From One Extreme to Another

I’ve arrived in Switzerland, and it couldn’t be more different than Taipei. In fact, it’s completely contrary. After experiencing the chaos of human lives clashing together, I’m now being enveloped by the arms of nature.

Experiencing opposites in close succession can be a little unsettling sometimes. You feel the need to do something, but no one is doing anything around you… so you have two choices. You can either run around in circles, or stop and listen.

In Taipei, there were a variety of colours, sounds, smells… everything had something to say to me. Here, even the normal colours of the countryside like greens, blues and browns.. have all been silenced by the snow. Black and white. It’s been difficult to discern the difference between where the white snow ends and the white clouds begin.

The snow not only mutes the eyes, but also the ears, the nose and the skin. The silence is thick, I can see a car drive past but I cannot hear it. Yet, I can hear birds near and far… and the occasional soft thud of snow falling from a branch sounds so loud. Everything smells fresh and feels cold like a dip in the ocean. I start to feel grateful that I’ve come here. It’s a cleansing experience.

The silence and stillness has given me a chance to hear and see a different perspective. Every place sings differently. Even if no words are spoken, there is still wisdom to be listened to and beauty to be admired. I take out my camera, trying to capture the moment… but I stop myself and remember what I’d learned from Taipei: don’t capture life, dance with it.

I think this is why I have fallen in love with photography. For me, it’s not about having a goal and seeking to go out and get it. It’s about waiting, looking, listening and seeing what life presents you with. If you try too hard, you will end up with no opportunities at all. But if you drop your expectations, you will see the perfect moment when it arrives.

There are few subjects to take a photo of out here, and sometimes the expanse of nature can be overwhelming. There is so much activity under the stillness which we cannot easily perceive with the senses, but can only feel through a connection with the heart. Maybe that’s why people find nature to be so healing… because in it’s quietness it becomes clear that life is a reflection of what we put into it.

We see a tree, we see a curve in the horizon, or maybe we see a bird perched on a branch… we take a photo because it’s beautiful, but why? What does it mean? It means nothing other than what we decide it to be. Nature is not yelling at us, telling us what we should think or what we should do… it just exists, and lets us do the same.

Another adventure begins…