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Life Before Your Eyes
Life Before Your Eyes
Life Before Your Eyes
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Intro
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Funny Face
My grandmother had always been the one to show us kids love and affection, while my quiet (and slightly grumpy) grandfather preferred to sit in his chair and
keep to himself. We knew all along that he loved us, but it just wasnt in his nature to express his feelings. When he lost my grandmother, his wife of 70 years, we
started to notice a softer side. Hes still grumpy at times but now when we say goodbye we can see that hes sad we are going, while before he would have
silently stayed in his chair. A week ago he even told me that he loved me.
Photographer: Magera Holton
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He Remembers You
I took the long trip to see my ailing grandfather to try to get an image that would describe him, and the unnameable something he passed on to my father and me.
Rumor had it that his mind and body were slipping, so I had planned to take a striking photo of a man who no longer recognized me. Instead I was given the gift of
recognition. There he was, his old mischief, his sunken wisdom. Whats more, I saw my own father know that for the first time in more than a year, he was
remembered by his father. It was a momentary thing. Me watching my father, my father watching his, and his father sharing a stare with his son and the old
Olympus lens that makes the fleeting permanent.
Photographer: Robert Josiah Bingaman
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Lost Time
You cant begin to tell the story behind your most meaningful image without putting your innermost feelings on display for the world to see. Even as I write, I have
not yet decided if anyone will ever see this. Grief is a lonely emotion. After my mother lost her battle with cancer at 42 years of age, my father seemed to find
some measure of comfort in alcohol. He did his best to keep life moving forward for his children, but as his oldest son, I had more weight on my shoulders than I
could handle. Or maybe I never dealt with my own loss. Either way, things turned nasty one night and I hurt him both physically and mentally. Eight years went by
before we saw each other again. Weve never discussed that night, and I dont think we ever will, but weve been able to rebuild our relationship even so. My little
boy arrived in March this year and whenever my father is back in Ireland we use his grandchild as an excuse to get together. My dad was taken into the hospital
yesterday, and I thought of my regret for the night we fought, the eight lost years, and all the things that have gone unsaid. This may not be my best photograph
(and I pray it is not the last I take of Dad), but I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to take it.
This image was taken with a Canon EOS 40D.
Photographer: Rob Gardiner
I am a freelance aerospace engineer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland but currently working in the Isle of Man. I have enjoyed photography for several years and
hope to continue to do so in the future.
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Path Retraced
My husband Raven introduced me to Linda shortly before her death. It was the first time in about 18 years that he and his estranged mother had seen one another.
Two months later, Linda died peacefully in her sleep from a heart condition that she had hidden even from her five siblings. I took this photo while Raven sat in his
mothers apartment, alone for the first time since her death. Her funeral reunited Raven with the rest of his estranged family the most normal and most genuine
group I have ever known and they took him back with open arms.
Photographer: Mona T. Brooks
I am a documentary photographer in San Francisco with what might be the biggest laugh in the whole wide world. I feed off being around people and have a story
to tell about every image I have taken. Dont take me too seriously because I dont.
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Lucky Seventh
Decades ago, my parents secured emigration to America for the family and then I was born. The seventh child, the mistake. My parents were faced with a
difficult decision: take this rare opportunity to leave for America and in doing so, leave me to be raised by relatives; or redo the paperwork and risk things not
working out. My father decided that we would stay together as a complete family, and we made the move, eventually settling in San Francisco. In December 2003,
my brother and I returned to our birthplace (just south of Saigon, Vietnam) for the first time. This scene of him with our relatives reflects our return and
reconnection with the land and people wed heard so much about but it also speaks to what could have been. Had things been different, this photo would have
represented a brothers return across distance, culture, and the passing of 20 years to meet his sister, the seventh child, the one who was left behind.
This image was taken with a Canon PowerShot S400.
Photographer: Ngoc Du
I live in San Francisco, where I take photos and dream of the next travel adventure.
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Portrait of a Youth
By the time my sister was in grade school, I had already left for college. Our 14 year age difference meant we were never as close as I would have liked. But this
photo taken one summer break when we stumbled upon a stash of old prom dresses in the basement reminds me that while I may have missed most of her
childhood, I was there for that afternoon. I recently showed this picture to my sister on her sixteenth birthday and was overjoyed to hear her say, I remember
that day!
