More Optimism, Altruism...(less drama)

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that
in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” 
― Maya Angelou

This is an invite. It's going to get weird, but bear with me.

I'm a people watcher. Actually, more like an observer. I've tried to look at people sans judgments  but with understanding. Sometimes you run into those who are just plumb stupid, whole-hearted assholes, and otherwise mean-spirited folk. But I would say this is the minority of the kinds of mannerisms for most people you will meet.

“How can you govern a country
which has 246 varieties of cheese?” 
― Charles de Gaulle

As a photographer, being observant is an asset. I feel like I've always been an observer, but now I see people often times through an imaginary viewfinder. I see how they might look with a lens between them and me or how they might appear if I strategically cropped out the rest of the world around them. It's fascinating actually. Ya'll should try to visualize that sometimes. Things can become a bit more easy to see when you shrink the world. And when you can see, you can understand.

One of my life-long goals is to become less angry and fed up with people. I think I can do this by understanding people's affect on my life and put them into true perspective. What this essentially means is letting go of drama. I can't stand drama. Drama should be in the cinema or on stage and never in real life. I've had to deal with my fair share and ever more, even now. But I want to invite you to think about this and contemplate the affect it has in your life. I would wager to say that most drama has very little true impact on a person's life. We tend to empower drama, more so than our drama has its own natural power. Case in point: I've been betrayed or blindsided quite often by people who I imagined were close to me. Hurts every time, I'll admit, but what surprises me most about myself is my ability to get better at recovering from it much more quickly than I have in the past. Part of that is realizing that people's opinion of me don't really matter. They don't affect my income or my ability to care for myself. They don't affect my relationship with God. They don't detour my future potential and they certainly don't dictate my ability to decide what's right for me. That is, unless I empower them to do so.

“All the diversity, all the charm, and all the beauty of life are made up of light and shade.” 
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Let me entreat you to try a little harder at optimism. I struggle with it. Make no mistake, I'm not speaking to this like I'm some wise old sage, guru, or mountain mystic sitting above 8,000 feet in a small village above the cloud-line. But I think if we can look at things in their proper perspective and give credence only to those things and people that really matter, it would be difficult to NOT be optimistic about ourselves, our future, others we hold dear, and humanity in general.

Another word I will throw at you is Altruism. Random acts of kindness, a good-natured attitude, looking for the best in people and situations, light-hearted, caring for other people and the world we live in; all of that. That's altruism. Not being divided by social, political, gender, racial, and sexual persuasions...that's altruism. Actually desiring to reach a mutual agreement and working tirelessly towards that goal...that's altruism.

“Be sure to enjoy language, experiment with ways of talking, be
exuberant even when you don't feel like it because language can make
your world a better place to live.” 
― Deborah Levy, Pillow Talk in Europe and Other Places

The Hubble telescope is one of many instruments we use to see deep into the universe. We can see so far into the distant expanse of space that we are actually seeing into the past. As far as well can tell, we here on the planet Earth are the only representation of LIFE that we have been able to find. That girl on the job that you can't stand is still, in essence, a miracle of life. We can procreate life because we are designed to so do. But we can't just create life from scratch. Its impossible. Even the most simplest forms of life are yet impossible for us to create ourselves. Can you create a worm? Do you have it in you to re-engineer a fly? None of the most brilliant minds or the smartest brains to ever grace the human race can do this. Yet we often cheapen life and the value of one another.

I am reminded of the movie, staring the late great Michael Clarke Duncan. You know the movie..."The Green Mile". His character is gifted but fed up with how mean we are to each other:

"Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?" - character, John Coffey in "The Green Mile"

“If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear.” 
― Gene Roddenberry

So I submit these questions: Why can't we enjoy one another? Why can't we just enjoy life? Why do we needlessly get caught up in things and people that don't really matter? Let a mother feed her baby in public. And if she uses a boob to do it, so the f-what. Quit being so disparaging over a naked body. Clean up the heart and nudity won't matter. It doesn't matter what your faith is, God said to love. He didn't specify exceptions at to sexual orientation. I'm Black, but I'm just like you, just with a longer dick, better natural ability with a ball (you can keep your pucks), and more rhythmic responses to music. I'm Kidding! Cuz we're getting a grip on the puck, too! Nah...All jokes aside. I'm actually just like you, maybe culturally different. But isn't that the brilliant thing about life...Our Diversity!! That's what made life proliferate throughout time. Diversity. Relish our differences. I promise you. If you want to enrich your own life, get to know cultures outside of your own. So appreciate and celebrate me. I will love and cherish you. How about we make THAT deal. More OPTIMISM. More ALTRUISM.

