Recently I did an article for a Danish magazine with photos, featuring Danish designer Mette Bjerregaard.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to make much sense of it if I posted it here. But visiting an art gallery today, where the owner oddly enough had read the article and found the message very personal, I felt obliged to convey a bit of the article anyways.
It deals with the dilemma that we strive to become ourselves and experience happiness or fulfillment, yet we feel we were born the wrong place at the wrong time.
Thing is, I’ve always had a feeling I had to be someplace else to make it. Los Angeles, New York or some of the other places you read about all the time. And frankly, being in New York is addictive. I think it is the only place I’ve ever been where I felt I was in the center of the action. Even when I was just holidaying with a cup of coffee in Central Park one early morning, looking at dogs and kindergarten kids wearing Burberry.
Yes, all of them.
Anyhow, the article I wrote was about a Danish girl, Mette Bjerregaard, who grew up outside town and spent most her time lying on a floor drawing dresses with her best friend, and about the age of nine she had this definite idea she wanted to become a fashion designer in life.
I’ve personally had ideas I wanted to become a photographer, a rich fellow, a guitar player, a writer (first, the youngest published writer to beat Susan Hinton who had her first novel out at the age of 17, then later when I had turned 17 I just settled to become) a writer – and a few other dreams. Not all dreams come alive, some you give up, but I think that few people really have direction and dedication from early age.
Most of us just work in that direction, or let us be lead in a certain direction.
I don’t think this girl Mette had that dedication written all over the wall on her teenager room either. Rather I think she was just moving in a direction. Until one day her boyfriend mentioned a designer school in Italy that was both impossible to get into and very expensive.
The obstacles more than the possibilities, I guess, made her decide to save up the money for the school and apply for it. And she got in.
I’m giving you a 6-page article in almost a single sentence here, so use your imagination to fill in the gaps, yes?
She described the school very much as the “Fame” television series, lots of different nationalities, some very obvious talents as well as some very loud ambitious personalities. And she was one of the quiet ones and was kind of struggling.
And then she became pregnant with her boyfriend from Denmark and basically headed home to become a mother and then returned to the school a couple of years after, with her daughter.
She worked a great deal with a girl from Iceland who by accident came to see some of her “secret drawings” one day, those she had kept to herself and no one was meant to see.
But she did see them, and she was really impressed. Not only by the ideas and the styles, but also by the drawing talent.
It’s funny, but that was what turned it all around, her own invalidations of her own drawings as “not so good as others” and her own invalidations of her ideas and style as “not the right style” was … well, it was simply blown away from that instant.
And she said something very interesting about this:
“From that moment it became easy. I found out that when I did what I was good at, and my way, that was the right style.”
Read it again, it’s an important statement. “I learned there was no ‘right way’ in being creative. I may have grown up in a school system focusing on the right answer. But in creativity there is no right or wrong answers, even I had been searching for the right answer or the right way of doing things.”
Isn’t that cool?
PRADA actually called her by the end of that school year and offered her a job on their main PRADA line. A little girl from the countryside in Denmark at PRADA’s main office, designing shoes for Madonna’s daughter and Oscar dresses for Sigourney Weaver.
PRADA is like the royal family of Italy, but she found that it probably would not bring her the life fulfillment her daughter and she was looking for (she worked a lot of hours, but mainly she looked at the main designers and asked her self "will I be happy when I am in their position?").
So she stopped and moved via Rome and Paris back to Denmark.
And here she lives on the countryside where she used to grow up, with her stuff and experiences. As a friend of her daughter noted one day about their home, “All things you have seem to come from somewhere.”
Kids, you know.
I ever in doubt about in life, ask a three year old. They see truth, know no bullshit. Yet.
The closing of the article had this other quote I wanted to relay in this blogpost. She said:
“One might feel one has to be someone or be somewhere to succeed. But what I learned is that all the good comes from me, so I don’t have to be some other person or be in some special place.”
“So I choose to be where my roots are, all the friends from my childhood, my parents, and all the things that made and makes me who I am.”
She has been designing the Thelin brand from the last 4-5 years.
Hope you liked that story. I think it applies to many and the theme of – I guess – to be or not to be, was the theme of my talk with the art dealer earlier today. So I mentioned this girl for him, and it turned out he had read the article and it had actually settled some doubts he had in his own life, besides being an intersting life story.
Which made me feel a certain pride because I know that 400,000 people or so might have read it. And if some of them got that out of it, it’s worth a lot.
@ Mark: Fortunately one can do more than one career now. Not like a generation or two ago where people stayed with what they did throughout an entire lifetime.
Reminds me whenever I speak to people from Hollywood: Many seem to work as a plumber, write scrips, do a little film edit and pursue a career in acting. While DJ'ing in the weekends. I always find them both admirable flexible, yet a little unambitious...
@mahomo: I think one can learn from trying to understand what others do, even copy it to get the inside knowledge (as many painters have done). Problem starts when try to be like (particularly if one does not understand why other are or how they do what they do).
Thanks for sharing Thorsten. I really need to hear things like this at the moment as I am at a junction in my career. Should I finally pursue my love of photography or pursue what I think I'll be able to succeed at - I.T. It's always good to read positive articles like this instead of all the negative things in life!
that was a nice read with some very true statements. i like her approach towards art. some great photos as well...just the blue tint in the second one is a bit distracting.
nice piece thorsten, similarly, i've always loved how many musical talents just create for themselves, not following the trends or being different for the sake of it, and a friend hears what they've done and is blown away.
It has been, i confess, long overdue. But i have been procrastinating this simple task of leaving you a comment for weeks. I've been busy and only comment when commented. I do admire your work and your blogs are quite the read. congratulations on a wonderful page. And. xoxoxox :)
I just wanted to say hello and compliment you on your gallery. You've got a really great selection of pictures here, I really like your natural style and your use of light. Lots and lots of interesting stuff to read too! I reckon I'm going to be a regular reader. Take it slow... Mark
Heeeeey... You're another one on here who I see has fanagled a way around (what I thought was the max) of 16 "Top Friends." How'd you manage that one, if you don't mind me asking? Whatever the case, very best of regards to you...CCx
Thanks for the comment on my first post- nice to know I'm not alone in my technological woes! Love your photography- really beautiful shots you've got here.
thnak you. I'm just collecting all the art i see in San Francisco... check out the new slideshow on TINGLETANGLE and WEMARNY sections on the nav bar menu of http://ozcillator.com. peace, franz
Hello Thorsten. I've been doing a lot of uber-diving, and I must say that yours stands out as one of my top five blogs. It's so diverse and interesting! Keep up the good work! All the best, Stewart
Hi Thorsten, Thanks for the great idea for a blog posting on how a designer comes to dress a star at the Oscars. I will have to write it! Continue to check my blog, I'm going to continue to add great stuff in the next few weeks. xoNick
I found it annoying, the D-Lux 3, that you can't get a good grip at it. That you use the screen as viewfinder is kind of OK. But the light from the screen, as well as the red AF light at night does not make it a stealth camera like a traditional quiet Leica M.
thanks for sharing it, it does make you think