How many times do our hearts have to break?
Between horror stories of gun violence and police brutality, 2023 has already seen so much heartache and outrage.
It’s challenging not to feel helpless or even hopeless sometimes, friend.
When I heard last week about Tyre Nichols’ death at the hands of police, my head dropped into my hands and I couldn’t stop shaking it “no” and asking “when will this end?”
I cried today reading this article about Tyre, because while I had seen joyful footage of him skateboarding, I didn’t know he was a photographer, too. And it gave me a sense of knowing him, and it made me even more sad.
So, on this first day of Black History Month, I wanted to share Tyre’s photography website and honor his work – and especially his humanity and the love and light he brought to the world.
He describes himself as an aspiring photographer, and his “MasterPieces” portfolio has a unique editing style – high-contrast photos in black and white, or with selective coloring and high saturation.
I think so many photographers can relate to his early journey, enjoying landscape photography (that’s how I began, at least!), and feeling so excited to share our perspectives with the world.
He says on his website:
“My vision is to bring my viewers deep into what i am seeing through my eye and out through my lens. People have a story to tell why not capture it instead of doing the “norm” and writing it down or speaking it. I hope to one day let people see what i see and to hopefully admire my work based on the quality and ideals of my work.”
This is one of my favorite photos I found on his page, because it’s so similar to one I took at Green Lake when I was first learning my camera and understanding aperture (depth of field aka the “blurry background”) – I’ve been there. We were the same.
I hope you’ll take some time to enjoy Tyre’s photos, my friend, and imagine what it might have felt like to be him – and what he wanted to share with you – as he captured those places and moments.
Rest in power, Tyre.
Hugs,
TB
