PLACES I'VE NEVER BEEN

I have this strange feeling when I take a photograph of a new place. I think these places must have grown tired of being illuminated by flashlights. Sometimes I pause and look around; some wonder about the photograph, others send messages to loved ones saying "I wish you were here," while some are simply lost. Sometimes I just stop and gaze at the walls; it seems they wanted to be heard and seen so badly and they seem alive in ways more profound than my photographs. At times, I feel I'm capturing images of places already immortalized by a thousand lenses, in different hues and angles. Then, I used to put my phone aside and sit. I realize how nostalgia takes me over for the places I've never been. How I long to capture the devastating pain in the eyes of separated lovers through the string of time, the sadness that holds the world together, not the love. How sadly I yearn to photograph the loneliness of a towering tree standing for years. How deeply I desire to capture the colorful world of two blind men I saw in town today. Perhaps, how sadly I crave to be photographed in such a manner myself. Finally, I wanted to hold these moments and tell people I've been to more places than anyone else. I've witnessed the waves, mountains, forests, and butterflies in these beautiful eyes on a bustling street, where people live and die countless times in a day. Yes, I long for that.