Daily Inspiration: Meet Holly Gordon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Gordon.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was never interested in photography. I modeled a little as a teen. Then at 22, I started an advertising agency. At 40, I started modeling again. A friend of mine was putting together a photography workshop in Wisconsin (in February! and it’s cold!). There were two photographers who were teaching at the workshop. I wanted them to photograph me. They already had all the models they needed, so I went to the workshop as a “fake” photographer.

I bought a used Canon 40D. I didn’t even know how to put the battery in it! I wasn’t taking photography seriously until we had our first lesson. After the lesson, I was so excited to start working with the models. I had so many ideas. I had brought some clothes and accessories for the models to wear. I chose a model, Marie Blanchard, a Haitian with beautiful golden brown skin. I had brought a blue silk scarf with gold edging. I wrapped it very carefully around Marie’s face. I used just one light and I asked Marie to look into the light as if she was looking into God’s eyes.

That photo is probably the best photo I’ve ever taken. Four months after that people were paying me to photograph them! That photo won awards, two artists from Italy asked if they could do a painting from my photo and many photographers stole the photo and sold prints of it. It was crazy! After that one workshop, I was so passionate about my new career. The most interesting thing is that I was always into art, but I was not an artist. I was just crafty. Then in 2003, I was in a head-on collision and, among many other injuries, I had a traumatic brain injury. It took me 10 years for my brain to be semi-normal.

The injuries to my head were mostly on the left side of my brain. The left hemisphere is all about logic, organization, etc. The right part of the brain is the creative side. Since my left side was injured, the right/creative part of my brain woke up at the photography workshop. All of the sudden, I was an artist. Within a year, I had almost 5000 followers on my Facebook account. My photos were published in magazines and my portrait, boudoir, and athletic photography kept me super busy. I had finally found my calling, thanks to brain trauma and my interest in modeling.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
At the height of my photography career, I experienced two years of extreme trauma that I couldn’t share with anyone. It was a life or death situation. It’s a long, sordid story. The result was Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and extreme anxiety and panic attacks. PTSD makes you feel like you’re always in danger. It turns our internal alarm system, the amygdala, on almost 24 hours a day. It’s a brain malfunction.

And with every anxiety attack or panic attack, the body floods us with cortisol and adrenaline. It takes about 11 hours for cortisol to get out of your system and it takes four hours for adrenaline to leave your system. Try doing a normal day of work with that. PTSD also makes you highly sensitive to noise and to any confronting situations. Until we’re healed, we take confronting situations very seriously. You don’t want to be the opponent!

I had to step back from doing photography as a professional until I healed more from PTSD. Seven years later, I am still healing. I try to help other people who have experienced near-death and extreme trauma. as I have. I created a 33 piece collection that is somewhat an autobiography of that event. I’m looking for a gallery to show it. It’s graphic, but, really. That collection is called, “Resurrection.”

I have learned so many things during this healing process. I have started painting. I work regularly with a wonderful art therapist, Kathleen Sullivan. And I’m learning how to use my photography and my writing to help other men and women find their way through the extreme pain, loss, and confusion of navigating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a professional photographer and painter (mostly taking time off for healing). Although many of my prints will be available on my website.

I did a lot of boudoir photography for women and I found that our photos really boosted their confidence. WJXT Jacksonville TV did a morning show on me (it’s on my Vimeo site), talking about my “photography therapy), business, profile shots, billboards fitness, fashion, and architectural photography. I also had a business called celebrity photo where I would go to conventions like Syfy and horror conventions and I would photograph the celebrities and with customers.

I photographed a strange cast of celebs such a the actors from Sons of Anarchy, many of the actors from The Walking Dead, all of the lead actors in the three versions of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dennis Rodman, musicians such as twiggy from Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. That was an interesting time with many fascinating people. Most of the celebrities were nice. It’s their managers that you have to watch out for! Never trust the managers.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is when you’re happy with your life.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected] 
• Phone: 904-382-7559
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HollyGordonPhoto
• Other: www.Vimeo.com/hollygordonphoto