I continually return to this landscape as a physical tool for intimate self-contemplation and discovery.
Holding the camera to my face and seeing requires fierce and single-minded concentration. As I develop and refine my visual literacy, I see that my emotional literacy develops in tandem. Like waves in the ocean, feelings come in, rise to a peak, and then pass.
I watch this scene before me, a tableau in the wild, with curiosity. There is nothing for me to do other than to observe how photography can represent the direct human relationship to nature.
Rekindling friendships. Pushing chairs back together. Sitting next to and near my lifelong friends. Hugging and laughing and seeing smiles. Grateful beyond measure for vaccines.
“A Big Friendship can hold you when you’re worried that everything else is falling apart. It can be a space of validation when you feel alone in the world. It can provide the relief of feeling seen without having to explain yourself in too many words. And it offers the security of knowing that you won’t have to go through life’s inevitable challenges alone.”