Do you remember Curly from City Slickers? Episode one of Lens and Life starts there. Pete George reflects on forty years behind a camera, a man in Bali with a bike full of cardboard, and what photography eventually taught him about paying attention.
About five minutes. Take a breath before you press play.
Transcripts
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Do you remember Curly from City Slickers?
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When he holds up one finger and he says, the meaning of life is one thing and you have to figure out what it is.
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It took me a long time, but I think I'm getting close.
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Here's how I got closer to my one thing without even realizing I was looking for it.
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I learned photography the way most people do in a classroom.
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Aperture, shutter speed, ISO.
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How to make a technically correct photograph.
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And for a long time, I thought that was the goal.
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If I could just master the camera, I'd master photography.
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But here's what I didn't realise at the time.
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The Technical foundation actually gave me the freedom I didn't know I was going to need.
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Because when life got messy, I didn't have to think about the camera anymore.
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I could just think about the moment.
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The camera became instinct, which meant I could pay attention to life instead of dials.
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And that changed everything.
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Photography becomes something else for me later, not just something I did, something I leaned on, somewhere I could breathe when life didn't feel steady.
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And like most people, life had a few lessons waiting for me.
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Health struggles, mental battles.
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Moments when you realise you're not as strong as you thought you were.
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Moments that slow you down whether you want them to or not.
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I had some of those.
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And those moments don't usually change you all at once.
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They change you quietly, bit by bit, until one day you realize you're seeing things differently.
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Somewhere along the way, something shifted.
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I started noticing things I never used to see.
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Not because I tried harder, because I finally slowed down.
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I didn't become a better photographer because of the camera.
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I became better because I finally started paying attention to life.
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The small moments, the proud moments, the tired moments, the moments where someone says nothing but you can see everything.
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The human moments.
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Most people walk straight past, and once you start seeing them, you can't really unsee them.
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I remember a moment in Bali.
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A man standing next to his bike stacked with cardboard he'd collected.
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He didn't say anything.
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He just stood there, proud as anything.
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I pointed the camera.
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He nodded.
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That wasn't me taking a photo.
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That was two people seeing each other.
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That's when I really understood what I was looking for.
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Not photographs.
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Understanding.
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Understanding people.
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Understanding moments.
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Understanding what really matters.
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I realised something else, too.
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Photography didn't teach me how to see life.
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Life taught me how to see.
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Photography just gave me a way to share it.
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That's the difference.
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And I think that's really where this podcast comes from.
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Not photography.
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Life.
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Photography just happens to be the lens I look through.
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Because the world feels fast right now.
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Everything is instant.
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Everything is loud.
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Everyone's talking, but not many people seem to be listening.
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Not many people seem to be noticing.
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This podcast isn't about having the answers.
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It's about slowing down enough to ask better questions.
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It's about conversations, perspective, the small details that end up being the big things, the things life teaches you if you pay attention.
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And maybe that's what I've been getting closer to.
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Not success, not perfection, not even photography.
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Just understanding what actually matters.
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Maybe Curly was right.
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Maybe the secret really is one thing.
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I don't know if I fully found mine yet, but I know I'm closer than I used to be.
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And maybe that's all any of us are really trying to do.
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Get a little closer, understand a little more, pay a little more attention.
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And maybe that's where lens and life really begins.
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Thanks for being here.
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This is just the beginning of the conversation.
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I'm Pete George, and thank you for getting to this part of the podcast.
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And I always share these words, shoot with purpose and share with heart.
