The meaning of life: an age-old question that has been attempted to have been answered by countless philosophers, religions, and scholars. “We’re here to do good, to create, for the purpose of good and creation.” Not a philosopher, scholar, or religious leader, my father is still someone I look up to, someone who follows his own path no matter what other people say, and someone who always works toward good. While we each can have our own personal philosophies about why we are here and what our purpose on Earth is, I think the most important thing is to follow your own doctrine as best as you can.
“I’ve lived long enough to see that being good and creating has its own rewards, that you don’t have to be good to try to gain some reward like heaven or to avoid some punishment like hell. I’ve seen things that I’ve done come back to me. Just as we are creations, we are agents of creation.” Nothing comes from nothing. Life itself comes from just a few miscellaneous elements, and it’s our job to continue what nature has started: creation. By using the same few elements that we ourselves are made of, we can create millions of other creations. An education naturalist for Chicago’s Park District, my father works with children and families to help them create using recycled and natural materials, teaching them skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. Through his practice of ‘living lightly on the Earth’, he works to lower his environmental impact while trying to maximize his positive impact on others. Using materials that most people would look at and think ‘trash,’ he restarts the life cycle for the object and elevates it. “I repair things, I build things, especially my favorite thing to do is to teach kids to use tools, empowering them to build whatever they want, from toys to playgrounds. I’m always trying to make connections, introduce people to each other with complementary skills. I try to live lightly on the earth...and try not to waste anything.”
My father is constantly discovering new ways to reuse materials, always using creative workarounds to avoid throwing things out and working hard to make sure that other people do the same. He has always believed in education first, starting his career at the Kohl Children’s Museum, teaching kids about new cultures, letting them discover concepts on their own, and supporting them to build their own ideas. He has designed and taught hundreds of preschool classes, and you can see the benefits coming back to him all the time. At the Nature Center where he worked, he constantly gets visits from people who started learning from him at four or five years old, thanking him for their interest in engineering, nature or environmental science. Everywhere we travel, we run into people who know him from his work around the city.
Being a photojournalist can be difficult, as most people disagree on how involved you are ‘allowed’ to be in the situation. One of the basic principles of journalism is to be non-biased and objective, which raises the question: ‘Can anyone truly be one-hundred percent objective?’ And I think the answer is no; merely choosing a subject to photograph is a form of subjectivity. I think, though, that it is okay in this case to be subjective, as this a profile of someone’s opinions about the meaning of life.
“I’ve lived long enough to see that being good and creating has its own rewards, that you don’t have to be good to try to gain some reward like heaven or to avoid some punishment like hell. I’ve seen things that I’ve done come back to me. Just as we are creations, we are agents of creation.” Nothing comes from nothing. Life itself comes from just a few miscellaneous elements, and it’s our job to continue what nature has started: creation. By using the same few elements that we ourselves are made of, we can create millions of other creations. An education naturalist for Chicago’s Park District, my father works with children and families to help them create using recycled and natural materials, teaching them skills that they can use for the rest of their lives. Through his practice of ‘living lightly on the Earth’, he works to lower his environmental impact while trying to maximize his positive impact on others. Using materials that most people would look at and think ‘trash,’ he restarts the life cycle for the object and elevates it. “I repair things, I build things, especially my favorite thing to do is to teach kids to use tools, empowering them to build whatever they want, from toys to playgrounds. I’m always trying to make connections, introduce people to each other with complementary skills. I try to live lightly on the earth...and try not to waste anything.”
My father is constantly discovering new ways to reuse materials, always using creative workarounds to avoid throwing things out and working hard to make sure that other people do the same. He has always believed in education first, starting his career at the Kohl Children’s Museum, teaching kids about new cultures, letting them discover concepts on their own, and supporting them to build their own ideas. He has designed and taught hundreds of preschool classes, and you can see the benefits coming back to him all the time. At the Nature Center where he worked, he constantly gets visits from people who started learning from him at four or five years old, thanking him for their interest in engineering, nature or environmental science. Everywhere we travel, we run into people who know him from his work around the city.
Being a photojournalist can be difficult, as most people disagree on how involved you are ‘allowed’ to be in the situation. One of the basic principles of journalism is to be non-biased and objective, which raises the question: ‘Can anyone truly be one-hundred percent objective?’ And I think the answer is no; merely choosing a subject to photograph is a form of subjectivity. I think, though, that it is okay in this case to be subjective, as this a profile of someone’s opinions about the meaning of life.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Photographs have been used since their invention 1826 to illustrate what words can’t say. To help say what can only be said visually, during the interview, I took many pictures of my dad carving to highlight how he applies his meaning of life. In the original photo, you can see how I used an unusual perspective, taking the photo from over his arm to give the illusion that you are in the room with him. I used the focus to highlight his hands and the shaving coming off of the carving and increased the contrast levels to make the grain in the wood and the threads on his sweater pop out more. I wanted to draw the eye towards his hands and the knife, which he blacksmithed himself. The high level of contrast helps to bring out some of the minute details. In a picture with such a focused subject area, just his hands, the carving, and a knife, it is important to make sure that all of the details are clear and evident. I wanted the shadows along his hands to be a bit deeper to make the tendons and muscles pop out more, to show his effort.
My father is constantly discovering new ways to reuse materials, always using creative workarounds to avoid throwing things out and working hard to make sure that other people do the same. He has always believed in education first, starting his career at the Kohl Children’s Museum, teaching kids about new cultures, letting them discover concepts on their own, and supporting them to build their own ideas. He has designed and taught hundreds of preschool classes, and you can see the benefits coming back to him all the time. At the Nature Center where he worked, he constantly gets visits from people who started learning from him at four or five years old, thanking him for their interest in engineering, nature or environmental science. Everywhere we travel, we run into people who know him from his work around the city.
Being a photojournalist can be difficult, as most people disagree on how involved you are ‘allowed’ to be in the situation. One of the basic principles of journalism is to be non-biased and objective, which raises the question: ‘Can anyone truly be one-hundred percent objective?’ And I think the answer is no; merely choosing a subject to photograph is a form of subjectivity. I think, though, that it is okay in this case to be subjective, as this a profile of someone’s opinions about the meaning of life.
Being a photojournalist can be difficult, as most people disagree on how involved you are ‘allowed’ to be in the situation. One of the basic principles of journalism is to be non-biased and objective, which raises the question: ‘Can anyone truly be one-hundred percent objective?’ And I think the answer is no; merely choosing a subject to photograph is a form of subjectivity. I think, though, that it is okay in this case to be subjective, as this a profile of someone’s opinions about the meaning of life.
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| Original Photo, MDS (2018) |
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| Edited Photo, MDS (2018) |
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