By The River

“By The River” is a small collection of images that found their meaning after they were taken. What began as a simple photowalk slowly took on a different shape during the editing process.

While going through the photos, I kept thinking about By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho—the quiet, reflective tone of the writing started to mirror what I was seeing in the images.

This series isn’t a retelling of the book, but it carries a similar feeling: still, introspective, and a little open-ended.

By the River Piedra I sat down and wept. There is a legend that everything that falls into the waters of this river—leaves, insects, the feathers of birds—is transformed into the rocks that make the riverbed.

If only I could tear out my heart and hurl it into the current, then my pain and longing would be over, and I could finally forget.

But love is always new. Regardless of whether we love once, twice, or a dozen times in our life, we always face a brand-new situation. Love can consign us to hell or to paradise, but it always takes us somewhere. We simply have to accept it, because it is what nourishes our existence. If we reject it, we die of hunger, because we lack the courage to stretch out a hand and pluck the fruit from the branches of the tree of life. We have to take love where we find it, even if that means hours, days, weeks of disappointment and sadness.The moment we begin to seek love, love begins to seek us. And to save us.

God always offers us a second chance in life.