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Time cannot stop, so enjoy it as much as you can. This is what I want to convey with this photograph with the hourglass captured for Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia on the beach of Vilassar de Mar,
The image refers us in a certain way to the Latin locution Tempus fugit (translated as “time flees”, “time runs away”, or “time flies”), which makes explicit reference to the rapid passage of time.
The expression seems to derive from a line in the Georgics by the Latin poet Virgil (70 BC-19 BC) (Georgicae, III, 284) which reads more exactly:
“Sed fugit interea, fugit irreparabile tempus” (But time escapes in the meantime, time escapes irreparably).
The presence of the watch in the photograph is eloquent. And it is that usually, the expression Tempus fugit can be found inscribed on sundials, pendulum clocks or any other type, inviting the viewer to reflect on the transience of time that the instrument measures.
In some cases, we can find an extended version of the expression, which reads like this:
“Time flees, like clouds, like ships, like a shadow” (El tiempo se escapa como una nube, como las naves, como una sombra).
This second quote is not from Virgil, but is a mixture of various references to the Old Testament Book of Job.
