A harmonic tendering of land and life. Exploring along the border of Italy and Switzerland I met this shaman solo man. He let me watch him through my lensed eye as he worked the land and the livestock. Maintaining humankind’s ancestry of hunting and gathering. Living off the land, the land and animals thriving from him. A warrior (though he would not agree with that surmising). A hero (nay, he would say). A tender man (perhaps, if tender does not imply weak). Rooted to his land and life (he knows nothing else, nor would he question any other life than the bountiful one he has been awarded). I was immediately entranced by his beauty. His taut physique. His angular face. His worn strong hands. He let me follow him throughout his working day. A gift he did not know he was giving me.

I was struck then and am still to this day by how effortlessly loyal he was to his land and life, really… an interesting concept being loyal to your life…to sheparding your existence and purpose.

A man of solitude.

A man of contentment.

A shaman of purpose.

A man alone but never lonely.

A thing of beauty.