Opinion - Images Around Us

October 4, 2009

370 words

Because They Said So

Images are all around us, some symbolic and others as direct as can be. As we overtake one another in the sordid race towards materialistic hell, one forgets what its like to slow down and smell the roses. The intricate beauty of images around us, the stories they weave, the morals they preach and the auguries they bring.

The unsteady steps of individual thought
Photo Credits: Blassy Boben

Images are here to stay. Their functions differ from situation to situation. They maybe used to organize, to instruct, to promote and influence thought. Modeling our lives on the stereotypes forced upon us by these commercial images has now become the norm. We’ve have lost our individuality and nobody seems to mind much. The handful few who swim against the current to wave their flags of individualism are either frowned upon or hailed as prodigies.

The Power of Association
Photo Credits: Blassy Boben

Somewhere among the mickle of street signs and flashing neon’s, we’ve forgotten the purpose of images. What started as a simple reproduction of the things humans see around them, today images are the life of the corporate world. We built our lives on the images around us. These teach us how to live. This incessant spoon feeding has led to a slow death of the individual thought. The eye is conditioned to seek out elements that stand out from the rest of the image. We see beauty in disorder, in a riot of images and colours. What one needs to remember is that we shouldn’t let images rule our thinking. The rebellious saplings of individual thought that try to push its way through the muck of commercialization are to be nurtured and cared for.

Conditioning through Images
Photo Credits: Blassy Boben

Images today have a fixed definition of perfection. Humans have been conditioned to emulate these portrayed images. This is only an illusion, yet we work so hard to get to that place. This pursuit gives us direction in life. It gives meaning to these long and endless days of hard work. We give up so much to try and achieve perfection. So much that we overlook the small joys in life. Stroll through life rather than run past it. Stop and smell the roses. Take it in, life in all its fullness. The futile chase after perfection can wait.

Things aren't always as they seem
Photo Credits: Blassy Boben