View allAll Photos Tagged existential
"If time frightens us, this is because it works out the problem and the solution comes afterward." -Albert Camus
a path too steep, too quiet, too endless. but he faced it, unshaken. behind him, the weight of time; ahead, the unknowable curve. sheep grazed indifferently. the ski lifts slept. and yet, somehow, he moved — not forward, but deeper into the stillness of being.
each one of these people,
the lone teenage boy
the stern, stocky matron
the hungry young girl
the man with his bike and bags
the bold older woman with her copper hair,
leopard print, and sneakers
each one
and the rest
are living in their own unique, singular universe of reality and imagination -
some in multiple dimensions,
some overlapping with other persons'
i look
i see what i can
i sense what i can
and what i can't
i try to make eye contact
to fearlessly acknowledge
recognition and regard
respect
for what i can
what i can't,
with who i can
and many i can't
sometimes it makes me feel
incredible loneliness
so vast
and yeah, existential
that i burst into a zillion pieces
inside
over and over and over again
each moment
sometimes i feel
connection and joy
so infinite and complete
there's nothing i can do
but to appear strange, crazy
maybe even scary
to these people
as i smile and radiate
basking in their heat and light,
reflecting it back
zillions and zillions and zillions
each moment
What it all boils down to is a choice between, scrambled, poached, or hard boiled.
*Please view LARGE for best detail.
a fleeting moment at plaza mayor in madrid, where light and shadow play on ancient cobblestones. a silhouette strides through the archway, suspended between darkness and light. the shadow stretches long, chasing memories of countless footsteps before. time pauses, the city breathes. a scene both timeless and transient, etched in stark contrast.
WAH Theme: Existentialism
Existential double crisis for me... "The Meaning of Life", Artist unknown.
And as a side note I ask:
If I make an image and do not post it, does it exist?
a solitary figure dissolves into the sky—caught between structure and light, silence and ascension. the city falls away, and only motion remains.
Fabulous free gift from COCO DESIGNS. TY! <3
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/COCO%20DESIGNS/107/209/22
*COCO* Gift : Reindeer Outfit 2016 (Fitted Mesh)
Rigged Mesh [Copy / No Modify / No Transfer]
Garden wall, New Plymouth, New Zealand
beholding
ceaseless watcher, behold your triumph,
apathetic eyes prying into weary flesh,
the beholding, isn't it an accurate name?
you have seized what little I had left.
and as I step onto the street,
I feel them stare into my every thought,
every dark impulse, every light deceit,
all this and more finally, horribly caught.
what else does a man have except his mind?
what can he depend on but privacy in contemplation?
the recorder clicks on, I hear the tape start to wind,
even now you record my damnation.
watching, watching, always watching,
from the eyes of the birds, from cameras mounted high,
I have never known such existential pain,
than to lose the little solitude I prized in my life.
and I have never felt such loathing,
and I have never felt such fear,
I cast my thoughts away, unknowing,
and it is with vile exultation you hear.
ALEXANDER PALMER
"All the world is but an eye, that watches, never bends."
Excerpt from www.mississauga.ca/arts-and-culture/arts/public-art/tempo...:
a sky for peoples and a space for us by Karly Cywink are two of over 35 public artworks on display across the City of Mississauga.
Karly Cywink, 2023
Digital Illustration, printed on vinyl
IDEA Square One (Square One Mall, Second Floor)
“a sky for peoples is inspired by my recent obsession with the sky and everything that it can hold. I’ve been taught that the sky provides a place for guidance in many different aspects of life; from practical resources, identity, to the observation of spiritual beings. It’s a place that I often find myself gazing up at subconsciously. It’s a place I know I can sit and stare at and ponder the mundane, like what I should get for groceries this week, as well as the existential question of what our meaning is. I don’t truly know what the skies tell me, but I get lost in thought every time and often come away feeling better. To me, this piece inspires thought and question, innovation and creation, and an overall sense of want and yearning for something new and exciting.
a space for us is both the counterpart and opposite to a sky for peoples. Just like its sister, a space for us is inspired by the thought-provoking beauty of both natural and manmade objects that surround us, in our everyday life. As someone who has spent the better part of my life living and visiting rural spaces, landscapes have always been something that I find quite captivating. They are something that I often find are unfortunately overlooked in the urban spaces, that most of us find ourselves in. There are views that can inspire flow and thinking, in a multitude of contexts. We let go of the privilege to see and marvel at these mundane landscapes, in favour of the busy and sprawling landscape in our urban environments.
