Dead Ego (Original Photo)

ericvancewalton (76) in photography • 7 years ago (edited)

We were in a LYFT and had just crossed the bridge from Brooklyn into Manhattan when I took this shot.

It’s amazing how singular moments like this can affect you so deeply. Sometimes life lifts people up...sometimes life breaks them down.

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7 years ago by ericvancewalton (76)

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pfunk (72) · 7 years ago

Great job for even thinking of taking the shot and great timing for a moving car!

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

Thanks! I almost didn't get the shot, @pfunk. Thankfully, we got stuck behind a line of cars at a red light and it gave me enough time to get out the iPhone and take a few shots.

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sultnpapper (61) · 7 years ago

If you hadn't told us the picture was taken in New York , I would have thought it was from some third world country since I couldn't read anything in the picture other than the "Dead Ego".
Oh damn, it was taken in a third world country, my bad.
Love the choice of publishing it in black and white, sometimes color distracts from the message that is being conveyed, some things are truly communicated best in black and white.

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago (edited)

Much of New York City (like many of the larger cities in the US) does resemble the third world. Thanks, I agree about black and white, it really captures the images in a way that gives them more gravity.

Oh, @sultnpapper, have you read any books by the author Graham Hancock? If not, you may want to check out his books. I just bought Fingerprints of the Gods and he talks about his theories behind ancient Egypt and how the pyramids may have been built. I'm not too far into it yet but I bet you'd really dig it.

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sultnpapper (61) · 7 years ago

I have not read any of them Eric, but I have listened to a few interviews he has given on the subject of the pyramids, I will have to check that book out. Thanks for the heads up on it.

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

Sure thing! I downloaded the audiobook to listen to while I'm at the gym. That's about the only free time I have to "read" these days.

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sultnpapper (61) · 7 years ago

You know what Eric, I haven't even thought about audio books in years and with as much time as I spend in the truck driving that is surely something to consider. The radio has quit working, but I have an AC converter to run my laptop in the truck, I could just download audio books and play them on the computer.
To tell you how long it has been, the last audio books I had were back in the 80's on cassette tape, my favorite one was Acres of Diamonds, by Earl Knightengale. I think that is how it was spelled, but a real good story about never giving up and if you do what can happen.
Thanks for the idea.

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

You're welcome my friend. If you have a smartphone you can download audiobooks to that but if you have to bring a laptop anyway that's a smart use of it. I haven't read anything from Earl Knightengale.

I started Fingerprints of the Gods and am 4 chapters in now and can say, without a doubt, that you'll like it. They've found ancient maps that show the coastline of Antartica before the ice covered it. The author surmises the original source maps had to have been drawn 8,000 - 15,000 years ago and were so precise that they used technology that we only acquired (or re-acquired?) in the 1800's. I have a feeling the book will get better from here. Interesting stuff.

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sultnpapper (61) · 7 years ago

There is no question in my mind that we are re-discovering technologies that were present centuries ago. Antarctica is another place that holds a lot of secrets that are not being told and why it is off limits for common folks to travel there, you can take a cruise and look at the shoreline, but travel to the interior is off limits. There is an ancient Chinese map that was published I think in a news paper in Hawaii in 1905 that showed several other continents past Antarctica, that map was said to be hundreds of years old if not thousands. It was also very accurate to the continents that we know as our "earth".
Makes a person wonder just why can't we take trips there and look around. It is also the only place on earth that all the major countries can come to an agreement on since the Antarctic treaty makes it where no country can claim the land or take any of the natural resources, that treaty started in the 1950's and was recently resigned for another 30 or 50 years.
I will have to get that book now for sure.

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago (edited)

I didn't realize there were travel restrictions/bans in place for Antartica. I vaguely remember reading in some of Edgar Cayce writings of a continent that was located halfway between North American and continental Europe that was the epicenter of an ancient and advanced civilization. This could very well have been present-day Antartica after a kind of global land mass shift. There could be lots of clues there. Now that the ice is melting all of those clues would be uncovered. Very interesting! The sci-fi writer part of my brain is firing in all sorts of directions...maybe a controlled sort of global warming is being conducted on purpose to expose whatever treasures are there? That would make for a good story. : )

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Show 7 more replies

jlufer (75) · 7 years ago

Go one to know why life acts that way "Sometimes life raises people ... sometimes life knocks them down"
I wish you a wonderful weekend dear friend @ericvancewalton

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

Thanks, I wish the same to you my friend!

