Future is insecure

This photo is also a reflection of my life, just not childhood, but recent events. Five

years ago I had it all figured out, I had a great marriage (still do), a steady job, we

just bought a new apartment, my parents were fine... And than it changed in a

second, nasty problems at work, a law suit, the apartment wasn't finished and the

investor went under water, the loan, the move to a new country, searching for work

there, the death of my dad,... it was like everything went to peaces. I thought I'll

break, I got depressed, I was hardly able to function.

Things are going better now, we're back home, we finally moved to the apartment

and I started working in the filed that I wanted - retouching and photography.

But what I took out of the experience is - you have NO IDEA what so ever what is

waiting for you in the near future, so don't make long term plans. It's like putting

your head to the rails (listening for who and what is coming in the train of life) and

waiting, if you will be fast enough to move it away when it comes.

comments and critiques welcome,

love, Ulla

This is a very powerful and quiet portrait.

I instantly like it and more so, having read your written explanation.  

The subject has a direct, resigned, expressionless gaze and that ties in perfectly with your description of not being in control.  I just like it, the message is a potent one.  thank you

Hi Ulla,

I like your picture, it tis very expressive.  Your text is about right, we are not in control in life, we have to get the most of it every single momento because things do change.  we only have to be strong and learn, and always stand up again!!

Bernardo

The sign of intelligence is that you are constantly wondering. Idiots are always dead sure about every damn thing they are doing in their life. By Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

Mooie foto, gemaakt op een fraaie plek, namelijk bij een wissel. Het kan nog alle kanten op.

Groet,

Herman

Ulla: everything that we don't know (like the future) is insecure...saying that I must say that we are always learning with the challenges that life puts in front of us...everything that doesn't kill us makes us stronger. The situation of your text must have been hard to you but the correct atitude is always to face the problems and think about better days! Your photo, in my opinion, is too strong. The nice face of this young girl is a very hard contrast with all this scene and what it may represent...Best regards from Portugal!

My dear Ulla, the title and the idea for your compsition are really strong and effective, more than "insecure" the situation is...a certain death, a young life without future. We have to save this child! Brava Ulla!

Ulla, wonderfully done conceptional photograph.

Yes, beautiful work Ulla. Life does not leave any of us out. The hardest part is when it all comes at once. But you are STILL STANDING!!!!! You have proved to be STRONGER than perhaps you ever thought. But this composition illustrates very beautifully what you shared. Long term plans may not always work out, but I still do like to 'dream'.  I can see how much you have progressed in your editing skills. Lovely work!

Thank you all for the encouraging words :), they mean a lot.

Yes I am still standing because my character enables me to move on, to look to the future not to the past and I am very happy about it. I'm flexible, I'll stand back up again every time, no matter how hard it may be. And I have a great support of my husband, I love him so much!

This photo represents the way I felt going form the innocence to the reality of life, when everything around you is crumbling and breaking apart, but I did have the strength to move before the train came, so in a way it has a happy ending (for now).

Love, Ulla

Hi, just browsed through different photographers work and this one caught my eye as well as several others you took of children. I really like your stories you are trying to tell with them, and i can relate to the tone of sorrow you have in them. This one in particular made me stop and think.

Great composition and use of tone as well as a greta expression.

I can also relate to the actual story and words as how quickly life can change i the blink of an eye. And i think most people can when they start to get older, realizing after many years that it will always be those random twists of fate.

I like to think there is some meaning to it all, and i can also definitely se a pattern and a hidden meaning in many cases throughout my own life having gone through those hard times.

Critique wise, the only thing id like to be different is her jacket. Somehow i feel the modern and bright look to it makes me want something a little more "timeless" or solemn. But that is just my own reflection and thoughts on that.

Great work. Martin.

@Martin Andreasson Martin thank you so much for your words, I feel honored by them. And I do agree on the jacket - it was not a planned shoot, she is my niece and she put on what she had, I would love for her to have a dark jacket or a coat or something darker in cotton or leather or something with more texture and less "glossy"