Movement is medicine

Humans are bipedal for a reason, and I believe it’s no coincidence that we have two legs, two feet, and stand upright. We are meant to be moving our physical bodies through the world. Movement is medicine, and is the antidote to the chaos of modern life. I believe that when you walk, you exist outside the passage of time. For when movement occurs, your body stirs, with thoughts, curiosity, and an endless and abundant sensation of bliss.

Why walk?

Walking is life. A life lived on standby, will simply pass you by. What this means is, the more you sit still, the quicker the days will go by. However, while I walk through the city, feeling the sensations, both physically, visually, emotionally, and auditorily, I experience novelty and create memories. There’s something so pleasing about walking around, aimlessly, with wanderlust, not really setting any plans or goals in mind, but just moving for for the sake of moving. You should walk because it gives life more meaning. You create memories, and experiences, that you otherwise wouldn’t have just sitting around inside.

I think nowadays, we are becoming a little bit, too accustomed to air conditioning, and spending time in the dark, under fluorescent lights, in the cave, inside. For me, this is where your soul will slowly die, however, while outside, I thrive, and believe that this is where humans are meant to be. Consider your body as the battery, and the sun as the charger. The more time you spend under the sun, the more energy and power your body will have.

What is the ultimate virtue and good to strive towards?

More power, strength, and energy. Think about your physiology more, and start moving under the sun. Lately people have been commenting about my tan skin, asking where I was on vacation, and I always respond that I just stay outside under the sun in Philadelphia and encourage others to get out there more. Perhaps having tan skin is the new modern day ultimate flex?

What is the telos of walking?

The word “telos” comes from the Greek word “τέλος,” which means “end,” “purpose,” or “goal.”

The purpose of walking is to experience more in life. Walking allows you to enrich your every day life and give it meaning. I also believe the purpose of walking is to strengthen our physicality or physiology. Think of strength as the ultimate good virtue to strive towards. Simply taking off your shoes, and slipping on some Vibram five finger ELX is enough to strengthen your feet, legs, and even posture.

So the goal of walking is very simple. I believe that the more you walk, the more you will see. The more that you see, the more that you will do. As artists and photographers, we should continuously walk throughout the day, in the spirit of play, because we desire to produce things. A camera is the fastest way to make an instant sketch of life, and is why I love photography. Let us not forget the meaning of photography as.

Drawing with light

“phos” (φως), meaning “light,” and “graphê” (γραφή), meaning “drawing” or “writing.”

Also, I believe the goal of walking is to think more. While I move, I like to use my GoPro mini, to streamline my thoughts and speak, candidly, sharing them to my own website blog or YouTube channel. I use the GoPro while walking as away for me to augment my thoughts, and to share them with the world. I believe that this process of walking and talking and thinking out loud helps me better understand why I do things or think certain things. When I finish my walk, I switch to writing, open up the iA Writer app, on my iPhone, or iPad, and voice dictate my thoughts directly and create a PDF file. I then upload the PDF to my website, and make a blog post from my walk. Even Nietzsche said,

“Sit as little as possible; do not believe any idea that was not born in the open air and of free movement—in which the muscles do not also revel.” – Nietzsche

What is the pathos of walking?

In ancient Greek, “pathos” referred to the emotional states or feelings experienced by individuals

While I walk through the city, I walk at a slow pace, and become connected to the earth snd the moments that are fleeting. Whether I’m on a dirt path, or in the street, there’s something so soothing about actually feeling things below my feet. The physical sensation of walking is a pleasure. Also, walking provides you with a multi sensual experience, from the physical, to the auditory, visual, and emotional experience.

Photography is both a visual game and a physical pleasure.

The sounds of the birds or the honking of cars become music to my ears. The movement of my feet and the way that I dance upon the street, and rhythmic pattern, becomes a meditative experience for me. The way that light and color cast across the sky during the sunrise, sunset, or the way that shadows cast across the walls, becomes a visual feast for the eyes. I feel that peace amongst the chaos while walking, and enjoy the emotional feeling. I feel freedom while conquering mountains or walking across dangerous paths, such as the Benjamin Franklin bridge here in Philadelphia.

What should I do with my photographs that I make during my walks?

I believe that in photography we get caught up with basic notions of the print, gallery, zine, or book. Let us go beyond these notions of what a project even means, and think about transcending all of the basic ideas when it comes to themes or ideas or locations that you want to photograph. Break free from boxing yourself into a project or whatever the outcome may be.

I’m personally considering photographing, endlessly, with longevity as the goal. This means, I am completely detached from the outcome, the result, the photographs, and want to remain in the state of production, in flow. I don’t need to become bogged down by making collections, organizing photographs, and thinking about the end result too much. If anything, I’m starting to think that I’m photographing more for an archive, perhaps a digital and both physical archive, that can stand the test of time. I would like to photograph for the next 30, 50, or even 70 years. I want to photograph throughout the next century. I know photography takes lots of time to produce something worthwhile, because of this, I’m not too caught up with the results at all right now. I’m in it for the long run, thinking more about the archive than anything else.

If creating an archive is my ultimate goal, or what I would like to produce or do with my photographs, I’ve decided to start photographing in a new way, with small JPEG files, cranked to the highest contrast as possible. I believe that these files, being only around 4 MB in size, are so small, that they become achievable. Just think, 50 years from now, will we still be using raw files? Will this digital RAW be the goal, similar to that of the negative, being the final product or archivable solution? I think not. I believe that by eliminating any need for processing, and keeping the files as simple and small as possible, they will make them easily shareable, downloadable, and archivable in the future. If I want to make prints of my new work, there will be no real tweaking or settings that I must master. I will not need to hire a professional printer or somebody to assist me with archiving. I’m making things simple for myself so that later down the road, I will not have headaches.

For instance, I’m currently sitting on around seven years of photographs, from traveling all over the world, all raw files, that I could endlessly tweak, make adjustments to, and sit on, for a long time. It’s kind of overwhelming, because part of me wants to master processing with these photos, make them look aesthetically more beautiful. However, I really do not care about these things at all. It’s just not something I’m interested in. Because of this, I’m switching up, and making things more enjoyable and easier for myself.

Where should I share my photos?

I highly suggest doing the following:

Delete your Instagram
Create your domain using bluehost.com
Start building on WordPress.org
Install Astra theme

The main reason why you should delete your Instagram is because the photos themselves only exist within the platform Instagram. I don’t have an Instagram account, therefore, I cannot see your photographs.

Also, make a Google Photos account, and back everything up into the cloud. Make an album, upload your best shots, and make the link shareable. If you have a website or want to share your Google Photos album, send the link to dante@dantesisofo.com

We can all fly together! Just meet me at the Eagle.

DANTE