Feb

Not Just Another Day at the Beach

by Meredith Mullins on February 13, 2017

An ocean view of the fishing village of M'Bour Senegal, offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream of images. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Life and livelihood from the sea in M’Bour, Senegal
© Meredith Mullins

A Photographer’s Dream: Cultural Encounter in Senegal

Travel adventures are triggered in many different ways. Journeys to exotic lands. Serendipitous celebrations. Unexpected challenges. New friendships with strangers. Losing yourself to the rhythms of wherever you are.

Boy and boat in M'Bour offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream with vivid Senegal life. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Falling in step with the local rhythms
© Meredith Mullins

This travel adventure is a cultural encounter centered on a memorable day at a Senegal beach. It all started with the washing of a horse. And, as I always say, “When you begin your day with a ceremonial horse washing, the promise of greatness is in the air.”

Senegal boys washing a horse, offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream in M'Bour, Senegal. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

The washing of the horse: a perfect way to start a day of travel adventures
© Meredith Mullins

An M’Bour Adventure

I was relaxing on a café terrace in M’Bour, looking out toward the edge of the earth and shielding my eyes from the relentless tropical sun, when I spied said horse, knee deep in the Atlantic Ocean.

Like a celebrity equine, he stood proud and poised, with just the right touch of obedience and humility. A team of young Senegalese beach lovers surrounded him and splashed him with sea water. Apparently it was horse washing day.

I waded out and offered my help, with a traveler’s curiosity and a not-so-hidden motive of capturing the jubilant event in photographs.

Four boys washing a horse in M'Bour, Senegal, offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream in images. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Adding the finishing touches to the horse washing process
© Meredith Mullins

A Photography Philosophy Pause

I should pause here to say the Senegalese are a very proud and confident people. They show you exactly who they are—each with a direct and unselfconscious gaze that seems to come from deep within.

Three Senegalese boys (B&W) on the beach in M'Bour, Senegal, offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream in photos. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Showing themselves as they wish to be seen
© Meredith Mullins

They are also quite reticent to be photographed, for a number of very good reasons. They have suffered and have been taken advantage of—in history (slavery) and in contemporary life (tourists who click away with their cameras without respect for privacy or permission and without regard for the human heartbeat inside).

As a photographer of people, I have learned that an enduring and meaningful photograph comes from building a solid relationship with those you are photographing and by conveying a strong sense of place. In Senegal, this connection takes a sincere investment of time.

Meanwhile . . . Back to the Horse

I stayed with the horse washing crowd for a long time, as we played in the water and got to know one another. I learned the intricacies of sea water washing, as we made our horse as white and as bright as possible.

Senegal boy resting in the ocean in M'Bour, offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream in images. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Cooling off in the Atlantic
© Meredith Mullins

The kids became my muses and my friends, as well as an integral part of my photographs. They were simply themselves, and they allowed me to capture that essence.

Small boy on the beach in M'Bour, Senegal, offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream of Senegal portraits. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Meeting the essence of M’Bour on the beach
© Meredith Mullins

A Walk on the Beach

Several of the horse washing team then became my tour guides and accompanied me along the beach to every small community and encampment. I became a focus of attention. Everyone was interested in me . . . just as I was in them.

Crowds gathered. Children came running. Villagers waved in welcome.

And when I treated one village to candy from their shop, suddenly everyone was there. (A huge thank you to my guides for excellent crowd control.)

Villagers in M'Bour, Senegal reach for candy in the local shop. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A candy frenzy
© Meredith Mullins

As a result of this intense and real connection, I made more memorable photographs in a few hours than I have ever made in any other place.

Boy runs to the ocean in M'Bour, Senegal, offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream of images. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

A run to the sea
© Meredith Mullins

That success was, in part, because of the vivid colors, the symphony of varied faces, and the bustling fishing life and love of the sea. But my “Oh, I see” moment was that it was also, in part, because I was fully present in their life, even for a brief moment in time.

Woman with baby on her back in M'Bour, Senegal, offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream of images. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

Welcoming smiles from M’Bour villagers
© Meredith Mullins

They say in photography that if you make one strong photograph during a shooting day, you have been successful. A photographer’s dream.

I made many images that day that I treasure. It was a day rich in sensory experience. But more important than the photos, I still remember feeling a very real part of the Senegal rhythms, as the community of M’Bour washed, swam, fished, played, and turned toward the water for life and livelihood.

These are the kind of cultural encounters that stay with you forever.

Three boys on the beach in M'Bour, Senegal (B&W and close up), offering travel adventures and a photographer's dream in images. (Image © Meredith Mullins.)

New friends on the M’Bour beach walk
© Meredith Mullins

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Meredith Mullins Comments

Crossing Cultures/Cultural Encounters/Senegal

Feb

Aha Moments in Aarhus

by Joyce McGreevy on February 6, 2017

A kayaker savors an aha moment at sunset in Aarhus, where the 2017 European Capital of Culture will celebrate community connection to nature. (Image © Anders Hede/VisitAarhus)

A quiet sunset before the start of Aarhus 2017, a yearlong series of events
to celebrate community by rethinking it.
© Anders Hede/VisitAarhus

Can we celebrate community by rethinking it?