I hope these pieces inspire us, as creatives and innovators, to take a step back and revisit the not-so-obvious beauty of the land that allows us to be here.”
– Karly Cywink
On Saturday, June 12, 2026, a small area of concrete and trees outside Woolwich Crown Court became the setting where state power clashed with individual conscience. Walking through the crowd, I could feel the tense expectations, reinforced by the loud rhythm of drums, the fluttering of Palestine flags, and the defiant chants of hundreds of ordinary citizens gathered in the shadow of Britain’s highest-security court.
The visual landscape was a study in contrasts: a vast mosaic of hand-written placards held aloft and pleading for the people and children of Gaza stood in stark opposition to the rigid, dark ranks of Metropolitan Police officers deployed to seal the perimeter. Here, the state showed its teeth, responding to silent, peaceful vigils and cardboard signs with tactical units, systematically isolating and hauling away demonstrators whose only offence was refusing to look away.
Four young activists—Samuel Corner (23), Charlotte Head (30), Leona Kamio (30), and Fatema Rajwani (21)—were sentenced to draconian prison terms ranging from nearly five to almost eight years. Their convictions stemmed from an August 2024 action at Elbit Systems' Filton weapons factory, during which computers and military drones were damaged to prevent their use in Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza.
These actions likely saved dozens of lives. The real violence here was legal. Under Section 69 of the Sentencing Act 2020, Mr Justice Jeremy Johnson independently tacked on a "terrorist connection" during sentencing. The jury that convicted them of criminal damage was kept entirely in the dark about this. Because of this judicial alchemy, these young people will serve at least two-thirds of their terms behind bars and face 15 years of invasive counter-terrorism police notification, tracking their bank accounts, phones, and relationships. This verdict will be remembered 100 years from now as a grotesque miscarriage of justice.
Meanwhile, outside, the state deployed its full might. Of the 107 people arrested at the solidarity protest, 72 were locked in cells simply for holding signs expressing support for Palestine Action. The police claimed they were merely enforcing the law, as the group remains proscribed. Yet, earlier this year, the High Court ruled that very ban unlawful. The state appealed, and as the court prepared to rule on Monday, the police preemptively swept the streets clean of dissent.
There is a chilling, creeping authoritarianism here. When a government treats the destruction of killer drones as an act of terror, but remains silently complicit in the real terror falling upon Gaza’s elderly, women and children, it has completely lost its moral compass. We are living in a country where the law protects the property and profits of arms dealers supplying a country engaged in genocide, while treating the quiet empathy of ordinary grandmothers and peaceful citizens as an existential threat.
still not crazy about this new flickr. but i miss my friends here.
the past few months have been almost impossibly difficult. and aside from the fact that i've had little time to do more than shoot, and mostly film these days, i'm having a bit of an existential crisis regarding my photography. and i'm dividing my time between flickr and a few new platforms.
i miss you all, and your beautiful images. thanks so much for those of you who have stayed with me despite my inactivity and thanks too for those of you who have recently found me. i hope to spend a little more time here after the last few chaotic weeks of the school year.
you can see what i've been up to here:
"The Scream of the Perpetual Walker" portrays a lone man endlessly wandering the streets of Milton Keynes, his ceaseless journey symbolising existential angst and isolation.
The man's purposeless wandering is like a silent scream, a physical manifestation of inner turmoil. His directionless journey reflects the human condition - the search for meaning in an indifferent universe. The photograph's stark contrast and blurred background emphasise his isolation and detachment from the surrounding world.
The urban setting, with its commercial elements and indifferent crowds, further highlights the man's alienation from societal norms and values. The KFC advertisement in the background serves as a commentary on consumerism and the superficiality of modern life, contrasting sharply with the man's existential quest.
The blurred figures in the background suggest a world moving on, indifferent to the man's presence and plight. The repetitive architecture and monotonous landscape symbolise the routine and mechanical aspects of urban life, which the man seems disconnected from, emphasising his lack of purpose and direction.
The photograph draws parallels to Munch's "The Scream," evoking themes of existentialism, expressionism, and humanism. It captures a fleeting moment in the walker's endless journey, emphasising the impermanence of time and the ongoing passage of life. Despite his purposeless wandering, the photograph gives significance to his journey, acknowledging his humanity and the intrinsic value of his individual experience.
In essence, "The Scream of the Perpetual Walker" is a poignant representation of the universal human condition - the search for purpose in an indifferent world. The photograph's stark simplicity and powerful imagery, invite viewers to contemplate the complexities of existence and the isolation of the individual in a modern society.
