience: having a writing partner makes it infinitely easier to focus on what needs to be said, confidently articulate difficult ideas, and meet required deadlines. Once we meet, you can also send me your artist statement or grant application as it develops. I’d love to spend time with your progress and make recommendations for a stronger piece. Writer’s block seriously sucks. Together — with one or several virtual sessions — we can employ a writing process that yields a polished final version you can feel proud to submit.

My argument is not for the dissolution of rules or structure, but for their conscious creation through the cultivation of self-awareness. In tandem, these allow for an evolving creative process which engenders novel ideas, new approaches, and honest dialogue.

You’ll know it’s working when you notice you are:

Finally creating new work that resonates with your observations of the world around you and your own internal perspectives.

Utilizing your lived experiences in order to convey a unique, artistic perspective full of nuance and contradictions.

Working in a sustainable, distinct visual style that could only come from you.

 

A PHOTOGRAPHY MENTORSHIP IS RIGHT FOR YOU IF:

You know your images aren’t working, but you keep repeating tired, worn-out imagery and approaches, unable to forge a new path ahead.

You believe your art should resonate on a cultural and personal level, but lately it just feels distant and detached from your reality.

You love making photographs, but the pressure to keep up on social media and produce “acceptable” work has taken all the joy out of it.

You’re tired of hiding, and you’re committed to honest, vulnerable self exploration.

You’re open to attempting new approaches, receiving feedback, and learning — or re-learning — necessary photographic techniques.