Why Photography is Awesome

I Think You'll Agree

Photography is one of the most ubiquitous forms of communication in the modern world. More than 5 billion photographs are taken every single day around the world. That’s nearly 58 thousand photos per second. Thanks to advances in camera technology, it’s never been easier to make sharp, properly exposed images.

This truly is a golden age of photography.

Despite this constant inundation, and the apathy that sometimes sets in because of its ubiquity, I think photography has never been more relevant, or powerful.

It’s connection, however tenuous, to real moments in real life, is an antidote to the artificiality of our increasingly disconnected and disorienting digital world.

Photography, and being a photographer, invites us to actively engage the world around us.

Making a photograph is an opportunity to participate in the moment, whatever it may be.

Making a photograph gives us a chance to stop time and hold on.

It can be a chance to study and understand. We can try to make sense of chaos, cutting through or embracing the noise to create meaning.

It’s also an invitation to do more of whatever we love doing, with camera in hand, documenting the things and moments we encounter on the journey.

If we love the outdoors, we can be landscape photographers. If we love getting to know people, we can be portrait photographers.

Whatever we enjoy, photography gives us a chance to enjoy it more deeply.

It also gives a chance to know ourselves, and others, more deeply. I’ve found that the more personal we make it, the more rewarding it is.

When I think about my favorite photographs and my favorite photographers, I’m often impressed by a sense of a unique vision. I get the feeling that only that person could have captured that. After a while, I begin to understand what the photographer likes and what they look for. Their images become instantly recognizable.

Turning the lens back on myself, I can see this is what makes my images sing. Passion and enthusiasm for certain subjects, certain moods, and certain moments lead to the formation of personal vision or style. My likes and dislikes are fully on display.

Embrace this. This is the expressive side of photography. What we choose to capture matters. This is your chance to say, “This is important to me.” The more intention we bring to our photography, the more rewards await us.

I know this all seems a little intense for the majority of photographers and consumers of photography.

A lot of us don’t mind making simple snapshots and documenting the sights we see. We don’t mind being casual with our photography.

We visit places that other photographers have visited before us and make the same photos they did.

We take photos of loved ones looking into the camera and smiling.

That’s fine. I do this, too.

These photos make me very happy.

I also take photography very seriously.

I’m not going to lie, it’s an amazing feeling to get halfway good at it. The rewards of pursuing any hobby or craft are substantial. Practicing and getting better at something is very satisfying.

If you are just starting or feel like you have a long way to go with your photography, embrace the challenge! Once you feel like you have mastered something, it’s not as fun! Repetition can lead to boredom.

Thankfully, for me, making sense of the world is always a challenge. That’s what keeps it fun for me, long after I’ve mastered most of the technical aspects.

I also love sharing my photography.

I love it when someone reaches out to tell me a story about their history with the place I’ve captured, or how the photograph makes them feel, how it has impacted them. We bond over the shared appreciation of the place, or the moment, that I’ve shared.

Oftentimes, I can be walking around with a camera, and someone will come up to me and say, hey, have you seen this? Then they’ll proceed to invite me into their world, to share something they care about, and a connection is formed. I love this.

I’ve found a lot of my favorite photo spots from word of mouth. A guy putting together a sandwich at the local market told me about a place I’d never been before, Lookout Point in Harpswell, when I told him I was getting into photography.

I was grateful.

I’ve also made some of my best friends through photography.

It’s such a powerful way to connect.

This is the absolute best part of photography, the antidote I mentioned above: Connecting with the world, and the people, around you.

So remember, when you pick up a camera, or pull out your phone to make a photo, what you put inside those four corners matters.

You get to capture something unique. Nothing is ever the same.

Think of the famous quote: “No person ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and they aren’t the same person.”

Although we may sometimes feel that our photographs are nothing special, that they don’t communicate the intention we had when we tripped the shutter, we have the chance to make them special.

Now, how do we do that?

That’s a topic for another post.

I’ll actually be going over just that in the the presentation I’m putting together right now. It’s what prompted these thoughts. You can sign up and tune in online this Thursday Night at 7 PM ET. Find the link HERE. I hope to see you there!

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