"Photograph" Ed Sheeran, Saturday, February 3, 2024 (updated repost)
Before "Shape of You," Ed Sheeran was known primarily as a singer-songwriter. His albums + and X took clear influence from The Beatles, Carole King, Elton John, James Taylor, and the ballad writers of yesteryear. But he had a knack for throwing in a few rap bars along the way. With every record, Sheeran gained more acclaim. His sophomore record produced the mega Billboard #2 hit, "Thinking Out Loud," which won two Grammys including Song of the Year. The final single from the album, "Photograph" was written in collaboration with Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid. Sheeran drew inspiration from his long distance relationship with singer/songwriter Nina Nesbitt (the featured musician on Kodaline’s acoustic version of “Brand New Day”). The two spent five months apart. They would eventually break up, but the song remains a gem on Sheeran's second best-selling record.
LOVING CAN HURT. "Photograph" was the song that introduced me to the talent of Ed Sheeran. Unfortunately, because of the hit “Shape of You” on his next album, Divide, I cast Sheeran aside and forgot about the truly inspiring lyrics on the X album. Songs like "Even My Dad Does Sometimes," "Tenerife Sea," and "Afire Love," and the song I chose today, “Photograph,” show tenderness without gushing with sentimentality. The music video doesn't address the topic of the song. However, it shows young Sheeran with his first love--music. The video is a collection of old footage of Sheeran playing music throughout his childhood and teenage years. This song was especially impactful to me in 2016. I had taken on the responsibility of coordinating the native English department at my Christian school. I was the only native English teacher who remained that year, so I was left with the task of assembling a new team. One coworker was particularly disrespectful and hard to manage. I was learning to work in a Korean system. But one other aspect of this year was particularly stressful. In February of 2016, my boyfriend of six months was conscripted. Korea has a mandatory military service that all Korean males must complete before the age of 30. This meant very limited phone conversations and not seeing him for six weeks at a time.
LOVING CAN HEAL. I don’t photograph well. I never know where to look, my smile looks forced, and I close my eyes. I’m not particularly gifted in visual aesthetics. I do, however, enjoy art. But there are so many photographs I wish I took throughout the years. The problem is I don’t want to be bothered to pull out my phone, and once I do the lighting isn’t right. The problem is that I eventually realize that I’ve gotten to be almost 37 and I don’t have photos to look back on the good times. In 2022, I decided to buy the iPhone Pro 14 to have a really good camera. I had started making Instagram reels to accompany my blog based on my daily song. It was a new artistic challenge. But the following school year, life got busy and I wasn’t living a life that was photograph-worthy. Life was routine with nothing special to eat, nowhere no to travel, and work as usual. But when I went to England this winter, I promised my mom I’d take lots of pictures. The problem with that promise was that I was going to England with my partner, and I’ve been putting off my coming out for years. But what I decided to do was just to post the pictures. It’s a soft coming out. I didn’t post the more intimate photos, but I thought that if I couldn’t tell my truth, even part of it, is life really worth living?
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