....less drama...

You can do this. WE can do this. Help me treat you better. I wanna start with me. You do the same. And we can just see where it takes us. I found this animation over on Peace, Love, Nudity. I thought it was interesting.

Welcome to Photo Anthems 2013!

"Like all great travelers  I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen." - Benjamin Disraeli 

© 2013 Terrell Neasley, Anonymous Nude Model

First post of the year. Hooray!  Nah, I don't really get into all that. But I understand many will still make resolutions, break'em, and renew them the next year. I'm normally not a conformist, but let me give it a try.

First, I'm gonna shoot more nude models than the FOUR I shot last year. Granted, 2012 was quite odd. I spent the first 4 months on lock-down from knee surgery. I spent some time out of the country and came back to the US and traveled around some more. So I didn't have a lot of opportunities to shoot many models. That changes. Regardless of travel schedules, or other extra-curricular activities, I'm making time for nudes. I don't care where I am. I'll be shooting. I had the good fortune of starting the year off right. When the clock struck midnight, I raised a glass, drank some champagne, kissed a few beautiful women, and 30 mins later was shooting a nude...for the next 7 hours. That's how I want to spend every New Year's.

© 2013 Terrell Neasley,
Anonymous Model

The second priority of business is to travel MORE! I know I have to get back down to Central America again. I need to backtrack some of my spots from last summer and this time bring a nude model with me. There were so many beautiful spots to shoot in and nobody was getting naked. Nature = Nudes, as far as I'm concerned and this is a must do. I need to spend some time with a Guatemalan family to learn Español, as I had intended to do on my last trip. But as I detailed before, Hurricane Ernesto had other plans. I don't know how much I'll get to do, but the priority is to do backtrack Central America, head on down to a few more C.A. countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, and Panama. I may leave Nicaragua and Costa Rica for another day. And then skirt on down further South into South America with priorities on Brazil, Colombia, and Equador. I'll see how things go and maybe get Peru and Chile in there.

"Full nakedness! All my joys are due to thee, as souls unbodied, bodies unclothed must be, to taste whole joys." - John Donne

© 2013 Terrell Neasley, Anonymous Nude Model

The problem is that I like to take my time and sufficiently explore a place. I don't want to do a city or two and hit the next country. I want to absorb the culture and actually learn something. Tourism is not my goal. Experiencing the places and people I visit, is. All that takes time. How much time will I have? Who knows. A better question might be how much money will I have. Yeah, funding is kind of important, because at the same time, I still have Photo Anthems to run. Can I implement more travel into my business model? Well, that's still left to be seen. I'm taking steps as we speak to make that happen.

© 2013 Terrell Neasley, Anonymous Nude Model

Which leads to the next priority for the year...My business. Travel will definitely be a part of it, but I don't want to travel on my own dime by saving up and hitting the road with a limited budget. The goal is to have funds coming in WHILE I am on the road...or boat, as it were. I tell you my mind is constantly bent on this notion. I've almost entirely evolved my initial business plan when I first set out to do photo, which was primarily going to be on personal documentaries. Well, while this is still part of my business, I'd like to incorporate personal travel documentaries in the mix. I'd follow a client around and photograph and video their experiences and edit everything into a final package.

I love this thing, photography. And I want to revamp everything about the way I do it, in terms of gear I use, my methodology, and my art. I'll talk more on all that later on, though. But I can definitely envision great things, great collaborations, and EPIC projects. I hope you are on board and are following me. 'Cause its going to be a fun ride!