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Thread: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    The rough sweetness of the bush


    Soon after I leave, I start living again with these magnificent tribes of the region that never seem to end. I visit one after another, I can not remember the names of so many, muamwila, mucumba, mundimba, the list is endless. However, in each one without exception, the constant is the purely affectionate reception; the warmth of the people embraces me and their happy smiles draw a bigger one on my face.

    Not long after gaining its hard-fought independence, Angola entered a long and painful period of 27 uninterrupted years of civil war, during which the MPLA (Popular Liberation Movement of Angola), a communist / socialist roots movement that had achieved independence from the Portuguese in 1975, fought with the support of Fidel's and Che's Cuba, the Unita of Jonas Savimbi, supported by Apartheid South Africa who in turn was unconditionally backed by the United States as part of its infamous Cold War against communism around the world. In 2002 with the assassination of Savimbi, the war came to an end, but the remains of a shattered country are still visible outside of Luanda, where buildings in ruin in the middle of the bush have become improvised rural schools where children attend to satiate their need to educate themselves. Seeing this kind of spirits is extremely motivating.

    The trails of the bush became more and more difficult as I moved forward, not only because of the amount of sand, which was often like trying to pedal on a beach, but because of the multiple bifurcations and the little human presence that led me constantly to lose myself. Sometimes it meant having to go back several kilometers, using the very same trails that I had just used to get there with so much effort. After that, I would have to wait for someone to walk between villages or some motorcycle on the way somewhere so that I could ask and find the right direction. At times I would sit hopelessly on these sand traps, demoralised while looking at 1/4 of the tires buried in the sand. I would look around me trying to figure out how to get the hell out of there.

    In other places, I I would stay trying to communicate with someone from some new tribe who passed by. However, whatever the case, I thoroughly enjoyed being there; my deep union with the bush and my encounter with the people of the tribes of southern Angola filled me with a beautiful feeling of patience, of lack of rush, of understanding that life isn't running for what we think it is lying ahead of us ( the serious illness of which we all suffer to different degrees), but by living in fullness what it going on with us at this very moment, the present moment (the simple antidote to all our problems). For days, I moved forward with considerable difficulty dodging the poor quality of these sandpits, stones, shrubs full of spikes but with the variant that in Angola, due to the absence of wild animals (which are gone as a result of the war) I could treat myself with the great pleasure of pedaling at night on the bright moonlit nights.

    It's hard to believe that you're going to the right place when the only thing that drives you there is a narrow wedge in the earth surrounded by shrubs. You have to have to practically trust blindly in the local people to have the conviction to go ahead without knowing where you are going. But finding certainty in the uncertainty of life and the world, is to be aligned with the universe following the logic of life, and that frees me from worries. It frees me up to absorb every step of the way I take without looking back, without looking ahead more than a few pushes on the pedals; this is instinct, this is living properly. This what I believe J.Krishnamurti was talking about when he encourages us to ask ourselves - " are we really observing, are we really appreciating".

    It's been several days already since there are no more water pumps on the way and finding water becomes an increasingly difficult task for me. The water is not in front of the eyes in the bush, not at first sight at least, but much water still runs in the bowels of this arid land and that is the only one that ensures that life is still possible here, far from any kind of urbanization or infrastructure. I have no choice but to rely on people to find it. It is in many of those great dry rivers that I have been passing all these days where it is still found, but it is hidden beneath these sandy riverbeds on which at some point in history water actually ran. Angelina leads me to it, on her way to wash the dishes with her little boy on her back.

    We walk on the river bed for 10 minutes until we stop at a point that for me is like any other except for the fact that it is clear that we have deliberately stayed away from the cattle that **** everywhere on the little water that is present on the surface. She tells me with certainty - "it's here" - and I wonder what she means. She accommodates her washbowl on the ground, bends over, and with a small tin cup begins to dig in the sand. I just look at it skeptically until after 5 or 6 repetitions the moisture begins to sprout, rising to the surface as if by magic. I find it hard to believe, but I worry about the cleanliness of it, remembering the tremendous shigella that I had caught in Ethiopia, an experience that I prefer not to repeat ever again. However, 5 more repetitions and the water becomes perfectly crystalline, transparent and free of impurities. I take a sip to taste it and the taste is perfect. This is how all the people of this region, whom I now understand why I find scattered across the river beds of these dry rivers, survive here, digging water from the sand every day.


