The Meaning of Life

During the second unit of my Journalism class, we focused on the purpose of photojournalism and the effects it can have on others. We looked at images from the past that captured messages and told stories of a thousand words. In our investigation, we conducted research and observed many images looking at different perspectives. We even dove into elements that make a photo better, such as contrast, exposure, aperture, and shutter speed. Overall finding the meaning of life was the end goal for our entirety. Which is difficult to do because everyone has completely wild views that vary from each age group. The meaning of life to a baby may be to see his mommy and daddy in the morning as he wakes. An older person might say the meaning of life is to find a purpose. But when you're born you're destined to have energetic happiness from the start. Anyway, for this project, I captured my lovely best friend Erin.

My portrayed person is a young adult that hasn’t lived that long enough to experience all this world has to offer. But don’t let that fool you as she has lots of stories to tell. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and is a 2020 graduate of GCE lab school. Age is something many people look up to when comparing how you should behave, but Erin is very mature for her age. Residing on the north side the majority of her life, she has been exposed to many intercultural communities. These ultimately impacted her outlook on life and how she moves from now onto the future.

Here are some questions I asked in my interview:

1. What's the meaning of life, in your opinion?

The meaning of life is a diverse thing. There’s so many different creations from minuscule, enormous, and things we can’t even see. They all play a part in making the world go round one way or another; and, seeing and understanding the beauty of the earth and what is on it is a start. The rest is living it, making mistakes, and overcoming hills that life will throw at is. Then, continuing on to other adventures that await after that. In the end, purpose will be revealed while prevailing through all of the tasks gone through in life.

2. Has life always meant the same for you, or did this meaning change to you? Why?

Life hasn’t always had the same meaning for me. At first, I wasn’t quite sure what any of it meant. I was just here and didn’t know why. But as I grew older and experienced hardships that I was able to overcome, I saw the beauty in the struggle and was able to use lessons I learned from my past and apply them to my future.

3. I’d love to hear a story that explains your view of the meaning of life, or how you came up with it? Would you please share one? I’ve always tried to stay curious. Wanting to learn more about what’s around me or beyond myself. I used to think that I didn’t have a purpose. That my future may seem dim because of my lack of knowledge on what’s to come and what’s happening now. There was a time in my life where I felt stuck and in a dark hole that seemed impossible to climb out of. But there was always a way out, even if it would take years and not happen as quickly as I wanted it to. I would be able to take the experience of the time passed and be grateful that it happened. Even in the moment I wish it to never have existed at all, it was better I have that time to heal than to “heal” overnight and not have the knowledge from simply waiting.

 4. If you could go back and change something in your past would you? What would it be?

I wouldn’t necessarily change anything about my past. Even in the moment when I feel regret or that I could’ve done something different... Every scenario may be different; but, I want to be able to grow from mistakes and make better choices or have different outcomes in the future.

5.How do you cherish your time that you have? What are some things that you do that make you happy? By trying not to waste any moment with distractions...I try or have been trying to fill my time with things I like to do like playing basketball, entertaining myself in ways that aren’t necessarily on a phone or television, or spending time with Jahsia of course ;).

6. As you have aged over the years have you noticed a change in any way shape or form about yourself? Of course. Each month I see and understand something new about myself. I really try to be observant of myself so that there can be room for growth and for me to see where there is room for improvement. 

Elaboration:
I believe that Erin said this was the meaning of life because she was raised in the Christian faith and believes that God is the foundation of character. She looks at life in a way where she can be more at peace and bring peace. Building this character is a journey with a lot of ups and downs, but trying to stay strong in it while learning more about God is a way of growing for her.

                                               

This is a picture of Erin doing one of the things she loves most, hooping at her nearby court, or at least trying to with no rim. It looks like evening time, but it’s really late afternoon here. This image portrays serenity for her. It’s something similar to art in the way of getting it complete, but it must be done a certain way; but also abstractly. As long as it's enjoyable and has a positive effect, it's working.

I took the picture from this angle because it gives an overview of the park while also focusing on my subject. It’s straight to the point but subtle at the same time. As of taking the picture I used the rule of thirds and tried to move my subject over to match this. I also flipped the phone camera upside down to capture the effect of her being taller. The aperture was increased in the picture so it could have a little light showing. Shutter speed remained normal, and the lens remained focused. I added more exposure and higher contrast to give a darker effect. This image was subjective because of the purpose of expressing her passion for basketball and how it affects her.

Overall finding the meaning of life is difficult, but I guess the more we experience the more we will know.
I enjoyed doing my interview and capturing this picture. I think it looks pretty dope considering having no photography skills. I enjoyed this challenge though and can’t wait for more.

JNL(2020) Original

JNL(2020) Edited