Photography Philosophy: The View From Above

Introducing a series that searches for life’s greatest answers in photo form

Credit: the author

As the old cliche goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. I’ll also add a picture evokes complex emotions, different moods, various thoughts and can put us more in touch with who we are and connect us to others.

The same can be said of philosophy and that has inspired the creation of Photography Philosophy. This is an ongoing series of photo collections that come from philosophical ideas.

The first series celebrates the concept of The View From Above.

What is The View From Above?

The View From Above is a Stoic technique that can help to clear away the noise of the day and take an objective, bigger picture viewpoint of the world. Marcus Aurelius was fond of using this technique and wrote about it often:

“Think of substance in its entirety, of which you have the smallest of shares; and of time in its entirety, of which a brief and momentary span has been assigned to you; and of the works of destiny, and how very small is your part in them.”

So, The View From Above is about shifting from a first person view to a third person view. Imagine looking at yourself as if you were in the sky and it could seem as if the events that you’re currently experiencing aren’t nearly as bad or important as they seem in the moment.