The Meaning of Life

 Hello and welcome to the second action project in my senior humanities class, Journalism. In this unit, we have been looking at photojournalism and the ethics behind it. We had many class discussions about dilemmas when photographing intense and negative situations. We also learned about Sebastiao Salgado a photojournalist who focuses on climate change. For this AP, we were asked to choose a person in our life and interview them about their ideas of the meaning of life. We were also asked to conduct a photoshoot using the skills we learned like changing aperture, the rule of thirds, and focus. I hope you enjoy this action project 

Throughout my life, I have always questioned my beliefs and have constantly changed my ideas based on what I have experienced in the world. I have struggled (like most) with controlling my ego and working to better myself as a person. When I’m questioning I often ask myself what is my goal or what is my meaning of life. So, I asked one of my friends. 

Shanet is a senior and loves to paint and create art that represents her Puerto Rican heritage. For as long as I have known Shanet, she has had a very personal relationship with God. We met up on an unusually warm November day, and we laughed and talked as friends do. When Shanet and I hang out, we usually do photoshoots, so this time was not odd. We sat on the bench of a local park, and I asked her, “What is the meaning of life?” She pauses and giggles. It takes a while for her to respond, but when she does, she says, “The meaning of life is selfless and intentionally doing what we are called to do-- if what we do at any moment is good, we are glorifying God.” We both sat with this statement for a while. Usually, when it comes to talking about religion with my other friends, the conversation can be awkward. However, Shanet never judges; she always has a friendly and graceful disposition that makes me more open to chat. “Everything that we have here is temporary. Living with an eternal mindset and setting our eyes on God is how we should be living.”

Our conversation lulled and we decided to take our first set of pictures. We moved to the top of a small hill that was perfectly lit with sunlight. The air was perfectly warm, but also still, and the world around us was silent. I thought it was the perfect atmosphere to take these pictures to go along with such a mindful and grounding conversation.

TN "SR" 2020

I feel that this picture perfectly depicts the stillness and the peacefulness of this day. The aperture (which is called f-stop on my camera) was set to a low setting, and the shutter speed was also at a low value. I made sure to place my subject in the left of the frame which means she is only taking up ⅓ of the frame. I also used a special lens that allows me to take beautiful portraits by hyper-focusing on my subject and blurring the background. You can see the effects of the low aperture because the picture is darker than usual. I like this setting because it brings a certain mood to the image. This “moodiness” allows the viewer to really get a good feeling of how the atmosphere felt on the day. I took this photo subjectively because I knew exactly what I wanted to portray in this photo and how I wanted it to be. I told Shanet where to stand so this means that my own opinions of what looked good influenced my photography.


At the end of the photoshoot, we packed up all of our belongings and got in my car. As I drove, I asked her what advice she had for people who are questioning their beliefs. She quickly responded, “I’d say explore them! Don’t be afraid to not understand things.” I asked her to elaborate on that. “ Well, find a community of people that you can trust and can help guide you and answer your questions.” She went on about how it takes a lot of time to feel secure with your beliefs,, and then she recalled a time when she was questioning. “I felt discouraged and doubtful but then I realized that it’s normal and everyone goes through it. Everyone struggles and everyone has this process of revival.”


On the drive home, I went through everything we talked about in my head. The last thing Shanet said that stuck with me was, “Something that I tell myself when I am going through something is that what I go through or what I am currently experiencing doesn’t matter. What matters is that I continue to seek out my relationship with God, I will be okay.” I think about this quote often because even if someone doesn’t believe in God, they can still look towards whatever grounds them and allows them to feel at peace.

TN "SR Field" 2020