In the early stages of our lives, we have always seen around, whether it’s in the movies or our families, this order of doing things. And eventually we start imagining it for ourselves and sooner or later, we are seen planning the same life structure than everyone else: go to university, meet your ‘other half’ in the football field; graduate, find that dream job that supposedly pays you well. Get married, go on a honeymoon to Hawaii. Buy that big house with a red fence and a red door and have as many children as possible to fill in the empty rooms of that house. Don’t forget to add the Golden Retriever who then becomes the kids’ nanny after your big promotion at work.

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At such a young age we were taught that our lives must follow a timeline. Otherwise, “your clock is ticking” or “you are missing out on too many things other people have achieved at your age.” But once we hit our 20s, we realise that our lives are more than following stupid stages. It’s all about fully living the one life we were given!

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Spanish at heart, from the south of Spain, 13-year-old Brenda was clear about something; photography wasn’t only a hobby, but a passion that would likely become a profession before turning 25. Little did young Brenda know, as many of us others, that her life plans would become as uncertain as the world itself. “Despite of me being an art photographer who has recently graduated from make-up artistry, I currently work as cashier in a supermarket. And yes, I know my current job has nothing to do with the other two, but I have learnt to be grateful with this job as I am sure this is something temporal,” says the artist.

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Brenda felt a connection with photography through her talented mother, Rafi Moreno Pascual, who is currently a professional photographer herself. “My mom has always been an inspiration to me”, says Brenda. “Once I started in high school, I noticed that I was really into photography! For example, this one time, I went to my dad’s drawers, grabbed a hanky and a bottle of cologne and with the help of a DSLR camera, a Manfrotto tripod and a white wall, I took, what I considered at the time, a photographic image! It was so awful I ended up deleting it”, said laughingly.

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An image encapsulates an instant in time, in its reality. Whereas something like an artwork or a sketch perhaps, however accurate, is in effect, an interpretation of anything the artist picks out to see. And that’s how Brenda functions through her work: uses real products from her day-to-day life, and through the magic of her lens, turns that simple object to something extremely beautiful. “It’s very important to be creative and express how you feel through your photography; be innovative to create new things and experiment with the camera and new photoshop skills.” Says the 24-year-old. “But to be able to do such things, you need inspiration and that’s something I struggle with.”

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Is it that we feel uninspired because society has undervalued the hard work of the artists? Or is it that we feel like giving up because looking for our ‘dream jobs’ have become sort of impossible? “The craft of art is greatly undervalued. In fact, I don’t work in the creative industry because it’s just difficult now. Specially in Spain! They expect you to work 40+ hours for a meagre salary!” says the struggling artist. “But in all honestly, I find myself in a moment of my life where I have stopped thinking about my future, since I’ve learnt it can be very unpredictable. I may not see myself as a cashier, but who knows what the future holds for me? I gave up wasting my present planning my future. And this year, I’ll be turning 25. A 25-year-old with no life plans! Woo hoo!”

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For any photographer’s out there, Brenda had the pleasure to share with me one of her weirdest experiences on social media:

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“For all photographers out there, be careful”, advises Brenda. This

image of Brenda's hand submerged in light-blue coloured water,

which was taken in 2014, went viral on the web, once was uploaded

on her Tumblr account. For those young generations who don't know

what Tumblr is, I don't blame you. Tumblr was the Instagram of our

past; if you are a 90s kid, whose Tumblr was all full of galaxy-themed

gifs, Moschino x McDonald's archives, cigarettes and sad, song

lyrics turned into quotes, you certainly know what I'm talking about! 

 

Also, who remembers saying "That's so Tumblr?" to almost everything

because apparently it completed your 'hipster' look?

 

​“I surely do! In fact, that’s how I'd describe my pictures at the time!”

says Brenda.

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​From the age of 17 until the birth of Instagram, Brenda uploaded all

her imagery on Tumblr, resulting in a remarkable portfolio. “I never

thought this image, the simplest of all the images I have taken, would

be all over the Internet! It always happens when you least expect it.

Always! One day, whilst browsing around Tumblr, I realised the image

had a few re-blogs”, says Brenda. “It started, I think, with around 5,000

re-blogs, increasing to 10,000, 20,000… till it reached 100,000."

That wasn't all, though. Caught by surprise, Brenda's hands started

appearing on several different social media accounts, without people even knowing where this picture came from or whose hands were the ones that appeared in the image. "From YouTubers having my picture hung in their walls, to people using it as a background to create motivational gifs. I also had this girl who wanted to make t-shirts out of my picture and sell them online! So bizarre!"

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"Many people will still not know it's mine, anyway. But what I've learnt from this experience, is to always, always, always, add a watermark to my pictures!", she tot-up. If you google the words "hands in water aesthetic" Brenda's image features in Google images through someone else's account on Pinterest! (Never do this, kids! Always credit your artist!)

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Anyways... I don’t know about you guys, but I think I’m going to pull out a Brenda and stop stressing about a future that won’t go accordingly as planned; instead, I’m going to less overthink about what could happen tomorrow and enjoy more the life I so far have created; one step at a time.