Adam S. Marengo - Portland, OR, United States

March 29, 2011 at 11:53pm

Hello World!

My name is Adam Marengo, I am 28 years old and I live in Portland, Oregon but would unequivocally call Phoenix, AZ my true home. Born and raised in the HOT deserts of Arizona, my wife and I decided to relocate to the Pacific Northwest about 6 years ago. Hoping to escape the heat, we made our way to Portland where we found lots of rain waiting for us and a whole lot less sun. I guess you have to take the good with the bad as they say.

I have an amazing wife who I look at every day and feel inspired by. We were married 6 and a half years ago and not one single day goes by where I don't consider myself to be blessed beyond my feeble attempts to literate how lucky I am. Love is an amazing thing. It is probably the defining thing that has inspired me and changed me into the man that I am today. Without the love of my wife and family, I wonder where life may have led me earlier on. No place good I am almost certain.

The photo that I took for the Journal was of Latourell Falls located in the majestic gorge of the Columbia River in Oregon. Latourell Falls is one of dozens of falls that are located along a 10 mile stretch of scenic highway, including the world famous Multnomah Falls. This is truly God's country and you will quickly realize this as you stand at the base of this 30 story waterfall which dumps thousands of gallons of water per second at your feet. It is quite inspiring. Latourell falls is one of the lesser know, yet probably most beautiful falls that exists in the Northwest. You can literally swim in the pool that sits at the base of the falls...assuming you can stand the frigid temperature of the water. I chose this location specifically because for me, it represents the turbulent beauty that this journey called life often takes. From the snow capped summit of Mt. Hood, standing at nearly 3500 meters tall, the snow melts, travels a meandering and rugged 90 mile path until it reaches the edge of the 300 foot tall rock face, where it falls almost weightless to the ground where the light hits the water infrequently causing glimpses of rainbows. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, and we each take our final breath in this world, I want for those who saw my life to look at it and be able to say that it was a long, treacherous journey, full of unknown twists and turns but it was a journey that ended in absolute splendor.

In life so far I have learned many valuable lessons, but can say with absolute certainty that the lesson that is the most important to me, is the lesson of love. Love is one word, definable, and often understated and many times overstated. The love that I am speaking of is the love that forgives, looks beyond faults, inspires men and moves to change the hearts of humanity. A love that is so pure and so true that to deny it would be to deny your own existence. This is the love that I have learned from, grown from, given from, and taken from. This love is a gift, free to deliver and receive yet so often overlooked and under used. Some might call this the love of Christ, Buddha, Islam, Judaism, etc., etc. It does not matter what name you chose to give it. The point is that you know of it and allow yourself to experience the life changing affects that it will have on your life and the lives of those around you. I call it "Blind Love" for the obvious reason that true love really is blind to all of the stereotypical fragmentation that exists in society, racism, discrimination, etc. So If I could tell you all one thing, make one recommendation to enlighten your life, I would simply say: Express your love, the love that resounds within your soul, that burns within your chest, that sets your mind on fire. Make sure that when you breathe your last breath, speak your last words, that the world remembers you as someone who broke down walls and stirred change in the hearts of those that knew you. Make sure that you live your life as someone who loved and was loved.

I hope that this Journal has inspired you as it has inspired me. The thought that we each have a place in this world, capable of capturing such beauty and sharing it as if we were all neighbors living on the same street, that is inspiring. We have broken down the boundaries and borders of distance and have all become members of a movement that will hopefully inspire thought, creativity and the sharing of philosophy. We have all taken a small part of ourselves and placed it into the leather bound pages of this masterpiece for the whole world to see, and that is powerful.

I wish you all much success and health in all of your individual lives and offer my love to all of you for taking time to participate in this unknown photography journey.

With the highest and most sincere regards one human can offer to another,


Adam S. Marengo
Portland, OR United States

Adam & Hayfa Marengo, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, United States

Latourall Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, United States