Have you noticed the little tree that is my cover photo for the post? Well, every day as I walk the road that connects my house to the bus stop, I see it. In over 5 years that I've been walking the stretch, I've never noticed how beautiful, splendorous and photographable it is. I think because of the daily routine. That is to say, that I often "observe" it. A pity, because due to my "airplane" mode, I omit the beauty that is around me.
Precisely this fact, made me reflect on how easy it is for us to ignore beauty, and how easily the complaint, as a cynical mechanism approaches us. To put it more simply, it is easier and more practical for us to complain about how low our salaries are, or how badly we are doing in a certain context (work, love, human relationships, etc.) but we are not really able to see that there are options to mitigate our sorrows, which are there, within our reach?
Not all places of relaxation and mental distraction occupy the same line. It doesn't always have to be the beach, the mountains or the wild countryside... Sometimes, beauty is the everyday witness. The companion of our routines, of our day to day. That friend, who without expecting anything in return gives us joy, encouragement or simply inspires our existence. It varies according to the sun's rays, but it will always find a way to show us that not everything is as repetitive, sad, decadent or fatalistic as we sometimes like to think it is.
Let's take jazz just to give an example... It's not one of the most listened to genres, and you'll never see an artist in the top 10 of any list, but I assure you that if you spend 5 minutes listening to it, even if you're not familiar with it, you'll never forget it. It's simply mesmerizing, mesmerizing, mesmerizing; come on, the very definition of art, an act of glorious and incomparable beauty. And I love too much to have these bursts of awareness and clarity with me, with what I have within my being.
Inspiration that I do not seek, that emerges. It does not represent a link, but is the result of observation. In that, the art of photography is unique. It is the tool for subjectivity and at the same time for technique. It is there to capture the moments that occur in a human life. Regardless of the context, we humans fill in and give meaning to art. Just like a tree you see every day, which seems to not have too much to offer you, but simply hasn't been properly detailed.
Capturing beauty in everyday things is an act that I did not invent, nor do I intend to do. But it is an exercise in humanity that has made me more aware and connected with myself. It doesn't take me too much time and yet it brings me happiness and wonder. To the point, that trying to recreate what I have already obtained in photos, I have not been able to do so. Even if the object is the same, the light, the angle, the weather conditions, my mood and my ability to capture it are not?
We are unique, unrepeatable, conflictive and extremely profound. Whether we want to believe it or not. Here we are, sometimes crestfallen, sometimes more animated and enthusiastic. Everything seems to be linked to the uncertainty of chance, where an imaginary coin in the air decides if we are conscious enough to witness beauty, or if on the other hand, it is time to be self-absorbed and absent from what surrounds us; the things of our existence, of ourselves; of everything... I hope to be attentive to beauty, wherever it comes from.
Sometimes I feel that writing is like undressing... An act of self vulnerability. Thank you for reading me, I thank you immensely. P.S: I'll take the liberty of suggesting the Jazz compilation I'll leave in the post; it will change your life. I almost forgot, the pictures have been taken by me, they belong to me.
