Downtown Provo

This is probably my favorite picture of the group because there is a bigger story behind it. I didn't have my camera ready when the event actually happened. I was driving my car when I noticed a man struggling to get across the street. After some observation I realized that he is blind. Watching him struggle I came to realize that in Provo the street crossing signals don't feature a chirping noise that helps people find their way to the other side of the street. I don't know that if I were in the same circumstances that I would be able to successfully cross the street, and it made me realize just how much I take small gifts such as sight for granted.

I think Provo is more complex of a city than I thought it would be. Throughout my walk, I noticed an underlying theme in many of my pictures: strength in adversity. Although there way be apparent obstacles and weaknesses, the city of Provo carries on. Perhaps my favorite picture that illustrates this principle is the picture of the someone's front porch in which you can faintly see the word joy in the window. Now this house is nothing like what I define as joy. It's dirty and disorganized, the paint is chipping, the plants are overgrown, yet the people inside probably find more joy in  the small things they see everyday as opposed to me.

 

I feel like I have also defined Provo as being all Mormon people and churches. I was surprised to find that there are many churches that are present and have been present in Provo for a very long time such as St. Mary's Church which I photographed.