Pictures are existential.
Pictures are essential.
When we pose for pictures,
or edit them,
or filter them,
we are telling ourselves that we don’t want to see our actual selves,
our natural selves.
But our candid pictures
are us
just without masks.
Candid pictures,
ones where we don’t pose
or curate what the photo will look like,
celebrate ourselves as we are.
Taking pictures isn’t a bad thing,
it’s choosing to remember the moments.
Taking pictures doesn’t mean we aren’t “living in the moment,”
it’s making those moments sacred.
Pictures are the only way
to see what we look like
in this world.
So take more candid pictures.
Put them in picture frames.
Send them to loved ones.
Hold them close.
Because without them,
we will never know what we look like
as ourselves
without a mask.
Ali Walks Around 