The word itself looks like someone was drunk and playing scrabble, but the concept has been something I have been desperately searching for since I was a child, and the lack thereof has been something that has always held me back. Maybe it was because I grew up by myself, and in understanding my own talents and abilities, I also knew how much greater things could be with like-minded souls to build and expand with. I obviously never found those souls, and have wasted most my life waiting for the universe to give them to me. Back to the word, the complicated word to define a simple concept. I fumbled across it reading James Hillman, but he was referencing the concept as coined by Alfred Adler: a sense of community. I have yet to read Adler, so I can't speak for how I feel about his general psychologies or philosophies, but I did enjoy reading Hillman (with obvious discrepancies around the whole acorn theory). That sense of community immediately translated to the creative community I was always searching for, and I've known since high school that it was something I would need to create, but didn't know how (maybe that's my oak in the acorn? Shut up, Hillman). In writing this down, I also realize that I've always felt my service and worth to this existence was helping souls understand themselves, and I have felt the full frustration of trying to explain to a general audience, thoroughly conditioned, something that they didn't care to understand. Working with individuals directly, which is easiest for me by capturing who I see in them photographically while engaging in what I used to refer to as psychological warfare (similar to Nitzsche's admitting to philosophizing with a hammer), created the kind of bonds with souls that I always needed in the community I never found. Those souls, however, were never really interested in what I was trying to do. The lower frequency souls are perfectly ok with not really accomplishing anything significant, and the higher frequency souls are completely occupied with their own accomplishments. That has been my conundrum. So, I am creating this platform, and anyone out there who might be interested in raising their frequencies through creative energy will find me. This is a place to grow, and learn, and discover, and be, through whatever interpretation of community you need in this moment. I will continue on my creative and spiritual path, and you are all welcome to join me, directly or from your little corner of the world. Enjoy this space, and be beautiful to each other. Sven Ellirand *Please do not ask me how to pronounce this word, as it sounds similar to the sound of a cat coughing up a hairball while having a mild stroke. I'm not that German.

The philosophy is written a number of places in this site, but I wanted to put it in here to open a discussion about it. (reading it again makes me feel a little silly) idiedatbirth is a philosophy in which one recognizes that each human soul is born beautiful and with infinite potential, and from the moment of each soul’s first breath in this temporal vehicle, their potential and beauty are systematically destroyed by society, religion, institutions, and, primarily, their parents. We, precious few, will stop at nothing to achieve the potential that no one told us we have, and reclaim our beauty, not in your world… in our world. idiedatbirth is maliciously one word to defy structure: while I value proper use of language, it is something that someone else created, and it is expected of you to learn it, regardless how absurd or complicated it is; I’m not saying don’t master your language, for it is your responsibility as an intelligent being to do so, nor am I suggesting you create your own language or dialect, as that is generally just translated into you being stupid; I am simply stating that language, writing, and speech are part of the structure that you are forced to live in. idiedatbirth is maliciously lowercase to defy ownership, though it is futile. If you have a birth certificate or social security number you are owned by the government in which you happen to be born, and are viewed by them as a monetary asset and expendable. Lower case also defies any institution that would claim you as property, such as religion or schools, which give you a series of rules to live by and hoops to jump through, veiled in the freedom of choice, but rarely in the freedom of thought or the freedom to question. I choose to shoot nudes to defy societal expectation, in which we are sold the human body as something sexual and enticing, then are punished for wanting it. I refuse to view or capture the human body as something sexual and enticing, but present it as something natural and common to every single human soul that ever existed in infinite time and space. I also recognize that we are conditioned to use things like clothes, hair, and make-up to hide who we really are, in a sad attempt to be someone that we think society wants or finds attractive. Shedding the social armor demands a more genuine soul. I love human beings; I hate who they pretend to be because society demands it. Defy the stupid shit that society forces down your throat, and demand the extraordinary that is your birth-right. We defy civilization, which is uncivil in its conditioning, and get back to nature, in an attempt to connect again with our roots, OUR true nature. We recognize that, in that botanical metaphor, we are still in the growth phase of existence on this plane, and are yet to even break the surface of our potential, understand what kind of plant we are, or even fathom in what place we exist. In this space, we understand that all of our problems and miseries are man made, and we choose to not suffer them. And, as always, a quote to define the title " The philosophes were the intellectuals of the 18th-century Enlightenment. Few were primarily philosophers; rather, philosophes were public intellectuals who applied reason to the study of many areas of learning, including philosophy, history, science, politics, economics, and social issues. ... The philosophes used reason to attack superstition, bigotry, and religious fanaticism, which they considered the chief obstacles to free thought and social reform. ... The philosophes believed that the spread of knowledge would encourage reform in every aspect of life." *waves hand in a circular motion* discuss.

I'm still trying to figure out all this stuff, so bear with me.