I can say with confidence that after cultivating and pursuing my passion for the medium of photography a little more than 3 years, I have come a very long way. I've delved into dozens of books on the topic, as well as hundreds and hundreds of articles online, and a myriad of videos on the topic of photography. While I still feel that I have a lot to learn, along with an immense amount of growth which I must undergo in order to be a professional photographer, I take pride as I look back at how far I've come.
It's important to reminisce on the past, but dangerous to get buried in it. I think that we as humans often hurt ourselves by not congratulating ourselves and giving ourself a pat on the back for what we've accomplished, whether big or small. By acknowledging personal triumphs and learning from our mistakes, we are chiseling out an otherwise shapeless piece of marble into a defined and emotive sculpture called Character. When we fail to learn from the past, we might as well be blindfolded, aimlessly striking a chunk of marble, disillusioned as we hope for something gorgeous to emerge; conversely, by asking ourselves, "What have I learned?" after we undergo any sort of hurdle -whether good or bad- we are delicately and beautifully chiseling a figure like that of Michelangelo's David.
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| Taken with my iPhone 3G, while sitting in the passengers seat. Edited with Camera+. |
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Taken with my iPhone 3G at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Edited with Camera+.
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In case you haven't noticed, our lives revolve around food. The simple activity of sharing a meal with another person has profound effects that oft go unnoticed. We create bonds with people when we dine with them. In fact, the need for food is a common thread that unites every living thing. There is some dynamic about the act of eating that requires one to be vulnerable. Normally, we don't sit down and eat a meal with someone we don't like. We let our guard down when we eat. Eating is such a primitive and ancient activity, one of the few that has remained constant and prominent throughout all of history. In some ways, eating a meal with someone else is one of the most intimate things we do in public. It is commonly said that we are what we eat. Perhaps this saying rings even more true in the context of communal dining. When we share a meal with another person, we are joining in synchronously with that person and nourishing our selves from the same platter, which unifies even the most distant hearts.
