The Epic Photo

Fox Glacier

I never thought i would blog on non-travel related matters. Just a sudden urge to pen down all the random thoughts and the bugging feeling to want to scream - So what if i'm naked?!

Ever since the photo has been posted up to FB, the comments have since hit a new record on a single pic. Never did any of my pictures received this much of attention since my first upload. Sure it made an impact on my profile. Positive or not, i'm still fence-sitting. It brought me to slowly realize how superficial human beings could be as time passes when people create the perception of me base on one single outrageous photo.  I was sane, friends know. And when I said friends, I do meant, friends - those who know what spells Jac and it ain't just a 3 letter word. I'm crazy enough to take chances... so much that i got into shitty troubles that no one else would be capable of. Not that I’m proud of that, but I am amazed by Jac at times. Like, how did she even do that, and again?! I shall not swerve into that. And i was normal. Gradually, normality isn't normal anymore, what is doomed now is insanity - which i call normal at the present.

Driving from Te Anau to Queenstown, New Zealand, my buddy and I somehow lost the way and found ourselves driving through this magnificent landscape, on an unsealed track. Winding through the hills on this rocky, barren track, in a big fat camper wasn't a kidding matter. Every stone, every hole, every humps and bumps, our bums took it all. For the last 5kms at least, we see nothing but endless greens with backdrops of surreal snowy mountains, which almost seemed like a huge curtain falling from the sky. Maybe someone will draw it close, revealing darkness and emptiness. That would be more believable. So in this 9 degC afternoon, taking off any piece of cloth off my body is what i deemed bravery. To know that the almost cold-blooded German already had 3 layers on, i decided to strip to my boots. When but now would i have a chance to have this epic photo taken ever again? So i decided to greet the raw mother nature with my upmost sincerity, nudity.

I was traveling with my German buddy. Someone whom I’ve met in June during my Cairns’ trip. Hit it off quite well and decided to do a trip together again 3 months later. So the instructions were easy. It sounded wrong but it was the way it was!

“I strip, you shoot!”
“Go! Go!”

I took off all the precious warmth on me in the van and the moment I opened the door, the bitterly cold wind hugged me like icy metal sheets.  Braving through the windy field, I ran 20m away from the van and stood long enough to capture just 2 shots. With almost nothing on, I stood facing this majestic snow-cap mountain, trying to embrace the rawest form of nature around me. In the mere seconds, besides the chill, I felt that breath-taking mother earth and how insignificant I am in this midst of God’s creation. Isn’t this the kind of simplicity all should be thriving for? Rather than pride and fame or any form of worldly material that so called giving man the satisfaction that they need. It was only in the brief moments of nakedness, I felt the weakness and dedication in me. The clothes I wore aren’t just fabrics but superficial smiles, prideful defenses and deceiving fronts that manage to fool even myself. Nudity is hence beautiful. It shows the rawest form of beauty of man, no pride, no fakes, no self-consciousness. Removing all these clothes in life was not an easy task. The insignificance of me magnifies in this midst of nature and it compelled me to accept and acknowledge my vulnerability.

All said and done, I never expect a simple photo like this would raise many different perceptions of me. So Jac is crazy. yes I am. So Jac is an attention seeking bitch? Why not?! Haha. So Jac is shameless. Am i? So Jac is loose. Oh yeah? So Jac like to bare her ass and thus she is easy. Wow. Although these were not mentioned to me directly but nonetheless, I felt that from people around me when after all the formality talks, they can’t help but to throw the question, “So you like to bare the ass huh?” Seriously, dude..

Its good somehow. Now I know who are the respectful ones and who I should eliminate.  Maybe it’s the asian ethics and values towards nudity. Or maybe it’s the centuries of media influenced culture that shaped our thinking that going nude means obscenity and shame. Then again, what is shame? Its just the different levels of acceptance in the individuals towards an act.

It is indeed discouraging to know that people appreciate the act of the photo in the wrong way, creating a perception that disappoints more than anything else. Isn’t perception a funny thing? As mentioned in my fb, I am who I am and you are who you are and everything else is a perception based on acceptance, deception, smoke, mirrors, and so on. It's everything in between us that seems to justify our accidental identities. It's human nature to mold his/her behavior and personality according to such suppositions and assumptions. Even if i could spell myself out in words, who will be there to justify? Which is more believable, my words or your perception? Still, anyone has his/her entitlements of judgments and definitions of Jac. She is still who she is, not seeking for any acceptance or agreements.

And lastly, So what if I’m naked ? ")

Queenstown, New Zealand.