World Wide Moment
I've been terrible at updating my journal this summer I'll admit. I really do need to be better about keeping people informed of what's going on with me better. Anyhow, as some of you may or may not know I'm a huge Olympics nut. I love watching the ceremonies and the games. Two years ago when we had the last winter games I really got into curling. I'm also a huge fan of photography so I was very interested when my mom told me about a project being put together that celebrates taking a single moment to capture the idea of peace across the world. This time that moment is the exact moment the Olympic games begin 8:08am Beijing time on 8.8.08. It sounds like a very cool idea and something I want to try and participate in.
So here's the skinny on the whole thing as written in the Chicago Tribune by William Haggerman.
With its political overtones and all the jingoistic claptrap, the Olympic Games are probably not the best way to promote world peace. Brett Brownell has a better idea.
A music video and documentary producer from Dallas, he wants people to be part of World Wide Moment, a photography project. At a prescribed time, participants will snap a photo that honors the idea of peace.
As Brownwell says, it's "an opportunity to feel a moment of peace with people all over the world."
The photos will get posted on the internet and become a part of a book and traveling exhibition.
In an e-mail, Brownell said that in addition to those goals, he hopes the project will prove "that people from around the world can celebrate life, art and peace together, if only for one moment. I know it sounds altruistic and possibly quixotic but in previous rehearsals for World Wide Moment, participants expressed a rare sense of peace, belonging and connection which lasted for many days."
The Moment comes at 8:08 a.m. (Beijing time) on 8-8-08 - just when the Olympics are starting (Bronwell emphasizes that the project is not affiliated with the Games). In Chicago, which is 13 hours behind Bejing, that converts to 7:08 p.m. on Thursday.
There is a countdown and time zone converter at worldwidemoment.org, as well as information on how to participate.
The event is a little more than a day away according to the countdown on the site. I'm not certain what I'll try and get a picture of but I'm going to stop what I'm doing and take my camera and get that shot. I keep coming back to the idea of taking a photo of my Aang action figure at that moment because of the theme of the whole Avatar series. The Avatar works well for this because he/she is the symbol of peace and balance in the fictional world that Mike and Bryan created. It also works well because it proves that one person can help change the world for the better without resorting to the need for death.
Anyhow, I hope more people out there take part in the project as it's a very interesting one indeed.
So here's the skinny on the whole thing as written in the Chicago Tribune by William Haggerman.
With its political overtones and all the jingoistic claptrap, the Olympic Games are probably not the best way to promote world peace. Brett Brownell has a better idea.
A music video and documentary producer from Dallas, he wants people to be part of World Wide Moment, a photography project. At a prescribed time, participants will snap a photo that honors the idea of peace.
As Brownwell says, it's "an opportunity to feel a moment of peace with people all over the world."
The photos will get posted on the internet and become a part of a book and traveling exhibition.
In an e-mail, Brownell said that in addition to those goals, he hopes the project will prove "that people from around the world can celebrate life, art and peace together, if only for one moment. I know it sounds altruistic and possibly quixotic but in previous rehearsals for World Wide Moment, participants expressed a rare sense of peace, belonging and connection which lasted for many days."
The Moment comes at 8:08 a.m. (Beijing time) on 8-8-08 - just when the Olympics are starting (Bronwell emphasizes that the project is not affiliated with the Games). In Chicago, which is 13 hours behind Bejing, that converts to 7:08 p.m. on Thursday.
There is a countdown and time zone converter at worldwidemoment.org, as well as information on how to participate.
The event is a little more than a day away according to the countdown on the site. I'm not certain what I'll try and get a picture of but I'm going to stop what I'm doing and take my camera and get that shot. I keep coming back to the idea of taking a photo of my Aang action figure at that moment because of the theme of the whole Avatar series. The Avatar works well for this because he/she is the symbol of peace and balance in the fictional world that Mike and Bryan created. It also works well because it proves that one person can help change the world for the better without resorting to the need for death.
Anyhow, I hope more people out there take part in the project as it's a very interesting one indeed.