Perspective

Perspective

I posted an image from my favourite mountain - the Niesen - a little while ago. This mountain is called the Swiss pyramid for obvious reasons. As a kid, I really enjoyed the shape of this mountain. I think it was because it looked like the type mountain you would draw as a child. It could also be that it just has an intriguing shape, or that I’m bit weird, obsessing over mountain shapes so much.

I don’t exactly know what age I was when I first laid my eyes upon this piece of rock, earth and snow but what I do recall is the moment that I went to a different resort to go skiing. This resort was situated slightly more towards the east, near the town of Beatenberg. The weirdest thing dawned on me that day. There were mountains behind the Niesen! I was stupefied! All I knew until then, was the North-facing mountainside that overlooked the tiny mountain town in which we spent our winter holidays. I never expected or assumed that there was anything behind this mountain, for all I knew that was where the planet ended. (An actual thought / believe of mine at the time)

I got a flashback of this epiphany when I was hiking around the same area recently, and it made me think of perspective. Perspective is a vital part in photography - but also in life - in a more general sense. There are many ways to view a subject. Oftentimes, the angle in which we view a subject skews the perspective. I think that this is why I enjoy hiking in the mountains so much. Your perspective constantly changes when you start ascending a mountain, or simply when you make your way through the valleys. Mountains never look exactly the same.

Sometimes it is a good idea to take a step to the side, view a subject, or in some cases an obstacle (when speaking about life in a more general sense), from a different angle. It might change your perspective and you might come to realize it is not the end of the world you are looking at.

Swifty

Darren Swift was working in an arms explosives search team in Belfast, Northern Ireland when the IRA dropped a ‘Coffee jar’ bomb – a homemade Grenade - on him in May 1991. Darren lost both of his legs and his teammate, Jordy, died that day.

After going through 18 months of rehab, he decided that he was going to continue to do what he was doing before the incident – except now without legs. Swifty wanted his dignity back. In the following years, he tried canoeing, hand cycling and eventually became the first skydiver (together with one of his mates) with no legs (above knee amputee).

Eventually, he got a bit bored of skydiving. One day, he found himself drinking some quality wine in the Italian mountains, when he saw some guys sending it down on snowboards. That’s what he wanted to do from now on!

Back home, him and his mate drew up something that looked ride-able – something that might work (this turned out to look nothing like the board he is riding today). Loads of people said that he wouldn’t be able to do it – ‘’you need knees to snowboard, you are not able to ride without knees.’’ But in his own words ‘’they said the same about skydiving so….bollocks’’.

It took 14 years to finally get to this current board design. A professional company got involved and added suspension as no knees means no suspension. The femur, pelvis and spine take up all the impact, that is why he is only doing small jumps and side hits. He also has to be a bit more route selective than most snowboarders. He broke two ribs on his first snowboarding trip – things didn’t come easy.

Swifty nearly made it to the last Paralympics but missed out by a small margin. He was doing well on some competitions and even managed to ‘beat’ people less disabled than himself. He would have liked to compete in the Paralympics, but feels that he might be getting to old now – he will be 56 for the next one and would rather see some younger people go. He appears to get a lot of energy out of coaching others these days.

As soon as I saw Swifty ride down with a giant smile, I knew I had to write up his story. It fascinates me that the people who endure the most adversity are usually some of the most upbeat people I come across. When you meet Swifty, you will understand what I mean. He doesn’t regret or resent life in the slightest. ‘Fate’ might have dealt him some interesting cards – but that’s no reason not to live. I feel that I can learn a lot from people like Swifty – he is a true inspiration.

It’s good to know that you’re out there man!

Welcome to Japan

Mount Fuji appeared when we took off from Tokyo. I had a feeling this could happen and had my camera ready with my 70-200 mm lens. We were ascending and the seatbelt lights were still lit up when I spotted mount Fuji through the window on the opposite side of the aisle. I took the seatbelt of before I was allowed to, and was followed by two stewards when I made my way over to the window. I managed to get the shot in time, as I had prepared the settings as much as I could beforehand. Now I was facing two confused, yet respectful stewards that guided me back to my seat. ''Welcome to Japan!'' Said one of them with a grin.