This is one of my favorite pictures. And not because of how it’s framed, or even the beauty of the city it captures. It’s how this picture contains so many memories and so many stories.
Let me set the stage: Several years ago, Colin wanted to go to Scotland to “see his people.” The last name ‘Arbuckle’ originates in Scotland.
In telling my dad that “Colin wants to go see where his people are from,” my dad responded with “you’re going to Belgium?” Instant classic. As we mapped out our trip, we realized we wanted to end up in London. Brussels is an underwater tunnel ride from London, so, hell yeah, we’re going to Belgium!
Brussels was never on the wish list for that trip. But it boasts one of the most majestic squares I’ve seen in Europe. The museums are second to none. While it was only a day trip, I can recall half-a-dozen great memories off the top of my head.
In heading to a museum, we ended at the top of the stairs. The view of the city was amazing and so, I shot the above photo. With these three people in it.
At first…being completely honest…I was irked I didn’t wait for them to move. But the more I stared…the more I wondered about them. The more I wondered about their story.
Were they too on an adventure like the three of us? Three friends? Three family members? Did they too find themselves in a new, unexplored city and taking in the beauty that was in front of them? Were they locals who just happened to get together and wanted to capture this moment in time?
I love the mystery of the photo. We can’t see their faces. Are they young? Old? Men? Women? The pages to their story are blank; left for you and I to fill in.
It’s what I love the most about photography and art in general. The story is up to interpretation. And even better? The story often evolves as we grow and change.
One of my favorite songs growing up was Janis Joplin’s “Piece Of My Heart.” My parents raised me on 60s and 70s music. I always thought “I want someone to love me like that.” That’s how I interpreted the song at the time.
Until the 2005 Grammys. Here’s the frame-up: Melissa Etheridge was going through breast cancer treatment. She comes out on stage…absolutely bald. And bloody owned it.
Her performance was this perfect intersection of rage and joy; hope and “screw you, universe. Is that the best you got?” 15 years later and I still get teary-eyed thinking about it. I can’t watch the performance without a lump in my throat. It’s epic and powerful.
And her performance transformed the song into something entirely different for me. It became an anthem. Defiance. An unwavering march forward against all odds. It wasn’t about love anymore…it was about how to live life.
Because art not only changes us...but changes with us. Our lens and our perspective is constantly changing and so too…should our view of art.
This picture’s story will someday change for me. I suspect it will transform from reflecting on good memories to…perhaps…regret that the adventures are nearing an end. You see, the real beauty of a picture isn’t that it captures a moment in time; frozen and unchanging…but that a picture allows you to experience that moment across all time. From different vantage points. From different evolutions.
There are times that I wish I knew these three people’s story…but then I find myself grateful that I don’t know. The mystery of it…the romance of it…is mine (and yours) to shape. And that should be how we treat all forms of art.
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