Lost & Found
Sometimes, our behaviors as human beings might suggest that we believe we are separate from nature, perhaps even above it; superior.
My mind immediately jumps to the scene in the first Matrix movie where Mr. Smith is attempting to break Morpheus and states:
“I'd like to share a revelation I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to another area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus.”
I do think there’s some validity to that statement. But it’s also a gross generalization that everyone exists as such and I despise those as much as labels and stereotypes.
The truth is Mother Nature existed long before us and will continue to long after we are gone. It’s a very egocentric way of thinking to suggest that we could destroy something so grand on our own. Afterall, this planet has endured meteor strikes, major floods, extreme fluctuations in weather as well as atomic bombs, and radioactive disasters. And yet it still continues to spin on its axis as it has for the last 4.5 billion years.
I like to think that some of the natural disasters that occur out there, everything from mudslides to blizzards, hurricanes, tsunamis and forest fires are Mother Nature’s cleansing rituals. A way to clean the slate and start anew. While sometimes tragic, they are a natural cycle of life, much like the seasons. The tides. The setting sun.
What I love most about nature is its perseverance and tenacity, so easily demonstrated by a dandelion growing between a crack in a sidewalk. Or on a grander scale, an abandoned village being consumed by the land.
Yes, Mother Nature flourishes when we step aside. But she also flourishes when we work in tandem with her. In symbiosis, as we were meant to all along.
“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
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Behind the Scenes - Lost & Found
This was another image born from that visit to Kolmanskop in Namibia. I mentioned in a previous post that I shot over a thousand frames in a single day, which comprised of 20% of total photographs taken over the course of 15 days.
I imagine many more works will result from that day.
This was the first building I stepped into that morning. Turns out it was the old hospital. Two stories tall with many rooms connected by a long corridor. As in all the other buildings, sand infiltrated through the open doors and broken windows, carried on the strong winds off the Atlantic.
I remember the sickness in my stomach I felt when I first stepped foot in this place and realized I left the plate, which connected my camera to the tripod head, back at the hotel. So I did my best to balance my camera, untethered, on top of the tripod, wrapped with a scarf, as if that would keep it in place. Looking back I shake my head at the stupidity, but desperation I felt to capture everything.
As luck would have it, Sean, our guide came across my path and just so happened to have a plate attached to his camera that he wasn't using. Voila! It wasn't a perfect fit but a much safer alternative to my makeshift approach. Thank you, Sean!
There were zebras all over Namibia. From one or two grazing to entire herds. It was enough eye candy to delight my senses and appease my inner child for quite awhile.
These are indeed my favorite creatures...my spirit animal.
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