ABOUT + CONTACT
About The Nest Project
The NEST Project began as an inspiration in the artist’s backyard June 2016 as a way for her to make sense of and express her own personal childhood experiences. After gathering sticks and building the very first nest with her son, the artist removed her clothes and entered. Finding the experience transformation, the artist began a journey to help others face their own personal stories. To date over 400 people have gotten into The NEST and had their own experiences of healing, acceptance and growth.
It is an interactive healing modality that invites people to strip down to their truest selves and get into human sized nests to be photographed at their most vulnerable and powerful. Following in the footsteps of the birds, the womblike nests are built by the artist out of natural found materials. Each nest is built with the intention of providing a safe space for the participants to return to a state of innocence and peace as a way to transform their trauma and find acceptance.
The artist acts as a guide and witness for each journey, holding a safe space to allow people to tell their story free of judgment and expectation. The NEST experience allows each participant a chance to revisit themselves in their most natural human state and reconnect with a way of being that is often forgotten as we grow and age and as the complications of adulthood and society change us along the way.
Each participant is invited to shed not only their clothes but their emotional burdens through deep self-reflection and honesty. With her lens the artist captures the complex nature of the human experience while simultaneously exposing them to their truest selves.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Debbie Baxter (she/her) is an artist, Fine Art Photographer and creator of The NEST Project. As a photographer she has spent her career capturing the essence of the human experience in all of its varied forms.
Her work focuses on the joy, triumph, pain and sadness of real people from all walks of life in their most vulnerable state. Through the use of her lens Debbie channels her own understanding of trauma to create ethereal yet beautiful and delicate photos that strip their subjects bare and allow them to reconnect to an innocence long since lost.
Debbie graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and then received an Associate’s Degree in Photography. She began her career by starting her own business as a portrait photographer and darkroom teacher for kids. During this time she also led numerous workshops and classes for adults with the theme of healing through the creative process.
Since starting The NEST Project in 2016, Debbie has traveled to multiple cities throughout the United States offering her nest experiences in galleries and at festivals and events. She has been covered by several media outlets having appeared on page two of The New York Post and has been written up in other publications such as Brooklyn Daily, Vice.com and The Long Island Herald. The photographer has also appeared on news stations in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Portland. To date, about 400 people have gotten into The NEST. She has also led thousands of others through talks and workshops.
Debbie has spent the last four years traveling the United States and worldwide building human-sized nests. Each time she invites people in to shed their emotional weight and become their truest selves to create transformational nest portraits.
Debbie has just published a 174-page coffee table book that chronicles her journey and the journeys of many others. It is the culmination of four years of holding space for strangers and helping them to face their trauma and be witnessed in humanity’s purest form. NEST is a photography book and journal of human experiences investigating the darkness and light of our society without judgment or admonition, it is a collection of real people as they truly are.
Artful Portraiture in oregon
Portrait Artist Debbie Baxter is in Portland, OR for the summer and is offering her signature photo shoots. These sittings are all done outdoors, taking advantage of Oregon’s breathtaking nature.
Debbie brings her genuine style to the creation of portraits that capture people’s inner beauty, turning them into stunning works of art.
Prints and files sold separately. For more information on pricing, reach out below.
contact
TheNest@debbiebaxter.com | 503-309-3371
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