Choosing a Frame: Photography and the Paths We Don’t Take
As a photography lover, I have learned that every shot is a decision
Varanasi Ghats, India —WikiCommons Image — Photo by Dialog Center Images
“Reality can be experienced only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar. What the moon is like must be seen with one's own eyes. How can others do it for you? “
(Adi Shankara - Vivekachudamani - Verse 54)
As a passionate photographer, I have learned that every shot is a decision, a snapshot captured in an infinite sea of possibilities. This awareness has also taught me a lot about life itself, where as long as we don’t make a decision, all scenarios are contemplatable and none are right or wrong.
Although I have not had the opportunity to visit Varanasi in person, I was able to experience this lesson while selecting images of the famous ghats along the banks of the sacred Ganges River, directly from the WikiCommons gallery.
Varanasi Ghats, India — WikiCommons Image — Photo by Aleksandr Zykov
Photographs
As I navigated through the photographs, I found myself facing a kaleidoscope of unexplored potentials. The ghats, with their ancient stone steps descending towards the waters, seemed to hold infinite stories yet to be told. At that moment, the photographers could have captured anything: a solitary sadhu immersed in meditation, a colourful religious ceremony, a family engaged in daily rituals, or simply the tranquillity of dawn reflecting on the river’s waves. All these options were equally valid, all contemplatable with the same legitimacy.
Varanasi Ghats, India — WikiCommons Image — Antoine Taveneaux
Every time one of these photographers prepared to take a shot, they were aware of making a crucial decision. They were choosing to crystallize a single fragment of that infinite canvas of possibilities, sacrificing all the other options that would remain unexplored. Yet, it was this awareness that made each shot so precious and meaningful. Each of the infinite untraveled experiences would have deserved to be lived.
Varanasi Ghats, India — WikiCommons Image — Photo by Rickard Törnblad
Journey
As I selected the images, I was able to follow the photographers’ journey, starting with some isolated shots, capturing the essence of the place without interference. Then, gradually, they decided to include more human presence, adding layers of complexity and life to the images. Every person present in their shots was the result of a conscious decision, an element chosen to represent a fragment of that constantly changing reality.
Varanasi Ghats, India — WikiCommons Image— Photo by Juan Antonio Segal
This awareness has made me humble in the face of the vastness of the possibilities that constantly surround us. Every shooting decision, no matter how trivial it may seem, is an act of creation that shapes our future path, excluding other roads that could have been taken. Yet, until that moment, all those options were equally legitimate and contemplatable.
Varanasi Ghats, India — WikiCommons Image— Photo by Bluerasberry
Everything seems possible
Similarly, in life, as long as we don’t make a decision, everything seems possible. Every choice we make excludes infinite other possibilities, but none of them can be considered intrinsically right or wrong. They are simply different visions of what could be, all equally valid until we choose to embrace one.
Varanasi Ghats, India — WikiCommons Image— Photo by Ninara
It is precisely this ephemeral nature of possibilities that makes photography, and life itself, so precious. At the moment we have chosen to capture an image, all the other options vanish, leaving only that single snapshot as a testament to what has been. At the same time, immediately after the shot, a new blank canvas of possibilities unfolds before the photographers, ready to welcome their next decisions.
The point of this article is not to uncover the mechanisms of the passage of time — to be clear, I don’t want to imitate “Inception” — but to understand how our existence is suspended in a balance between seemingly trivial chances and decisions, and how all our future days may be determined perhaps by a slip or an unexpected rain.
Varanasi Ghats, India — WikiCommons Image — Photo by Anonymous
And…so?
As I scrolled through the photographs of Varanasi, I saw not only the captured scenes but also an echo of all the infinite possibilities that the photographers had let go of. Each of those images is a tangible record of their decision to stop time and crystallize a single fragment of that constantly changing reality. Yet, they are also a reminder that, a moment later, the infinite river of life has continued to flow, carrying with it a myriad of new possibilities to explore.
As a passionate photographer, I am deeply grateful to the authors of these images for allowing me to share this awareness. Every shot is a window into a world of possibilities, an invitation to reflect on our existence and the wonderful dance between choice and destiny that shapes our path. Because until we make a decision, everything is contemplatable, and nothing is truly wrong.
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