Moments of Calm in the Chaos

“Survival is insufficient.” 

Originally written for an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, I came across this quote in the post-apocalyptic televised drama Station Eleven. The character who first uttered this phrase was reflecting on if it is better to live a long life without free will or to sacrifice longevity in favor of self-determination. Ultimately, she realizes that just existing is not enough, that one’s individuality is essential to life. 

Ever since I heard these words, I’ve embraced them as my quasi-life motto. I am a cerebral person, but I stay in constant motion to distract myself from my cacophony of thoughts. “Moments of Calm in the Chaos” is an exercise in stillness. To create this series, I focused on aspects of daily life that brought me joy, made me pause or allowed me to relax. I emphasized the ordinary, the mundane, the too often overlooked qualities that differentiate attending to life from merely existing. To accomplish this I gave special attention to the interplay among light, reflections and nature. I strove for cohesion in color (brown/orange, green and blue) to create a sense of continuity as the scenes change, underscoring warmer tones inside and cooler ones outside. Certain photos prioritize light playfully in the natural world as the vehicle through which I convey this photo-based narrative. Others challenge the viewer to see the world while noticing how they view it. 

Whether through the lens of a camera or the naked eye, the world (and how we see it) is chaotic. We are constantly on the move from one place to the next: late for an appointment, rushing to finish a project, trying to squeeze a lifetime into every 24-hour period. I hope these nine photos serve as a reminder to embrace temporal tranquility. We must all strive to live in the best way we know how for however long our lives may be because survival truly is insufficient. 

To illustrate the importance of being present and embracing stillness, these photos do not have accompanying captions. 

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