World Beat Festival 2012

World Beat Festival 2012~

It is all "worlds" coming together in celebrating us, as a "whole" people. We are truly all the same.  We have different back grounds, we have different beliefs, we live in different parts of this planet that we call Earth, and we are all the same.

We are one in the manner that we all require the same things in order to live and to survive. We all require nutrition, we all require the warmth of the sun, without it, we could not survive as it is as good for our bodies as it is for our fields. We require water to sustain us, and sometimes, it just happens that it separates us from our neighbors. We require love and affection, without that, we will not survive as a people.  We as a people love, and bleed, and hurt, and grieve.

I took my camera to capture some of the intimate moments in peoples lives, people from all walks of life, who came together to share their story, their culture with anyone who would care to take a moment and see.

There were people from all corners of this planet at the festival.

Two women were walking by, dressed in their "regalia", so bright and colorful. I grabbed my camera and snapped a photograph of this beautiful woman.  Our eyes met as soon as I took the camera away and set it in my lap, and she thanked me. I was speechless.  I bowed my head ever so slightly to her in the only way I could say you are welcome. I wanted to cry, if I was alone, I would have. We were two people who live worlds apart and we had such an intimate moment only her and I could share.

I was now bent down on one knee taking photographs of dancers from Africa. Such beautiful people, and very sensual. I don't know exactly for sure what their dances meant, but from what I could gather in my own mind, they were saying they were ready for a mate.

While I was taking the photographs, I noticed this little girl in her mothers arms, her mother set her down on the ground and she came to me and put her hand on my knee as she looked into my eyes and smiled. My heart got a lot bigger in that very moment.  She snuggled right in and watched the show with me, as if her and I were from the same family. It was comfortable and it was right!

I learned that her name is Maria and she is 16 months old and her father is from Africa. I would like you to meet them as they were so kind to let me take their photograph and let their baby girl comfort me for a while.

We as a people are not alone in this world. Sometimes water and land separate us. So we build bridges and roads. But mostly beliefs and ignorance are the biggest problems we face and it must stop.

While I was there at the festival, there was no prejudices. There were people, celebrating each other, and all the while I was trying to figure out how I can get to these other places like Africa and India, and will that ever happen for me. I hope so.

It does make me sad that I will probably never see that beautiful woman again, or Maria and her family. What does life hold for them, and will they think of me?

I hope you have enjoyed my blog. I am posting a lot of pictures on my facebook fan page (too many to post here. you can copy this link and paste it into your browser)  or search Sandra Lynns Photography in your facebook search window. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sandra-Lynns-Photography/271691662904788 if you would like to see more of what I saw.

Thank you for coming by and truly, love your neighbor.

Hugs, S ~