I didn’t take a single photograph over Thanksgiving though I had good intentions.
My goal was to play with both fixed lenses – 50mm and 35mm – over the break, shooting everything in sight, but it never happened. The camera never left its bag, and for the first time in a really long time, I didn’t care.
There weren’t any fleeting moments that needed to be quickly snapped and commemorated, but rather, living breathing people to be enjoyed and listened to. No trying to sniff out potential winning shots, but rather, pausing to really acknowledge and see friends, family, the regulars – how they’re changing, how they’re growing.
Seeing how I’ve grown reflected back through their eyes.
***
I remember drifting out in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Stromboli, my husband’s arm around my shoulders. We weren’t alone, though we wished it desperately. Countless hands are raised, pointing cyan-colored neon-lit screens towards the blackness around us; waiting for Stromboli to sputter what it could.
Not a single lick of magma needs to be missed. Orange flecks shoot upwards. White flashing lights quickly dwarf orange flecks, and the indigo dark sky is lit up. Stromboli hisses. Not tonight.
I wonder if we truly deserved to see her lights beneath our blinding ones?
***
Was once in a discussion thread where travelers were counting where they’d been, how “nice” some locals were, and how they “hated” certain countries.
My response? Places force their imprint on you – either negative or positive – and refuse to be a checkbox marked off some travel list.
I used to count countries too like there was a now-or-never futile race to “conquer” the world at one go. Was well on my way, already planning a series of round-the-world trips before love came barreling in. And when it did, my solo race became an invaluable slow hand-in-hand stroll through life.
The inevitable happened…I slowed down.
A traveler since my first year on earth, of course I want to reach every country and culture, and experience all this world has to offer, no doubt. But life is so much more than checking off lists and beating other travelers to certain places.
It’s about what we do with each moment we’re blessed to experience wherever we are.
“Places force their imprint on you – either negative or positive – and refuse to be a checkbox marked off some travel list.”
Some trips I take to let this happen, but when I take a trip with more of an intention to “see” something and forget about experiencing a place, it happens anyway. Often the things I check off are what I remember the least when I look back on a trip. But I think there are ways of escaping a country’s imprint… some travelers always find a way to shelter themselves when they are abroad!
My recent trip to India was first and foremost for a wedding. It was beautiful and and incredibly colorful, but there were a million people trying to photograph every moment of it, trying to catch the perfect shot. It annoyed me because (a) I had trouble getting in there and getting a good shot ;), but most of all (b) I wish everyone could’ve just enjoyed the experience and been present and participatory.
Here is to the blessings of slowing down, knowing when to leave the camera in the bag and taking the time to really listen to those we love.
@Anna – Absolutely! While I’m not advocating leaving the camera behind (after all, I am a photographer), sometimes we just really need to get away from screens and look each other in the eyes.
@Theresa – Seems to be happening more and more these days.
@Neha – Thanks! Love your poetic style of writing too
@Adrienne – I completely hear you. It felt that way in the beginning and still feels that way at times. But I also remember that marriage needs to be nurtured and tended to, and it requires 100% dedication, commitment, sharing, and equal compromise.
I LOVE this entry and can relate 100%. Beautiful story about Stromboli and all the flashes.
I started negotiating my movement around the globe just after my marriage this year. It feels like tug-of-war at times. Sigh. When I finally allow myself collapse onto the other side of slower paces, memory without the camera and a passport with fewer stamps – it isn’t so bad.
Thank you for writing this.
I love the poetry in ‘an invaluable slow hand-in-hand stroll through life.’ Beautiful!
I relate to this. We’ve been taking our camera places recently and then never pulling it out of the bag. Sometimes I feel guilty about this, as if it is my job somehow to document it all, but at the same time, I enjoy certain things more, when the camera is away, and I’m there without a lens between me and whomever or whatever.
Well put Lola. It’s like you channeled my exact feelings 🙂
My father often tells me “if you want to truly see someplace, don’t take a camera.” We can debate the merits of that, but I think it speaks more to the fact that often we don’t take enough time to slow down and appreciate our surroundings. Here’s to appreciation.