Lives on faces
Lalage Snow is a war photojournalist who has been to Iraq and Kosovo, reported from almost every hellish African civil war, and Afghanistan was, of course, no exception. However, Lalage Snow is not just any photojournalist, as she managed to stand out from the crowd with her project titled "We Are Not Dead."
We Are Not Dead is a portrait series that documented the changes in the faces of 30 British soldiers fighting on the front lines of the war in Afghanistan over 8 months. The essence of the project is 3 photos of the face and 3 thoughts about war, fear, and their feelings. The first pictures were taken in England, before their deployment, the second after 4 months of service in a war zone at a military base, and the last picture was taken after 8 months of service.
Snow's goal was to depict the physical manifestation of the trauma caused by war, that is, how a person's face and gaze change under the influence of external environmental factors. Snow's camera captured the changes as innocent, frightened 19-20-year-old boys became grim-faced men after a few months of war service. The change is truly shocking in some cases. Time accelerates, and gazes clear. Stepping out of the system of our everyday lives, which lack real dangers, and into a world where our job is not at stake, but our very lives, priorities change a bit, and Snow shows us exactly this change.
But the change in faces is only the surface, a visible manifestation of a changed state to the outside world. The real transformations occurred beneath the surface, because these people changed completely, both mentally and emotionally.
Sergeant Alexander McBroom, for example, made this statement a few days before arriving in Afghanistan. "I'm not worried, it's my job. I have no fear, there won't be any problems." 4 months later, he said this: "War is like a can opener for the eyes. It opens them, whether you want it to or not, and you see things you never wanted to see." And 4 months after that... "Fear. The only constant feeling that is always with you, from which you cannot hide and cannot escape. Fear is your only companion, and the knowledge that you can die at any moment, that it can all end at any moment. Fear is no longer a strange feeling, but a part of everyday life, and suddenly you realize that you no longer care, and you go into everything."
With this project, Snow wanted not only to pay tribute to human courage but also to draw attention to the psychological and physical transformation of soldiers as a result of the radical change in their living conditions. Seven of the 30 soldiers involved in the project died, but those who returned are no longer the same people they were before, and this is an essential point of this post. How we change and what kind of people we become as a result of how we live our lives, because our lives are on our faces.
Almost every before-and-after picture has at least one huge asshole who says that this picture is fake, it's not the same person, their face is completely different, as if it weren't even the same person in the two pictures. And they're right. A lifestyle change and the processes that come with it change a person on all levels. If someone has lost 20 kilograms and their life has radically changed, it's not just their appearance that changes; it's about much more than losing kilograms.
Everything affects us. The rhythm and quality of our lives will sooner or later show on our faces. If a woman sleeps with everyone and gives oral sex to every random jerk in a club bathroom on Saturday nights, it will eventually show in her being, her aura; it's no coincidence that common parlance calls such women "worn-out-faced, cheap sluts." Everything is on our faces, and no makeup or foundation can cover it. Our education, honor, sneakiness, frustration, our work, wickedness are all there on our faces, and I could go on about this all day; our whole rotten life is there.
Life is a wonderful system, and although 7 billion people may pull in 7 billion directions, the societal rules and the invisible yet all-encompassing laws of life apply to everyone, and no one can do anything about it. Just as fear, the proximity of death, and the masses of souls hardened by the horrors experienced and witnessed are etched on the faces of British soldiers, so too will it show on your face if you screw up your life.
Obesity is no longer about visual appearance, but about the lifestyle that led to that condition. Every single time you know that what you're doing to yourself is wrong, and you do it anyway, every time you promise yourself that you'll go on a diet tomorrow, or go for a run tonight, and you don't, it certainly destroys and poisons. Not just you, but your self-esteem as well. This is how a person's personality erodes, and the repeated failures and complete lack of willpower appear on your face, settle on your personality, and show in your aura.
You can deceive yourself, but never life. No matter how great an actor you are, playing happy and pretending you're fine, those inner struggles and frustrations that you think no one sees will indeed appear on your face in the form of wrinkles, and they'll surround you like an invisible cloud in the form of your aura.
Maintaining appearances takes far more energy from you than actually doing something for yourself and making changes. You can't bluff your way through life, and you'll either realize this on your own, or life will lead you to it. But if I could suggest something, don't wait for that point, because that realization will be the most painful thing you've experienced in your meaningless life up until then.
Question: http://ask.fm/benedekbence
