A conversation with the creators of the Wild Morning about how they set about documenting women unguarded and authentic to who they are in the early morning light.
by Anna Meyer
photo by Dave Puente
When you reflect on your morning routine, what kind of scene do you picture? Maybe you’re running out the door with coffee in hand, indulging in avocado toast and the morning paper, or maybe you’re taking a quick jog with your dog around the block. Everyone approaches their routines differently, but in the time before the world comes together and you commence with your errands and work schedule, you get to experience a time when things can feel at a stand still and you get to be your natural, bona fide self.
Writer Brittany Chaffee and photographer Dave Puente noticed how mornings brought out genuine, honest displays of character for women, and set out on a project to capture that feeling and depiction through poetry and photography in their book, Wild Morning. What started as a curiosity about the early morning turned into an idea, which then grew into a Kickstarter project, resulting in a finished, bound book that is available on April 30th.
The women in this book have been captured as their true selves, sans makeup fixes, wardrobe planning or staging. Brittany and Dave simply observed, listened and recorded. The creative duo found that this simple process lead to complicated and strong portraits of the featured women, and I had a chance to ask them about what they discovered in the process.
Anna Meyer: How did you go about choosing the Wild Morning women that are featured in your project?
Brittany Chaffee: We reached out to the first person we met with on Twitter. I had been following her for a while and I was inspired by her. We told her we were doing this project to capture women “in their morning place” to tell a story that hadn’t been told for women before. I remember not being sure if women we hadn’t met before would be open to it – but she responded right away, “I’m in, and I’m home and in bed. Want to do this now? And do I put on pants?” So, Dave and I went right to her place from there. We brought pastries. And women have been inspired and open to Wild Morning ever since.
AM: What would be the best way for your readers to experience your new book?
BC: This is a really great question. I want readers to take it in like an Old Fashioned or a decadent artisan latte. I want them to read it slow and really feel every word and image. I want the readers to find themselves inside the pages and find comfort.
Dave Puente: Not to be horribly cliché here, but I am truly, truly inspired in the morning. Originally, it’s what inspired me to photograph people in the morning. I wondered, “if I feel like this, what do you feel like?” I think the best time to read [Wild Morning] is before you start reacting to your day. This book is meant to be read as you rise, not rest.
AM: Partial proceeds from the book sales will be given to Faith’s Lodge. How and why did you choose this organization to support through your sales?
BC: Faith’s Lodge found a very special place in our heart right away. We knew Kelly McDyre, the Executive Director at Faith’s Lodge. We met her for pizza and she told us stories about the families involved with Faith’s Lodge… they were incredible. They made my arm hairs stand up. Faith’s Lodge provides a soft place to land for those dealing with grief and loss. Grief isn’t something we actively discuss; it’s seemingly foreign unless you’ve gone through it on your own. And Faith’s Lodge is a safe place to have those conversations with others and heal. Wild Morning and Faith’s Lodge together felt powerful and real.
DP: My wife and I had a miscarriage during our first pregnancy. When Brittany introduced me to Faiths Lodge, I was like, “yup, we are done looking.”
AM: A central focus of your book is to allow readers to listen to women’s stories; in what way is poetry and photography the best way to channel those stories? What kind of effect do the two mediums combined have in terms of storytelling?
BC: In a day and age when social media is such a thriving slice of everyone’s daily lives, it’s easy to feel at a loss; at a loss with body image, friendships, success, family, parenting etc. Questions pop in my head every day. Was I not exciting enough? Why don’t I travel more? Should I be having kids? Does everybody love me? Ridiculous, but tangible fears. With social media, words and images start to take a toll on us. They become dishonest, flighty. We want the Wild Morning to tell honest and vulnerable stories through images and words. We want Wild Morning’s imagery and words to give comfort and tell the truth.
DP: The human condition is beautiful. When we meet people, not only do our brains perceive and analyze information and data, but our hearts do work as well. We approached these mornings wanting to tell a story of our holistic experience; mind and heart. We believe poetry and photography allow us to do this. Poetry is a beautiful way to talk about these mornings and the women in a way that describes our experience, but also puts someone’s hand on our heart to feel the pulse. You can read a poem and have it mean something different every single time. Poetry is versatile, timeless, revealing, soft, violent, etc. For the photography, it was important that I didn’t get caught up in anything outside of just being present and photographing what was given to me. This was NOT the book to get “creative” or “artsy.” This was a book to be real and honest.
Lastly, I don’t believe it’s as simple as poetry and photography being a brilliant combination. I’ve never had an artistic chemistry and balance with anyone like I’ve had with Brittany. Her words complete my images, and my images, her words. It’s been one of the great highlights of my career working with her and seeing her discover herself as an artist in such an incredible way.
AM: Which writers and/or photographers do you draw inspiration from when creating your own work? Which ones influenced the Wild Morning project?
BC: For me personally, it’s Warsan Shire, Naomi Wolf (oh man, The Beauty Myth), Jane Eyre, Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, and Charlotte Bronte. I love classic literature. I love going to old bookstores and finding vintage Dickinson. These women are incredibly inspiring to me. Their main concern back in the 1800s was “surviving adulthood.” Yet, they wrote. They wrote with heart. For the Wild Morning, Prince actually inspired a lot. His words in Rolling Stone said, “At a certain point, you’re supposed to know what it means to be a man, but what do you know about what it means to be a woman?”
DP: I’ve always been inspired by people who went out and did the thing they were thinking or dreaming of. I like the work of many photographers, but there isn’t one who inspired this project. That said, I LOVE Pete Souza and the steward he was of President Obama’s experience in the White House. He is a true photojournalist. The last few years I’ve listened to the Lewis Howes’ podcast and read his book and it really encouraged me to trust my own gut, even if it leads me into the homes of people I don’t know at 5:30 A.M.
It’s also easy as a photographer to think about the photography, the style, the angles, the lighting, but when I dreamed of this project in my mind, I envisioned photography that introduced us, in a beautiful way, to the Women, not to the artist. When I look at the photography in this book, I’m proud to say it had little to do with me, and everything to do with what the women gave me. I wanted it to be more about the women and less of me.
Anna Meyer is The Riveter’s Digital Editorial Assistant. She is a Minneapolis native currently pursuing journalism and English at the University of Kansas. You’re most likely to catch her either throwing back espresso shots, planning for her next trip abroad or writing down ideas for stories in her notebook. Follow her on Instagram (@annavmeyer) and stay updated with her work via her personal website.
