Letter to Laura Aguilar

Dear Laura Aguilar,

I cannot stop thinking about the power in your work, the feeling seeing your images evoked for me. I like to think I am an empowered woman, but it is hard to reinforce that notion for myself when I am consistently told on the daily not to love myself. Living in Los Angeles, I struggle to find a connection to my surroundings, to feel beauty in my body being constantly infiltrated by media images that tell me I am not enough or too much. More over, I struggle to find a connection to my body and my surrounding in the city place. Outdoor spaces and nature have been an active part of my life since I was young. When I was a child, my family and I went camping during the summers. Being from Northern California, we rarely made it down to the desert space of Joshua Tree, and often found ourselves in Yosemite and Plumas Eureka state park. I felt at home there. I felt free swimming in the rivers and prancing about amongst the trees. I was unaware of my body there, as each inhale of mountain air felt like a corporeal experience, a stride towards becoming physically closer to the natural surroundings. As a woman, I innately struggle with body image. I am constantly told not to love myself. When I enter natural spaces, that entire notion, as if like magic, is eradicated. I think I felt such a connection to your work because for me it felt like you found that connection to body and self in nature as well. Perhaps I am reading too much what I want to see, but I wanted to ask you if you find ways to carry this connection, this sense of empowerment, to your life outside of the desert. I appreciate your honesty present in your work; I think it makes it far more beautiful and relatable. Thank you for sharing your experience as I feel it has helped me better understand my own.

Best,

Nina Friedman