John Stanmeyer was in Aceh, Indonesia [KMZ File for Google Earth] taking pictures of the devastation that occurred at the end of 2004. We’ve all seen it, and it was absolutely tragic. When we got our own small version of a natural disaster in the form of Hurricane Katrina, we could relate to what it means to be displaced. I can only hope that we (New Orleans) can relate to the “after” photos [viiphoto.com] that were taken recently in Aceh by John and compared to the original. They are brilliant and they couldn’t have been planned.

John went back to the place of the original photos and simply took a picture in the same angle as the first. He couldn’t have predicted what it would look like just over a year after the tsunami, but it’s inspiring to see that people CAN overcome!!! And most likely they did it without a lot of heavy equipment and fancy tools. Pure willpower and human spirit rebuilt what could have been looked upon as hopeless and lost. And it didn’t take years to do (although I’m sure there are still places that need work) and I was especially impressed with how the earth made itself new and beautiful by comparison in such a short period of time.

Another project that is quite similar can be found on the Warshooter Blog [warshooter.com] which is where I found the link to John’s photos. I’m so impressed with the skill of the photographers to be able to shoot the photos at the exact angle that they took them at over a year ago.

This morning I was looking out our front window whilst waiting for my ride to work and looking at the beautiful snow-capped mountains of Tooele. I thought of how cool it would be to take photographs, snapshots in time, of the beauty that surrounds me and share it with the world. Then I realized that I’m not a professional photographer and the moment passed. But seeing these picture today inspired me again to pick up a camera and take pictures. But now reality has set in again…and the moment has passed. I guess I’ll stick to video.

I had to add a new category to my blog tonight because the others just didn’t do this justice. To me this was “Inspiring”. Give me your thoughts on the change! Is it just me or is this an unbelievable testament and example that no matter how bad it gets, we can get out from under it and not let it overcome us! If ever I have a bad day, I need only to look at the piles of garbage in these pictures and the wastelands of mud and then compare it to only a year later where the garbage has been taken away and the mud has been overcome by new life. Never lose hope, it can always get better.