The Story Behind the Photograph: Gazing at the Mountains

I can remember being there when this photograph was taken, though I don’t know exactly where there was or who took the photo? I wasn’t even aware of it being taken. I was given a copy much later by a friend who I was traveling with and who took the picture.

My mother some years later got a blown up version of the photograph and had it framed. It was from that copy that I took a digital copy of the image.

A person, myself, is leaning over a railing, gazing at a scenic, mountainous landscape in the distance.

I am somewhere in the Canadian Rockies. A group of us are touring parts of the US and Canada. I am a couple of years into my twenties and starting to question a lot of things in my life. A few years before, as I came to the end of my undergraduate degree, I had gone through what I have since called an existential crises. On these travels I was still doing a lot of questioning of life. One reason for this trip was to give myself some space, to try and get a little perspective, hoping that some pieces might fall into place.

While I am not sure that many questions were answered while I was in North America, with the benefit of hindsight I take this moment as one where some pieces started to fall into place.

The grandeur of the Rockies held me. The mountains, their presence gave me a sense of home. The space afforded by the mountains’ presence, and their immensity helped my mind clear. I started to wonder what was really important? I didn’t want to leave these mountains, or I wanted something held in them?

While I didn’t have answers to my questions in that moment, I felt at peace being there. I was reluctant to leave, to leave whatever it was that this place, this view was offering me.

OnTheRoad

Miraz Jordan

A very evocative photo.

Alexandra

What a wonderful story, David. I have a photo of my mother doing that same wistful look out a window to something no one but her could see. I snap the pic before she even knew I was there taking it.

This is definitely one of those moments. And maybe you'll remember what it is that made you look so wistfully at the mountains.

David Johnson

@alexwolfe Thank you, Alexandra. I appreciate your words and the story that you share. For me it feels like a validation of my experience.

David Johnson

@Miraz Thank you to the unknown photographer 🙂

Alexandra

Indeed, you are more than welcome. I love seeing your photos and especially, the stories behind them.