Writing on the Wall Having an Existential Moment? (Would the Sky be Better??)😋
⭐️Thank you in Advance for your kind ‘Faves’ Visits and Comments they are so very much appreciated. 👍
I cannot always ‘Thank’ everyone individually, for their Visits and ‘Faves’ however, I will always try to respond and thank all those that leave a ‘Comment’. If I do not reply to your 'Comment', it is not because I am ignoring you, it's because I have not seen the 'Comment'.
Your 'Comments' do not always appear in 'Notifications' or Flickr mail, so, I am sorry for any delay in responding. Often your 'Comment' is only spotted 'On the Page' on the day, that I see it. (seen ONLY when replying to someone HAS 'Commented' on the image, and I see a notification)
Días de Nápoles • Naples days
Nápoles, Via Cesario Console • Naples, Via Cesario Console
Augusto extiende su brazo de bronce verde hacia el horizonte. Gesto imperial, autoridad eterna. Sobre su mano, una paloma. Detrás, edificio moderno de los cincuenta. Delante, estatua observando cómo la ciudad cambia y permanece igual. Historia y presente sin hablarse.
La paloma no tiene dudas existenciales. Para ella, Augusto es posadero cómodo. Dos mil años reducidos a conveniencia ornitológica. Nápoles está llena de estos choques temporales. Ruinas romanas junto a pizzerías, palacios convertidos en apartamentos, estatuas ignoradas por el tráfico. Capas de historia apiladas sin orden.
Los napolitanos pasan sin mirar a Augusto. La paloma vuela. El emperador sigue señalando un imperio que ya no existe. La ciudad continúa, indiferente.
(De "Apuntes de Campania" - jmsdbg.com/campania)
________________________________________________
Augustus extends his green bronze arm towards the horizon. Imperial gesture, eternal authority. On his hand, a pigeon. Behind, modern building from the fifties. Before him, a statue observing how the city changes and stays the same. History and present not speaking to each other.
The pigeon has no existential doubts. For it, Augustus is comfortable perch. Two thousand years reduced to ornithological convenience. Naples is full of these temporal clashes. Roman ruins beside pizzerias, palaces converted into flats, statues ignored by traffic. Layers of history piled without order.
Neapolitans pass without looking at Augustus. The pigeon flies. The emperor continues pointing to an empire that no longer exists. The city continues, indifferent.
(From "Notes from Campania" - jmsdbg.com/campania)
After realizing that he is going to spend the next seven years in the swamp, the Charming Prince had an existential crisis.
Entry to Bio-Cup 2020. My Round 1 theme is amphibians.
Obligatory existential, up-nostril picture for a cologne ad. Not sure what a cologne from Wilmur would be named or even smell like. Mothballs, most likely.
For those men who are just satisfied to draw a few 'What is that smell?' at the holiday office party. "Yes! She noticed me!"
Someone get that boy a sandwich!
Either / Or
Shadowgraphs; A pshychological pastime. As explained by Søren Kierkegaard.
Or
Sein und Dasein. As explained by Martin Heidegger.
Either
Beyond good and evil; Prelude to a phylosophy of the future. As explained by Friedrich Nietzsche.
Take your pick. Existentialism is al about free choice.
We're here visiting Existential
An image of existential expression, showing life's brief inherent isolation and its inevitable evaporation into its component parts. Islands of individuality, clinging insubstantially to a surface reality that is tenuous at best before falling both metaphorically and in reality, to nothingness.
Or a picture of raindrops beading on a car bonnet. The choice is yours.
Berlin, subway station Kurfuerstendamm
Berlin, U-Bahn-Station Kurfürstendamm
"I define poetry as celebration and confrontation. When we witness something, are we responsible for what we witness? That's an on-going existential question. Perhaps we are and perhaps there's a kind of daring, a kind of necessary energetic questioning. Because often I say it's not what we know, it's what we can risk discovering."
Yusuf Komunyakaa
The sculpture Three Heads Fountaine (Three Andrews) by Bruce Nauman, mid-way between poetry and morbidity, can make its viewer feel uncomfortable. Three identical, scar-covered male heads, fed water through a tube and pierced to create thin jets of water, are hung by the neck.
Do these tubes bring to mind the apparatus through which a model breathes during the moulding of a sculpture, making them symbolic of sources of life, or do they evoke lethal injections, vectors of the dead?
Bruce Nauman regularly incorporates the human body into his work. Playing with the contradictions of human life (love and hate, life and death, pleasure and suffering), the renowned American artist, born in 1941, likes to subject his viewer to a physical and psychological test, at the same time as raising existential questions.
