A New Appreciation for Art
Before this trip, I thought that art was a waste of time. When I thought about art, images of boring, plain paintings and sculptures came to mind. Over the course of this trip so far though, I’ve begun appreciating art a lot more.
I couldn’t appreciate the beauty of still art and at a basic level, I didn’t understand why it existed. If viewing or making art was in the day’s plan, I would try to avoid it at all costs or go with a generally bad attitude. I realize that some of my dislike for art came from the fact that I didn’t think I was good at art. I have never had great motor skills or have seen myself as a great artist.
On this trip, though, I have really gotten interested in photography and I’m actually getting pretty good at it. Photography has been a great way for me to express myself without spending hours trying to acquire better motor skills. In photographing the beautiful places we are traveling to, I am developing a greater appreciation for artistry.
In order to be a photographer, I constantly have to think about how I am viewing something and the best way to present it to someone else. It is like a painter would have to think of his presentation. The image is there for me, ready to take, but I have to find an interesting angle. I then edit the photos, which for me is the equivalent of an artist critiquing his painting and changing a small aspect of the work. Sometimes to make the picture more interesting, I like to add more clarity, fuzziness, or color. Basically, for me, photography is really about capturing the moment and the feelings of that moment in a beautiful, artistic way.
What I am realizing is that there are still some types of art that I don’t like, but what has changed is how I “define” and classify art. My definition of art has expanded to include music, street art, movies, photography, poetry, and multiple other things that I enjoy on a daily basis. So now, if my parents suggest viewing art, it doesn’t mean that I won’t get bored, but at least I can keep an open mind!
This was one of my favorite photographs from Panama. It was my mom’s favorite building!
This photograph was from Bocas Del Toro in Panama. I liked editing the sunset colors. I also upped my editing game with the cover photo out of the plane widow between Colombia and Ecuador.
Here is a cool photograph of street art in Cartagena, Colombia from Getsemani neighborhood.
