Hello World, Taylor Boone, your fellow wanderer in the vast universe of visuals and imagery. As a director and commercial photographer, I've spent much of my life exploring, capturing, and illuminating beauty - not just the conventional kind. I've always been fascinated by the intricate duality of our world and how beauty often thrives amidst hardship and darkness, just waiting to be discovered. Today, I want to delve into this concept, sharing my perspective and, hopefully, encouraging you to find your unique lens to view the world.

We often view beauty as synonymous with happiness, joy, or light. But the real world, as we all know, is a complex, multi-layered, and often contradictory place. It’s a dance of darkness, light, despair, hope, fear, and courage. And yet, despite all its paradoxes, beauty persists - sometimes, especially so, in the complex, gritty, honest, and raw parts of life.

My journey as a commercial photographer has taken me to glossy sets and exotic locales, but the unpredictable, untamed, and unseen beauty has left a lasting impact. There's unparalleled beauty in a dewdrop on a wilting flower, the resilience in a child's eyes living in a war-torn country, the determination in an athlete's grimace as they push past their limits, or the dignity in the weary lines on an elderly woman's face. These are not the images that make it to glitzy magazine covers, but they hold a profound beauty that resonates deeper, touches the soul, and makes us inherently human.

How do we find this beauty amidst the hardness? The first step is to open our eyes - truly open them. Not just to see but to observe, to understand, to empathize. Perception is a powerful tool, and as visual artists, we are responsible for leveraging this tool to reveal beauty that lies unnoticed or overlooked.

Next, we need to realize that beauty is subjective and deeply personal. Societal standards or commercial expectations don't dictate it. The moments make you pause, stir something within you, and resonate with your experience. It's in the raw emotions, the fleeting expressions, the untold stories. It's in the depth of a situation, not just its surface.

Lastly, it's important to remember that beauty doesn't negate hardship; it coexists with it. It doesn't make the darkness disappear; it shines through it. It offers a different perspective, a glimmer of hope, a moment of respite. It's a testament to our resilience, a reminder of our humanity, a symbol of our shared experience.

To paraphrase Rumi, the wound is where the light enters you. It's through the cracks in our life's façade, the breaks in our hearts, and the gaps in our stories that beauty seeps in and lights up the darkness. And once it does, we realize that beauty doesn't always come dressed up as joy and light. Sometimes, it wears the disguise of pain, struggle, and darkness.

So let's challenge ourselves to shift our focus, adjust our lenses, and redefine our definition of beauty. Let's remember to look for beauty in unexpected places and appreciate the struggle, journey, and reality. Let's continue to create, inspire, elevate, and use our eyes to see the beauty surrounding us, especially in the hardness and the darkness.

As I sign off, I leave you with a question: what beauty have you seen lately in the most unexpected places? Share your stories. We all have a unique lens; these diverse perspectives make our collective vision richer and more profound.

Until next time,

Taylor Boone.