Destination ‘Unknown’ / shot on 35mm Lomochrome, edited in Lightroom / Camera - ???
I’m fascinated by Hawaiian monk seals. An endangered species, it’s estimated that there are less than 1500 left according to NOAA.
Growing up in the islands, there’s a deep reverence for these amazing creatures, who are called 'īlio holo i ka uaua (dog that runs in rough water).
The photo above is not the best image I’ve taken but it’s a special photo to me.
Any film photos in Lomochrome were shot during 2020 after my Dad passed away. That’s the roll I had in my camera and the experience of that type of loss, combined with the rapid unfolding of the pandemic shortly thereafter, made everything look and feel different.
I love that image.
I can remember standing on a rocky outcropping, separated by the water, hoping the image I took would capture something as I shot into the sun. If I close my eyes, I can remember the day, standing on those rocks, being a lot further away than this looks and feeling, distracted, much like that whole year was. But for the briefest of moments, I felt at peace being surrounded by water, watching one of these magnificent creatures Be-lax.
I love this image from a different time of Be-laxation below too:
Shout out to Apple, because this is arguably one of the coolest photos I’ve had the fortune to make. Unlike the first photo, I actually can’t remember taking it.
It was a different time not magnified by grief. Life felt busier because in some ways, it was around when this was taken.
The long pause that was 2020 and COVID was like a racing pit stop then, and here + now growing more in the rearview as the pace picks up and we get back to full speed on on the raceway.
For me, losing my Dad, also meant the windshield was replaced and while I had to find ways to get back in the race itself and start to enjoy the view. If anything to feel the beauty of the precious limited breaths we have a bit more deeply, there was a tint, a splatter of color, and shade to everything.
When I look at a theme when it comes to the images that most capture, the realization occurs that there is always something going on to balance the image.
There is light.
And darkness.
In some cases, one is more extreme than the other, but in anything that’s ever moved me, the moment carries and finds a way to honor both.
Recognition that the view contains everything and we have a choice in how we process, receive, and later, recall, is one of the greatest a-ha revelations that I have had. It’s a gift, that with each passing day, keeps on giving.
“The Truth of the matter is it all begins here. This is where the creation begins.”
- Alan Watts
We need not wait for tragedy to begin our appreciation of the journey. I’ve long believed that and as not fun as losing my Dad is, earlier seasons of loss prepared me because it drove me to deepen my spiritual foundation and rather, look to Nature, to find my peace.
Soul my friends, rise like the sun with your hands up, then be shrouded at night with your head bowed.
Remember the monk seal, basking in the moment as it is.
Soul Just Be-Lax.