Focus On Beauty
I post all of my work to Facebook. The feedback from my viewers is incredible. Most of them are all positive and I appreciate every single piece of feedback I get. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, there are a couple of people who like to find the negativity and point that out. This is more present in my work concerning the Amish community. Some like to remind me of their strict religious ways and see my work as disrespectful without knowing the measures I take to ensure my work is done with respect. Some like to remind me of the underbelly of the community.
The more you learn about the Amish, or anyone for that matter, the more you find out that they are not exactly perfect. Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking them in any way, shape or form. Nobody is perfect! However, I have learned that regardless of what is shown to the outside world, everyone has their fair share of problems. As a writer and a photographer, although I know some of the challenges that my subjects face, I prefer to highlight the good in them. There is a lot of ugliness in the world today. There always has been. Is it worse today than in yesteryear? I cannot say for sure. All I know is what I see.
I use my work as a writer and photographer as my personal escape. I shut the rest of the world out in order to FOCUS on my work. After years of following the same routine of getting up in the morning, listening to the news on the way to work, then coming home to watch the nightly news, I grew tired of the negativity.
With political fights being worse in recent years than I remember in my life, I got tired of the fighting. Each side calling the other side this and that. Then you have the ever-growing violence here in Philadelphia with crime on the rise without an end or a solution in sight. I finally had to turn the news off. I had to remember that there IS still beauty in the world.
I have this friend who is a singer/songwriter from New Orleans, Paul Sanchez. In 2006 he wrote a song called “Wake Up” that was recorded by his dear friend John Boutté. It’s about a man dealing with the loss of his brother who died on the front lines of war. The singer is conflicted that his brother died such a violent death when he sings “I thought fighting was exactly what we try to teach our children not to do”.
It’s a struggle that us parents have to deal with daily. You teach your children that fighting is bad but then turn on the news and that is ALL they talk about. I have chosen to teach my children that there is necessary balance. Without the evil in the world, how would we recognize the good.
As a writer and photographer, I choose to romanticize things by FOCUSING on the positive. Looking at something and saying to myself, what good is here? What can we learn from this subject? Find that good, find that beauty and FOCUS on that! Remind people that despite the ugliness the world contains, there IS still beauty and hope. Recognize the ugliness but FOCUS On Beauty!
Until next time,
Thank you for reading!
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