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- Location
- Los Angeles
- Name
- John
Well written Bart.
You've translated that wonderful feel.
You've translated that wonderful feel.
I gave thoughts for this for long time, but decided then to be courageous and share the story. This picture relates to crazy year 2015 when it seemed that nothing is enough. It started with heart attack of my uncle, and he couldn’t be saved, resulted brain injury and waited just unconsciousness the last moment in hospital. I decided to visit him to say goodbye.
When I was packing my car to drive to hospital, my mother called. We had talked that I’ll visit the uncle and she would join to say farewell to her brother. But it wasn’t that, why mother called. She called because daddy had taken to the very same hospital in the night, brain stroke. So they were there in the same hospital, two buddies, my dad and his brother in law. And my uncle did last favour for my dad, unless he wasn’t in the unconscious state after his heart stroke in the hospital, my mother would have been travelling with her friend, and no one would have helped my father and I had lost him, too.
The reason for my father’s stroke and other symptoms with the bad memory already for long time found out to be the blockage in the veins in the neck. The veins in the neck area were 90% blocked and brains were suffering constant lack of oxygen, dammed. No wonder his memory did tricks and personality changed.
This picture is mid of the hospital round. Day after operation where they opened the neck on the right side, took out the veins, cleaned and filtered the blood, and sewed everything back together. And after few weeks they repeated the operation on the left side. Daddy has recovered now a bit, driving again car, but suffering complications of the brain stroke for the rest of his life. But at least he is still with us, which has required multiple miracles during his life, but that’s another story. And the crazy year 2015 did other tricks as well, but that’s also yet another story.
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2017 was a pretty crappy year for my young family. I had what can only be described as a mental breakdown at the end of 2016, my wife had been diagnosed with cancer and finances were precarious. The future was uncertain to say the best.
Trying to protect (or at least minimise the impact on) our daughter from our deepest, darkest fears was difficult and exhausting. But we tried to made the best of those moments of sunshine. This picture of my daughter was taken on a trip to the coast at the end of the summer when financial uncertainty was perhaps at its worst.
The reason I love the shot is first and foremost the unbridled and unposed joy on her face. It means so much to me. From a photographic perspective I love the fact that the colour pallette is so neutral adding emphasis to her glasses and smile, and the shallow depth of field reflects the focus we had on our daughter at this time - the rest of the world existed but only on the periphary as we concentrated on that which was most important to us.
I guess it's easy to ascribe meaning to a picture in hindsight but this one has always had a special place in my portfolio. I'm glad to report that my wife is currently cancer free, I have new work and a fresh and healthy outlook on life and my daughter continues to grow into a smart, funny, intelligent and settled individual that we have nothing but pride in. But I still look back at this photo, which hangs above our fireplace, with both sadness and joy.