About “It is still a beautiful world”
This project began in a time of darkness but had since become a daily habit that I truly enjoy. The inspiration came from the last stanza of the Desderata by Max Ehrmann: “In the noisy confusion of life keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it’s still a beautiful world. Be cheerful, strive to be happy”.
I have always thought a photographer’s eye is a privilege. I see the way light falls, and colours pop, the shapes and textures and lines. It all comes together to make a beauty that others cast their eyes over and miss. It’s easy to think that beauty is all about world-class landscapes and must-see destinations, about the holidays you take and the places you dream of. But it’s actually everywhere in your daily life if you look for it.
Every day I take and post on Instagram a photo or two as a reminder of the beauty that’s all around. I don’t go to specific places looking to find the day’s beauty, and I don’t plan my photos. I go wherever I think my dogs might enjoy walking. I don’t arrange the scenes or move things, and I do minimal editing. I’m showing you the beauty in the world as it really is.
Often I go to the same places over and over and over again, but if you start exploring the world around you with your eyes open, you’ll see the beauty is there and it’s different every day.
This project began in late 2015, and will continue indefinitely. Collected here are my favourite photos, to see every photo and to follow along find me on Instagram - @itisstillabeautifulworld.
About Jess
I’m from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia and currently live in the mountains of Northern California with my husband and two blue heelers.
I first picked up a camera when I was 15. I knew I wanted to learn how to use an SLR, and while on a family holiday in Tasmania I waited until we hiked into Freycinet’s Wineglass Bay to get a lesson on mum’s old Pentax. I wanted to take my first photo ‘somewhere’. So I got a lesson in shutter speeds and F-stops amongst tourists at the lookout over the bay.
Since that moment, my desire has been to capture a place: to capture a sense of it, to capture whatever ineffable thing it is that makes it different to all other places, its colours, textures, light, landscape, architecture, ways of life. I like people to look at my photos and feel the place.
These days I shoot on a Sony A7R III and four Zeiss Batis prime lenses: 25mm, 40mm, 85mm and 135mm. I choose to use prime lenses so I have to work a little harder to make the photo.
I hope my photos give you a few moments of calmness and quiet contemplation in this mad and sometimes difficult world.
Stop and look at a photo, take a deep breath.