By: Taylor Pircey

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

“Stop & smell the roses” – a common phrase coined in the 60s - echoes an ancient

Wisdom; beckoning us to slow down & savor the

present. Should we refuse to slow our pace, we casually pass

many wonders in our hurry to “do” rather than “be”. To be is the gift of presence. Presence

affords us intimate acquaintance with the glory of Beauty; embodied in the mundane.

Beauty transforms our limited vision & ushers us into the ethereal, eternal, and immortal

realms of wonder & splendor. Beauty never demands; Her gentle insistence compels us

to look beyond ourselves; to pause & behold something far greater. Something more delicate than we are. This delicacy confronts us with a juxtaposing, unmeasurable strength;

an intangible force tantalizing us through whispers of soft invitation.

Beauty is central to my philosophy in photography; the core pursuit of my craft.

When people ask me what I take pictures of, I simply reply, “Beauty”. She alone moves me,

drives me, inspires me to transform something common into something extravagant. I

have learned to savor Her presence by practicing stillness, silence, & solitude. By slowing

down the pace of my life, Beauty's vast horizons broadened my world. I beheld

things that I never thought twice about before; I was humbled by a force that I had never allowed to impact me before.

Beauty asks no permission; she simply is. She is an undeniable force, beckoning the

viewer to pause & worship, to savor & ponder, to be filled with awe & ecstasy. She

demands our fealty, strengthening our desire for the

good, pure, true & lovely. She stands boldly before evil, demanding it to bow its knee in

submission to her quiet authority. Beauty invites us to learn from her wisdom.

She is not forceful; she simply exists. She is not loud, yet she demands our attention.

She is not an idea to be argued over, but a virtue to be practiced. We are often cruelest

to Beauty because she is uncontrollable; confronting us with our own mediocrity.

We attempt to possess her, to own her, to become her…  & so we destroy her. She cannot be

tamed; we cannot own her nor conform her to our will. She can only be treasured & beheld. We cannot change beauty, but, if we let her, she

can transform us into more grounded, creative, & kind creatures. More sensitive &

attentive to the details of the world around us; to the cadence of nature & the gift of

healthy relationships with our loved ones.

I am convinced that Beauty – both in creating her & beholding her – is the most effective

way to change the world & transform hearts. She stands firmly, outlasting centuries of

humanity’s striving. She speaks to each new generation afresh, welcoming every man &

woman into her temple of wisdom. When I take pictures of anything – a person, a couple, a landscape, an object, a place, etc, I first allow Beauty to have her way with me. She guides my

eyes & hands to behold her wonder & capture her essence on the fragile sheets of film in my camera.

She shows up in many forms…perhaps a coy glance of affection between

lovers, the soft texture of a flower, the color palette of a landscape, diamonds of light

glistening on the surface of water, the demure softness of a woman’s face,

the strength in a man’s jaw, a bird in flight over a sunset. The longer you wait & the

further off the beaten path that you venture, the more marvelous the things that you’ll behold in

Beauty’s presence.

It's really quite simple... I allow Beauty to reveal herself to me. I simply stand by, eager

to capture her in action through a million faces, places, & moments in time. Photography

has taught me to treasure the wonders of life, capturing spectacular moments in images.

Photography is my own act of remembering; so that I might be enriched by the wealth of

goodness & bounty that Beauty offers me daily. So, do it. Stop & smell the roses. Immerse

yourself in slowness; you might gain a depth & intimacy you could have never dreamed

of before. You will never be the same after Beauty has had her way with you.

BEAUTY…the vice-full beast!

Stealer of breath,

sapper of strength,

stopper of hearts.

Boiler of blood,

master of time,

muse of humanity,

life of the soul. □

Article Credits

Personal Instagram: @t_prestininzzi

Photography Instagram: @seeking__sun

Poetry Instagram: @seekingsun_words

TikTok: @seekingsunphoto

Website: seekingsun.org

Photo from Nicolas Postiglioni’s pexels: https://www.pexels.com/@postiglioni/