“All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt.”
―  Susan Sontag

Street Photography has always intrigued me.

The quote above explains exactly why.

Taking a single moment of someone’s life and freezing it in time forever has such a magical element to it.

The next day or even hour, the person that you photographed may not be in this world anymore.

I know it has a bit of a morbid ring to it, but think about it.

You may have caught the very last moments of this person’s life in your camera.

Whether that moment is happy or sad, you caught it and it tells their story when they can’t or won’t.

It’s quite cool to be completely honest.

I have never been a person that likes to be in crowds, but if I happen to find myself in one I am often times the person on the sidelines watching everyone.

On this particular day, I went to a festival in the city which I reside and was surrounded by people.

It was suffocating, but the madness also made me start thinking about life.

You never know what someone is going through, that young man with the angry expression pushing his way through may have just had an argument with his parent over the race of his girlfriend or something more simple like he can’t go hang out with his friends.

The couple sitting quietly to the side may be going through a divorce.

The woman with the smile may have just found out her cancer is in remission.

You just never know.

So next time someone bumps into you or is snappy with you think about their feelings, what they could be going through.

The results may surprise you.

All in all, I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t take life for granted.

If you have dreams go after them.

If you love someone don’t sit around afraid to say something go after them.

Make every moment a special one because you never know when it could be your last.

Until later loves,

-M.A.

*For more of my photography check out my Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/black_chalice/