Traffic – © John Neel
Among its many possibilities, the conscientious use of photography just might be a way to end the uproar caused by our materialistic excessiveness.
Stop for a second with whatever you are doing. Be as quiet as you can and listen to your surroundings. Really listen. Do you hear that hum?
I know it is there. We all can hear it. It is the audible frequency of the modern world.
Perhaps it is the computer or maybe the motor that runs your air conditioner, furnace or refrigerator. In my neighborhood, it is also the lawn mower or the chainsaw down the street, a truck, car or motorcycle roaring down the highway, a train in the distance or a plane flying overhead. These are the sounds that we hear all the time. They rarely leave us in peace and quiet.
I’ll bet that nearly everywhere, there is a similar sound that permeates all of the environments we inhabit. It is a noise that we have suppressed into our everyday experience of the world. We hear it, but yet we don’t. It is simply there as a hum of human generated energy.
The modern world moves at a variety of frequencies, which blend together into what might be called background or ambient noise. So far, we have lived with it for at least a few centuries. It is so much a part of our everyday experience of the world that we don’t really notice it anymore. I would imagine that when the first factories, trains, motors of any sort began clattering, humming, banging and doing their works, humans began to notice the audible changes in the world. To them, it was the sound of progress. It was power, the convenience of the tool and the factory.
Prior to the industrial age, the sounds throughout the world were mostly natural sounds of bird songs, insects chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, the rush of water or waves, the sounds of breathing and footsteps on the earth. Every so often a yelp or bark or scream might echo though the wild. The wildness of nature seemed to be part of the experience of living. And, it was.
Eagle – © John Neel
In the short history of the modern world, we have been disconnected from nature in part by the constant bombardment with human induced noise.
In seeing too, we have been disoriented by a comparable distraction of the modern world.
Everywhere, there are the artifacts of human technology and so-called advancement. The old and the new get layered into a maze of wires, signs, buildings, concrete, roadways and pavement. Over short periods of time, as we go from one technology to another and from worn out to the newly made, we use the environment as a dumping ground for everything we create. Things are discarded onto the land and into the seas.
All of those things included in our surrounding views, either old, new or discarded, become visual noise. It is a noise that obscures the natural beauty of our world. It inhibits our seeing and reduces our nature. Much of it produces other more serious problems, which poison and pollute the environment and ourselves in return.
The night is filled with the ambient pollution of billions of manmade lights, which are reducing the visibility of the nocturnal sky. It is yet another noise that has become a part of the everyday experience of life. Our ability to light up the darkness has also reduced our awareness of the stars, the planets and our universe. The noises we have created, are not only an unnatural experience for ourselves, but also for all other life that has had to adapt to our consumptive ways and those that simply cannot.
In our disconnectedness we have forgotten our relationship to the planet and our own dependence on its life giving resources.
To really be a part of the natural world, we must find those sacred places that might still provide a sanctuary from what we have created by the hustle and bustle of the new world. Those places are becoming more and more difficult to find. And when we do find them, we discover more and more of our technologies are ever intruding to steal it away.
Perhaps that is one reason why we all seem to love water. The oceans, streams and waterfalls create their own sounds that drown out the white noise of technology. In some ways they represent a more primal experience of living. The deep woods, major oceans, jungles and deserts of our world are soon to be the only places left where we might truly experience life’s touches, its closeness and its greatness – at least for now.
Not too long ago, the world was much more natural. It was full of wonder, awe, imagination and spirit. It was much more pristine and wild. I can remember a world that was much bigger, quieter, much less polluted with huge stars in the blue evening sky without the contrails of airplanes or the motions of satellites.
It hasn’t taken much time to screw it up. How did we let it go this far? Can we regain what has been lost? Do we care enough?
Photography may be a way to turn ourselves around. It can play an important part in communicating what we have lost, what we are losing, and why we need to consider what we might do next. There are those photographers who see the world I describe here. They use their cameras and their talent to show us the beauty of the world as well as a vision of the noises, which we have created. It is our responsibility to see what is there.
Among its many possibilities, the conscientious use of photography just might be a way to end the uproar caused by our materialistic excessiveness.
You can read about my book “Rethinking Digital Photography” here. Please have a look at some of my other posts here.
NOTICE of Copyright: THIS POSTING AS WELL AS ALL PHOTOGRAPHS, GALLERY IMAGES, AND ILLUSTRATIONS ARE COPYRIGHT © JOHN NEEL AND ARE NOT TO BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT FROM THE WRITER, THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND/OR lensgarden.com. THE IDEAS EXPRESSED ARE THE PROPERTY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE AUTHOR.
