Searching for Light, One Video at a Time
- Rosamond Salazar
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
After sharing my collection of sunrise and sunset photographs from the past thirteen years, I decided it was time to do something more with them. Instead of allowing these images to continue languishing in numerous folders, devices, hard drives, and digital storage spaces, I began gathering them together and turning them into videos. The first video brought together photographs from 2012 and 2013—the beginning of this unexpected collection. While some photos brought tears, some also made me smile and laugh quietly as I remembered the warm memories. It was a happy jolt to find photos I had forgotten existed. Each photograph seemed to open a small door into the past - of the rare times when I had a chance to snap a photo of a morning sky or an evening when I stopped what I was doing long enough to notice the sky. Sharing below the best 9 photos of 2012.
Organizing everything took much more time than I expected. There were duplicate photographs, missing dates, low-quality images, and files scattered across several locations. Some pictures were blurry or imperfect. But I kept them just the same because they were attached to very special memories, and it spoke of the olden times when our phones didn't have the greatest cameras yes. Still, I am so happy to finally bring some of the best photographs together along with the not-so-great because they tell the complete story. I’m sharing the videos here of the breadth of the accidental project. I hope that you will feel the peace and awe I felt when I took those photos.
Watch the full 2012–2013 collection here
and subscribe to continue this 13-year journey with me.
Creating these videos brought back an avalanche of memories. There were moments when I had to step away and take a break because the memories brought such sweet and sad moments, but these were followed by great, happy moments too so that speaks of life’s great balancing act. Thirteen years now feels like such a long time, but the photos make it feel like it was just yesterday. The memories of the people, places, dreams, disappointments, beginnings, endings, losses, and celebrations experienced by the many versions of the person I used to be.
For now, I have slowed down my work on the second edition of Searching for Faerie, Finding Me. I have committed myself to completing this project first. Once the videos covering all thirteen years have been created and shared, I will return to editing the book. This has become a healing project for me—a way to revisit the past 13 years and make peace with everything they carried. As I look through the sunset and sunrise photographs, I can see that I endured not only the test of time, but also the tests that life placed before me. I can look back at difficult seasons and recognize that I did more than survive them. I continued to grow, hope, and create. Sometimes the journey through these photographs becomes tearful but the tears often come with a small smile. They remind me how fortunate I am to be where I am today—to look back at the hard and sorrowful moments and realize that adversity did not destroy me. In many ways, it strengthened me and helped make me whole.
This has been such a poignant project that has brought me peace. Being able to date and sort photographs, play it with music and watch years of life unfold in just a few minutes is so satisfying and healing. I do have a side by side project that features the rest of the photos with friends and family in gatherings. That will probably not get shared as a video however, I am collating all photos for everyone in my life so when I am done with the photo sorting, I should be able to share with them all the photos I ever have. The trip down memory lane has been emotional, surprising, and, at times, an absolute blast.
After I have shared all thirteen years, I will return to the second edition of Searching for Faerie, Finding Me. I also hope to create videos showing how the book was made and how it continues to evolve—one page, one illustration, and one decision at a time. I hope the videos will inspire a few young creatives to begin something of their own. As I have experienced, we do not need to have everything figured out before we start. Sometimes you simply need an idea and the willingness to keep giving that idea a form that feels true to you, and to trust that no matter how it progresses is where it is supposed to be as imagined by the creator’s mind. For now, I hope you enjoy these videos as much as I have enjoyed organizing, collating, remembering, and creating them. This is my searching for light and life — imperfect, emotional, and still unfolding.
Watch the full 2014 –2015 collection here
and subscribe to continue this 13-year journey with me. More videos to come soon.
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