As I Imagined

In 1997, DW and I took a vacation to China, which was a hop, skip, and jump from where we were living at the time, in South Korea. For me, it was a bit of a dream come true.

When I was in elementary school, my classmates and I learned about the Great Wall of China. It was hard for my young brain to comprehend just what a colossal undertaking its construction would have been. Averaging from six to seven metres tall and four to five metres wide, the roughly 3,500-kilometre wall took more than 2,500 years to build.

It's said that for every step you take, while traversing the wall, someone died while building it.

In grade school, as we created and presented a project on the Great Wall, I thought that someday I would see it for myself. As I got older, in my teens and twenties, I began to believe that it was just a dream and would never be realized.

And then I moved to South Korea and the dream seemed doable.

When we visited the wall, DW and I were with a group of ex-pats on a chartered excursion. In Badaling, we were given a time to walk upon the wall, and as I climbed the countless steps toward each tower, I found myself leaving the others farther and farther behind. By the time I realized I had to be back at our bus, I was several kilometres away and on my own.

I remember, as I made my way back to the starting point, that the sun was beginning to fall toward the horizon. Through the thick haze that blanketed the sky, the sun was a giant, orange fireball that was sinking toward the distant mountain ridges to the west. Yet, when my photos were developed, the sky didn't seem as orange as I remembered.

Fast-forward to 24 years later, when I'm back on the Great Wall, virtually. When I reached Badaling, I was able to view the spots that I had actually trod in 1997. It made me revisit the photos that I shot, and all I could see was the plain, hazy-grey skies above the snaking wall. The wall itself had a bit of a warm hue but that sky did nothing for me.

Enter Luminar AI.

Applying a sunset filter and adding some clouds, my photos don't make me think that this is how the view from the Great Wall actually looked but it does take me back to how I felt when I stood alone, looking out over the ramparts.

I still have the original prints but I prefer this warm enhancement. What do you think?

Happy Friday!