I have traveled my whole adult life. I have seen and experienced, gratefully and humbly, more than most. The world has unfolded before me, not so much through the lens of a traveler, but as a travel photographer—always watching, always framing, always seeking the light that tells the deeper story.
I never set out to be a career traveler. It wasn’t something I planned or aspired to. It’s just how life played out for me. One assignment led to another, one opportunity opened the door to the next. And so I kept moving, always on the go. Always waiting in airports. Always connecting to flights, somewhere. Always getting lost in unfamiliar streets. Always testing and tasting new foods. Always sleeping in strange beds. Always doing my best to work through countries, cultures, and languages with a mix of curiosity and respect.
What might surprise you is that, over time, this constant movement—this life of being untethered—didn’t make me feel lost. Instead, it gave me a profound and growing sense of where I belong. And, really, isn’t that what life is about? Figuring out where we belong? Because when you know where you belong, everything else—the bumps, the bruises, the detours—becomes more manageable.
How do you know you belong somewhere-vibe and tribe. “Vibe” is the internal, innate, deep down connection to the source of your pleasure and treasure. And “tribe” is the people you share it with. Simple.
Belonging anchors you. It’s the thing that steadies you when the road gets rough. And for me, photography has been that anchor. It has been the way I make sense of the world, the way I connect, the way I understand my place in it.
I don’t see my life, or my travels, in hindsight, as some grand destiny that was planned for me before time began. Instead, I see it as a combination of luck, good fortune, good choices, drive, and surprising circumstances. But I do know this: I belong here. Right now, in this fullness of time. Maybe I won’t belong in this exact space tomorrow, or the next day, or next year, but today, right now, I do. And that certainty—however fleeting it may be—matters.
I belong here.
In photography, just like in life, knowing where you belong is everything. It shapes the way you see. It guides what you choose to frame and what you choose to leave out. It determines whether your work is just a collection of images or something more—a reflection of who you are and what you love.
A photographer who knows where they belong isn’t just snapping pictures; they’re making something personal, something true. They’re present in their work. They understand that belonging isn’t about a physical place so much as a feeling—a knowing, deep in your gut, that you are exactly where you’re meant to be, doing exactly what you were meant to do.
If you don’t know where you belong, photography can feel aimless, just like life can. You chase trends. You mimic styles. You shoot what you think you should shoot, instead of what moves you. But when you know? When you really, truly know? That’s when the magic happens. That’s when your work, and your life, starts to feel like home.
Do you know where you belong? If not, I hope you find it. And when you do, I hope you hold onto it, even if just for a moment. Because in that moment, everything makes sense.
Click.
Jack.
