Life, unscripted

Observing the beauty of everyday routines

I was always attracted to simple routines in life. My memory is full of old days when life was simpler and slower. Days where nothing special was happening, yet everything felt complete. I still miss these days and try to reconnect with them in different ways. For example, from time to time I visit my old neighborhood to relive some of these experiences. I keep going to the old, lived-in neighborhoods to ensure that these simple routines are still being lived, and I try to avoid fake and modern places, as I don’t relate to them. They look perfect, but they feel empty. Soulless.

I remember once standing outside a small shop, doing nothing, just watching. People passing, a short conversation between two strangers, someone calling out for tea. Nothing important was happening, yet I didn’t want to leave.

These routines vary, from people gathering outside a bakery shop to buy freshly-backed bread out of the oven, to small groups of friends sharing a simple meal or tea on the side of the road, served in small cups, quiet and unplanned. Children sitting in front of a shop eating freshly grilled corn, their only concern is the corn and who is going to finish eating it first, delivery drivers resting under the trees awaiting an order call from a nearby restaurant and enjoying the break from the chaotic traffic.

Leaning back, watching the simple life in silence is a joy. There is a rhythm to all of this, unspoken, but understood by everyone there. Many beautiful moments can only be appreciated when we disconnect from modern life and start to look around to find them.

With photography, this feeling has been reignited. Now I don’t visit these places alone to capture these lost routines only in my memory, I have my camera with me, it become my companion. My visual memory is extended into physical images. I can relive them, share them.

I find myself appreciating these moments more and more. If I miss a shot, I reroute and make sure I capture it. Photography didn’t just help me capture these moments, it gave me a reason to look for them. It made me slower. More patient. More aware of what is in front of me, and more thankful.

Sometimes I don’t even take the photo immediately. I wait. I watch. I try to understand the moment before I capture it.

I enjoy these trips, some of them planned, but most of them unplanned. Because these moments are always around us. We pass by them too quickly. We get busy looking at our phones while walking, or rushing to our destinations, checking navigation while driving. As a result, we miss these beautiful moments, this simple life which we think has disappeared, but in reality, it still exists, for those who choose to see it. For those who are willing to slow down enough to notice it.

Most of the time, these images are not perfect. The settings, the exposure, the quality, the composition, I don’t care. I enjoy capturing them because they are honest, just like these moments. They don’t need polishing to impress the wrong audience. They don’t just document what is in front of me, they carry the essence of it, and become a reflection of the moment itself.

For me, they reveal the true essence of life. Life, unscripted.

For more images reflecting the life, unscripted, visit my Instagram page.