While there is no debating the effect of travel on inspiration, I believe there is something to be said, and more importantly learned, about photographing the life you live. Please, don’t confuse this with the current trend of over-sharing all of your day’s minutia. This isn’t about food photos and exaggerated enjoyments. Hell, this isn’t even about sharing at all, but seeing.
Since the ending of my first world, my first real heartbreak, I have been unintentionally focused on the harmful side of life. Once the veneer of enjoyment was chipped away, and the underlying darkness exposed, I became convinced pleasure was built on pain.
I externalized my introspection and began to analyze the society in which I found myself. I learned of atrocities committed by my country that weren’t taught in history class, and the ongoing destructive, exploitative nature inherent to “modern” society. I truly believed that it was wrong for anyone to be happy in a world with any suffering.
But thankfully I had a realization, and it came in the form of photography. I noticed the more photos I took, the more things I noticed. I was experiencing an externalized version of mindfulness. Slowly my swollen bloodshot eyes opened again to the beauty of the world. I realized pleasure is not built on suffering, but that they are two sides of the same breeze. After all, this is life, and life is everything. Everything! And nothing… but that is a topic for another time.
