Original Art Photography Series by @velimir #163 'Alone'
The name of this art photograph is: 'Alone'
What does it mean to be alone? Is it being physically alone or is it more about feeling alone, regardless of the circumstances? Sometimes being without people is beneficial for restoring of inner calmness and each one of us goes to that place from time to time. So, being alone is often a choice, I believe. Now, loneliness, that's another story...
When I was working in Japan, we were invited to a dinner in the restaurant where "Lost in Translation" was shot. A cosy place on the top floor of Park Hyatt where she was singing, as I recall. The place was full of elderly businessmen engaging in casual chatter at the bar and bar-like tables. My young colleague, who loved to get in conversations with strangers, started talking with a guy who appeared to be a board member of some serious corporation. He was slowly sipping his whiskey and Pete started talking about whiskeys even though he didn't know much about them. The elderly gentleman liked that attitude, I believe. Therefore, he politely answered a few questions and ordered a glass of whiskey for Pete. It was a shot of whiskey priced over 120$. Pete was impressed and immediately engaged right back in the conversation. Then the gentleman waved his hand and calmly said: "My time." in Japanese. I still remember the expression that made me laugh after the gentleman translated it into English to dazzled Pete. "Watashi no jikan." The hand movement was slow, downward, with the right hand from left to right. He just wanted to be alone and relax and he didn't need Pete to talk. This was a Japanese lesson on reflective solitude that I vividly recall to this very day.
About the photograph. The festivities have ended, the glitter is about to go down, the joyful feeling is soon to be replaced by grey winter days. I saw this scene and felt its coldness. Dark areas are weighing down upon us, contrasted with the cold light coming from the outside. There are no people, except a guy walking alone. The door in the background is open, letting the coldness inside.
Colours are scarce, washed out and limited to blue and yellow. Linearity is strong and suggestive. Dynamics are created with high contrast and rhythmic patterns on both sides of the frame. The whole feeling is cold, empty and very lonely. Can you feel that?
Rather think of "my time" than about loneliness, and enjoy! :)
©2017 Velimir Kovačić All rights reserved.
All images and text published in this post are my original work. I encourage everyone to use own texts, thoughts and images as much as possible. Be yourself and stay yourself. This is a proper way to build steemit.com. I do not have respect for dishonest authors. Also, bloggers actually DO matter!
• For good, inspirational read on various subjects follow: @gavvet
• For crypto news, follow always up-to-date @kingscrown 's blog on the subject.
• I really like to read @vcelier 's life story!
• If you want to laugh away enjoy @meesterboom 's posts full of brisk humour and positive attitude!
• I suggest a visit to @adsactly society's blog if you feel like reading hi-quality posts about many themes daily provided by ADSactly society members!
• Vote @thecryptodrive @reggaemuffin and @adsactly-witness for your witnesses in the Witness Parliament. They are kind people who will represent you well.
I'd like to extend my gratitude to everyone who continuously supports both of my ongoing projects (Motorcycle Travel Series and Art Photography Series). Big thank you for enjoying the content and appreciating my effort. This is what steemit.com is meant to be about.
I am a member of the @buildteam crew, innovative creators of @minnowbooster @steemvoter and @steemsports blockchain projects.
The @adsactly society is a meeting point for free thinking individuals who want to cooperate. It is a welcome addition to Steemit.com community. Feel free to ask about it.
The @adsactly society Discord channel is here: ADSactly You are welcome to join!
The moment I saw this photo I thought there wasn't anything very special about it but the more I looked at it the more I noticed the way it was composed was really well put together. The washed out, stark outside light coming in and making me feel a bit anxious, then as you move your line of sight down you notice the man bathing in the warm light... the image is called alone but I feel like it's not so bad to be alone, I would rather be alone than out in the stark and bright outside world.
This is a very thoughtful comment. Thank you man, I really enjoyed it. Please come again :)
most welcome, keep the photos coming!
This is really a killer photography, I an artist too, but I don't take much interest in photography cause I thought it isn't reliable enough, but things I find on Steemit these days are really inspiring and I would love to try out photography some day, though I do pencil works and am satisfied, but I still have to visit photography.
Yes you are right. @velimir caught the perfect scene which is showing he is an excellent photographer.
Excellent photographer indeed.