Photographer: Jeni Pulliam
Dear @Pictory:
Life Before Your Eyes - Twenty-six intimate tales of growing up and gr...
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It may be silly, but the day I realised I could buy any soda I wanted was a very exciting day for me (as a new adult).
@tyskkvinna
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Personal Victory
Our youngest son crashed into our lives with a bang and unexpected medical issues. Some didnt think hed make it. Getting him home meant plenty of tubes
(and bells and whistles) and round-the-clock care. This portrait was taken the day he learned to sit up unaided. He was so proud of himself, but dared not show too
much excitement or his precarious position would have been compromised. Today all that remains of those hardships are his scars and our memories, but I hope
that the strength and determination he exemplified in his first days stick with him for life.
Photographer: Suzanne Upton
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Dear @Pictory:
The doctor said heres baby letter A and 30 seconds later and baby letter B and I nearly fainted.
@luxuryluke
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Heather is an underwater photographer, swimmer, painter, wife, and mother who lives, works, and dreams in Bath, Maine.
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I am a single mother to Thomas, the most photographed baby on the planet. We are currently staying with family in Brisbane, Australia, while we find our place in
the world.
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Im a student of animal science in Los Angeles, CA. I also study photography, creative writing, drawing, and horseback riding.
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Paula took this photograph and her husband Rick wrote the caption. They live in North Hatfield, Massachusetts.
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Life Lessons
My father insisted on teaching my 13-year-old son Parker to drive in a big open field with an old Ford truck that he was restoring. I was nervous, but allowed it
because it meant so much to my dad. I learned that my uncle had taught my dad to drive under very similar conditions, shortly before he died in a tragic hunting
accident. A couple of weeks after this photo was taken my dad suffered a mental breakdown, brought on by some combination of medication and emotion. He is
currently in our local hospital but we remain hopeful for his recovery.
Photographer: Laureen Carruthers
I have a small photography business out of my home in Williams Lake, British Columbia.
sixteen
Life Before Your Eyes - Twenty-six intimate tales of growing up and gr...
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The Fighter
Two years before, I met her. One year before, we found out about the cancer. Six months before, she finished the first round of treatment (and posed for this
photo). Three months before, the cancer came back. Four days before her death, we were married. This picture says everything about who my wife was, how she
lived, and how she died: with courage and grace, fighting the whole way.
Photographer: David Reid
Im a software engineer in San Francisco. Sometimes I take some pictures, and if Im lucky they tell stories.
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Hand Crafted
Im proud of my dad for being a pilot, and for instilling in me a love for adventure. Im also proud of him for building this plane. By hand. By himself. In his
basement, over nine years. Its an RV-6A airplane: a small, fast, acrobatic experimental aircraft that he flies all over the U.S. He has a giant aeronautical map in his
home office with pins; both of places hed like to fly to and places hes crossed off his list. Among the crossed-off places are Nevada, Oregon, Florida, Tennessee,
Michigan, Oklahoma all far from his home in southeastern Wisconsin. The inspectors who came to check his work throughout the process said it was one of the
most meticulous and perfectly constructed projects theyd ever seen. Thats my dad.
Photographer: Kate Marchewka
Kate Marchewka is a teacher/tutor/office manager/freelance photographer living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is always searching out the interesting and beautiful
through her lens.
nineteen
Dear @Pictory:
I DONT have a photo of my first ride on a surfboard when I was 9 years old. Still angry at my folks for not getting that.
@blnkpgs
twenty
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No Place Like It
This is my Kansas: the Flint Hills, that light, those people. But the road is my Kansas too, telling me its okay to go. I was born in Kansas thirty years ago and never
left for more than a few months at a time. I lived in the same house until I was twenty-two; the same room since I was five. That said, I grew up exploring. We took
long road trips every summer and I saw the mountains, the desert, both oceans and the gulf. Though we toured some of the largest cities in America, nothing ever
beat coming home, driving down I-70 into the rolling hills with the expansive blue sky above us. Sometimes a haze would hang heavy in the air as if the sky had
been sad in our absence. In September, my husband and I moved to Austin, Texas for his job. I didnt want to. But after months of talking and crying and fighting,
we are here. Its been a struggle for me. I miss my Kansas. Thank God that same road tells me I can always come home.
