>Projects >2021 >Neue Wege gehen

Julia Bachleitner

Neue Wege gehen

It seemed like a miracle that I had even got this far again. And that my desolate feet had carried me this far. At the very top is the Sillianer Hütte, where I spent the night twice. In the photo, it seems just as unreachable as it was for me for a long time.
During the hike, I thought of the song of the same name by Reinhard Fendrich a few times. The freedom up there really is boundless. We were all fascinated by the view. The landlady of the Sillianer Hütte has it outside her door every day and the other guests probably wanted to take it home with them too.
I so often had the feeling that everyone else was passing me by. And I wasn't able to keep up. They all found a way for themselves. But mine has so often remained invisible.
Sometimes something seems far away and totally unattainable. Much faster and better equipped. And disappears behind my horizon. Nevertheless, I want to get there and see what happens next. So should I learn to swim first? Or is there a way round it?
Early in the morning, before dawn on the highest mountain, the shepherd drives his sheep to the next pasture. They are not easily recognisable in the photo and soon disappear into the mist. Like so many things in my past.
And then, all of a sudden, there it is, the sun. And illuminates everything wonderfully. Nothing seems threatening any more. And there is no longer any reason to be afraid.
At some point, you recognise the path ahead of you very well. And it seems very beautiful. But something unforeseen can always happen. Even something good sometimes comes unexpectedly. Like the pink hut in the first picture. It would also be visible here if one of the mountains wasn't blocking the view.
Up there in the mountains, I learnt to take one step at a time towards my next goal. And in the meantime, to concentrate on the beauty that lies directly in front of me.

The idea for the trip was to find a way to cope with the recently diagnosed attention deficit and its often still unknown effects. So I disappeared to the East Tyrolean Alps for a few days with my favourite camera to look for photographs that illustrate my feelings. They say a picture is worth a thousand words – and I’ve always found pictures to be a suitable means of expression. All the hikers I met there seemed very impressed and speechless by my story – but the biggest speechlessness was myself.
For 4 days, I shot 775 photographs without thinking about it. There I was often caught up in my perfectionism, which served to compensate for the strange imperfections of my brain. Over the following week, I gradually selected 8 photographs that show very impressively how I am doing and what I have learnt – so I can overcome my speechlessness. I no longer wish I had to think about what used to be or worry about what others thought.