Have you listened to NDA by Billie Eilish? It is a very strange song but fascinatingly captivating and beautiful. It is relevant to understanding this story because it accompanied me on my short but meaningful journey to the sea. Toward the peace that only sand, the warm yet faintly cool air of an autumn afternoon can offer you. It is curious how a girl with headphones, a playlist and the wonder of being near a setting as beautiful as the tones of a sunset sky can sink so deeply into a human being, into me... Music, after cooking and writing, is one of my great loves in this life...
Obviously, I do not believe I am alone in something so popular, but having begun my walk near the shore, listening to good music, influenced me positively in capturing these beautiful photographs. Honestly, I had no destination. I was simply going along on a casual trip, hand in hand with my boyfriend and my daughter after they picked me up from work, and I simply loved the spontaneity of that idea. It made me happy. And I am not a girl who is easily moved.
There are simply things that overwhelm you and break through even the greatest expectations one may have. What do I mean? The very beauty that exists in nature. Sometimes it is a small lilac glimmer in the blue sky illuminated by the golden yet intense rays of the Sun, just when it is closest to the utopian horizon; at other times it is the perfect shot, one that combines symmetry, colors, structure and the simplest yet most human action that can be captured, like the woman looking at the sea in my cover photo.
It may also be that my happiness was born from being with the people I feel love me the most at this moment, my daughter and my partner. Two beings who understand me, value me, respect me and constantly seek for me to feel comfortable and happy. I will not lie to you, it is hard for me to be an overly adorable person and to believe in the story of the happy family. Quite the opposite, sometimes I can seem and be somewhat grumpy. I suppose they are wounds, or rather scars, from a time I left behind but that left a small memory forever.
Even so, the peace I feel when I am by the sea, at my favorite hour of the day, is indescribable. I love living and having the opportunity to keep these images just because. Just like that, without further explanations or logic. I take my phone, pursue the subject I want to capture and that is it; they immediately turn into memories tied to disconnection, family and love. A brief but beautiful walk to a beach on a cold November day is as beautiful as a warm and joyful summer day on a wonderful Caribbean island.
It does not matter where we are, sometimes we just have to surrender to the charm that nature itself has to offer you. For me, it is the golden hour of the day. Sunrises and sunsets; for you it may be the night and its charm filled with that solitude and mischief that attracts so many of us. Or perhaps the humor of a gray but beautiful afternoon. Each person, I can assure you, finds beauty. It does not matter whether you look for it or not, it is before us and we only have to surrender to it and enjoy the spectacle. Where do you think art was born? From wonder.
