natalie kucken

chiiitown

2012-02-27T18:31:00.000-08:00

from a trip to chicago

detroit at dawn

me on the train

mrs. wolleh with children by gerhard richter

mary robinson

outtakes

2012-02-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

a collection photographs from many different months that are rejects only because i felt that they didn't fit or help the story i wanted to tell in the series they each are from. they tell their own though.

december

2012-01-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

inspired by lava lamps and light emitting diodes and ice/fire creatures
clothing donated by american apparel
model is jess @ ford

christmas

2011-12-30T20:50:00.000-08:00

from my last christmas while still living at home- i have no idea where i'm going to be a year from now.

elijah

2011-12-20T17:48:00.000-08:00

a small series of elijah majeski, a beautiful boy i met through our photographs online and somehow it happened that we lived in the same sleepy area of michigan. we've taken photographs together and it feels like we're two of the same entity, sitting on my bedroom floor drinking coffee and talking about everything and planning magic things and we're both off to brooklyn soon, it's so odd that we found eachother and i know that we will be friends for a long long time. the only times that i've seen it snow this year are when i see him.

still, waking november

2011-12-19T00:02:00.000-08:00

shot in collaboration with elijah majeski, view his series here

toronto

2011-12-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

i went away to toronto for a week on my own, i could write the most romantasized stories or put more photographs here but i would rather keep them for myself. i'm becoming more selfish about what i share on here, falling into a winter coma a home coma a going away coma.

ghost me taken by lucas (1000scientists.com)

agency elevator silly mirror photograph

jordan more silly mirror things

preparing for a shoot with kitty

lucas assisting me on a shoot

me by lucas

i've never been torn leaving anywhere or anything before now

filledlight

2011-11-30T14:58:00.000-08:00

a story shot for urban outfitters, you can view my feature and interview with them here

all clothing and accessories by urban outfitters

dustface

2011-11-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

photographs for a school project that i made for myself: to create a makeup brand and shoot a baby campaign for it. here are a few of the 'ads' that aren't that great but it's okay.

tnelis

2011-11-19T12:13:00.000-08:00

shot for caravan magazine, which i am head photographer of. if you would like to read more about the story behind this series and view the rest of the issue please click here. the next issue will be much more diverse and i'm working very hard on it, creatives in all aspects are needed. if you are interested you can email me at nataliekucken at gmail.com.

model is lauren @ direct

i luh you so

2011-11-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

selfs inspired by old encyclopedia photographs

inbetween

2011-10-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

sophia @ next
styling by me
a series shot for audrey grace boutique

la maison de mon rêve

2011-10-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

clothing donated by american apparel

sometime soon i will have darkroom prints of these photographs (that may look much different than these because of experimentation) in my etsy shop

i will announce it on my tumblr if you'd like to check in

so in a way i am releasing another series through my etsy

air song

2011-10-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

music that will make you cry-
cut down trees and dna chord

clothing donated by american apparel

buy original darkroom prints from this series here

september smoke

2011-09-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

i thought the most beautiful thing in the world must
be the shadow, the million moving shapes and cul-de-sacs of shadow.
there was a shadow in bureau drawers and closets and suitcases,
and shadow under houses and trees and stones,
and shadow at the back of people's eyes and smile, and shadow,
miles and miles and miles of it,
on the night side of the earth.
..sylvia plath

creature comfort

2011-09-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

kayla @ direct

away (two)

