When I was a child my father used to take me outdoors during the weekends. I spent my childhood out in Nature, always playing and admiring it. There was something so calming about Nature. The images, the sounds, the colors, the fresh smell of the leaves.
As I grew older, looking at landscape pictures and taking my own pictures became my meditation. When I was not able to go to the beach, I would stare at a picture of the beach and feel the sand, the sunlight on my face, the sound of the waves, the turquoise color of the water as if I was there.
Meditation is living in the now, it is silencing the thoughts and I found photography does just that. An image is in the now. It is not suffering about the past, it is not worrying about the future. Landscape photography also taught me gratitude. To appreciate and admire the beauty of what you have in front of your eyes and be grateful for it.
I am glad I could combine the love for Nature that my father taught me, with my passion for art as a healing therapy and meditation.
What benefits have you found in Landscape Photography? (Feel free to answer in italian)
Hello Adriana, I am thrilled to read something in english in this community!
Thanks for your contribution, what you wrote is very interesting and it is more or less what I think about nature photography.
Right now it's 9pm in Italy and the coronavirus is killing more people every day, unfortunately it seems to be "at war" here.
I am alone at home and I listen to the sound of the pouring rain and it helps, a lot. It makes me think that, after all, the world goes on, nature continues with its rhythms, and in these days of lock-down it is surely breathing a sigh of relief. For me, photography in general is simply an excuse to get to know nature more closely, to learn how to observe it and consequently to know better ourselves too.
It's been like this since "day one", and this feeling doesn't change. I believe the most important thing in photography is sometimes to not take pictures! When something becomes forced, you realize that you're losing touch with reality. Photography helps us but it can also take a lot from us, it's important to find the right compromise. What do you think? P.s. I moved your conversation to another section of the forum, the one where you posted was mainly devoted to discussions about photographs. Thank you once more! Andrea
I hope me posting in English in Bonfire, encourages other people from different parts of the world to post. In the social media era, the impulse is to snap a picture of anything that we are living in real time. But what if we just be? What if we just enjoy? If we are too focused on taking the perfect picture aren't we missing something out of life? Isn't it better to store that image in our minds as memories instead of a camera? So I agree with what you said that sometimes it is better to not take pictures. Yes, getting to know Nature allows us to know ourselves too. And it is in silence, that we get to know ourselves better. It is in silence that Nature starts to speak. We have to remember that we are not entities apart from Nature, we are Nature. Maybe that is why we feel so comfortable there, because it is home. I keep praying for Italy, my father's place of origin. The place who once faced world war II. Like that time, things shall pass this time too.
That's what I hope too, Adriana.
It is interesting what you write and we hope that in the future Bonfire will also host people from other parts of the world.
If you like, when you have time, tell a little of your story for our friends so they can get to know you better, thanks a lot! Andre