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I’ve submitted this photo to JPG magazine under the theme “Democracy” and it would be great if you would do me a favor and vote for it here.  I imagine you are wondering why this image should evoke the theme of democracy?  Well, here is my reasoning if you are interested:

There is one major flaw that our society is based on: the Pursuit of Happiness. When you are in the “pursuit of” something, there is an end result which remains the sole focus. It’s become second nature for the majority of the population to think in such a way that happiness will come when this falls into place or that has been achieved.  What’s worse is that people blame their unhappiness on circumstances - being undereducated, an unstable childhood, the wrong partner, not enough money, or just dumb luck. To that end, happiness has become a set of quick fixes acting as a band aid over a gash that needs stitches.

This photo was taken in Sag Harbor, NY where the majority of people have been on the receiving end of fortunate circumstances; they are Hamptonites - the privileged part of the population. The people who are supposed to be living the American Dream. But I have a feeling that most of them are still looking for something that can’t be found in a bottle or needle or shopping bag. Suggested remedy? A realization that happiness should be found in the pursuit itself and not as a final product.

If that doesn’t suffice, then there is also the simple idea that although the Hamptons reek of synthetic boobs, superficial values, and a shiny, botox-induced newness, this hotel dates back to pre-Revolutionary America when this country was first becoming independent.  Seems like the owners have preserved the Dutch colonial look of the place quite well.  Almost as well as the women preserve themselves.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 11:34 am and is filed under Nonsense, Photography, she-geekery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.