A gallery of spiritual poetry and resonant imagery from Oleg Yuzefpolsky
there is something infinite in the way clouds touch
mountains
there is something definite in the way mystery rains
destiny
Camera, pen and a small notebook are my constant companions. Destiny has brought us together on the streets of New York and Los Angeles, sending us later on the journey through the sacred lands of Native Americans in New Mexico and Utah and later pointing in the direction of the East. From the year 2000, I’ve been living in the remote Himalayan region of Sikkim and in Kerala, South India.
I never “take” a picture. For me – Nature, deserted ancient shrines, remote Himalayan valleys are as alive as any human being and often a lot more than a human. I just walk and see, and smell, and feel raindrops on my face. Pure Perception – is when you use all your senses to the most and in the process of absorbing every minutest detail, “you” are the one who gets absorbed to the degree when your chatter-box mind doesn’t give a comment or even a name to the experience. As such, you connect to what is called Intuition – direct knowing that “comes” from nowhere, from everywhere. This knowing is timeless, yet is always sharply on time and absolutely in-the-moment. This Intuition is the only guide i follow on my path.
I do not “take” pictures. I walk and i love the walk. Sometimes, in those incredible moments of overflowing quiet joy and awe, I’m “called” and “allowed” to open my camera by the forces unseen, yet real and obvious. Then I’m “given” the images. In them, the symmetry and ordinariness seem to gently melt into the multi-layered and enigmatic feel, which I find in simple things surrounding us daily.
Sometimes for months and months i walk without opening my camera. I never force it. The place and it’s every particle including people should open and let me in. And only when i stop being an “outsider”, do i reach for my camera. Later, when i come home, i humbly hope that maybe in my camera there is an image that contains that unexplainable, mystical and pulsating feeling of being alive. This feeling, this state of mind is bottomless and when i open my eyes and look within, all i can see is one sky – undivided and ever-changing.
I hope that these words and images that come to me can communicate to you the moments that inspire, surprise and have us fall in love with life once again.
with best wishes,
Oleg Yuzefpolsky
