Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, the reknowned Swiss-American psychiatrist, made a statement that resonates with me when I look at the pictures of random people I have shot as I explore street photography:
"The most beautiful people are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
Perhaps without intending it, she identified the qualities of mercy and grace, two concepts that have interested me both as a photographer and as an explorer of life.
In Christian belief, mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve, while grace is receiving a gift we don't deserve at all.
For Buddhists, mercy is compassion, a concern for all suffering in the world. Grace comes from the recognition and appreciation of that we are all interconnected.
Philosophy aside, I am drawn to people who display a sense of grace, perhaps having either benefitted from the compassion of others or through self-realization about their own true nature of goodness.
