Tag: Lens-Artists

Glimpse

I am struggling.

Wow. I am struggling with the last few challenges. I live in an alternative universe where I am one of the few who hates everything about winter with freezing weather and grey skies every day for weeks.

Show us the things you love that makes your world spin or something about your world that make you delirious with joy.

I love hiking and bathing in the light falling through the leaves of the forest canopy. I love warm (but not hot) weather and barbecues in the back yard with close friends and family. I love a day down the shore. I love photographing Warblers that visit from the Caribbean. I love hanging out at the local tavern on a Friday after work and long mid-week lunches with my friends. I love hiking for hours in the forest and woods. I love touring craft micro-breweries.

If the current situation with vaccine distribution offers any glimpse into the future, it looks like I won't experience any of that joy for at least another year.

Weltschmerz

Not ennui. Not angst. But Weltschmerz.

Weltschmerz. A different kind of emotion.

Precious Moments

2020 was supposed to be the year I got my life back after major surgery in 2018, death of my dad and two eye surgeries in 2019, and then the death of Bhavna's dad this year. A lot of people travelled in 2018 and 2019. I travelled between work, hospital beds, and home. In 2020, Bhavna and I were going to take some time off work and travel, finally. But the universe decided we need one more year of shit and we sheltered-in-place dealing with a global pandemic. For the Lens Artist challenge, I was challenged to find few precious moments in the last few years.

Jasmin, Jeff, Renee and Rose stand while I ring the bell on the last day of treatment | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF16-55mmF2.8 R LM WR @ 26.6 mm | f/5.6 | ISO8000

I would define precious moments as those moments throughout life that leave an emotional impression; moments that are easily remembered and are often retold as stories. Stories that start with "remember when ...". I scanned through my Lightroom catalogue for 2020. Nada. How could there be? Yet, there are a few moments I smiled. Less than a handful.

watching Jurassic Park with “the boys"
Watching Jurassic Park in the backyard with my nephews. | 25 July, 2020 | Day 295 | Apple iPhone 11 Pro | iPhone 11 Pro back triple camera 4.25mm f/1.8

Frankly, there is very little about 2020 that I want to remember. The entire year was absolutely shit. I am happy to leave it behind. In 2020, the days blurred one into the other, no difference between them, until no one day or and only a few moments were memorable or significant. But then again, from a 2020 perspective, any moment is precious. I'm not dead.

Either you are the photographer or the subject. I am always the one holding the camera. Photos of me are rare. There were a few moments, just a few, that Bhavna and I shared in 2020. But again, I was the one holding the camera.

Feet, Beach Scene
August 2020 | FujiFilm X-T2 | XF27mmF2.8 | Kodak Portra 160 Film Simulation

Submitted for the 100DaysToOffload project.