Raw tension and teamwork exist in a single pull; this photo reveals hands gripping ropes, strained faces, and backs hunched in exertion. I can’t stop thinking about the men in the frame. Some were my age. Others, older than my grandfather. They were still there, doing backbreaking labor so tourists like me could float above them, quietly, with a camera. Had I honored them? Or just made art out of their reality? I still don’t know.