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blazing (70) · 7 years ago

some shots are there forever with great impact in life

botefarm (67) · 7 years ago

It reminds me of the image taken in a war-torn area by a photographer, it won awards but the message is just too big to swallow for an ordinary man. This picture tells a lot of tales.

tangera (80) · 7 years ago (edited)

This is very true in our life. When people lift up , i mean when people go in a good position and have high power that time they don't care anything . At the time when they go to down position, that time they are only alone, nobody come to help them, then their ego die. I think this message teach us that every people should give up this bad ego.

serkagan (65) · 7 years ago

Excellent photo, my friend and you are right, life around us is ambiguous, to whom she smiles, and from whom she turned completely! Thank you, Eric

lydon.sipe (67) · 7 years ago

Sometimes I wonder how a single photo can affect people across decades of time, then I see this. Well done, Eric.

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago (edited)

Thank you @lydon.sipe! Sometimes you see something that resonates you and you just HAVE to get a shot of it and this was one of those moments. I couldn't help but think about how this person was probably lively, healthy, and full of hope and wondered what happened in his life to bring him to the point he was today.

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flagfixer (54) · 7 years ago

@ericvancewalton you were flagged by a worthless gang of trolls, so, I gave you an upvote to counteract it! Enjoy!!

spiritualpower (55) · 7 years ago

Up and down are coming and going , but sometimes human defeat from this nature rule .

pardeepkumar (56) · 7 years ago

Death don't kill man, ego kill . Great message in pic .

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

You are so right, @pardeepkumar!

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divine-sound (61) · 7 years ago

The real message of life. The moment ego gets dissolved, the true being evolves and the true happiness prevails.

Divine-Sound prevails everywhere.

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

100% correct!

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rebeccabe (63) · 7 years ago

I saw this on my phone and was unable to comment.
That is wild how the ego sign is there. Poor old man, he looks like he is in a gang area.

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

It was all such a strange amalgam of visuals that conveyed a potent message to me, I couldn't not click.

I just noticed that somehow I wasn't following you anymore and wanted to let you know it wasn't intentional. Sometimes when there's a Steemit update it disconnects me from people I've followed. Have you ever experienced that?

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photobe (54) · 7 years ago

Hey this account wasn't following you (my alt acct) So I fixed that and then I resteemed you earlier but I don't see it. Hmmm. It shows over on your post that I did. Maybe all the updates. This place will make you dizzy. haha! I will check later.

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

No worries! I think there were a few glitches on the site recently. I lost a few followers and lost some that I followed.

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hassanabid (73) · 7 years ago

i 100% agree with you sometimes life lift us upp and other time life breaks ....
what i got is in this picture is Ego Kill relationships do you agree ?

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

That's partially the message I got. The full message was that we need to dissolve our own ego if we wish to have a fruitful life and find true joy.

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olawalium (74) · 7 years ago (edited)

This is great sir, and really meaningful with deep words.

Life comes in two folds as you have said sir, it either lifts or break us.

Life will either bless or bury, but it is not what others say about us that matters, but what we say to ourselves when they are done talking.

May we get more out of life than just a cup of tea. Life might not sometimes give us what we deserve, but what we demand.

Amazing shot sir. Still the iphone?

ericvancewalton (76) · 7 years ago

Thank you! I really like that quote, there's so much truth in it. Yes, this was shot with an iPhone 8 and I added the "silvertone" effect.

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olawalium (74) · 7 years ago

Perfect tone to it sir. Thanks a lot as always sir. I hope your weekend was perfect?

manishkalia (51) · 7 years ago

Sometimes man defeats from life . Good message in pic

steyn (45) · 7 years ago

really beautiful

photobe (54) · 7 years ago

resteemed excellent work :)

oredebby (66) · 7 years ago

Hmmmm it sure worth pondering about. Such is life

mrsayem422 (39) · 7 years ago

great shot @ericvancewalton

black-horse (58) · 7 years ago

It's so beautiful and so much fun to enjoy. I think, your ability to photograph no doubt. Thank you for sharing very beautifully @ericvancewalton!

Regards!

rjunaid12 (58) · 7 years ago

It's the little moments that define us and give meaning to our life.

nancybriti (70) · 7 years ago (edited)

Interesting picture, @eric. I feel that the image conveys the message. When we get older we lose a lot, even pride. It is a photograph that makes you think and imagine the future we can expect. Thank you for sharing.

milaan (66) · 7 years ago

ego is a standing person and being is a sitting person, so sitting person reaches many hearts and standing person remains isolated. Let my ego go out, I will be the best steemian.

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somasekhar (37) · 7 years ago

Nice pic.

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anebert (41) · 7 years ago

StreetArt!

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krakpotdamon (36) · 7 years ago

life is all about ups and downs..and its these little things that amaze us give meaning to our life.... beauty is everywhere we just need to change our perspective 🙂

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