The photographer captured how modern man feels.
Space is limited, but one can live — after all, there is water all around. At the appointed time food falls from somewhere. Swim wherever you want: up or down, left or right. A bit boring, yes. But safe.
The main thing is that one cannot fail to notice that there is another life there, beyond the glass. It is sensed not by sight, but by the notochord, the spinal string. All of one’s being longs to reunite with the original environment — the Ocean.
But there’s a problem: one keeps bumping his forehead against an invisible wall.
From here, there are at least three ways the story can unfold.
One can quietly and predictably live out one’s days in the artificial environment. By the way, through the glass one can watch spectacles.
There is a chance that some force will overturn the aquarium or spill its contents into the Ocean. Reunion will happen, but suddenly, brutally, against your will. The fish will not be ready for Novelty.
The third option is to summon enough audacity, or anger, choose the moment, and leap out of the familiar environment. Where to? Into complete Unknown.
There is a choice, and yet there isn’t. Every option has its own “Yes, but...” The fish is in dissonance.
Fortunately, this is only a metaphor. It is useful in some ways, but our reality is more varied, and we are more inventive.
For example, you can leap out of your aquarium regularly, but only a little at a time, exactly to the degree that feels right and manageable for you.
A portion of Uncertainty. A microdose of Novelty. A pinch of Chaos.
One day you will look around and wonder: “Where did my limitations go?”
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
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