On Letting Go - Image 2 of 3 of Kelsey J.’s SuperRare genesis NFT collection “Transcendence”, a series of newly photographed, never before seen self portraits. Combining conceptual work with landscape imagery, the collection is an interpretation of finding beauty in life’s darkest moments. Through each photograph, it depicts the process of not only facing your greatest challenges, but rising to become a better person because of them. // 10.254321° N, 84.271354° W // When you’re surrounded by seemingly endless darkness, how will you find your way out? Do you stand up and fight, or surrender to the mercy of the powers that be? // This image wasn’t supposed to be created. On my month long travels through Peru and Costa Rica, every single plan I had to capture the next image for this collection ended in disaster. I almost didn’t make it on the trip at all because I ended up in the ER two days before my flight with a peritonsillar abscess the doctors were concerned was going to close my throat and stop my breathing. I went anyways, and just a few days into the trip, a herniated disc in my back slipped, and I ended up in some of the worst pain in my life. Unable to walk, I had to cancel the trek through the Andes mountains I had been planning for three years.
Then in Costa Rica, unprecedented flash floods made it too dangerous to reach my planned photo locations. The day I was supposed to shoot this project, mudslides covered the roads leaving me stranded in the car for hours on end. Locals warned me a potential hurricane was arriving the next day, suggesting I should get out of the country as soon as I could. But I didn’t want to leave without capturing the final image I needed for this series. I searched Google Maps for accessible locations and found a waterfall I hadn’t heard of, so I decided to go check it out just hours before the flight I needed to catch in order to escape the hurricane. On the hike down the falls, I saw the waterfall for the first time, and immediately I knew this was where I would capture the next self portrait for this collection.
I made my way down to the base of the falls, slipping on mud as the rain from the storm began to fall. With a sense of urgency, I set up my tripod and camera, put on the crimson cape, and climbed out barefoot onto the slippery rocks beneath the falls. In the moment this image was taken, getting pummeled by the wind off the waterfall and surrounded by the power of nature, I suddenly knew that after a month of challenges and struggles, everything was going to be ok.
I stopped fighting against the powers working against me, and instead surrendered to them. I decided to put my trust in the universe that it was going to guide me to wherever I needed to be, and shape me into the person I wanted to become. And so, this piece represents not only accepting what has come, but releasing your control over it. On letting go.
klutch
