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02/09/2005 10:05:01 AM · #1 |
Lets get a bit philosophical (If you feel so inclined) and cut though the bullshit and answer a simple question. Why do you take photographs.
simple rules- don't give some bs esoteric answer like "I am driven to take pictures by an invisible muse" Give a solid reason and I don't know is OK. "Money" or "chicks" is an adequate response, and an equally sufficient motive, but a narrative response would be appreciated.
The reason why I ask is that there are a hell of a lot of great photogs on this site, and everyone has a unique perspective. Maybe we could all use a little shared inspiration in the midst of a depressing winter(at least her in New England.) (Or maybe I just miss the "photographer interviews that abruptly stopped several months ago).
I will stay schtum and listen to responses now. Thanks in advance, Paul.
Message edited by author 2005-02-09 10:05:27. |
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02/09/2005 10:08:18 AM · #2 |
I love spending money and what better way to do it than buy lots of camera equipment.
Really I want to share my vision of things with other people. To me there is beauty in everything and it is the photo that brings that beauty.
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02/09/2005 10:09:23 AM · #3 |
I'm too tired for narrative right now, but this is what is on my dpc home page. Forgive the spiritual bent towards the end:
I'm just desperately trying to show what the world can look like through enthused eyes...they just need some training, that's all. (see jjbeguin's profile - he's my favourite favourite).
I think the most enthused eyes are God's eyes for his creation so I try and make photographs with the vision of his perfect concept of beauty and truth (ugly as truth may be at times), as seen through a Creator's eyes. Weird, huh?
Edit: the jjbeguin reference is to the statement that he has on his dpc homepage:
"Photography is a fine way to show what the world can look like when it is seen with trained and enthusiastic eyes."
This really captures how I feel.
Message edited by author 2005-02-09 10:10:36.
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02/09/2005 10:11:08 AM · #4 |
I do it because it's fun... some times anyway.
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02/09/2005 10:12:17 AM · #5 |
It is my therapy. And that's no BS. I truly enjoy my time with the camera. I am in control of the camera and the finished product, which is a feeling I don't get to have much in real life. I've never had a hobby that has consumed me like this one. I don't take pictures to make a point (except occasional challenge entries) or to make a buck. I take them because I love to do it...even if I don't know what the hell I'm doing. It's a personal decompression chamber. That's why I take photographs.
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02/09/2005 10:14:50 AM · #6 |
I feel with the advent of digital it has rekindled my love of photography, as you will gather from most of my portfolio, I love nature,landscapes in particular, and try to capture the places I visit as accurately as I can. To browse through them at a later date is a pleasure,all about memories I suppose.
Now I am slowly building my kit up to a decent quality I may diversify in the future , so who knows? my interests may change slightly.
Good question Paul, I look forward to other people's replies.
Paul.
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02/09/2005 10:17:43 AM · #7 |
Simple Pleasures! Just seeing the possibilities unfold in front of me through my photos, be it; my wife, son, family, the landscape and/or just my personal improvement over time in my pictures.
Guess simply it's Enjoyable and Fun for me.
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02/09/2005 10:29:54 AM · #8 |
| I like photography because it helps me really see beauty. Even in the most mundane of landscapes, people, events, or objects, I like to find an area of symmetry, a patch of light, a flash of color, or a unique expression. To capture that moment and to be able to share it with others, is for me, simply a thrill. |
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02/09/2005 10:30:56 AM · #9 |
| Why? It's fun. I've always liked taking pictures... capturing moments that I can keep forever, or close enough. Whenever I don't have a camera with me, I see something that I will probably never see again, and I wish I had caught it on film/memory. Plus, to be honest, I just like to look at things that are in some way visually appealing... this is why I like design, art, etc.; I like looking at other people's photos, family or artsy or what have you, too. :) |
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02/09/2005 10:32:09 AM · #10 |
I enjoy new things and learning new things and the challenge of improving. That is what it started out to be but as I keep shooting I find myself just wanting to create something beautiful. I see some photo's on this site that can bring a wide range of emotion to the viewer and would love to be able to do that as well. I guess that I want to share the wonder that an image of a small piece of life can hold.
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02/09/2005 10:36:06 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by blindjustice:
Maybe we could all use a little shared inspiration in the midst of a depressing winter(at least her in New England.) |
Ugh, I know it. I picked up a digital Rebel last weekend, and this overcast sky and muddy snow has just been depressing the hell out of me. I can crank up the saturation all I want, but everything outside is just monochrome right now, and it's killing me.
Anyways...
Most of the photos that I take are of people... my girl, my friends, my family... and while they have little value to anyone else, or are technically imperfect (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not), I enjoy capturing the moments that we spend together...
