Agoraphobia (English version)
Streetview Portraits of the Traveller
A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows. —Francis of Assisi
Image: instagram.com/streetview.portraits/
TODAY I encountered and learnt a new word. Agoraphobia. It's a feeling of anxiety leading to panic when leaving a comfortable environment. Usually one's own home. An agoraphobic person perceives outside places to be unsafe whether at the mall, the school, or simply being in front of their house.
On this 2021 International Women's Day, Google featured a woman with this condition. "Meet the artist who photographed the world without leaving home," goes the tagline of the 4-min video.
I turned curious. How did one get to be a world photographer if she never went outside her house? Even acknowledged for her work as an artist on this important global event!
Jacqui Kenny used Google Street View to snap numerous weird yet wonderful streetview portraits shot by Google car camera in various countries. She'd upload and display them in her Instagram account. Two horses kissing in a Mongolian savanna. A man in red walking while leading a cow by the roadside in Kyrgyzstan with towering green and reddish plants in the background. It's like a painting. In Veracruz, Mexico a man was seen wearing blue shirt and red pants with a pail of paint in his right hand standing atop a ladder leaning against a totally white wall clouded with blue sky above. Resembles a maestro painting.
Then I came across another piece which I found adorable. Jacqui named it The Irrelevant Gate. Located in Arizona, USA the small gate is only as wide as a one-person footpath. Standing at a distance from an elongated house. Surrounding it is free unhindered by neighbor, fence or any other barrier. (See the picture above.) Last but not least, there's also a series of snapshots of a dog chasing the Google camera car in Tacna, Peru running for a mile even whilst scuffling with another dog.
Suddenly this massive planet earth that we're living in turns into such a small world. The scenes of which are explorable and enjoyable from behind a computer desk. Admirable too when someone diligently gathered all the pictures from unique and interesting perspectives. This observation is actually redolent of life being laden with paradox. Massive yet small. Wonderful and refreshing. Yet we realise how ugly and depraved it is (or could be).
But perhaps that is the 'art'. How we should occasionally take a step back to try to obtain an unusual point of view in the midst of chaos frequently worse than what meets the eyes. All the while us hanging on and choosing to move on this short journey called life. Traveling here and there carving out some achievements. Despite only from sitting on a chair. Like the agoraphobic traveller. Happy International Women's Day! (EJ - 16/03/21) Baca dalam Bahasa Indonesia
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