Amanda Shopa

Film Photography & Fiber Arts

Category: Photography

  • Weeks 29–32 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 29–32 of 209 Weeks

    Week 29 of 209 Weeks: Be brave, Silence is sustenance, drawing (the artistic act) the heart open, be gentle with those you cherish (especially yourself). Photo Notes: I feel like the footsteps and the tent (?) on the lake say it all. Week 30 of 209 Weeks: “With a new day comes new strength and…

  • Weeks 25–28 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 25–28 of 209 Weeks

    Week 25 of 209 Weeks: “You do not have to be good.” –Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese” Photo Notes: This photo was taken on a special type of x-ray film. The film has a soft, diffuse look. Taken in May 2025. Week 26 of 209 Weeks: “Celebrate we will because life is short but sweet for certain.”…

  • Weeks 21–24 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 21–24 of 209 Weeks

    Week 21 of 209 Weeks: “I am pulling the voices of people I desire and love and trust and worry over into me.” —Saeed Jones, “My Project 2025” Photo Notes: This photo was taken in the courtyard of my grandmother-in-law’s house in Jinju, South Korea in May 2024. Week 22 of 209 Weeks: “My candle burns…

  • Weeks 17–20 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 17–20 of 209 Weeks

    Week 17 of 209 Weeks:May you feel lovedMay you feel free from fearMay your hopes and dreams be realized Photo Notes: This photo was taken at Pacem in Terris in Isanti, MN in Feb 2025. On a walk, I found this “footprint” in the snow. It took me a minute to realize the leaf, with its…

  • Weeks 13–16 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 13–16 of 209 Weeks

    Week 13 of 209 Weeks: “You know that the antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest?… The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.” —Brother David Steindl-Rast Photo Notes: This photo was taken at the Minnesota State Fairground in 2020, a few months after COVID lockdowns started. The Fairgrounds are generally open to the public during the day, but…

  • Weeks 9–12 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 9–12 of 209 Weeks

    Week 9 of 209 Weeks: “We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends, and improving our lives.” —Maya Angelou Photo Notes: This photo was taken at Pacem in Terris in Isanti, MN in November or December 2021. Week 10 of 209 Weeks: “Outside for the…

  • Weeks 5–8 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 5–8 of 209 Weeks

    Week 5 of 209 Weeks: “As I listen to them, I hear another whisper from the swaying stand of cattails, from spruce boughs in the wind, a reminder that caring is not abstract.” –Robin Wall Kimmerer. Photo Notes: This photo was taken at Pacem in Terris in Isanti, MN in November–December 2021. Week 6 of 209…

  • From Book Thief to Pinhole Camera Maker

    From Book Thief to Pinhole Camera Maker

    In junior high, I was a book thief. The school library had checkout limits, and I wanted more photography books than I was allowed to bring home. So I slipped the books in my backpack, then left the library through a second door we weren’t supposed to use. I always returned the books when I…

  • Weeks 1–4 of 209 Weeks

    Weeks 1–4 of 209 Weeks

    Week 1 of 209 Weeks: “Hope can be bruised and battered. It can be forced underground and even rendered unconscious, but hope cannot be killed.” —Neal Shusterman in Unsouled Photo Notes: This photo was taken at Geonsancheon Stream in Jeonju, South Korea in September of October 2018. Week 2 of 209 Weeks: “The fact that…

  • Where Has All the 4 by 6 Paper Gone?

    As I described in my previous post, there are a lot of moving parts to making a photographic postcard. I thought I had figured out my postcard plan for the 209 Weeks art project—resin coated 4 by 6 paper, RC-friendly mounting tissue, and cardstock that would easily take a rubber stamp. All I needed was…