And the Oscar goes to...

...Well, not quite an Oscar, but a photo of mine was chosen to be the winner of a February photo contest on the Year of Living Gorgeously site. Go see (as I am too modest to post the winning photo here myself) and get inspired by the site. The judge of the competition was Maryam, who I mention in my first blog post. I promise you we do not know each other so this was somewhat weird coincidence but goes to show how small the world really is.

The competition made me think of photography in general and how we see things.
I take photos most of the days just because I almost always have my mobile phone with inbuilt camera with me. They may not be the best quality photos but manages to capture little passing moments in 'I've been here and experienced this' kind of way.

Sometimes seeing others taking photos makes me sad. Let me explain. When people are capturing something it's almost like they - in that very moment - are not part of the same world themselves. Imagine people being out celebrating someone's birthday and then someone gets the camera out and snaps away. Often that person never gets in to the pictures at all. Maybe the essence of photography is just that, being a little bit of an outsider and thinking more of others than yourself. Hmmm... I kind of like this theory.

I have been contemplating of having black and white photos of each city and country I have ever lived in in one of my empty walls back home. Not necessarily a photo of a city as such, but maybe some detail from those places. That would make a quite a collection already.

My niece who is 12 is showing quite a talent in photography. The picture in this post is of her which she took of herself in front of a mirror. I think it's awesome. Maybe THIS is the photo I should have blown up and hang to my empty living room wall. What do you think?