At times, I contemplate whether there is actually a past and future similar to a philosopher proposing the question, “what is reality?" or “what is truth?” When we are speaking about the past, it is neither here nor there as my former mentor frequently said. When we are speaking about the future, the reality from our point of view hasn’t been made concrete or what we would typically consider “reality”, rather we, as a human society, tend to claim, or to know as a fact, the future is “unknown”. Each of us is a single point. The past happened. It is gone. Even your remembrance of what happened may not be the reality of what actually happened. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or even the next moment. An unexpected phone call.
Each of us simply a moment in time. We tend to think of time as being on a infinite line going both ways. We are a dot on this infinite line. I say, the dot is our only reality although we can see how the past has shaped who we are in this moment in time and we plan for the future understanding that we need not worry about events yet to occur. Yet, the most structurally, sound path may be derailed.
I say, the present moment is our only reality, the only reality. We can’t see the future or completely know the past so does it exist in our reality? However, most will say the past existed and the future exists. I agree - time is timeless or limitless. If the past existed and the future exists, but we only know reality for the present moment, then doesn’t the next logical conclusion have to be that we can never fully grasp “reality” because reality is the past, present, and future. We are limited by this physical body and therefore cannot truly see what reality is - that each moment exists forever, has always existed, and will always exist.
At least, it’s what settles my mind when thinking of the past. The last embrace, the shared laughter, the memories we hold dearly with our friends, the love that was then slowly burned away in the comfort of a cozy living room warmed by the logs in a brick chimney eventually, slowly going cold in smoke, the tears and strong hugs of consolation met by a fierce, strong embrace meant to upright the slouched, teetering body, a shell of a husk, while also saying I cannot sincerely understand how you feel right now so all I can do is hold you, the multitude boisterous laughter that meets at a point when every one forgot what the initial burst of happiness originated from - all of these moments existed on a dot in a line and it is there as a part of reality even though we cannot physically go back. It is. It exists. It is there forever, even though, due to our consciousness or spirit being in this corporal entity only has their memory to verify it existed in the past, at some point.
Photography is taking a moment in time in the timeless. Capturing a dot in a more tangible way - a picture we can hold, a point of view as seen from the individual’s perspective, what they saw through their eyes and capturing a moment that will forever exist.