Three Heads Fountain (Three Andrews) by Bruce Nauman, part of the Pinault Collection, was displayed at the "Eloge du Doute" (“In Praise of Doubt”) exhibition at the Punta della Dogana in Venice (2011-2013).
Apparently, art often has to be “disturbing”, has to challenge, practise breaking with conventions, for example.
Living here in Düsseldorf, close to the art academy and also having professional contact with artists, I often wonder whether the artists are partly “imposing” their own disturbance on society ...
because their lives are usually not easy and begin with the decision to pursue “breadless” art ...
how do you manage to stand out from the large crowd of other art students, how do you become a master student, how often do you sit in exhibition spaces for days and weeks and nobody comes to see it or nobody buys anything ...
If you ask a gallery owner what sells well, the answer is anything over 300,000 euros, because then art becomes a “safe” investment ...
Getting there is a matter of luck and often purely arbitrary.
Many artists later work somewhere to earn some money and art becomes more of a hobby ...
Successful people buy art, artists have to stand up to them and assert themselves ... that requires a big ego ...
Deutsch
Die Skulptur Three Heads Fountaine (Three Andrews) von Bruce Nauman, die zwischen Poesie und Morbidität angesiedelt ist, kann bei ihrem Betrachter Unbehagen auslösen. Drei identische, mit Narben bedeckte Männerköpfe, die durch einen Schlauch mit Wasser versorgt werden und durchbohrt sind, um dünne Wasserstrahlen zu erzeugen, sind am Hals aufgehängt.
Erinnern diese Schläuche an den Apparat, durch den ein Modell während des Abformens einer Skulptur atmet, so dass sie symbolisch für Quellen des Lebens stehen, oder erinnern sie an tödliche Injektionen, Vektoren des Todes?
Bruce Nauman bezieht den menschlichen Körper regelmäßig in sein Werk ein. Der 1941 geborene renommierte amerikanische Künstler spielt mit den Widersprüchen des menschlichen Lebens (Liebe und Hass, Leben und Tod, Vergnügen und Leiden) und unterzieht den Betrachter gerne einer physischen und psychologischen Prüfung, während er gleichzeitig existenzielle Fragen aufwirft.
Three Heads Fountain (Three Andrews) von Bruce Nauman, Teil der Sammlung Pinault, wurde in der Ausstellung „Eloge du Doute“ („Lob des Zweifels“) an der Punta della Dogana in Venedig (2011-2013) gezeigt.
Kunst muss anscheinend oft "verstörend" sein, muss herausfordern, übt den Bruch, z. B. mit Konventionen.
Hier in Düsseldorf wohnend und die Nähe zur Kunstakademie lebend, auch beruflich Kontakt mit Künstlern habend, frage ich mich oft, ob die Künstler zum Teil der Gesellschaft ihre eigene Verstörung "zumuten" ...
denn ihr Leben ist meist nicht leicht und fängt mit der Entscheidung zur "brotlosen" Kunst an ...
wie schafft man es aus der großen Menge der anderen Kunststudenten hervorzutreten, wie wird man Meisterschüler, wie oft sitzt man Tage und Wochen in Ausstellungsräumen und keiner kommt, um es sich anzusehen oder keiner kauft etwas ...
fragt man einen Galeristen, was er gut verkauft, kommt zur Antwort, alles jenseits der 300 000 Euro, denn dann wird Kunst zur "sicheren" Geldanlage ...
dort hin zu kommen ist Glücksache und oft reine Willkür. Viele Künstler arbeiten später irgendwo um etwas Geld zu verdienen und die Kunst wird eher zum Hobby ...
Erfolgreiche Menschen kaufen Kunst, Ihnen müssen Künstler entgegen treten und sich behaupten ... das verlangt ein großes Ego ...
_V0A1262_pa3
Le cri ... version Marseillaise. Symbolisant la mouette moderne emportée par une crise d'angoisse existentielle à l'approche de déconfinement.
The cry ... Marseillaise version!
Symbolizing the modern seagull carried away by a crisis of existential anxiety at the approach of deconfinement.
Neither leaning backwards or reaching forward. No past to mourn, no future to fear. Relax into the present moment-- it's a fleeting gem in the river of time.
Image imagined in MidJourney AI and finished with Topaz Studio and Lightroom Classic.
"When your attention moves into the Now, there is an alertness. It is as if you were waking up from a dream, the dream of thought, the dream of past and future. Such clarity, such simplicity. No room for problem-making. Just this moment as it is." Eckhart Tolle.
