I was recently asked by my boss to share some of my photos related to work (or taken within the project areas) to be used as screensavers for a monitor in the new office’s conference room. I selected from my several trips to Madinah last 2023. This would bypass my order of posting blogs chronologically, but let this serve as an introduction and my refresher of those memorable travel missions.
(I hope that these photos won’t get me in trouble as some of these are taken from highly classified areas. But I am willing to take them down if needed.)
Bragging time. Some of these pictures actually won the photography contest last year for the 2024 company calendar. And I took two calendars: one for my room here in Khobar, and one that I will bring to the Philippines as memento. (Talking about attachment issues.)
What's in this post?
Why you create
A true artist’s main goal for creating is to express. Not to impress. (Unless you make art for a living, getting impression is part of the equation which you will use to your advantage to effectively convince your client with your work, and that is another topic).
For the beholder to feel anything towards an art is just a welcome reaction, just like appreciation. For an artist to create something, he should first elicit emotions before (trigger), during, and after the creation of an art, not minding what another soul’s reaction would be. Not tied to ‘what would they like to see’.Â
It feels great — there is no denying that — to hear people say your photos are beautiful or that you take good pictures. These compliments help you gain confidence. But arts are not created equally in the eyes of an observer. Some would be perceived better than the other (in social media language, some would have more likes or reactions than the others). And the way arts are created by the artist are not the same either. Some arts are created with different ideas, emotions, and purpose. Ultimately, an artist creates because of a call from within to do so. And that call or emotion doesn’t have to be deep [pa-deep]. Create art simply because you like it. It’s more than enough of a reason.
"You're an artist."
No adjectives, but for me, being told with these words is a thousand times more powerful.
“[These are great]. You’re an artist.” The project manager of our current project, who is a Saudi, told me after my boss revealed that it was me who took the pictures on the 80″ (?) tv.
All I could say was “thank you” with a big smile.
It was my boss’ idea to put these pictures as screensavers, intentionally, to be “conversation pieces” while waiting for the actual meeting agenda. (Apart from being a great project manager and an engineer himself, my boss is also an art curator. So, he knows his way around people and art.)
Art's purpose
My photos had served their purpose for me. To serve as a souvenir. To capture on camera, process to my liking, and immortalize the moment and how I felt when I took that photo.
And now, as a bonus, they served their purpose for others: for people to see them and perhaps, feel or don’t feel anything about them. Some got amazed. Some had no reaction. Some were reminded of their home (Madinah) and even realized that they never saw these places that way (or haven’t seen them at all despite living or having been there).
Love your own
P.S. It all sound so serious, this art thing, but ultimately don’t let anyone dictate what is art or what is beautiful for you.Â
A picture of your dog is art.Â
A snapshot of your coffee is art.Â
That white blob photo of the moon is an art.Â
Don’t let someone tell you otherwise.
The most beautiful place in Saudi Arabia
Madinah is the most beautiful place I have been to in Saudi Arabia to date, and these are just a peek of what this region has to offer.