APRIL 13, 2020

Unusual photographs for unusual times…

I always thought it was going to be aliens…not a virus, that would be the thing to unite all humans on the planet.

I never expected to live through a period with extended “stay at home” measures, motivations to “flatten a curve”, or to have an interest in topics like “community spread” and “incubation periods”. I wasn’t even familiar with the terms.

But, here we are. All together living through the Covid-19 Pandemic experience.

This tiny virus, invisible to the naked eye, could be a powerful enough force to invoke a giant shift to the way humans live on this planet. It already has caused a massive disturbance, and it’s very likely just getting started.

A shift to what, exactly, is a question best left for another time. It is poor timing to focus now on What if’s. I sense our attention now is best served on staying present and healthy - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. If not only for us, but for our families. We need to stay focused and meet what is. Not speculate and conspiracy theorize for kicks.

We tend to experience our lives with a certain level of expectation. With a certain pre-visualized version already thought into existence. Even when visiting a new place, for example, we may visit the location many times in advance in our imagination, or through images and video and reading. When we finally arrive, it feels familiar. We visualize what the experience will be, create expectations, and then satisfy those expectations. Often, we are closed off to that which is outside of our expectation.

This is a period very few of us expected.

We need to be meeting the unexpected with grace, an open heart, and a still mind. This is the best way forward.

Part of my practice through this time will be to share with you - through a series of posts - photographs that are a bit…unusual. Ones that came to me unexpectedly, as it were. I will call these posts Meeting the Unexpected.

The subject of poles in water were on my shot list going to Japan. I went to a few scouted areas specifically to photograph this subject. The poles represent part of Japan’s rich history of growing Nori, an edible algae, or seaweed, most commonly known for the wrapping of sushi. Never did I pre-visualize the actual farmers working. Especially given that on this particular occasion in January, at sunrise, the temps barely reached 40°f! To see these workers in the water working the nets was very much unexpected.

My first reaction was to avoid photographing the workers and go further down the beach to avoid having them in my compositions. In a way, I was resisting what was being presented to me. But as I let my expectations go, I began to see more clearly the unique opportunity that was being presented at the moment. Meeting the unexpected with an openness - the image became more clear.

VIEW THE OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES: