You walked with me, footprints in the sand and helped me understand where I'm going (Leona Lewis)

There is something distinctive about being near a sea or ocean.  Perhaps it is the memory of our umbilical sac; or the soothing yet threatening rhythm only water and waves can provide. No matter, since I was born in a city upon the Mediterranean Sea, waves, rocky shores, their allure and their dangers have remained with me. Mostly in me.

Yet, there is much fascination with footprints on sand.  Having lived in the Arabian Peninsula and traveled in Sub-Saharan Africa (Afrotropic Ecozone), I have seen and left many a footprint in the desert sand. And now that I live in the high desert of Arizona, I continue to ponder on the attraction and magic footprints in sand have on people, give inspiration to spiritual expression and influence the sang and written arts.

I suppose footprints on a sandy beach have special suggestive powers since the waves erase the proof of being there immediately. Tabula rasa at its best. And in some ways it goes beyond “being there” to become about “have been there”. The waves take away all sense and record of our passage.

A legacy, a memory, and a remembrance by others that we have passed through life are important for humans. A sandy beach is cruel and unforgiving.

… But as a photographer and poet, I remain attracted to the unique moments each one of us experiences next to an angry ocean or at sunset on a pristine lake. In fact, the publisher of my last book (2014) chose one of my “sand walk” pictures taken in Nazaré, Portugal. It shows footprints away from the erasing power of waves….

While the above picture shows a couple, sandy beaches can also harbor much loneliness. This picture I took in Oporto, Portugal is among my favorites in that vein of thought.

Recently, I took a few pictures of people next to the Pacific Ocean along the coast of Monterrey Bay, California.  This one is the simple walk on the beach, but it is also purposeful in the sense that she is walking on the edge of the water line as if wanting to leave no trace of her passage. I find it most telling about a person the path they choose on a beach – these are often similar to their paths in professional work, relationships with others, and propensity to embrace the challenges of big cities or new cultures.

And then, there is the “beach walk” away from the beach! This kind of walk is mental and spiritual. We walk the beach without touching the sand with our feet, but with our mind. This is transcendental and allegoric. I have done many of these “walks” around the world. Perhaps this photo comes close to describing the moment.

February 3, 2016

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2016