The aha moments began at dawn with a mass bicycling event. As cyclists of all ages glided by, the winter mist rose like a curtain, revealing the newest European Capital of Culture. Aarhus 2017 had launched. All year, this small Danish city will celebrate community by rethinking it.

Celebrations continued into the night, with songs lifted by the wind to soar above the crowds. As six Viking ships set sail, hundreds of choral singers and thousands of locals, each carrying illuminated paper ships, transformed the port into a sea of lights.

Water Music, a harbor-side event in Aarhus, 2017 European Capital of Culture, was staged to celebrate community by rethinking performance art and creating aha moments. (Image © Sõren Pagter/Aarhus 2017)

Rethinking theatre: Even a port can be a stage in Water Music, part of Aarhus 2017.
© Sõren Pagter/Aarhus 2017

Rethinking Creative Cities

Located a few hours west of Copenhagen, Aarhus (OR-hoose) has attracted growing numbers of international visitors. This is a city in love with nature. Harbor and forest surround it and a tranquil river flows through its bustling center.

The Aarhus River’s renewed visibility shows how rethinking leads to aha moments, one more reason to celebrate community. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Once paved over for cars, Aarhus River was reopened in 2005.
© Joyce McGreevy

It’s also home to some of the world’s most sophisticated architecture: landmarks like the Isbjerget (“Icebergs”) and DOKK1, a tech-spectacular community hub and library.

Being a European Capital of Culture goes beyond tourism says Aarhus 2017 Program Director Juliana Engberg. “It raises the ambitions of a city and its region. It encourages us to stand up and be noticed, and to become a creative city.”

The Isbjerget (“Icebergs”) of Aarhus, 2017 European Capital of Culture, reflect how rethinking architecture leads to aha moments. (Image © Kim Wyon/VisitDenmark)

Rethinking structure: Uniquely angled to resemble icebergs,
these Aarhus apartments maximize views of the sea.
© Kim Wyon/VisitDenmark

Rethinking Time Travel

Taking notice of Aarhus is a good idea. With a population of 315, 000, Aarhus is a heady mix of charmed village and edgy urban hive.

Møllestien, the most photographed street for aha moments in Aarhus, was saved by rethinking how housing can celebrate community. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Rethinking housing: 18th century Møllestien, the most photographed street
in Aarhus, once faced demolition. Then artists and students moved in.
© Joyce McGreevy

To explore it is to wander through time. One moment you’re strolling the cobblestones of Møllestien (“Mill Lane”), where hollyhocks and roses frame half-timbered cottages. Next moment, you’re gazing up at the rainbow-tinted circular skywalk of the ARoS Museum of Modern Art.

The rainbow skywalk of ARoS Museum of Modern Art inspires aha moments that celebrate community in Aarhus, the 2017 European Capital of Culture. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Rethinking vision: A skywalk by Olafur Eliasson atop ARoS offers
rainbow-tinted panoramas of the city.
© Joyce McGreevy

Historically, Aarhus is one of Scandinavia’s oldest cities, founded around 770. But its concentration of university students makes it one of the youngest cities.

And wow, does Aarhus welcome new arrivals. Whenever a child is born here, parents press a button at the local hospital, sounding a three-ton bronze bell in that high-tech library.

Rethinking Past and Future

The theme of Aarhus 2017 is Let’s Rethink. “We will examine our Danish DNA,” say organizers, “and take delight and pride in its unique history.” Folkelige (popular traditions) are part of the program, including Viking pageants to rival the most binge-worthy Nordic dramas.

A woman re-enacts 17th century life in Aarhus, where such aha moments celebrate community history by rethinking it. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Rethinking history: An immersive living museum in Old Town Aarhus
leads you from the 1700s to the 1970s.
© Joyce McGreevy

Rethinking the Future

But diversity and the future play an even larger role. In forums, performances, and feasts, people in Aarhus will explore social media and social isolation, individual rights and collaborative endeavors, stereotypes about ages and cultures, and the potential of all generations.

At the People’s Feast later this spring, long, connected tables will be set up along city streets, and 500 locals and visitors will have supper and talk things over.

These days, there’s certainly plenty to talk about. Aarhus 2017 suggests that people the world over dare to rethink together, too.

Oh, I see: As people in one culture ask the big questions, people in cultures everywhere can move closer to meaningful answers.

Diners celebrate community at one long outdoor table in Aarhus, designed to inspire aha moments by rethinking food and fellowship. (Image © Stefan Ravn/Aarhus 2017)

Rethinking social media: “The biggest dinner party in the history of Denmark,”
The People’s Feast encourages public discussion and debate over a good meal.
© Stefan Ravn/Aarhus 2017

Rethinking Cultures

This year will be transformative for Aarhus, and not just as 2017 Capital of European Culture. As one organizer said, “We’re asking big questions of ourselves, such as: What will it mean to be human in the future?” An urgent question indeed.

What aha moments will occur? What new ideas will travel from Aarhus to your house?

