Photojournalism

This new Senior year in GCE Lab School also means that of course the students experience new courses. This Journalism course is self-explanatory, as it revolves around journalism (the act of bringing news to the people through media of some sort). That being said, our first Action Project in this class revolved around writing out about 1000 words going off an interview with someone about the meaning of life, which is complimented by an image of them. Initially, the project gave me a bit of difficulties when coming up with questions, because I know that if I was asked one question, I would just go on and on explain as many points as I could, rather than allow for a question to ask for details. Of course I did manage to overcome this and provide you all with an article I wrote out here showing you what one my colleague's thoughts on what the meaning of life is. I hope you enjoy!

What is life? Or more specifically, what is the meaning of life? That’s quite the question, isn’t it? We can infer this in a multitude of ways; what is our purpose in life? Well that’s the question I asked to my good friends and cohort NVA. And after some time, and a lot of thought, he managed to think about an answer that satisfied him. So after taking an image inside of GCE, we went off to enjoy lunch at a nearby Mariano's. That’s where we conversed.

The way he went on about it was unique, the opposite of those who have existential crises. As my fellow senior classmate, our conversation was quite casual and relaxed. That is why I shall paraphrase much of it, but of I won’t distract from the main meaning of his sentences. He’s an only child who was actually adopted from Bulgaria, which is partially why I wanted to interview him specifically. Growing up –and still young– he’s had a much more unique experience than most others I know. His outlook on life would vastly differ from mine, for sure.

NVA's Cam Time, VG, 2016

The image (just above) as you can see is a picture of him fiddling with that there camera, which I found ironic considering the photojournalism taking place soon after. The image aligns with his affiliation to possibly work in either film or create street art (something that can only really be captured by a camera). The image itself was adjusted with the camera on my phone (the Galaxy J7) with a higher aperture (duration of the shutter staying open) so the image would appear brighter with less shadows. Having a clear picture that displays my interviewee as if they were simply standing there really brings out the more down to Earth thought process that doesn’t overcomplicate things, yet still deeply contemplates solutions and paths for the future. I didn’t ask him to pose or anything; he actually didn’t notice me taking a picture in the moment, and for me, that’s far better than staging or posing for a picture. To be yourself when a picture is taken of you is to be natural, organic even.

So that was the first question I asked. “What is the meaning of life?” and in a swift response, he answers, “Well, I think it’s to capture the good moments and enjoy it while it lasts.”

To me this was a more unexpected response considering his initial personality. I would’ve expected a more unsure reply, so I asked him to elaborate; he explains that “life is limited, so you have to at least enjoy yourself as you go on through it. It would be pointless to make yourself feel bad, so in a way, everyone’s purpose is to make themselves feel good. That’s basically the meaning of life.”

This response incidentally went great with the image I took before the interview, as he’s holding a camera, which can easily represent that photographers (and with him desiring to go into the film industry) capture and immortalize the best of moments in life. The main idea I got from that one answer is that you only have one life, so don’t worry and don’t waste it; make the most of what you have.

As the inquisition continued, I asked him whether or not that’s been his constant definition of life, as in whether or not it has changed over time. His initial reply went along the lines of “Well I guess before I used to think think it was much simpler, just don’t do bad stuff, like hurt anyone or lie. It sort of did evolve I guess.” The commotion at Mariano's provided a relaxed atmosphere as we ate lunch. I continued with a couple more questions, next asking “Well, how do you find purpose in life?” & this one proved a bit more difficult to answer. He addressed the question as being a bit redundant, but went on with answering claiming that “A purpose is never really defined, it’s only what your goals are aimed to be.” By this, I understood that he was claiming that purpose is an individualistic motivation that varies upon people. For example, someone’s purpose in life could be to eat the great food from the hot bar, or perhaps even to care for someone endearing.

Asking next about his beliefs, I asked if he found all life to be equal, and he swiftly gave and answer, stating that a life must be tainted in order to lose value. Next I asked of his morals, or more specifically, whether or not they’ve changed; as he thought, he soon replied saying that the only things that have really changed are his ideals about honesty, since the world can benefit from a small white lie every now and again. I followed up with asking if there was anyone in particular that influenced him –in other words, who/what would have been the thing to change said morals– and his response merely denied this possibility, stating that nobody specifically changed him, his mind merely evolved as he grew.

The next question I asked was “How have you solidified a purpose in your life; when was it that you came to an epiphany of such?” And so he went “I honestly grew over time, there was maybe a certain day or 2 where I realized that life wasn’t so simple and easy, but it was a very long process. I didn’t really see too much of my potential until I thought about entertaining others, which is why I’m doing my art with graffiti and potentially diving into film studies. I kind of just looked at what I was good at and said that it would be a great thing to focus on for my future.”

As the time for lunch came closer to ending, I prepared my last 2 questions for some exercise, as we started to walk back to the school. One of said questions asked about how he came up with that initial view of life, not necessarily the process, but the moments that helped him realize it. The reply was once again something more indirect, saying that not a singular thing was noteworthy enough to consider it commendable for influencing him. I actually can admire that about his outlook on life, because I always prefer to look at things from a neutral perspective myself, and for him to essentially say that life simple moves and you learn as you stride forward says, to me, that he doesn’t exaggerate or see only a black and white side to every situation, but that’s merely my interpretation.