    Photographies on Nicolas Marino‘s website:
    https://www.nicolasmarino.com/en/nic...-the-mato-bush




    Last edited by Iloveyou; 6th September 2019 at 06:43.

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    I do have the strong impression that once the industrialized world will have finally and entirely collapsed, new beginnings will emerge from these people - tribes of all skin colors and nations - spread around the world. They will step aside and watch our sophisticated technologies crumble. They stay in their heart.

    Go down, white race, I will not miss you. Do I need to add that ‚white race’ doesn‘t mean individuals of lighter skin color, but the type of ‚civilization‘ it has brought to the planet. Okay, I will, just in case . . .

    Last edited by Iloveyou; 24th December 2019 at 08:59.

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    xxxxx
    Have you ever wondered what kind of place this is - Planet Earth 3D -
    where we all (the vast majority of us) start out like this















    and end up like that















    or like that







    and in between we‘re just playing games - without exception, I dare to say









    there are so many (esoteric) theories but honestly, I have no clue . . .

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    A man from another century . . . lovely to listen to him talking about his life.


    The world hangs on a thin thread and that is the psyche of man . . .

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.



    Women Goat Herder of Hadhramout, Yemen
    Last edited by Iloveyou; 6th October 2019 at 10:45.

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.




    Baleen Whale Mask, 19th century, Kwakwaka’wakw people,
    Pacific North West. Wearing the heavy mask along his back,
    the dancer would have manipulated interior cords controlling
    the mask’s fins, mouth and tail to mimic swimming and diving.

    Dimensions: 23 5/8 x 28 1/2 x 81 1/8 in. (60 x 72.4 x 206 cm)  






    Sierra Leone





    Gambia




    German tradition





    Schiechperchten, Austria





    Khon, Thailand





    Theyyam dancer, Kerala, India


    Don't you know that a midnight hour comes when

    everyone has to take off his mask? Do you think life

    always lets itself be trifled with? Do you think you can

    sneak off a little before midnight to escape this? (Kierkegaard)

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.



    Yesterday, in Vietnam, I met this old man who was the husband of the “famous” old lady that died some time ago :

    https://m.english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/...bile&ui=mobile

    Last edited by Deux Corbeaux; 14th October 2019 at 14:52. Reason: Add picture

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    xxxxx

    As this thread is about human beings, being human, the human condition (conditioning!) as opposed to human nature - the following shall also belong here.





    Shoah.

    French director Claude Lanzmann‘s 9 hour opus magnum (1985) is the culmination of thirteen years of both capturing interviews and editing them into a film unlike any other in history. In this work constructed almost entirely of voiceover, talking head interviews, and images of actual locations—and a notable absence of historical footage—Lanzmann recreates the past through a subtle, dialectical editing style and aching witness testimony.

    Review:
    https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/shoah-1985



    Edit:

    Part 2 / Second Era has been taken down. Available here: subscribe to watch, 14-day free trial:

    https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscripti...ra-1985-online
    Last edited by Iloveyou; 24th December 2019 at 09:07.

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.


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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    Kerala, India

    Photos: Joey L., NY





















    Members of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI)

    ‚If they attack. We shall fight to the end.‘

    I‘m afraid fighting them with their weapons . . . you‘ll never win.
    Last edited by Iloveyou; 17th December 2019 at 18:00.

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.



    The Congo Dandies

    Living in poverty and spending a fortune to look like a million dollars

    Les Sapeurs are ordinary Congolese working men who dress up in Western luxury brands just to become known for their style. On weekends, the Sapeurs make their way through dusty slums in sharp, colourful three-piece suits and heading to meet-ups where they compete with fellow members of the “Society of Ambience-makers and Elegant People”, or S.A.P.E. in French. RTD travels to Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo's capital, to find out why, amid extreme poverty, these men prioritise fashion above all else.









    https://www.lensculture.com/articles...ille#slideshow
    Last edited by Iloveyou; 17th December 2019 at 18:22.

