It's been quite a while since I posted. The world has seemingly changed what with the election results and all. A lot remains to play out so I'll reserve comments on that for a bit.
The world has also changed for me because I finally bought an iPod. Yeah, I finally jumped on the bandwagon. I'm sure I'll be listening to a lot of music on it (indeed I've got 15GB of music it on it already), but I've mainly been using it for podcasts.
I had already been using iTunes to listen to podcasts while at the computer, but having the iPod now lets me listen to news and lots of other stuff while I'm at the gym or in the car. Any MP3 player would let me do this, of course, but it's a lot simpler with the iPod since I can simply subscribe to them via iTunes.
Anyways, this isn't a post about my new iPod or about podcasts in general. It's about an NPR audio portrait which I just listened to on the drive home. Titled, "'The Ground We Lived On': A Father's Last Days", it's the story of a father's last days battling lung cancer recorded by a loving daughter. I encourage you to spend 10 minutes and hear this loving remembrance.
I've been lucky in that I've never had to deal with loss. Of course, family members have passed away, but I haven't lost someone who I've had an everyday connection with. In the remembrance of her father, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, demonstrated the power of words and capturing moments in time.
I must say that something about these types of stories really get to me. When I hear of a loss, I seem to internalize it and can't help but put myself in the shoes of the person experiencing the loss. I can't help but imagine what I would do if put into the same situation. Empathy I guess...
Oddly enough, I do the same in positions of joy. When I'm photographing a wedding, I find myself smiling so often from behind the camera. It usually happens when I see the couple smiling at each other or really letting loose after the ceremony is complete. I think about that when I take photos and when I'm doing post-production of photos or watching the video footage of the events. Ya, it's kind of odd to have a dumb smile on my face while staring at my computer screen, but that's me.
I've actually been thinking about how best to remember an upcoming trip to India. Of course, I'll be taking my camera equipment, but I've been wondering how I can record my thoughts. I'll certainly be writing, but I've been thinking about recording audio as well. Maybe it's too much NPR, PRI, and BBC I've been listening to, but the power that these recordings hold me for really makes me want to capture the moment not just visually, but through sound as well.
We'll see how it goes.
Anyone got an iPod voice recorder I can borrow for 5 weeks?
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