Capturing the Soul

There are so many cultures and groups of people that believe that photographing someone steals or captures their soul.

I wonder if Los Angeles is sometimes referred to as "The City Without a Soul" because of this belief. Truly, so many people have been photographed here that it would seem the soul is continually sucked away by the flash of the camera.

But this city has a living, breathing pulse, an energy that cries out to it's original name, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula, with every breath.

I'm constantly photographing this city, capturing it's energy and looking for the spirit of beauty shining forth with clarity and conviction.

Given all the pictures I take and a bit of prodding from a friend, I've decided to start a photo blog, "Capturing the Soul". I'll be posting images there a few days a week along with a bit about the location or what made me stop and capture the image. Hope you enjoy it.

Comments

Jameil said…
yay! stop giving me more blogs to check! hmph.
the joy said…
I've always interpreted that, in our modern society, to mean that your soul, who you are at that moment, is captured. Not taken forever, just replicated. I love taking pictures... I will be a frequent commenter.
Jen said…
I can't wait to go over and see it. I think you also capture a lot of the pulse of L.A. through your writing, too, though. And the template works perfectly now. Your site looks simply mahvelous, dahling!
Anonymous said…
I just saw the observatory picture. Breathtaking.
I like your new template. Very nice.
What is the translation of Los Angeles' real name?

I am going to check out your photo blog.
Miriam said…
OMG! I thought that was strictly a Jewish thing. cool.
Anonymous said…
Good for you, liz! I love the photos I've seen so far.
MartiniCocoa said…
I love the redesign!
Anonymous said…
Ironic that idea that taking photos steals someone's soul. When you look at the paparazzi, that's exactly what they do, or try to do. They're trying to plunder all the private parts of people's lives for commercial benefit and leave them fighting to protect what's left. Superstition has become reality!
Liz Dwyer said…
Jameil,
Hah hah! Let's see if I can keep all three of these blogs up! :)

The Joy,
Yes, I think a good photo should capture whatever "soul" a scene inherently has. Hope you come by and visit frequently!

Jen,
Why thank you! Thank you very much! (said in best Elvis voice) I wish I had a huge monitor to see a big version. The columns on the right sort of smush together on my teeny laptop screen but they don't on a larger screen. But, I am very happy with it!

Jess,
Now that I've put such an awesome picture up first, it's going to be hard to keep that level of photography up!

NYC/CR,
It means, "The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porciúncula". And you're going to love this: Porciúncula is a chapel near Assisi, Italia!

Miriam,
Amish people believe that as do many Native American groups.


Jali,
Thanks! I suppose I could've just had a flickr but I like adding a bit of info about it.

IANSJ,
Thank you!

Nick,
Very true. It has become a sort of sick reality. I remember thinking after Princess Diana died that the paparazzi would slow down, but not so. It cost $25K to take Britney to the hospital because so many police were needed to keep the paparazzi away. Just ridiculous.
Anonymous said…
I was just reading that up to 30 per cent of the US paparazzis' revenues are now coming from Britney and that the Britney industry is currently worth $120 million a year to the US economy. And that's on the back of someone who's seriously mentally ill. God, it's sick.
Liz Dwyer said…
Nick,
That is really sick. I wonder how that number will be impacted now that she's in the hospital. I hope she can manage to stay out of the eye of the media.

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