2011-09-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

you can see my first post about this here. i want to put these things up for mostly myself, because all of the days turned seamless after a while, because i was experiencing more than i could remember or filter or sort, becasue i need to find a small way to keep some parts remembered, through words and photographs. i stayed in a balloon and airmattress filled apartment halfway between the hudson river and central park. i ate mostly strawberries and spent my mornings and days and nights in the streets, i would get on a train and get off on a whim, walk for hours and then do it all over again. i watched and followed and fell in love with so many strangers. i went to a bon iver concert for the second time, so close to the stage that i could see all of the faces on stage in detail and it was even harder to keep my crying silent. i snuck in after the show through the back to the empty theatre and got kicked out. i stayed in east village, where you could hear people shouting from the street outside all through the night and the blocks were filled with exciting things. what seemed like dozens of poeple lived in the one apartment, the ceilings were twelve feet tall and there were things everywhere in piles because young people have a habit of never putting anything neatly in a certain place. i slept curled up in a little messy cave and had photo parties every night. i fell in love with williamsburg draped in gloomy light and spent time with new people and shot agency models every day. i stayed in an apartment with a neon fish tank in the lobby and where you could see ellis island from the 11th floor blacony, where my dreams were sunny because the windows let in so much watery light in the morning. i stayed across from van cortland park, where i had my own room that overlooked the endless trees and bronx skyline side by side. i would take long walks on the nature trails and also in the city to new and unlonely events. i visited my friends going to art colleges, even though i'm not going to go to college i pretended that i was a student in my mind, especially on the pratt campus that was just like a film. the hurricane irene frenzy happened, i was so excited about the havok and thought of empty flooded streets when everyone else was scared. the night leading up to it everyone was walking around with plastic grocery bags and with a bit more speed in their step. the evening it was supposed to hit we had a refugee sort of party, a cooked meal and boardgames by candlelight, i can't remember a night where i laughed harder. a chelsea photostudio party with models everywhere and a perfect dj mix of music. the west village at sunset when everyone is traveling around on their bikes and the upper west side in the early morning when people are opening the blinds to uncover their plant-filled windowsills overlooking central park or tree-lined streets. drinking cafe coffee and cooking cheap noodles every day. all of the lives i interupted and took pieces of i've collected, i'm addicted to experiencing other lives, i want to live every life there is but i'm only with one. so i need to see as much as i can and never grow up in a way, to make up for it i suppose.

rachel thalia and a blue-suited stranger we met running through the washington square park fountain

from a free korean food festival in central park sandy and i fantastically stumbled upon one day

dale rothenberg wandering through the beautiful library at pratt, the ceiling and floors are glass and the whole place smells of old books

sandy honig photographing a stranger girl in central park, i became so close to her when i lived with her

metin fejzula in a magic store of interesting things we found in soho

tara violet photographing nika de carlo in prospect park

a little girl and a punk rock maybe mother woman walking through the upper west side at 9am, both of them were crying

fairytale central park

tara violet looking through a crystal in a cafe with jordan tiberio and i, she tells the most inspiring stories

tara and i in a vintage shop in williamsburg

anna szczekutowicz cutting her ice cream cake, her, sandy and i had a birthday slumber party

photographers emma lauren and rachel thalia, model alecta and makeup artist gayle in an in-between moment on our beautiful shoot

orthodox children in a park in brooklyn

half of the view from my bronx window

on my last morning heading into the city this family dressed in half safari half preschool clothing sat across from me, they all had instrument cases, the mother was reading travel booklets outloud to the boy and the father and wide-eyed girl played twenty questions during the entire hour-long train ride

jordan tiberio looking through photos in a trippy food market thing we found while wandering

an angry kitty behind a west village flowery window

sisters in washington square park

hurricane party dinner with emma, chad, ivanna, and ines

a stranger boy outside the window of a cafe who i sort of fell in love with while drinking fairytale tea with tara

running dusk children

a sleepy valley village on the bus ride back

seamless dayzse

2011-08-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

alex feldman @ direct

and, have i lost you

2011-08-25T00:46:00.000-07:00

laura @ commence quest

white rose.s

2011-08-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

model// alecta hill @ img

mua// gayle carbajal

styling// rachel thalia

fairground

2011-08-18T23:13:00.000-07:00

from weeks ago during another summertime visiting of family and friends. everything is so easy and calm in country towns. the grass lanes between rides and game stands were filled with children running and holding hands. i met a girl at the animal collection part of the fair that helped with all of the animals, she made sure to tell me all of their names and sneak us into the horse barn to feed the horses and mouse-catching kittens. she picked up the goats to whisper into their ears.

the morning before i left for new york i left this behind along with my home

a quiet, magic home down the street from the fairground

away (one)

