What I learned about conflict is that the path back to harmony is to still the waters and to take responsibility for whatever I can, leaving the rest up to someone else. This way, I am free to move on or further in, without more angry feelings. Sometimes the other person can be really, really wrong, and sometimes it's me who is wrong. I can make the other person and myself less wrong by taking responsibility for my part. Taking photographs, and especially portraits of people, teaches me the flow of things between myself and another person. There's a saying that goes: It takes two people to create a conflict, but only one to make it worse. It's a bit like a zen koan, deciding which one you are by the path you've chosen to take. This photograph of someone's graffiti on a Brooklyn wall sums it up pretty nicely.
"my bad" photograph