Photographer: Brooke Raymond
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Out of Africa
After graduating college, I mustered courage, along with what survival and photo gear I thought necessary, and moved to the African wilderness. I took a job
filming and photographing for a safari company in a remote part of Central Tanzania. I left everyone I knew and most modern amenities for the better part of a
year. My mind quieted, my senses heightened, and my natural rhythms synched with the harsh and beautiful surrounding environment. It was the most alive I had
ever felt. Despite being battered by the sun, ravaged by tsetse flies, bloodied by acacia thorns, hissed at by cobras, choked by dust, and stalked by lions, I woke up
every morning wanting more. Upon coming home, I found myself to be radically changed. I felt misplaced and overwhelmed by the noise, pace, and stress of the
Western life I had since forgotten. I would pore over old journal entries, watch and re-watch video footage, and stare longingly at the photographs I had taken. I
spent many days and nights wishing for a way back, plotting my triumphant return. Like so many before me, I felt homesick for a land far away, missing the harsh
lessons of love given freely and frequently by Mother Africa.
Photographer: Tyler Sharp
Tyler Sharp is a photographer, writer, and artist who has spent the last few years documenting countries and cultures both near and far, in hopes of creating stories
of adventure, spirit, and human triumph.
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Life Before Your Eyes - Twenty-six intimate tales of growing up and gr...
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Good Grieving
After my father and sister passed away, I felt lost and aimless; but over time, my camera became an outlet for stress and pain. This transition stage between
mourning and renewal was a sort of self-therapy, and I often saw fractures of faces in my photographs. I made this particular photograph as I was beginning to
understand that it can take great tragedy to find pure and absolute truth.
Photographer: Andrew Hara
Life Before Your Eyes - Twenty-six intimate tales of growing up and gr...
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Scar Tissue
Sitting with a view of orchards and the Sahyadri mountains of western India, I relived the surreal seconds earlier in the year when I was tumbling down a steep wall
of stones, gravel, and dry bushes full of thorns. I had broken my leg very badly during a climb, and was just off the walking stick when I ended up on this trip to
visit a temple. After months of recovery, watching the world pass by while I limped, I needed answers. And then suddenly, all thoughts left my head. Sipping tea,
and looking at my scarred leg and the miles of green ahead, I had an epiphany: I needed to bring myself above the ground, to leave the mundane behind, to climb,
to see as far as I could see. Broken bones were not going to stop me. This is the moment I realized that pain is just discomfort, and fear is voluntary and willed
myself to move on from my first major injury in life.
Photographer: Sukhdev Singh
twenty-five
Dear @Pictory:
I wish I had an image of my face when my future wife sat down beside me for the first time on Jan 1, 1999, at 12:02 a.m.
@dgavey
twenty-six
Life Before Your Eyes - Twenty-six intimate tales of growing up and gr...
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Mark Starr is a freelance photographer and tutor currently living in Yantai, China.
twenty-seven
Contributor Reactions
As Rob Gardiner mentioned, its not easy to share these kinds of stories with the world.
Rob and three others react to the publication of the their most intimate photos.
Life Before Your Eyes - Twenty-six intimate tales of growing up and gr...
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I had never written that story down before, and while I left a lot of it unsaid, it kind of helped me to get it out. So I am happy enough to have it published.
Rob Gardiner
Having my photo story accepted into this showcase feels nerve-wracking and validating at the same time. Im exposing myself on many levels but Ive never
known any other way of being in the world. And to see my personal story surrounded by intimate work from other creative people makes me feel like Im in the
right place. Heather Perry
I didnt think about taking the picture, I didnt think Id ever show it to anyone. I didnt think itd be one of only a handful that Id take of her before she was
gone. It was an almost forgotten moment, yet it tells a complex story of love and loss. This is why we take pictures. David Reid
I like to put on a brave face so the thought of countless people seeing a very personal image of me, in pain and grieving, made me feel terribly vulnerable at first.
But it is an honor to be chosen and a privilege to share my story. And lets not forget the value of telling friends there is a naked picture of me on the Internet!
Tarnya Hall
End
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