In a place as beautiful as Capri, with so much luxury around, visiting places as incredible as the wonderful Villa San Michele, one might think that there is a kind of life that is escaping from us. Society constantly pushes us to dream of a better reality, but that world does not have to be something external or material, if the improvement is personal and internal, we should be much more grateful. There is a certain existential danger, when that search for greater excellence in our lives leads us to lose the value of the present, to not appreciate the path, but simply to wish for a hypothetical final result.
It is really important to have goals in life in order to not lose motivation in our present, but when you give your best to develop as a human being, reaching those goals or not, should never be the most important thing. Success is too often magnified, and failure almost always sadly punished. Let us value more the dream of the present life. Now is our moment!
Our YouTube Travel Video with Behind the Scenes of this picture:
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"Cuando tu atención se mueve hacia el Ahora, hay un estado de alerta. Es como si estuvieras despertando de un sueño, el sueño del pensamiento, el sueño del pasado y el futuro. Tanta claridad, tanta simplicidad. No hay lugar para crear problemas. Solo este momento tal como es". Eckhart Tolle.
En un lugar tan bello como Capri, con tanto lujo alrededor, visitando lugares tan increíbles como la maravillosa Villa San Michele, uno puede llegar a pensar que hay un tipo de vida que se nos está escapando de las manos. La sociedad nos empuja constantemente a soñar con una realidad mejor, pero ese mundo no tiene porqué ser algo externo o material, si la mejora es personal e interna, deberíamos estar mucho más agradecidos. Existe un cierto peligro existencial, cuando esa búsqueda de una mayor excelencia en nuestras vidas, nos lleva a perder el valor del presente, a no valorar el camino, si no simplemente a desear un hipotético resultado final.
Es realmente importante tener metas en la vida para no perder la motivación en nuestro presente, pero cuando se da lo mejor de sí para desarrollarse como seres humanos, llegar o no, a esos objetivos nunca debería ser lo más importante. El éxito está, demasiado a menudo, magnificado, y el fracaso, casi siempre, tristemente castigado. Valoremos más el sueño de la vida presente. ¡Ahora es nuestro momento!
Caixaforum soñado, Madrid. / Caixaforum dreamed, Madrid.
♫ Keaton Henson - Kronos ( subtítulos en castellano ).♫
Cuando crees que avanzas, pero acabas en el mismo sitio, pues siempre tomas el mismo camino.
La Central Eléctrica de Mediodía (1899-1902) fue remodelada por los arquitectos Jacques Herzog y Pierre de Meuron, conservando la fachada original de la antigua fábrica que parece levitar sobre una gran plaza pública. El acceso a la planta principal se realiza por una escalera de peldaños metálicos en espiral, y las restantes plantas se organizan alrededor de otra escalera circular.
When you think you are advancing, but you end up in the same place, then always take the same path.
Mediodía Power Station (1899-1902) was remodeled by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, preserving the original facade of the old factory that seems to levitate above a large public square. Access to the main floor by a staircase of metal steps spiral, and the remaining floors are organized around another circular staircase.
Darkness never wins -
It just blankets everything;
Trying to hide hope,
Faith and love;
To smother all that
Is good and caring...
But darkness is always lonely,
Despondent and sad;
For it has no purpose,
Only allowing the bad...
It craves for meaning,
To be seen and exist;
But without the light,
It's nothing but
An existential twist...
Darkness never wins,
For it always gives in
To the light;
For without the light
It remains friendless,
Unseen and untouched
By delight...
© Michelle Morris, 28/08/2020
for his "human condition" series
www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.70170.html
the Magritte series, sort of an existential quagmire??? i.e., we exist yet we are stuck in that existence, we have to exist! no way out! AAAAA!
lol
catalina island
Abstract expressionist philosophy painting dedicated to my existential trip sidekick, Rusty Gentry of South Carolina. Image represents THE TOTALITY OF REALITY UP TO NOVEMBER 24, 2012.
I place clouds on my head because I do not recognize myself in the world as it is organized. This is not escapism, but a conscious distance. My gaze does not fully belong to this place. Yet I am terrestrial. I have a body, a history, a matter that must be respected. It is precisely the body that reminds me of limits, while the mind tends to close in on itself and compress what it feels.
This image arises from a fracture: between not feeling this planet as mine and having to live within it. The hands on the head make visible the pressure of earthly thoughts, when they accumulate, fold in on themselves, and become a form of imprisonment.
Artificial intelligence is used as a contemporary tool, deliberately bent to my will and my way of feeling, to achieve what I intend to express. It does not replace in any way the traditional and fundamental forms of art, such as photography, which for me remains central and untouchable.