FOR JEFF by tulatop

This one’s best viewed on black. Abiqua Falls · Abiqua Creek · Scotts Mills · Oregon · USA Click here to purchase a print and to read the full drawn-out story, including tech info. But the real reason I’m posting a photo here again after saying a few months ago I’d never post another photo here again isn’t for my benefit...it’s for yours. And it’s not some egotistical thing about how my photography might inspire you...it’s about who inspires me, and who I hope might inspire you in turn. Don’t know anything about Jeff Swanson? Or what it means to “Jeff it and be there”? Read my narrative for If Tomorrow Never Comes and hopefully you’ll understand...maybe even change your perspective a little on what it means to really live. Every time I land on this page (and for whatever reason, that happens quite a lot), my heart aches the same way it did the day I found out he’d died. But it’s a good ache...a life-affirming one that lets me know that that four-chambered thing is still pounding inside my chest, pumping blood throughout my body, infusing me with abilities I have no right taking for granted. I know there are a million and a half causes and campaigns you could take up out there in the real world, but if you’re so inclined, I’d ask that you check out and chip in to the Melanoma Research Foundation, or you can visit this memorial website generously hosted as a donation by SmugMug in Jeff’s honor. I have to be transparent in saying that I largely left 500px because all too often it was about silly and petty competition. I return in hopes of reminding people that that’s not what art is about, as far as I know. Art’s about transmitting ideas...about connecting...one soul to another. Art’s about humanity. And life’s about living. Jeff Swanson helps remind me of both those things. All that said, I’ll go back to laying low here now, but you can still find me and follow me on Facebook. Please be good to one another out there. Peace. 2la via 500px