August 18, 2011 – Perhaps one of the most fulfilling task of being a photographer is to be able to take photos of different people from all over the world gathered in one event. Even the Olympics doesn’t have this privilege. In World Youth Day, people from around the world gather. Wherever you go, people of various color and country all united under one Catholic Church, one banner, one pope, and one God. It is ecstasy for photographers to be able to capture on lenses people as diverse as the flags being waved at the crowds. One of the best moments in world youth day is being able to capture the world through the faces of young people, pilgrims coming from various backgrounds, smile for your cameras. You don’t even have to understand each other’s languages. Raising your camera with a smile and then putting up a gesture that says “I’m going to take your picture” is enough for young people to allow you to take their photos while they smile and pose for the camera. This post should have been titled “smiles” because of the contagious aura emanating from these young people, but it is more appropriate to name it as “United Colors of Benedict” because of its international characteristic. Day 3 of World Youth Day in Madrid is all about hues, colors and every sunshine that comes out from people’s smile. If there are moments in World Youth Day that can help define the meaning of “Catholic’ and “universal”… this is probably one of them.

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