“To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.” e.e.cummings
I have loved this image below of a young girl in Varanasi, India. As a photograph, it’s nothing special. I took it 5 years ago and have never used it in my composites. She was dressed so differently than the others I passed on the long walk from our hotel to the Ganges. We were heading for the evening Aarti and the road was packed with hundreds of tourists, Hindus and Muslims. Some were walking, some riding bikes, motorcycles and rickshaws, all on the same narrow path. Along with the visual madness, your senses overwhelm with the smells of chai, spices, exhaust fumes, street food and smoke. You can’t stop the momentum and you wouldn’t want to. Every part of you is encompassed in this environment.
The man in the image below was also captured on the Ganges in Varanasi 4 years later. He considers himself a Sadhu, a Holy Man. One is often not sure which Sadhu’s are sincere but always, they are a site to behold. I think there is always a bit of ambivalence in meeting these men as some are quiet and sincere and others more voyeuristic.
Learning to Allow
Most of us prefer certainty in our life. We want security and we try to get that by doing things that are predictable. We follow trends and rules and do not like to step too far away from what is popular. We want to be liked and appreciated and often that dictates a very predictable artform. Of course, we love it when people respond to our work, but we cannot create from that place. We must risk ourselves in our art. We must push beyond what we know and allow magic to appear. We learn to allow our intuition to select the images. And then, we just play. We may love it and continue or delete and try another until each new part of the image gets you excited. We may go through numerous images until the right one appears. We learn to save this and repeat the process over and over until a story begins to show up. We do not force it. We allow it to unfold, this is the way an image evolves magically. We remain open to whatever shows up in front of us, we save it and keep on going. This is a training ground for learning to allow your life to unfold. This is also the training ground for learning to acknowledge and trust your intuition.
The image above has a woman giving alms, grateful to all the gifts given to her whether they were a blessing or a difficulty. They are welcomed equally. The person (sadhu) in front of her represents both of these traits. His arms reach in giving and yet his head is in chaos. The character in the portrait above him on the left reaches out and touches him with a bit of humor, as if she has placed him there on purpose in order for you to see this duality. The space feels somewhat chaotic yet the white ray of light over the girl creates a sense of calm.
