Just like heaven -By Mark Velasquez Photography

The following abstract is related to the picture seen here.

Just Like Heaven

For the eighth challenge of Bravo's "Work Of Art", I got teamed up with a partner that didn't agree with the kind of work I make, so I compromised. In doing so, I never got a chance to shoot the image I wanted, symbolizing my views on "Heaven." Oh so many months later, I finally was able to make the image I originally wanted to.

Heaven to me is not a place where people in robes sit on clouds and discuss the past. I was always taught that Heaven was the absence of all that is bad, including fear, worry, deadlines, sadness, and pain. In a Heaven, less should always more. No other model could sum this all up for me better than Jenna, who, if you aren't aware, is searching for her own definition of Heaven herself.

I've only known Jenna for a little over four months now, but in that time she has shown me her joy, passion, and sweetness while never holding back the honesty of her flaws, fears, and regrettable past deeds. For those of you unfamiliar with my previous posts of her, she's a sweet 18 year old who was diagnosed with Stage 3 Lyme disease at a young age with the doctors now only giving her two to five years left to live. She has traveled the world for stem cell treatments, spent the last year confined to a wheelchair unable to walk, and yet still remains one of the most positive and well-rounded people I have ever met. She is as fun and optimistic as she is multi-faceted and wise beyond her years. Having suffered with her illness for most of her life, she is strong and brave in a way most people will never be forced to experience until they are grey and frail.

I suppose I could talk at length about her horrific personal ordeals with men, the boxes of mandatory pills doctors have prescribed, and her continued occasional use of a cane. I want to share these stories, show the life that she has given me permission to display, but frankly, the closer I get to her the harder it gets. Thankfully, she and I love the photos too much to just hide them away.

Jenna and I have many plans for the future, both creatively and socially, for as long as her health holds up. I want to show her things that I think she might enjoy or find important. The questions she's asked me about life being fair, about the how's and why's of things, can only be answered with the same directness my parents thankfully gave me: That's just the way it is. Life isn't fair, bad things happen to good people, and things might not ever get better. All we can do is live for the moment, take as much pleasure in life as possible without hurting others in the process, and hope that the memories we leave behind give comfort in some way to others when we're gone. The hardest thing for me is that I want to convince her that these hard lessons get easier to accept as time goes by, but sadly she doesn't have the amount of time it takes to come to terms with all of it, and that's the most unfair thing of all.

Let me know your thoughts on all of this. Thanks so much.

Nonebutim- It's an amazing picture, with an amazing story to follow. Life is beautiful, life is short, don't look backand make no regrets.To me i believe the most important part of life is to have the most fun you can while you live it. Enjoy and smile. =)