The beauty of raw emotion is what drew me to my photography journey many years ago now and I have only ever found that, that ‘true grit’ raw emotion in what the natural world stirs up within us, in the processes of child birth and in the times of losing loved ones.
Not once however have I been asked to capture a Tangi of a dear friends darling man, who was not only also a friend but the closest of homies to many of my own.
What had been wholeheartedly expressed even before his passing ….. Is that Jamie Civil is a Legend ~ A massively talented big wave surfer here in N.Z ~ A “vinyl sound selector of the purest form, true to his art” ~ A builder and a craftsman of perfection ~ A best friend to his big sis Tash ~ A much adored son to his parents, whanau and whanui members ~ A true blood bro to just soooooo many ~ And of course what his entire world was about being ~ A beautiful, giving, loving, loyal and head over heals besotted father and partner to Courtney and their little Lenni girl and the goodness and gorgeousness of their love and life they had in the time that they shared.
So how does one navigate the geography of the broken hearted? … the map of their souls that made every sense on every level to each other, when one is taken away from this human world too soon? , how does anyone find comfort after losing someone so wonderful … Is it in the deep inner knowing that the spirit lives on, on the messages he will send you when you are still , on the salt wipped wind at his favourite spots, in the rolling trills of the tunes you shared the love for, in the memories of those mega moments or the little things that can never fade away.
One of my favourite poems in which I’ve probably shared before today on here is from Henry Thoreau | “The mass of men live a life of quiet desperation and go to the grave, the song still in their heart” I see that Jamie’s song shone brightly through in his life, in the golden hour of his love and life with Courtney and Lenni and also in the powerful heart song’s bravely expressed through all the people who loved him dearly. Accolade after accolade coming through for this absolute beauty of a human who touched an incredible amount of hearts with his gentle humility and next level talents.
This without a doubt was one of the most harrowingly hard events to have to capture and process in not only my personal life but also my photography journey, BUT it was also truly my biggest honour. Thank you for gifting me the essence of the human heart connection Courtney, I pray that peace come in time to you and you walk strongly again with the inner knowing that you walk in yours and Jamie’s precious and rare once in lifetime kind of love, your strength, mana, gangster humour and spirit is truly amazing ~ Love you our girl !
Jamie . . . Rest in LOVE Brother
