meaning of life at 50 years old
What is the meaning of life? This is a question many people struggle answering, is there a wrong answer? What brought me to ask this question? In my Journalism class we have been looking at photo journalism. We discussed how dangerous photo journalism can be. We even spoke to a photojournalist that gave us some insight on how dangerous but beautiful this job can be. He showed us some beautiful images he had taken and shared stories on his journeys getting those photos. We learned about different aspects of a camera and taking an image like aperture which is the amount of light coming onto a film. There is also Shutter-time which is how long the film is exposed to light. Lastly there is focus which is where you point the camera is where the focus shall be. Given all of this information my class was given we were asked to interview somebody of our choice and ask what their meaning of life was. With this we had to capture a photo of them that shows their meaning of life.
So what is the meaning of life? Happiness? Success? My grandmother AA has always been my biggest inspiration in life. I believe her meaning of life would be something worth listening to. Wearing her navy blue work uniform, red plaid jacket, black work shoes and her hair up in a bun like always, as she was making herself something to eat I asked what her meaning of life was. She was very confident in her answer saying “enjoying life itself, doing what you like best. Accomplishing goals, being with your loved ones, family members.” Family is a big thing, they are the people we go to for comfort or when we need someone. I asked if life has always meant the same for her or if it has changed and if it has, why? She took a moment to respond and said “no, I’ve always been clear of my thoughts, it's always been the same.” I found this surprising considering personally I always feel like I change my meaning of life depending on where I am in life. She mentioned how she took care of her siblings from a very young age, about 8 or 9 and until this day. I asked if there was something that could happen that would change her meaning of life and she said no. Specifically she said “I think everything that i've lived has made me what i am and made us stronger as a family.”
I asked what she thinks represents this meaning of life and she responded with “a picture of me with my siblings and loved ones.” So I took a photo of that, AA’s siblings don’t live close enough to her where I can snap a shot of them all together in real time. I thought this would have been better but I used what I had and used an image of them together in the meaning of life image. As you can see in the image she is looking at her phone showing a picture of AA and her siblings. From the point of view the camera is at, you can see she is looking admirably at the photo. You can see the decoration on the dining room table in the background. The exposure on the image is lowered to give it a more meaningful effect. The aperture is f/1.5 and the shutter time is 1/60th of a second and you can see the focus is on the image on the phone. I took a second picture where you can see her face and it is unedited. This time the aperture is f/1.8 and the shutter time is 1/60th of a second. The focus this time is on her smiling face looking at the image of her siblings. You can see the windows of the dining room in the background along with chairs and a decorative plant. Using the rule of thirds I tried my best to make sure AA was either on the left or right of the images. Rules of thirds are used to help direct the viewer's gaze to the main focal point of the image.
I used my iphone 13 to capture these images. I chose to use the dining room to take the image in because that is usually where family eats together. I think it adds to what AA says their meaning of life was. I think their facial expressions really show how they feel about their siblings and show the love AA has for them. I believe I really showed AA’s meaning of life through these images. Although I feel like the image would have been better captured with all of AA’s siblings here in person I am proud that I worked with what I had and still got the message across.
I enjoyed this AP. I never asked my grandmother what her meaning of life was before so hearing it made me admire her view and I recognized how strong she is. I loved getting to know her on a deeper level.
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