Dear Nameless Travelers: A Photo Story
Matsuo Basho once said in his poem “Oku no Hosomichi” that, “Days and months are travelers of eternity. So are the years that pass by. Those who steer a boat across the sea, or drive a horse over the earth till they succumb to the weight of years, spend every minute of their lives traveling.”
We are all travelers in life. Some of us are on a journey like the wind that moves clouds, wondering if the sun will rise tomorrow; some may wander with their friends to look for joy and the meaning of life. And others still are waiting; waiting for the moment that their train will come to take them to their destination.
During my second year in New York, I was remembering my path and the road, where I was, and thinking how everything is like one long line, which connects me to my destination. In those days, many things were uncertain for me. I was still weak, and I was always scared of walking on the road, if the darkness of my past was not lit up by anything. I realized then that I was writing poems to light up the dark road I trekked upon. This was not how I wanted to live or how I wanted to face my life. I turned to photography when I was in that situation and immediately felt that I should photograph “travelers,” and the moments of their journey, when ours paths are crossing.
We are all travelers carrying solitude and our own destiny with each step that we take. And yet we may meet and cross paths at some point, greeting and bidding farewell to friends who are on their separate way. I am living a new chapter in my journey, the aftermath of my past darkness.