As one of the first generations to have been exposed to various levels of digital and or virtual reality, combined with the whiplash-like speed of the internet, the world quickly became strange and distant; foreign, cold and smooth like plastic. Being in Arizona brought me to terms with ephemeral nature of our modern conveniences and set them in contrast to all of the natural wonders I got to see. These gifts of technology, our increased access and connectivity suddenly felt small and inconsequential, affected even. Scrolling through my photos, I began to wonder about the very nature of my passion and profession and then things got meta: I make the content for the screens, capturing as best I can those moments I deem beautiful through glass and a screen of my own. No matter how well I tried to hold the essence of what lay before my eyes in Arizona, no photo, no video could do so satisfactorily. The reason, I concluded was simple: Arizona is raw. Much like life, it should be experienced in person, with one’s own eyes and hands, nails caked with satisfaction until it sinks into their pores and deeper still down to the bone that nothing ever beats the real thing.