The notion of wisdom is a really intriguing one. I've been thinking about wisdom and have decided to take a poetic approach to explaining the relevance wisdom has for each of us in our journey through life.

Daughter: "And what is wisdom, father?"

Father: "It is knowledge mixed with experience, my child. And both are needed, in equal measure, before we truly find ourselves."

Daughter: "And when we find ourselves, what will we know."

Father: "From where we have come and to where we shall go."

Daughter: "And what then remains for us to learn, dear father."

Father: "To understand our true purpose in life, and to no longer be afraid."

I photographed the man in the above photo in his tiny printing workshop in the backstreets of Kolkata.

The entire space was probably only the size of a standard car garage in a suburban home. But that space contained a wealth of content for a travel photographer, including an old, black and white printer and lots of old typesetting equipment.

As well as making this formal portrait of the owner I was fortunate to be able to make a lovely portrait of his son.

That photo and the description as to how I went about creating it is featured in a post I wrote titled How to Make Amazing Street Photos in India.

It’s a really descriptive post with gems of information relating to composition and the art of creative street photography.

Wisdom For The Ages

All of the portraits in this post feature older men I photographed during my most recent travel photography adventure to India.

I remember sensing wisdom in the face of this man whom I photographed while visiting the Kali temple in Chennai, India.

It was a bright, hot day and not particularly well suited to portrait photography. Not only that, but I’d just escaped from a tout who’d be harassing me for money for around ten minutes.

But the moment I locked eyes with this gentle soul I knew there was a photo to be made. It was then a simple matter of introducing myself, asking for permission to make his photo and then moving him into more suitable lighting.

This particular trip to India was limited to visiting Kolkata and Chennai, with the aim of documenting some projects my dear old mum had championed during her time running a retail charity business selling clothing, handicrafts and jewellery, mostly made in India, in my hometown, Hamilton.

Old Mares ran that shop, full time and without drawing a wage, for 18 years. Profits from the business directly supported charity projects, for the poorest of the poor, mostly in India.

Both my parents were hard working, empathetic people who were, very much, focused on the needs of others. It’s interesting to compare the way they went about their lives, compared to the way so many other folks seem to.

There's so much emphasis these days on finding happiness, as if it's hidden in the back of a cupboard or available, as an app, for download off the internet.

Frankly, I think happiness is over rated.

It’s a wonderful experience, but to constantly strive to attain it seems, somehow, to be missing the point.

Happiness is not something you acquire, but a state you attain through a positive mindset and a focus placed on the needs of others.

Rather than fussing about our share of happiness, I believe we'd all be better off striving for a life of meaning and purpose. And it seems to me, there are two ways we should go about living our lives.

Concentrate our efforts on discovering and then, through persistence and hard work, realizing our life’s true purpose.
Devote ourselves to helping others to pursue their own dreams and, in so doing, help build a happier, peaceful and more prosperous world?

Wisdom and Why You Do What You Do?

Do you work to support your wants and desires or to satisfy the needs of your family?

Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to satisfy those needs by living a life of purpose, based upon serving others.

There are two ways, in particular, by which I strive to help others.

I travel the planet producing and sharing life affirming images that celebrate the beauty of our world and its people.

I also help people along their own creative path by giving them the information they need to make better photos.

I used to facilitate a lot of formal, classroom based photography courses at tertiary and short course levels. I’d like to think I had a positive impact on thousands of participants over many, many years teaching photography.

These days most of my teaching is conducted through private, one-to-one photography sessions where I deal specifically with the needs and creative journey of the person in question.

I love helping folks explore their creativity through photography. And these private, one-to-one sessions dramatically accelerate that process.

Frankly, there’s very few people these days who can commit to a three year long tertiary level course in photography. Somehow I managed to study photography for nine years, working my way up the greasy corporate poll at Kodak along the way.

These days folks just want to know what they want to know. They have a problem and an outcome in mind. And in a single session I can give them the information they need to achieve their goals.

May I say that’s a pretty good outcome, for me and the customer.

For not a whole lot of money, they come out of the session with a better understanding of how to use their camera and a whole bunch of actionable tips and techniques that will enable them to make the kind of photos they want to make.

Given the money they’re spending to go on safari in Africa, photographing penguins and elephant seals on South Georgia Island or undertaking a cruise around the world, I’d say that’s money well spent.

Needless to say, it’s a two way street.

I work really hard to provide the required technical information, and tips on how to implement it, but it’s up to the customer to practice the techniques discussed and put themselves into position to be able to make great photos.

But, from the feedback I get, everyone comes out a winner. And that makes me incredibly happy.

