Brenda Bancel
We are just delighted to feature Brenda Bancel. Brenda is a photographic artist and is the President and founder of the TAKE 5 Foundation a not for profit organization focusing on education, guidance and to instill passion in children for creativity, hard work & success. She's a background in art and advertising working with high profile clients in the tech industry. Her works have been exhibited with 555 Gallery/Boston currently with Ouimillie/Boston. She is represented by 555 Gallery.
Water
It's been said that 'there ain't no cure for the summertime blues'. I'll deviate from that statement. Those blues are vanquished in every aspect of Brenda's works featured here. Water, Brenda's personal attachment to and inspiration by is evident in every swirling bubbly beautiful and luscious image. These alluring, bewitching images of swimming captivate us and bring the simple delightful exercise of play in a swimming pool to a thoughtful almost surreal experience. I find them to be meditative and cooling on this hot summer day. I want to swim alongside these subjects. One can hear the sparkly bubbles and feel the swirling coolness around the body when spending time with this work. Fun and resplendent, I could spend time with these images all afternoon. Or better yet let's all head to the pool!!
- Steven Duede, Artist, Fine Art Photographer, Independent Curator, Aspect Principal.
Water is my flag.
Statement
Water is the source of everything good in my life.
It wasn’t love at first sight. My brother was a champion swimmer and I was dropped off at the pool with him out of convenience. I used to sit on the bottom blowing bubbles to pass the time. Watching everyone else succumb to the water’s flirtations above me. I fought the water for a long time. But when I decided to get serious, it did too. It destroyed my hair. It left an invisible film on my eyes that clouded every room.
I spent hours each day dreaming in the water. Mostly, about becoming a famous singer, actress or my favorite, Olympic champion. Dreaming while watching a never-ending line on the bottom of a pool, four hours a day for years. We were a team the water and I, streamlined together like lovers; fighting, playing, hugging and then fighting again. Sometimes wanting to break up, but ultimately, always coming back for more. We both liked to win. And we won a lot.
She took everything of me, sometimes to a fault. After all, what else did I know in life but her? It was the water who ultimately educated me where I would have had none, offering me a full scholarship to college. When we stopped our romance, I went out into the world. I give her all the credit for my new life. My new loves exist because she built me. A life I wouldn’t have been led to, if it hadn’t been for her discipline, her strong current. These days, I don’t fight with her anymore. I only love her. My heart flutters when I see her. Because I know it will be for pleasure.
A dip here, a twirl there, a handstand. I especially love her when she appears as an odd shape, like a kidney. Someday, God knows that if I’m good enough, he’ll put me in “my” heaven; that perfect sandwich of me between the sunshine and the sea.
Water is my flag.
-Brenda Bancel
Brenda Bancel
Bio
Brenda Bancel is the President and founder of the TAKE 5 Foundation and owner of Brenda Bancel Photography LLC. She spent ten years in the advertising industry working with clients such as Apple in Los Angeles and IBM in New York, Paris and London before realizing that she wanted to focus on non-profit work. She is a 2011 graduate of the New England School of Photography where she received honors in documentary. She is represented by 555 Gallery in Boston. She spent the last two years studying at the Harvard Divinity School as a special student. Brenda is interested in the cross section of where creativity and compassion intersect.
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