I feel as though I’m living in the best season of my life. Entering my sixties, I was hit by some health issues that knocked me flat–and for some of these I’ve had to make accommodations. But I’ve found my footing and I’m moving forward. One of the most wonderful aspects of aging is the beauty of starting over, learning new things, letting go of old teachings and ways. It feels as though I learn something new each day . . . some shift in perspective, some long-held assumption questioned and released, some new friendship forged, some book or article influence, some sweet love rekindled. The secret is to question myself deeply.
You already know I’m reading a great book, The Meaning in the Making by Sean Tucker.
Sean tells an interesting story. He had taken these stunning portraits of the Himba people of Namibia, ones that he was proud of. He was having the images printed and couldn’t resist asking the creative director who was helping him that day what he thought of his photographs. (This all took place at a high-end lab that prints for Magnum photos.) The creative director responded, “These are technically good images of very interesting people, but I don’t care about them at all.” He went on to explain that he can sense when a photographer has a connection to the work and he just didn’t get that sense from these pictures.
When Sean was honest with himself, he was able to see that he could do better. Had he made beautiful and meaningful portraits? Or had he taken serviceable pictures of beautiful people?
. . . there was further to go and deeper to dig if I were willing to take the inward journey. —Sean Tucker