Brilliant,very poetic and original as usual. That is a cool story about the Japanese man. Everyone needs some time alone once in a while. Your brain is overloaded and sometimes you just need to zone out, meditate or just reflect on life by your self to unload a little bit.
I have a very positive feeling about this photo. Rather than concentrate on the fact that the person here is alone. I note that the surface he is walking on is clean and uncluttered. He looks like he is going somewhere with purpose so that I have a sense of mastery yet ease. I definitely have a feeling of "it is my time" as look at the work. I even find myself identify with that feeling. I love people but sometimes the mob distracts. Sometimes you just want to meditate and focus on being you at a particular moment. I love your photography and and the questions you ask. They elicit the best out of people and I feel you are doing a great service by doing this. Thanks you.
I agree, the person is walking on a shiny clean surface, uncluttered and walking some where with a purpose.
I also see them walking away from the bright lights, maybe work, or maybe just the brightness of society overflowing their mind, and walking into a serene calm warmer area to find peace from within.
Interesting. This must be coming from the fact that the light gets warmer toward us. Notice how the guy is all in yellow light, while the cold stays in the back. Thought of writing about it but decided its too complex. Thank you for this comment, very much!
You are welcome.
ok
I loved that movie @velimir, I remember thinking about it for days after watching it. And when I got a chance to visit Tokyo for work for 2 weeks I remember feeling most intensely like being in an alien world, although I had been traveling before in many countries, to almost all continents.
Besides feeling like an alien there I appreciated their willingness to help out a lost stranger in the streets. Every single day complete strangers have helped me find the addresses I was looking for if I asked for help.
On another note I didn't know they have a saying for "My time", I love it! I will learn it and use it when I need to protect my "me" time :)
Loved the story and the photo, thanks for sharing & Steem on! :)
Thank you for enjoying it! :)
Wow, talk about inspirational.
Yes there is a difference between loneliness and being alone.
There’s many times I try to find that somewhere just to be alone and relax, meditate, time to just think.
But loneliness is sad, it’s wanting to be with someone, or at least be in communication with people. Beautiful picture to depict the thought at hand.
I like the post, thanks for sharing.
My pleasure! :)
It is great to have company but a time for reflection is a good time for self-evaluation. Being alone provides the time to reflect the things in our lives that we can do better or differently. It is also a good time to set the agenda of our 2018. Thanks for sharing how being alone that provides the inner calmness for our own soul searching!
another portion of food for thought.
But seriously speaking, it is often necessary for a person in the modern world to be alone, along with their thoughts, this helps to restore emotional balance.
But apart from everything, the fact that the more the population of the planet grows and the technologies develop, the more a person needs to be alone - a paradox, but still less, is haunted :)
Thank you
Been following your work for a while, it's amazing how you can transmit a lot by just playing with the lights and colors. I really like this photo and the story behind it.
Yes, that is one of the points of my work. Thank you!
Well consider those goals achieved! You're totally making it happen. Once again, great photo. Looking foward to feel your next work.
I noticed some authors are getting upvotes on their posts from @adsactly. Can you explain the criteria? Sorry for being off-topic but you seem the right person to answer this question.
Regarding your post, I think being alone could be regarded as having ME TIME. For introverts, this is important so that they could restore their energy. For extroverts, being alone for a longer period feels bad. So, they are more social and this is where they get their energy from. However, suffering from loneliness is an entirely different topic. This is about one's inner situation. People can be in rushy areas but still might feel loneliness. Or they could be alone and yet feeling noisy in their mind.
I'm already following all of these authors and their posts:
• For good, inspirational read on various subjects follow: @gavvet
• For crypto news, follow always up-to-date @kingscrown 's blog on the subject.
• I really like to read @vcelier 's life story!
• If you want to laugh away enjoy @meesterboom 's posts full of brisk humour and positive attitude!
• I suggest a visit to @adsactly society's blog if you feel like reading hi-quality posts about many themes daily provided by ADSactly society members!
Very nice post @velimir. Enjoyed reading it.
Steem On!
I work for adsactly society's administration and therefore is this vote. ADSactly society also curates valuable content we believe is beneficial to the platform and the price of steem. As you can see, STEEM is hitting the sky, so we all must be doing something right. Please, you are free to join adsactly society and contribute. Read all about it on @adsactly blog in ADSactly on ADSACTLY series. There are, I believe, #26 parts.