Life is short….
he said near the conclusion of the evening as this accomplished photographer described his near miss with the end of light which he sought his entire life. And as he gains his strength back, he shared with us that he feels the next big adventure is about to happen although he knows not what it will be.
Be careful with your words he advised after he read to us one of his artist statements, the most beautiful I’ve ever heard. Quoting excerpts from Letters to a Young Poet, he proposed that we approach photography in the same manner as writing. Shoot what you know; shoot everything, all the time and don’t worry about figuring out why as it will present itself clearly as you begin to sift through the hundreds and even thousands of photos.
Art – is it our personal interpretation of life, or rather our altered reality?
And so, in my mind’s eye I flip through the thousands of photographs I’ve taken over the years and I find that my theme is finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. People say that photographs don’t lie, but he presented to us that they can be the biggest lie of all. And I would counter that perhaps it is our eyes that lie to us and that we don’t ‘see’ what is right before us until it is isolated and presented to us in a photograph.
Carry the past – Focus on the moment – Anticipate the future
As he spoke these words, I scrambled for my pen to capture them lest they slip from my consciousness into the abyss of my mind with a million other thoughts waiting and hoping to be discovered again.
I will carry the memory of the past in my heart and on the tip of my pen to share with any who knew or wished they would have known myDarlin’ Robert Kenui Pope.
I will focus on being present in the moment, living life to its’ fullest with every opportunity available.
And I will anticipate the future, knowing that God has a perfect plan in place for my life yet to be discovered. But then again, do I seek it or simply open myself to the possibilities when they are presented to me?
Today, I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to hear one as accomplished and insightful as he, and am inspired on an intellectual and emotional level to invest in moments that transcend time.
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