NEW PHOTO CHALLENGE: YINYANG

A while ago I was asked by a theatre friend to come up with 5 photos that represented what was right with the world and 5 photos of what's wrong with the world. She asked a few friends around the world to participate. I gobbled up the exercise traipsing around, searching for things to photograph. But then none of the other people asked to do the project really put much effort into it and my friend changed her mind, and her theatre piece went on a completely different track. She never used my photos :(

Today I was chilling in a park when I thought what an interesting photo challenge for Steemuters. Rules for the challenge will be posted at the end of this piece but first here is my entry. I was living in Arambol, Goa, India at the time and what really struck me during the process was how hard it was to come up with photos that represented what was wrong with the world. I found an abundance of everything that was right but not vice versa. I'm not sure if that says anything about me as a person or not and I'd be super interested to hear what other peoples' experiences are.

EVERYTHING THAT'S RIGHT WITH THE WORLD

Child pissing

Taken at the bottom of the road heading up to the Hindu temple on the hill. I have no idea what its purpose is. Maybe it’s advertising something but there was no brand name anywhere. I just thought it was bizarre, funny and I loved the message. There’s something truly beautiful about a child’s curiosity and abandon, unencumbered by social mores.

The wise cow

This cow looks very content. And of course if Jesus were to come back as a cow he'd definitely choose India.

Violin sunset

Every day people gather on the beach at Arambol, Goa to watch the sun set. They walk on stilts, juggle, play music, do acrobatics, watch, sing, dance and enjoy. There is an incredible amount of talent and expression. There were a million photos I could’ve showed. I chose the boy playing violin because there was something cinematic, rich and serene about the scene.

Underscore

I’d been attending a contact improvisation festival dancing every day. This shot was taken after everybody had been dancing for 2-3 hours. The rest at the end of dancing for so long has a sweetness to it. It’s the feeling of full satisfaction, of having expressed yourself and now the only thing to do is let go, rest and float.

Technology

This machine crushes sugar cane into a drink. Brilliant. People often deride technology but I think it’s awesome. It’s like practical art. And it gives us sugar cane juice.

EVERYTHING THAT'S WRONG WITH THE WORLD

What to do?

There’s a lot of garbage in India. It’s everywhere. I took a lot of photos of garbage dumped all over the place. We create so much stuff. The world is filling up with it and it doesn’t feel like we really have a plan to cope with it all.

Choices?

Apart from creating a whole lot of land fill that we don’t really need, having so much choice is kind of stressful. I think that’s why I hate shopping.

Church

I really don’t see the point of pouring resources into large buildings where people go to talk to God. Why is there so much opulence in religious buildings? People could be living there instead of dilapidated shacks.

Booze

Alcohol is such a shitty drug. Why on earth is it so popular? I don’t understand how a horrible substance like alcohol can be legal while medicine that gives you a profound experience like mushrooms, LSD or Ayahuasca are illegal.

Facebook

I was walking home at night after dancing all night, checking facebook on my phone. I literally walked straight into this boat. It clocked me right on the centre of my forehead. Fuck Facebook.

Does anyone want to take part in my challenge?

The rules are simple:
Find 5 photos of what you find right with the world
Find 5 photos of what you find wrong with the world
Major extra cudos for original photos
Give them titles
Write something about them (optional)
Write something about the process
Tag your post with yinyang
I'll set up a chat channel where people can post their submissions