Emptiness

Ben took this shot of an empty store in a nearby neighborhood. His wry caption was empty stores are the new kittens and flowers of the photo world

What does this photo evoke for you? My first thought was of losses: the economic downturn, the death of small, unique family businesses, failure, barrenness, and desolation. This little shop with its eerie lighting and empty shelves somehow seemed to represent the ultimate defeat of all of our dreams and hopes, the slow decay of once-vibrant cities, the isolation and despair at the heart of modern life.

One of the viewers of this photo knew the location and commented, this store was about to open, not close. What does the photo evoke for you when you look at it with this understanding? Suddenly, it seems to offer endless possibilities, pregnant with new life and potential, ready to burst into being. The commenter added, It's a pharmacy. Now I could imagine the pharmacist in a crisp white coat, the shelves stocked with aspirin and bandaids and cough syrup, the tiny aisles busy with customers from the neighborhood grateful for this service so nearby. It seems to represent the unceasing reinvention of cities, and the flux and flow of life itself, the change in each moment that offers us the potential ending of old habits and painful ways, and the birth of a new beginning, filled with luminous possibilities.

What is emptiness?

photo credit: Ben Syverson