Solitude

My Senior Exhibition was called "Windows of Solitude" because I felt that my images were meant to act as windows into a place of solitude and peace. 

I decided to look up the actual definition of 'solitude' and this is what I found:
       sol·i·tude
           n.  1. The state or quality of being alone or remote from others

It's interesting because when I actually sit here and think about that word - solitude - I also think of the word 'isolation'.  

When I looked up the definition of isolation (isolate):

i·so·late  v.    
   a. To cause to be alone or apart, as in being inaccessible or unable to move about

   b. To place in quarantine.

   c. To cause to become socially or politically unengaged or ostracized

   d. To render free of external influence; insulate

--the meaning seems very lonely and even depressing.  Solitude and Isolation are synonyms, but, to me, they appear like antonyms.  Solitude makes me think of a happy alone time - a time that one would spend alone in order to improve on themselves, to escape from the chaotic world we all live in.
That was the purpose of my photographic adventures.  Every time I went out to take pictures I used that time to escape from everything that was going on in my life and just felt at peace.  I was finally able to hear myself think and focus on real beauty in life - nature.


Here is a print from my Senior Exhibition that, I believe, exhibits the true sense of Solitude that I was able to experience every time I took photographs.