2011-08-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

last week i ran away to new york city, to stay with internet friends for two or three weeks. i met with emily tebbetts and her friend grace, we stayed in grace's beautiful apartment, drank tea, and i listened to their hometown stories. i also spent time sandy honig, rockie nolan, rebekah seok, and leslie kirchoff. i've been doing a lot of wandering around the city and going to meetings. there are so many people to watch. everything here is so strange and... full. here are a few simple photographs from my first week here. i'm moving in with sandy tonight. view the second part here.

sleeping, wandering july

2011-08-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

a photo story in collaboration with elijah majeski, view his series here

wells

2011-08-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

i've been visiting my family and away from home

of crushed grass and wednesday afternoon

2011-07-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

cherish

2011-07-30T09:21:00.000-07:00

self portrait therapy

bon iver

2011-07-28T17:13:00.000-07:00

on saturday afternoon i received a message online from a girl named marija who i had never met asking if i'd like to go see a bon iver concert for free. the next morning before the sun rose we drove for four hours to chicago. her and her father and sister were so lovely and nice. we walked around the city during the day and in the evening marija and i went to the concert. bon iver is my very very favorite musical artist and the concert was indescribable, probably the best thing i've ever been to ever. here are some photographs from the surprise trip. i feel so lucky.

so much love

morning from the elevated rail ride

street performer jumping over children from the gathered crowd

children playing under crown fountain

magic paper lamps at the art institute

marija's little sister double exposed in front of cloud gate (the bean)

sky walking

crying stranger girl

write my curses in cursive

2011-07-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

unseen

2011-07-21T01:21:00.000-07:00

fairy girl

2011-07-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

to make magic light curtains

sleep by the beach

and chase the floating

cottonwood

styled by american apparel

model // rebecah reagin

assistant // corinne tucker

forever young

2011-06-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

from the day of my cousin korylette's funeral a few weeks ago, today would have been her eleventh birthday. she was hit by a car.

you are forever remembered and forever young.

korylette:

new york city

2011-06-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

i was flown to new york city for twenty six hours to accept an award at carnegie hall that i won for a photograph of mine. it was the first time i'd ever been there, i had been dreaming of it for months and months. my mind was lost when i took off at sunrise through the clouds. it's another world in the city. the streets are endless and i wanted to walk forever. i felt like i was in a dream the whole time, i couldn't stop staring at the people passing and the building edges and the tree leaf shadows. later in the night i met with photographers jordan tiberio, matt holmes, monika balazy, mary claire roman and sandy honig. it was so surreal to know them online and then to be surrounded by them, they were real. i remember sending a friendship bracelet to mary claire two years ago, and now she was standing in front of me. when i was staring out the back window of a car heading towards queens over the 59th street bridge, i knew i would be back. i plan to stay there for a week or two in august, if you live there and have a spare floor for me to sleep on for any time at all, email me. i will take your picture and tell you stories.

my first time on a plane since i was a child

the place of old films

mesmerized by the size and beauty of the ads

buildings buildings

stranger in central park

me in central park with help from my father

the streets were lined with buildings as far as i could see

dreams

chanel display with window reflection

monika, jordan, matt, mary claire, sandy

mary claire, matt, monika

mary claire photographing jordan

matt photographing jordan

mirror (monika, me, sandy, jordan)

jordan hugging mary claire goodbye

michigan

breakfast

dawn

couple in st. patrick's cathedral

flying out of the city

i will return

stolen

2011-05-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

tulips and lilacs and poppies and petunias and purple smoke indigo and cherry tree blossoms, from the suburban lawns, from the foggy beds, from the hanging vernandah baskets in the dead of night. may flowers may flowers may flowers.

model / corinne tucker
wardrobe and makeup / miranda bower
hair and styling / me

blossom water

2011-05-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

a series of early spring glow and pigment billows on very old film modeled by paige breithart

before dusk arrived

2011-03-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

"and for hours, instead of writing or drawing within four walls, she would capture late autumn toads and sing to the treetops in the forest before dusk arrived. she had only herself and the witches she imagined hidden in the snowbanks."

a story modeled by emily burke. i cannot wait until spring is here, i have many many worlds i want to create. i can feel myself being pulled into another style of photographs, we'll see where it goes.

winter rain

2011-03-08T14:37:00.000-08:00

test shoot with emily burke

twenty pearl buttons

2011-02-13T00:54:00.000-08:00

black + white film
developed myself
double exposures