Day: May 12, 2009

What a Tragic Loss

Yesterday I found out that a person I highly admired but had never met in person passed away a few days ago.   Anthony Sloan had deep and true passion for the Mountain Bike lifestyle and life in general.  He often shared this love and his zest for life on MTBR.com in the passion forum which he epitomizes.  His captivating words and stunning pictures were simply inspirational.   His incredible ability to take you along on his adventures by way of his near-magical photography and storytelling is something I aspire to cultivate.  Here is a quote of Anthony from his website

I prefer to think that I have put some part of myself on these pages.Through words and images I have tried to share some of the things that touch me.

 

When we were kids, there was a feeling that was so magical that it almost defined childhood. It is hard to describe, but it is a sparkly, exploratory sort of feeling.
A feeling of newness.
When we became adults, we left this feeling behind, only to experience it all too rarely and fleetingly.

This feeling is called “a sense of wonder”.
“rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one’s experience”

Try to have some of that each day.

 

Here is one of my numerous “favorites” from his site which is totally unrelated to mountain biking.  It is from the Khazneh in the ancient desert city of  Petra in Jordon.  I was there as well in 1996 and took a picture from nearly the same spot Anthony would take a picture from some years latter.  Anthony’s version of the experience captured with his photo is a benchmark that I strive for.  From the same spot with just a slightly different angle, some small detail that transforms mundane to extraordinary.   

His perspective and ability to see what “could be” from the same spot allowed him to convey that sense of wonder that mine missed.  He did this with not only his photography but his words as well.  The extraordinary is often right there if you know how to see it. 

Anthony’s imagery and words over the years has often left me and thousands of others in that “sense of wonder”.   A truly great gift to all of us.   If you have not had the pleasure of enjoying his work you can check out his website that will continue to be maintained by his family.   

Anthonysloan.com

Here is a short write up about him on MTBR and a link to some of his articles there.

Here is one of the several active posts about him.

Anthony you are missed.