Fotografie is my passie vandat ek ’n kamera kon optel, maar vandag wil ek my 15 kosbaarste foto's met julle deel, waarvan ek niks geneem het nie. Daar was geen kunsregisseurs, geen stiliste, geen kanse vir oorskiet nie, geen ag is geslaan op beligting nie. Om die waarheid te sê, die meeste is deur toeriste geneem.
Photography has been my passion ever since I was old enough to pick up a camera, but today I want to share with you the 15 most treasured photos of mine, and I didn't take any of them. There were no art directors, no stylists, no chance for reshoots, not even any regard for lighting. In fact, most of them were taken by random tourists.
My storie begin toe ek in New York was om ’n toespraak te gee, en my vrou dié foto van my met ons dogter op haar eerste verjaarsdag geneem het. Ons is op die hoek van 57ste en 5de. Ons was toevallig terug in New York presies ’n jaar later, so ons besluit toe om dieselfde foto te neem.
My story begins when I was in New York City for a speaking engagement, and my wife took this picture of me holding my daughter on her first birthday. We're on the corner of 57th and 5th. We happened to be back in New York exactly a year later, so we decided to take the same picture.
Julle kan sien waarop hierdie afstuur. Naby my dogter se derde verjaarsdag, sê my vrou: "Hoekom vat jy nie vir Sabina terug New York toe nie, dan maak julle dit ’n pa-dogter uitstappie en sit die ritueel voort." Dis toe dat ons toeriste begin vra het om die foto te neem.
Well you can see where this is going. Approaching my daughter's third birthday, my wife said, "Hey, why don't you take Sabina back to New York and make it a father-daughter trip, and continue the ritual?" This is when we started asking passing tourists to take the picture.
Dis opvallend hoe universeel die gebaar is om jou kamera vir ’n vreemdeling te gee. Niemand het ooit geweier of, gelukkig, met ons kamera die hasepad gekies nie.
You know, it's remarkable how universal the gesture is of handing your camera to a total stranger. No one's ever refused, and luckily no one's ever run off with our camera.
Toé het ons geen idee gehad hoeveel die reis ons lewens sou verander nie. Dit het werklik heilig geraak vir ons. Hierdie een is net weke na 9/11 geneem, en ek moes probeer verduidelik wat op daardie dag gebeur het op maniere wat ’n 5-jarige kon verstaan.
Back then, we had no idea how much this trip would change our lives. It's really become sacred to us. This one was taken just weeks after 9/11, and I found myself trying to explain what had happened that day in ways a five-year-old could understand.
Hierdie foto's is dus meer as plaasvervangers vir ’n enkele oomblik of spesifieke besoek. Met hulle kan ons ook tyd vries vir een week in Oktober en terugkyk op ons tye en hoe ons verander van jaar tot jaar, nie net fisies nie, maar in elke opsig. Want, alhoewel ons dieselfde foto neem, verander ons perspektiewe, en sy bereik nuwe mylpale, en ek sien die lewe deur haar oë, en hoe sy op alles reageer en daarna kyk. Dié gefokusde tyd wat ons saam spandeer is iets wat ons koester en die hele jaar voor wag.
So these photos are far more than proxies for a single moment, or even a specific trip. They're also ways for us to freeze time for one week in October and reflect on our times and how we change from year to year, and not just physically, but in every way. Because while we take the same photo, our perspectives change, and she reaches new milestones, and I get to see life through her eyes, and how she interacts with and sees everything. This very focused time we get to spend together is something we cherish and anticipate the entire year.
Onlangs, op een besoek, stap ons, en sy steek in haar vier spore vas en wys na die rooi sonskerm van die popwinkel waaroor sy mal was as kind op ons vroeër besoeke. En sy beskryf aan my haar gevoel as 5-jarige op presies dieselfde plek. Sy kon onthou hoe haar hart uit haar bors wou bars toe sy die plek die eerste keer gesien het nege jaar tevore. En wat sy nou na kyk in New York is universiteite, want sy's vasbeslote om daar te gaan studeer. En dit het my getref: Een van die belangrikste dinge wat ons maak, is herinneringe.
Recently, on one trip, we were walking, and she stops dead in her tracks, and she points to a red awning of the doll store that she loved when she was little on our earlier trips. And she describes to me the feeling she felt as a five-year-old standing in that exact spot. She said she remembers her heart bursting out of her chest when she saw that place for the very first time nine years earlier. And now what she's looking at in New York are colleges, because she's determined to go to school in New York. And it hit me: One of the most important things we all make are memories.
Ek wil dus die idee deel om aktief en opsetlik herinneringe te skep. Ek weet nie van julle nie, maar buiten hierdie 15, is ek in min familie foto's. Ek's altyd die een wat hulle neem. Ek wil dus almal vandag aanmoedig: kom in die foto in en moenie huiwer om iemand te vra nie: "Sal jy dalk ons foto neem?" Dankie. (Applous)
So I want to share the idea of taking an active role in consciously creating memories. I don't know about you, but aside from these 15 shots, I'm not in many of the family photos. I'm always the one taking the picture. So I want to encourage everyone today to get in the shot, and don't hesitate to go up to someone and ask, "Will you take our picture?" Thank you. (Applause)