No Limits @ 213 Bowery
November 2 – 4th, 2018 / 11 am – 7 pm
Opening Ceremony: November 2nd, 2018 / 6 – 9 pm

Explorer. Environmentalist. Anthropologist. Artist.

Kourosh Keynejad has channeled global citizenship, cultural traversing, and insatiable wanderlust into a professional career as a photographer, capturing the sights and moments that connect humans to one another and the natural world. His eye for creation and beauty, immersion into diverse cultures and passion for environmental conservation is translated into evocative, memorable imagery that deeply inspires and resonates with people from all walks of life worldwide.

No Limits 

There are places in the world that we still don’t know exist. Untold stories of beauty and danger that we are yet to discover. Human nature is to feel as if we have figured it all out, that we already know what’s right and what’s wrong. Our psyche has become attached to these notions of black and white, rules and boundaries when in fact there are no limits. No limits to what we can learn, no limits where we can go, no limits to what our eyes can see, and absolutely no limits what we are capable of doing. We are all unique, each drawn to a different purpose and path in life that we need to take. We are sometimes confused about where we came from, how to feel things in full, and what our purpose is. We only have 100 years on this world, if we’re lucky. How will you spend them?

Our comprehension of the powers and wonders in the natural world have been capped by our lack of time spent with nature. To me, nothing is more fulfilling than being barefoot and feeling the sand between my toes on the biggest sand dune in the world, or the unevenness of a river bed with ice blue glacier water chilling my bones, or the feeling of being face to face with a 2-ton African elephant. The natural world stimulates my senses and gives me a sense of wholeness. I’ve been in search for deeper connection. To understand what the Chinese call Tao, the Greeks call Logos, the Hindus call Jjñāna, the Buddhists call Dharma, and what the Christians call Spirit. Where do we find this? It is different for each and every one of us. There are no two paths which are the same, and no right or wrong way of getting where you want to be. But there is a journey. And this is what mine looks like.

This body of works is put forth by me to share with you that there are still untouched landscapes in the far corners of the planet. There are still wild animals who know nothing of mankind’s society and cultures which still live off the land and don’t over-consume beyond their needs. And there is us, unlimited by our boundaries to explore them all, learn from them and share the beauty our eyes have seen.  Spending the last two years of my life on the road, I have gone to the depths of rainforests, the tops of mountains, the furthest places imaginable with only one focus in sight. To fulfill this voice in my head which tells me to see and feel the Earth and its life in the rawest and natural form. The untouched living, breathing beauty which still exists today. When I travel there is always a moment of realization – a new world – a new experience; an uplifting of my soul. One thing I am certain of is the man I am when I enter this new place, will not be the same man who leaves it. This journey is about growing. Pushing myself to what has felt like my physical and mental limits at times – and proved myself wrong over and over again. From hiking hundreds of miles to where my achilles has given out on me, and being lost in the middle of a snowstorm in the middle of the night without any hope of a campsite, to the hundreds of hours spent with my own thoughts on planes and trains, too dangerous moments that are far outside the comfort zone. There is No Limit to what we are capable of.

I know that there are no limits to what we can endure as I have continued to push myself, detaching myself from friends and family for extended periods of time to search the deepest parts of the earth and of my soul. To discover my passions, what matters most to me and how I can be in control of my own life. The people I’ve met, the stories I’ve heard, and the experiences I’ve had, all feel like the connection I have been searching for, and these photographs are the best way I can tell this story. But this is only the beginning of my journey. I have the rest of my life to continue growing, sharing, inspiring, and discovering the world along with myself. Some say I am a traveller, an adventurer, others an environmentalist, and a storyteller. I say there are good people in the world, I just want to be one of them. I will never know fully who I am, I don’t think anyone can as long as our clocks continue ticking, but for this moment, I can tell you that I am happy.

There is a lot of negativity surrounding us on a daily basis, humanity has lost its way of loving thy neighbor, and spreading the beauty and love that is left in the world is my mission.  I am just one person, and if we don’t spread this love and beauty together, we will never achieve anything.