Where else in the world might people sit down at one table? How can we connect what makes us unique from one another and recognize in it our shared humanity? How can we all rethink together?

Imagine a place where, as each new arrival joins us, we ring a bell of welcome. Could that be what it means to celebrate community?

Experience ARoS from the inside. Tour Olafur Eliasson’s skywalk here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 1 Comment

Clever Ideas/Crossing Cultures/Denmark

Jan

Best Way to Experience Yosemite?

by Eva Boynton on January 16, 2017

A view of Yosemite Valley, showing that to experience Yosemite fully all you need to do is open you eyes. (image © Sam Anaya)

Open Your Eyes, Take Home the Full Picture

Whenever I set foot in Yosemite, I feel the need to capture the grandeur of nature, extend the experience, and take it home with me. But, on this trip, I put my camera down and heeded a quote from Henry David Thoreau:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

A deserted cabin in Yosemite Valley forest, illustrating that to open your eyes to experience Yosemite may be beyond the camera frame. (image © Sam Anaya)

Is it possible to capture the intangible essence of an experience in a photo?
Or, do you just need to be there?
© Sam Anaya

How did I reach that decision? I found myself surrounded by other travelers engulfed in recording their experiences, one eye always shut as they looked through the lens of a camera. I came to realize that opening both eyes, without anything in-between, was my best way to experience Yosemite.

Snap-Snap-Snap

Yosemite is THE spot to capture iconic nature images. Early photos of the park were made by mountain men who experienced nature and weathered difficult conditions without modern conveniences to be there.

On tour of the vista points with my friend Dana Swarth, I observed that, nowadays, visitors experience a place through their cameras. They snap photos as frenetically as the White House Press Corps.

Two photographers crouching on the ground, showing how people try to experience Yosemite. (image © Eva Boynton)

A woman takes a selfie at Yosemite Falls, illustrating how you can forget to open your eyes and experience Yosemite. (image © Eva Boynton)

On one stop at Yosemite Falls, I encountered—

A couple adeptly using a selfie stick to photograph themselves from every perspective.
A dad lying on the ground to find the perfect angle of his wife and kids in front of the scene.
An older man, smiling all the while, making a 180° scan of the “entire” view with his iPad.

Photography can be like a sport in Yosemite—a rugged solo expedition to get selfies or a race to the finish line by competitive clickers. The winner? The person with the most photos.

Yosemite Falls, a view to appreciate when you open your eyes and experience Yosemite. (Image © Sam Anaya)

It was seeing the crowds hold onto their cameras for dear life that made me skeptical of my need to record my experience in pictures. People came and went without taking a moment to look with their own eyes.

What’s the Focus?

Whether it is a face, hand, or a single toe, too many photographers intentionally place some body part into the landscape to say, “Hey, I was here!” I watched a woman reposition her iPhone up and down, left to right, in an attempt to capture herself in the frame. She was the subject; Yosemite was the background.

A thumb's up in front of a mountain in Yosemite Valley, a selfie attempts to show how to experience Yosemite. (image © Eva Boynton)

Some articles reinforce this focus on self. “How to take a great selfie in Yosemite“ gives tips that include dividing your time between sites so as not to spend all your “selfie juice” in one location or hiking to Mariposa Grove where trees dapple your selfie face with light.

A selfie of three people in front of Yosemite Falls, people trying to experience Yosemite but taking the idea "Open Your Eyes" in the wrong direction. (image © Sam Anaya)

Amid the unparalleled grandeur of Yosemite, it seemed to me that the focus belonged on the experience. Sure, I could ensure a photo album of selfies and prove that I was there, but I decided to adjust the focus, make Yosemite the subject, turn around and see the real deal.

Dropping the urgent need to archive and record myself brought focus back on the raw experience. Thoreau had made the same discovery years ago. He processed his findings on time spent living in the woods by writing his experiences in his own hand. He focused on deliberate experience and awareness, lifting himself out of a snapped frame and into the woods.

Tall trees with the sun behind at Yosemite Valley, showing that if you open your eyes without a camera you might see a little more. (image © Sam Anaya)

Too Big to Frame

During our tour of Yosemite, Dana took us on a hike off the main tourist track. We sat perched on a rock, overlooking a valley with mountains as the horizon and a carpet of autumn-colored trees below.

We took in the scene with all our senses, feeling the cool spray from a waterfall behind us while the sun warmed our faces and shoulders. I began at the waterfall and slowly turned my head to the left, seeing every inch of the full picture.

A drawing of Yosemite Valley in front of the drawn landscape, showing how a frame cannot open your eyes to really experience Yosemite. (image © Sam Anaya)

I had followed my own advice, “Open your eyes,” and experienced Yosemite in full. Even so, I couldn’t resist recording some part of the experience. I took out my ink and paper and tried to etch the view into my memory.

As I lifted my finished drawing to the real thing, I noticed that the lines went off the paper. Oh, I see. The Yosemite experience was too big to frame. Living is already naturally panoramic.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Thank you, Sam, for your photos and, Dana, for the tour of Yosemite.

Check here for more information about Yosemite National Park.

Eva Boynton 7 Comments

Nature Discovery/USA

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