On traveling where you are.
Thoughts on seeing the wonder all around
us.
I've been lucky enough to see a lot of the world.
We traveled a lot as a missionary family and as an adult I've gotten to play in
Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. I've been to Rome, Hong
Kong, China, Mexico, Hawaii and Key West. I've toured pretty much every state
in the US and I've seen every major city except New Orleans. I've hiked down
into the grand canyon, jumped 30 feet into a panama river and I've chickened out
of climbing up cleopatra's needle in Devil's head. I've seen and done a lot and
it's been amazing. When I talk about it, people usually get that wistful look
in their eyes and talk about wishing they could travel. Some of my friends ache
constantly to see new things and new places and save their money for their one
week in the year when they can "go somewhere". They always ask me where I go to
see new and amazing things.
They're not usually so amused when I say "wherever I happen to be."
The thing is, we don't have to travel to see new things. Amazing and wonderful things are all around us. It's just a matter of knowing where to look.. or in some cases.. how to look. I just bought a holga camera with a polaroid back. The camera itself is about $20 and the back is a little pricier at about $80. I've got easily $4000 in digital camera equipment and lenses, so why in the world would I want a $20 camera with a plastic lens? Because for some reason, the holga pictures have a quality to them that I can't define. It's not very predictable, but something a little magic happens in the pictures. You'll see them in a minute. I live in Gurnee, IL. It's pretty much as midwestern suburbia as you could get. All the houses have identical siding and we boast a 6 flags great america and the world's largest outlet mall. It's not exactly in the city. Sometimes my california friends visit and are somewhat disappointed by the lack of "vibe". But even so, recently, I've been taking my motorcycle and my holga and wandering around looking for wonder. And here's some of what I brought back.
this is literally 10 minutes from my house hidden away... how weird. In the next pic, you can see my motorcycle under the tree if you squint.
To me, there's something magic about those pictures, something I can't get with my digital camera. It's like the difference between seeing things accurately and seeing the magic in them. It's like disneyland. When you're a kid, it's full of wonder and amazement, as an adult you notice that only the front sides of things are painted and if you turn around on the rides and look back you can see that it's all an illusion. But the trick is to hold it all in your head together. To never stop seeing the wonder of life. To never lose that feeling of disneyland even though we're all grown up now. Every sunset I see I feel like it's just for me and that no one else in their cars even notices. When we're in other countries, we take in everything and see the wonder of it all. Everything is different and marvelous. Why don't we see like that no matter where we are? There is wonder all around us, we just forget to see it.
In the movie At First Sight, Val Kilmer is a blind person who regains his sight through an experimental operation, but than loses it gradually towards the end of the movie. When he realizes his vision will soon be gone, he goes to the library and pulls out travel books and goes through as many of them as he can, feasting his eyes on as many wonders of the world he will never see. Since than, I've tried to see like that. When you're a photographer, eventually you see everything through a camera lens. Every sunset, every wild flower, broke down barn or unusual thing becomes a photo opportunity, a chance to see and capture beauty that goes unnoticed. I wish I had my camera with me, the midnight I was driving home and passed an old old man driving an electric wheelchair towing a huge floating cluster of silver helium balloons.
So here's your assignment class....
Look around you, wherever you live. Get a camera, even a cheap disposable and take a trip to find the weird and wonderful things wherever you are. Take pictures. Post them in your blogs, on the message boards, pin them up in your rooms to share with other people. Let's see it. Find the miracles other's miss! Live today like you are going blind tomorrow. Find something today to marvel at and share with the rest of us.
Life is never boring when you live with a sense of wonder.
Here's a last holgaroid of Matt and Andy shot in my suburban living room.
They're not usually so amused when I say "wherever I happen to be."
The thing is, we don't have to travel to see new things. Amazing and wonderful things are all around us. It's just a matter of knowing where to look.. or in some cases.. how to look. I just bought a holga camera with a polaroid back. The camera itself is about $20 and the back is a little pricier at about $80. I've got easily $4000 in digital camera equipment and lenses, so why in the world would I want a $20 camera with a plastic lens? Because for some reason, the holga pictures have a quality to them that I can't define. It's not very predictable, but something a little magic happens in the pictures. You'll see them in a minute. I live in Gurnee, IL. It's pretty much as midwestern suburbia as you could get. All the houses have identical siding and we boast a 6 flags great america and the world's largest outlet mall. It's not exactly in the city. Sometimes my california friends visit and are somewhat disappointed by the lack of "vibe". But even so, recently, I've been taking my motorcycle and my holga and wandering around looking for wonder. And here's some of what I brought back.
this is literally 10 minutes from my house hidden away... how weird. In the next pic, you can see my motorcycle under the tree if you squint.
To me, there's something magic about those pictures, something I can't get with my digital camera. It's like the difference between seeing things accurately and seeing the magic in them. It's like disneyland. When you're a kid, it's full of wonder and amazement, as an adult you notice that only the front sides of things are painted and if you turn around on the rides and look back you can see that it's all an illusion. But the trick is to hold it all in your head together. To never stop seeing the wonder of life. To never lose that feeling of disneyland even though we're all grown up now. Every sunset I see I feel like it's just for me and that no one else in their cars even notices. When we're in other countries, we take in everything and see the wonder of it all. Everything is different and marvelous. Why don't we see like that no matter where we are? There is wonder all around us, we just forget to see it.
In the movie At First Sight, Val Kilmer is a blind person who regains his sight through an experimental operation, but than loses it gradually towards the end of the movie. When he realizes his vision will soon be gone, he goes to the library and pulls out travel books and goes through as many of them as he can, feasting his eyes on as many wonders of the world he will never see. Since than, I've tried to see like that. When you're a photographer, eventually you see everything through a camera lens. Every sunset, every wild flower, broke down barn or unusual thing becomes a photo opportunity, a chance to see and capture beauty that goes unnoticed. I wish I had my camera with me, the midnight I was driving home and passed an old old man driving an electric wheelchair towing a huge floating cluster of silver helium balloons.
So here's your assignment class....
Look around you, wherever you live. Get a camera, even a cheap disposable and take a trip to find the weird and wonderful things wherever you are. Take pictures. Post them in your blogs, on the message boards, pin them up in your rooms to share with other people. Let's see it. Find the miracles other's miss! Live today like you are going blind tomorrow. Find something today to marvel at and share with the rest of us.
Life is never boring when you live with a sense of wonder.
Here's a last holgaroid of Matt and Andy shot in my suburban living room.
Posted: Thu - July 1, 2004 at 03:14 PM
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Published On: Oct 03, 2009 06:37 PM
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Published On: Oct 03, 2009 06:37 PM