I took this photo 11 years ago. I had just moved to Regina, from a small Saskatchewan town. Everything about that particular day was perfect. It was a beautiful day, my favourite season, in my new exciting city, and I was out for a walk in Wascana Park with my best friend and the 35mm SLR camera I’d worked all summer to pay for.
The story behind the photo of the man in a wheelchair still makes me smile. He was all by himself, on the grass in the park, staring into the sun. I wasn’t there when he arrived so I don’t know if he arrived alone but he was still there when we left at least an hour later. His face remained expressionless, while the sun’s rays shone down on him.
Part of me wanted to ask if he was okay. But who was I to disturb this moment? I felt rather invasive taking photos of this. But, to me, it was one of the most honest and beautiful things I had ever seen.
Right there. That is when I fell in love with Photography.
Every time I look at this photograph, it takes me back to that time of my life – fresh out of high school, with so many possibilities and so many dreams ahead of me. How was I to know at that time I would travel to 21 countries and be so fortunate to witness several moments like this, that have touched me and shaped the person I am today. I look back on this photograph today and I am overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude.
Dear Photography: thank you.
Love, Loni
And oh the places you'll go. Thanks for this post. I'm going back to when i first got my dad's SLR. I didn't even know that that stood for. He didn't either for that matter. I remember looking through the 50mm fixed (real glass) lens of that Canon AE-1 for the first time. The world looked totally different. I wanted to experience the world the way I saw it through that camera. Dear Photography: Thank You. Thank you, L.
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