Ava's Meaning of Life
Welcome back to my blog! Coming to the end of my final fall term, I’ve finished my Journalism class with an action project on photojournalism. These last few weeks, we’ve had discussions on how it is someone tells a story through imagery. We met with Adam Petlin, an experienced photojournalist, he showed and explained some of his history with this profession. We were also able to visit the Museum of Contemporary Photography. There was a great exhibit at this museum along with a great spokesperson who explained each image. With these experiences in mind, I was able to capture an image of a friend of mine. The prompt behind my image, along with an interview, was to understand what her meaning of life is. Below you can take a look at that work.
This is Ava, a seventeen-year-old high school student who I got to tell me about the meaning of life and encapsulate it in an image. Let's begin by discussing the image above. It is an image set in Ava’s bedroom, a place where she is comfortable. She is playing an old guitar and is surrounded by posters and other artworks, things that show her personality. The lighting is low with a single light shining in her direction. The aperture is set to a narrow setting, around f/22, this is to have a larger depth of field to get everything in focus. To further enhance the image, I set to shutter speed high, around 1/125, so that it doesn’t capture much movement. I chose to capture this moment because it showcases the meaning of life for Ava, doing what she loves and what makes her happy.
In the photography world, there is something called the rule of thirds. This rule essentially says that to capture a more compelling image, you must place your subject where they are taking over a third of the image and the other two-thirds of the frame is more open. In my image, I did not follow this rule, I think that it is a compelling image as is, and placing ava so that she only takes a third of it would take away from the quality of it.
I was able to sit down with Ava and think through some questions that I thought would be good for conversation for the big question I am getting at. Those questions are listed below.
What's the meaning of life, in your opinion?
Has life always meant the same for you or did this meaning change for you? Why?
I’d love to hear a story that explains your view of the meaning of life, or how you came up with it. Would you please share one?
What image would represent this meaning of life - would it be you yourself, something of yours with sentimental value, a favorite book, etc.? Would you please describe it?
Do you believe in an afterlife? How do you think people's beliefs of what happens after they die affect their meaning of life? Does it affect yours?
In your everyday life, how mindful do you feel you are about your meaning of life? In other words, do you feel you spend time fulfilling your meaning of life?
What influences your meaning of life?
Is there anyone who you feel encapsulates your meaning of life? Or reflects it?
I gave her some time to think about it and after a few days, I got her response.
Starting broad, I asked her the big question. “I just want to experience it. Good, bad and in between. Experiencing as much as I can and seeing the world.” This is what she views as the meaning of life.
I was curious as to whether or not this perspective had changed, this was her response to that. “I think younger me didn't care as much about how I lived my life. I was just a lot more irresponsible and didn’t really see the point in trying hard or thinking about the future.”
When asked to share a story that exemplifies her response to the meaning of life she responded with “Lmaooo idk.”
Since I’ve known Ava, I've known her to have a very creative and musical persona. I was curious if there was something that encapsulated that kind of theme that might tell that story. “I think some of my music stuff like my guitars and albums kind of show my passion, as well as my art. It shows how far I’ve come and you can see my progression.”
I thought it would be interesting to get Ava’s perspective on the idea of an afterlife being that this is a topic that heavily influences people's perspectives. “Personally, I don't. I don't have anything against people who do and I understand the comfort believing in an afterlife can bring someone. I try to live in a way that honors those people but also myself.”
I was interested to know if Ava had any thoughts on being intentional about pursuing her meaning of life. “I think I try to be mindful about it, I try to be kind to people and respectful especially to service people or other people I come across.”
“ I think a lot of my personal experiences have influenced my meaning of life. I think I’ve gone through a lot and that has kind of changed the way I see the world.” I thought this was a relatable response to my question on what has influenced her opinion.
When asked if there was anyone who exemplifies her meaning of life she responded, “I’m not very sure about this question. I think the way my mom loves has kind of put the base for how I want to live and what I think the meaning of life is.”
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