After all, we spend so much of our lives working to earn enough money to undertake such epic adventures.

Frankly, I get all the motivation I need in the knowledge that, through my teaching, my customers are able to ensure important moments from their own adventures are remembered and relived through the photos they make.

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Are You Happy In The Work You Do?

The difference between a job and a vocation is, more often than not, in the mind. And the best way to turn that nine to five job into something more rewarding is to approach it with purpose.

By focusing on the needs of the other, be they your colleague or your customer, you'll be able to make a positive difference to their lives through each and every interaction.

You won't always be thanked for what you do but, before you know it, your interactions will be greeted with a smile in the knowledge that what you’re doing is underpinned by good intentions.

Over time happiness will be generated as a natural consequence of your actions. And who doesn’t want to be happy and to make other people happy?

Whether these interactions occur in person or over the phone doesn't matter. The approach you take will be noticed and, more often than not, appreciated.

I haven’t always had the opportunity to photograph the kind of subject matter I’m most interested in or tell the story I most want to tell.

But I always work hard to satisfy the needs of my customer in the knowledge that, by doing so, I’m achieving a positive outcome that solves problems.

I feel great that I’ve done by best to achieve a positive outcome and that all stakeholders are happy with the results.

It’s a simple enough recipe and, by staying focused upon it, I remain content and able to remain engaged, in a meaningful way, with my craft and those folk with whom I interact.

The Most Important Question Is Always Why

I had no hesitation approaching this man in a tiny village near Chennai, the construction of which was funded by my mum’s charity business many years ago.

Where ever possible I like to follow my instincts, particularly when it comes to creative pursuits like photography. And I knew this was a man I just had to photograph.

It’s a simple enough picture, but it’s also one of my favourites.

The image features a high degree of texture, visible in his hair and clothing, and lovely tonality encompassing deep blacks and rich shadows to well separated mid tones and distinct highlights.

The unruly nature of his hair and eyebrows adds extra visual interest, as does the out of focus background and the warm tone I’ve added to this black and white image.

But it’s his eyes, particularly the damaged one, that really heightens the emotive power of the image.

My mum suffered from cataracts in her eyes on numerous occasions, once while traveling in India. I think that’s another interesting connection between her, the man in this photo and the village in which this photo was created.

But we can’t all travel to exotic locales, photographing beautiful people and epic landscapes all year around. We all have to work to make a good life for ourselves and those we love.

Needless to say you really shouldn’t approach your job seeking appreciation, opportunity or promotion.

These things will come your way, over time, because positive people are, eventually, rewarded. Not just for what they do, but for how they go about doing it.

Just remember that the what and the how in life is always dependent upon the why. As long as there’s a good reason for why we do things, the what and how are simply bread and butter on the road to achieving our goals.

The question why is, to my way of thinking, very much connected with the concept of wisdom.

That said, next time you have an important decision to make, please be sure to keep the question why forefront in your mind.

Nonetheless, a lot of people find it hard to remain motivated, dedicated and even loyal when compelled to do things without a clear understanding as to why they’re doing them.

Clearly, that’s what those corporate Mission statements are all about. I just don’t think they’re communicated or expressed all that well in the way business is often conducted.

Mind you, it’s a wonderful thing when you see a Mission statement that’s actually evidenced in the day to day culture of a business.

Those businesses need to be supported, and their managers and staff applauded.

That said, being personally aligned with the reason you’re undertaking the tasks that fill up so much of your working day makes all the difference. It’s at the heart of replacing notions of tedium and boredom with meaning rich and purpose driven activities.

And it’s all because of the kind of reframing that is a direct consequence of a positive mindset.

Mindset is, perhaps, the most important aspect in our lives, and it’s our beliefs that are central to creating the reality we manifest for ourselves.

To this end I often remind myself that, while we can’t always control what happens to us, we can control what we make of what happens to us.

“Data: “…it is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are, Lal. It does not matter that we will never reach our ultimate goal. The effort yields its own rewards.

Lal: You are wise father

Data: It is the difference between knowledge and experience.”

— The Offspring, Episode 16, Season 3, Star Trek Next Generation

The above quote comes to us from the classic sci-fi TV series Star Trek, The Next Generation.

During the episode, The Offspring, Data, the starship’s android officer, takes it upon himself to construct an android, named Lal, as part of his quest to become more human.

It’s a wonderful and very heartfelt episode. Definitely one of my favorites across the entire Star Trek franchise.

Data’s statement that “It (wisdom) is the difference between knowledge and experience” has remained with me over many years and I thought it was important to share it with you here.

Glenn Guy, Travel Photography Guru

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