Be still explores moments where an individual is in touch with his/her inner peace, which can be reached by realization of ¡°sense of oneness.¡± The work is motivated by the desire to convey and provide the experience of being in such state of mind to the viewers through photographic images. Aspiring to find such moments in my daily life, the work has started from the appreciation for those moments. Also informed by eastern philosophy¡¯s correlative world view, the work alludes to their notion of nature and its relation to spirituality. I photographed individuals placed in the natural setting, with their gaze away from the viewers. These people in the photographs are simply being there, often sitting or standing, in a relaxed and serene mood. As I hid their faces and placing them to take the portraits of their backs, the individuals who are in the photographs become devoid of individuality, and this certain lack of identities lets the viewers to build richer psychological relationship with the images. For the notion of being or ¡®oneness¡¯ in relation to the meditative moments that I would like to explore is experiential, I have chosen to emphasize on the aspect of ¡®experience¡¯ by maximizing the affects these photographs may resonate. |