Tag: love
On Possession~
Possessions: What do we really, truly possess? We think of possessions as things we plan and hope on keeping permanently, and the more we have the more we want to collect. But in the end, does it really matter? Maybe we can call them temporary belongings, because that is all they are. When we leave this place, the only possessions we are allowed to cary are the immaterial ones. How much love did we invest, how much care did we give and get, and how much goodness lived in us? Maybe these are the fuels that will be needed in our onwards journey into the next destination if there is one.
Day 65 of 365~
image is a composite of a bird I watched this week and an old portrait of my daughter.
When you have your first child you become privy to the most well guarded secret: you have just signed on for the most important and permanent job of your life. It looks so easy. Everyone does it. Our parents did it. Our friends and neighbors seem to do it. And then your child arrives! I used to hold important job after job before having my child, each with a heavy series of responsibilities, but I dove into them armed with the knowing in the back of my mind that I can just quit when I choose to. Then came the parenting job, and I realized that this is one job I can never quit!
I would not exchange this job for any other in the world because it is the gift that keeps on giving.
Day 58 of 365~
Image taken of my 8 year old daughter overlooking the valley of the saints in Lebanon, 2012
Magic lives in every moment, all around us and it just waits to be captured. It’s as simple as that and when we are about to capture a moment we want to treasure, we just know it. We feel the magic as our finger presses the shutter and we just can’t wait to see the result because we are at that moment so sure that this moment was worth capturing.
On the love of photography~
Day 40 of 365~
Image taken somewhere in New York
The best part of every adventure is , for me, the coming back home moment. I always long to go but I long ever more to come back. Home is such a place of safety, recharge and warmth. When you are lucky enough to have someone there that you can’t wait to hug, then it’s only the icing on the cake.
Day 29 of 365
Images of my daughter as we played around with some lighting.
Over time I have come to believe that the simpler life is a secret key to satisfaction of the right kind. We often feel overwhelmed with our lives, with our possessions and the responsibilities that accumulate as an aftereffect of these possessions and where do we run to? A beach, a forest, a long walk, or a meditation. They say hard work is the best remedy for an idle and restless mind, and maybe something in our design needs us to be busy and rewards us with happiness.
This beautiful girl was walking along the village road with a sack of small rocks on her head that she was taking home for a small building project. I followed her for a while till she caught on and turned around and gave me this dazzling smile followed by shy giggles. I was in the presence of pure and uncomplicated happiness.
Day 15 of 365
Shanghai never fails to surprise you. As a photographer living in this city, you can never be at a loss for impressions. Even time travel is possible if you are willing to go out of your way to visit the film park in Songjiang. Every time I went there I was able to capture a fantastically surreal film set where time stops and life is reenacted to show a sense of times gone by. And where else in the world can you just walk up to the set and photograph it?
I love Shanghai <3
It is not enough to love your camera, to love photography and to love travel. Good portraits are about loving people, other humans, those that co-inhabit our earth. Looking at them with compassion, togetherness, curiosity and the wish to belong to this fascinating and colorful range of humanity.
After a puzzling 2016 to say the least, when almost nothing conformed to the ‘norm’ of life as we expect it to be, from world affairs, to weather, and strange phenomena; 2017 approaches and I find myself moving towards it with caution, deep thought, care, apprehension and hope for a shift towards higher standards and a world with saner priorities.
Wishing you all a peaceful transition and a bright new year!
With love from frosty beautiful Germany~