“Fifty percent of photography is simply being there.”

It's kind of poetic that I wrote these words ahead of my trip to Pittsburgh as I was drafting a post about the value of being present. The more that I watch people tinker with AI, the more I feel like what's most important is that you're connecting to the source (primary materials?) that matter in your life — that you're drawing from inspiration and things that feel true and interesting to you. In a lot of cases, that means being in the place that matters or seeing the thing yourself.

I'm currently one month into a three month residency with The Browser Company and had the privilege to join them in Pittsburgh this past week for their company offsite. Unsurprisingly, the offsite was incredibly thoughtful in its design, and almost every venue we went to was connected to art in some way. The final evening culminated with a dinner at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

The view of Fallingwater is one that I've seen dozens (if not hundreds) of times. Different seasons. Different perspectives. Different photographers. All taking photos of the same structure. This photo isn't any different. It's not unique in it's perspective or rendering. It doesn't particularly say anything special.

But it's mine. And I was able to take this because I was there. It's a reminder of last week and this opportunity.

That is enough for me.