behind the photo: faceless fisherman

this is a photo i took and in the photo is a man i've never met, i actually never even saw his face. what's his name? how did he get there? what makes him smile? what's his favorite color? his story can be found in a blank hard covered book filled with thousands of even whiter pages- one for every day of his life. i can only imagine who this man really is and dream up the words, but it'd only be true to me. i like taking pictures of strangers because it can tell me a lot about myself. so instead of narrating this man's life and pretending that he and i will ever share a connection beyond this picture, i will tell you a little about what this photo tells of me. 

i'd say even a year ago, this photo would've made me mad. honestly i wouldn't have even taken it at the time. i've been vegan for very very close to two years now and at the beginning it was so hard for me to understand how people could-well, not be vegan. in the midst of my new lifestyle change i forgot that for seventeen years i was doing everything i condemned other people for. it took weeks of research before my morals shifted and my values aligned with my actions. i forgot that not everyone looks up, or even has the ability to look up, the information i did. if people aren't educated, there's no opportunity for them to grow. and i don't necessarily mean grow as in switching to veganism, i mean grow in general, having more knowledge about anything. 

a year ago, i would've never taken a photo of a man fishing. no matter how great the lighting or composition or how attractive the man, fishing made me sick. so how crazy is it that i took this picture without even really thinking about it? i was focused on the stranger and not what he was doing. i was focused on the weightless book of pages waiting to be filled. for me, veganism has been a journey of compassion. of course, compassion for animals and our earth, but compassion for human beings as well. i understand some people will never learn the definition of vegan and i understand that some people will learn all there is to know and would still eat meat or fish or purchase leather. morals fall on a spectrum, values are colored as gray instead of black and white. every person will vary a little in what they're comfortable with and this man is fishing and in this moment he is comfortable with his action. i am not him and i don't know him. maybe the fish he catches are all he can afford to eat or maybe he has never given thought to how the fish feels. 

i was unsure of whether to post the picture because fishing isn't something i personally want to promote but understanding and respecting the actions of others and wherever their morals may fall was such a huge part of my journey. the stranger without a face helped me realize my growth and taught me something about myself. this is me giving thanks to this man and hoping you always find peace with your decisions.