week forty-nine — held back

every so often, i take a break from posting my own shots for the photo of the week and invite my friends to post theirs instead. seeing others’ shots and hearing how they think about photography always gives me another perspective, which is part of what this photo of the week thing is all about…

enjoy this week’s post and commentary by Everett Hindman. Everett is an incredibly talented photographer from my hometown. i only recently discovered his work, but i’ve been extremely impressed with his vision and creativity. for more of his work, you can follow him on 500px: https://500px.com/everetthindman

Well first I just want to say how honored I am to be doing a guest post. I truly admire Kyle’s work and his unique eye for photography! The last time I saw Kyle was back when I was in middle school, when he gave me some soccer lessons. Just this year I come in contact with him again through facebook, which led to me see all the amazing photography he has been doing. Now he’s off in Chicago working an impressive job and I’m about to graduate High School — how funny that we both ended up with photography being such a big factor in our lives.

I just took this photo about two weeks ago while visiting some colleges in Portland Oregon. I took two separate photos, one with the background in focus and one with the fence in focus. I later used a layer mask in photoshop to get the result above. I created it with a much deeper meaning in mind. It is supposed to depict how you can be held back by modern day society. We go through so much unnecessary stress that it unloads onto each and every one of us. This photo, and my thoughts tied to it,  is inspired by the stresses I am experiencing from trying to pick a college. I don’t know where to go and I don’t know if I could even get accepted into any of these schools. This picture represents all of that; the weight of stress in my life. Instead of letting it weigh me down, It is important to try my best now, and do what makes me happy. I may not know exactly what I’m doing or what I should be doing, but I will eventually find my way. The same can be said for all of us. Don’t lose sight of your pursuit of happiness. Happiness is tied to success, we can’t crawl through our life wishing we had done more. So do what you love, and always try your hardest. The rest will follow.