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    THE ART OF BALANCING STONES
    9/27/19
    Jonna Jinton

    "The very first time I tried balancing stones was back in 2010. I saw some stone sculptures in a park, when an old, wise man told me that it was a symbol for the balance of nature. I liked that idea, and after that I started making easy stone sculptures. After a while, I started experimenting with balance and I tried to make stone sculptures that had such small balance points so that it almost would look impossible.
    I really loved that.
    Both because it felt like a challenge, but also because it forced me to get really still and quiet, and focus on one thing only; to find the tiny, tiny balance point.
    It more and more turned into some kind of meditation.

    I hope this video will inspire you to try it out yourself!

    THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WATCHING! ♥"


    The story of my life - From a dream to reality
    Aug 27, 2018
    Jonna Jinton

    "This video is about how I changed my life 8 years ago, when I left the citylife and moved 1000 km to the north and started a new life close to nature. Close to all the things my heart was longing for.

    These 8 years have been so challenging and hard but also wonderful and magical in every single way. I have learnt so much from that day I came to the old house in this smal village in the forest with no money, no job and no plan on what I should do with my life.
    But from that day I started living, for real. I started appreciating things that I had never even thought of when living in an apartment in the city. And I learnt that you can never feel the wonderful, comfort feeling of warmth if you have not yet been cold.

    I started with nothing but a dream. And today, I live my dream. Everyday I feel so thankful for still being able to live here in my little paradise deep in the forests in the north of Sweden, and working with all the things I love, and sharing my life with someone I love.

    In this video you get to see a short summary of these years. Of course, many details are not included since the video would be 2 years long if I would include all the things that happened along the way. But at least it tells my story in a big picture

    I hope you like it! ♥"
    Each breath a gift...
    _____________

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.



    HUMANO / Thrilling real time documentary, testimony of one truth seeker on journey through the Andes accompanied by his friend shaman
    in search of himself and answers to Big questions of Life

    There’s a choice of subtitles that can be fixed from the video settings.

    Deeply touching, one of a kind journey to places never seen before and inner passage..

    Can but recommend to your Christmas preview ..



    🙏🌟🙏

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    Long gone . . . Paris, France in the 1950s



































    Lost on Planet Earth. At times I can only bear it by taking
    the position of a distant observer / witness from beyond





    Then . . . first smile this morning . . . old teeth
    for sale! And you can try them out for size too

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    Photographer Peter Turnley‘s gaze into the world of humans.

    I often try to look at it from an outsider‘s position / perspective.


    Source: Watch on Vimeo


    ”Most often, people can pick up on the energy and the intent one brings to one‘s work, and that is an amazing connection that takes place just through eye contact. There‘ve been times in my life when I‘ve been photographing someone I‘ve never met before, I‘ve never seen before and during a sometimes very quiet 30 seconds to five minutes there‘s literally an amazing exchange of love in the interaction between two sets of eyes.”












    Peter Turnley: Moscow in the 80s / early 90s . . .

    ”In the people’s faces you can see particularly how the freedom of speech may have existed on paper, but has never happened in practice. What I find the most impressing is that none of the pictures looks posed or unnatural. The series shows in a stunningly authentic documentary way that by the 1980s the system was close to collapse as Mikhail Gorbachev’s liberalising reforms did little more than open the door to a big change. Just a few years after these photos were taken, the Soviet Union was finally dissolved.”

    http://www.paperboats.me/article/photos-of-the-day-ussr












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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.

    xxx
    Winterreise - Winter Journey


    The Soul Continues





























    The Soul Continues












    Photos: 1, 6 Lorenzo Moscia, 2, 5 Boris Mikhailov, 3, 4 Luc Delahaye, 7 Ejor

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    Last edited by Iloveyou; 19th February 2020 at 13:48.

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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.


    Shall focus more on beauty and joy now, much needed.

    Let children rule, and artists . . .








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    Default Re: The beauty and the pain of being human. Images.


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    xxx
    Roaming about universe, together.

    Wandering in time and space.

    Species: Human

    Current location: Earth






















    © Uwe Ommer

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