Nature’s Expression

Nature’s Expression

By Juan David Diaz

My participant’s name is Jack Zimmerman he is my 19 year old classmate of my humanities class and friend in college.

Picture 1

“This picture is taken in Bogotá, Colombia in an area called Usaquén, which is located near the mountains surrounding the city. The picture shows the beauty of the capital’s architecture in a Sunday afternoon. The natural lighting of the picture also provides the general atmosphere of the city that brings every tourist and locals the unique joy of being in the Colombian land. The vegetation and the trees in the picture reveals the constant cold weather in the city. This picture reminds me of my high school days when I was leaving school to for athletics training, this vegetation and the Colombian layout made part of the way I was raised and they way I think since it is something you can only have in some parts of the world. The environment in Bogota I lived in had a influenced my life”.

What my participant is talking about in how his commentary is that the vegetation and the architecture in this specific picture makes him remember the days he was in high school. He also points out that all this circumstances influenced him to be the person he is right now and the way he perceives things. Something the participant had to elaborate more on is the location of where this picture is taken. Despite Colombia being one of the most biodiverse countries in the world that also full of nature and quality of life, there are also some parts of Bogota that have different layouts. There are areas in the city that have lower quality of life and usually are more polluted. According to Graziano the environmental conditions in a country are directly related to the economic state of the area. “Today, Latin America features some of the highest levels of inequality in the world” (Graziano, 2019) the main idea of this analysis is to show that while some areas can be really environmentally protected some others can be affected by pollution near the areas that look fit in terms on environment due to economic factors.

Picture 2

“This picture is taken in Acapulco, Mexico the beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean from the mountains reminds me of my trip for my 17 birthday. The Mexican lands are hidden gem not anyone knows about. The reputation from other aspects of this country most of the time distracts the international audience from the beautiful sights this country has to offer. The best thing from Acapulco is that it is one of the most affordable places to go and enjoy the beautiful surroundings of our planet. Not only this picture makes me feel relaxed and joyful, but it reminds me of the diverse and rich culture of this part of Mexico. The main thing this picture makes me remember is the smell of the beach and the nice restaurants with tacos in the area.”

What the participant is talking about in this statement is that in his trip to Mexico he got to see new landscapes that got him surprised of their beauty. Also, he mentions how to reputation of a place can hinder its true color and beauty. By mentioning the beach and the different traditions of Mexico he highlights the most important thing for me in a new place, the culture. Yet he talks about Acapulco being a paradise. There are other topics he should have elaborated more on. The pollution in this areas due to more tourism and traffic in the beaches and landscapes has made these beautiful places have an increased environmental effect. “As humans, we contribute to the decimation of our planet in more ways than one”. (Nicholls, 2022) The effect our species has in nature is one that has a lot of influence we can decide to have a positive impact in our environment so we can keep having these great picture in future.

Picture 3

“This picture is taken in the savannah of Bogotá, Colombia. Back in the colonial days when the Spanish conquered most of the land in South America there were many Spaniards that settled in Colombia and decided to raise their families for generations, these people were known as “Criollos” (Spanish born in America). These families built their house with the European architecture they were used to live in so for that reason there are these type of houses in the middle of the Bogota savannah. The thing this pictures reminds the most of is the beautiful contrast of the Colombian landscape and the European architecture thousands of mile away from their origin. As the Spanish occupation in Colombia decreased these houses were abandoned by their owners. Watching this picture reminds me of the landscape you can see when driving in the outside of Bogotá going to a road trip with my family”.

The participant mentions the historic side of this picture talking about Spaniard colonization, nature, and architecture of this picture. He also mentions that this picture reminds him of the times he had road trips with hi family in Bogotá. Something the participant should talked about more is the fact that this picture was taken in March 2023. Going back to 2019 the vegetation seen in this picture was almost nonexistent. The beautiful flowers and the herbs in the grass were the result of the reduction of pollution during the covid 19 times. “Major cities that suffer from the world’s worst air pollution have seen reductions of deadly particulate matter by up to 60% from the previous year, during a three-week lockdowns period.” (Regan, 2020) The beauty of what the human race can do when we decide to reduce our effects in the environment and produce better conditions for our planet to flourish are almost limitless.

To conclude, the analysis of pictures of nature can give us a sense of awareness and appropriation of the quality of planet we want. We can also see the multiple to topics arising from a single picture which we can consider to improve and have in mind whenever we interact with our planet and see while also appreciate nature’s expression.

References

Air pollution falls by unprecedented levels in major global cities during coronavirus lockdowns. CNN. (2020, April 23) Retrieved December 1, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/world/air-pollution-reduction-cities-coronavirus-intl-hnk/index.html

Inequality promotes deforestation in Latin America. Phys.org. (2019, January 28) Retrieved December 1, 2023. https://phys.org/news/2019-01-inequality-deforestation-latin-america.html

Polluted Paradise. Pressbooks. Nicholls, C. (2022, December 1) Retrieved December 1, 2023. https://pressbooks.online.ucf.edu/pollutedparadise/front-matter/polluted-paradise/