Sometimes, I'm lucky enough to catch people with expressions, or while doing strange or silly things... that just seem to capture who they really are, or how they feel, etc... and those images are the ones that I always come back to.
As for the more "artistic" shots, I do it because I enjoy seeing an image that I'd love to hang on my own wall, and know that I was the one responsible for capturing it. I also love seeing and hearing some of the comments that I get from others... it strokes the ego, I suppose.
/Andrew
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02/09/2005 10:36:15 AM · #12 |
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02/09/2005 10:43:53 AM · #13 |
I take pictures because I love using my camera. I love knowing its ins and outs and quirks, I love telling people some jargon (dangit, this lens only goes down to F3.5 and that's wide-angle! where's my 50 F1.8?!) to see the strange expression. I love knowing that I will never regret the investment I made in my favorite gadget, my camera.
And besides that, I love it when the group of girls I just took a picture of gathers around me and my camera to see the tiny LCD. Ha!
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02/09/2005 10:45:19 AM · #14 |
I take photographs to document my wife and my life together, not for other but for ourselves Very few of the photos I take are DPC type photos. I mainly take photos that give a feeling of place, time and people. In a lot of respect I use photography as my diary, something that I look back at from time to time to remind me of what all when have done and all the people we have known.
So why then am I on DPC, well it is fun for one thing but the main reason I joined is that when you take photos that you know other are going to judge you start looking at them differently. I would like to improve on all the photos I take. I believe that this is in fact working. My three highest scoring photos are ones that I took with no thought to DPC, they just happened to taken during a challenge time and fit well enough to enter.
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02/09/2005 10:45:53 AM · #15 |
Sometimes it's to prove that I can do it, you know, capture that 'plane or car in motion. Sometimes it's an attempt to prove that I can do something artistic and sometimes it's just so that I can appreciate what is around me. Anyway, I need something to ensure that all my credit cards stay at their maximum.
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02/09/2005 10:45:58 AM · #16 |
Different reasons
a) to create visual references to jog my memories of special experiences
b) to share something with someone else who isn't there at the time
c) because I enjoy creating an aesthetically pleasing image using the photographic medium
d) because I enjoy the technical side of understanding and using camera equipment, accessories and software
e) because I enjoy the feeling of knowing that others enjoy my work
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02/09/2005 10:47:47 AM · #17 |
I am driven to take pictures by an invisible muse
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02/09/2005 10:50:24 AM · #18 |
Because I enjoy the game.
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02/09/2005 11:13:35 AM · #19 |
| Because I suck at everything else and keep getting delluded by people liking my pictures to think I'm not that bad at snapping pics. |
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02/09/2005 11:18:33 AM · #20 |
No real reason really.....now that sounded strange!
Cameras and photography were a way of life in my family, I complained to my father (the photographer) that all our family photos didn't include him so he handed me the camera for snapshots :) when he didn't use timer...I enjoy taking pictures, simple as that
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02/09/2005 11:26:19 AM · #21 |
I've always enjoyed technical things, and had a great imagination. Until I discovered photography I was unsuccessful at every other creative medium I tried to express myself through. I've got a long way to go, but I finally feel good about what I'm doing.
I also discovered that as I put more time into capturing my relationship with Nature I was discovering and enjoying subtle details I would never have seen a few years ago.
In short, it appeals to me artistically, technically, and spiritually. The more I work at it, the more it appeals. Now if I can just make it my career I'll be truly enlightened :)
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02/09/2005 11:26:26 AM · #22 |
I take photographs because I can't hear. Light is the music of my heart.
Robt.
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02/09/2005 11:33:00 AM · #23 |
i'm not good at expressing my thoughts and emotions any other way.
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02/09/2005 01:10:30 PM · #24 |
I think almost everyone here can relate to all of the above with the exception of bear_music's circumstance of deafness. And there's more too, I think.
As for myself, part of the reason I take photographs is a desire to please (myself, and yes, others). I like being able to produce an image that impresses. I like the idea that my family or friends might look at a picture I have taken and feel some amazement that such a scene occured in the world around them unappreciated until it was captured by me. I am gratified by approval. And again I refer to myself as well as others.
I meant it when I started by saying that I understand and relate to the other given reasons also. I too have a great fondness for the natural world, and photography offers me a way to experience it that is gratifying. I also enjoy having photo albums full of family history. I like having specialized knowledge, and the pleasure of the acquiring something piece of photographic equipment that I have wanted. But one of the great pleasures of photography for me is the approving response of others.
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02/09/2005 01:23:22 PM · #25 |
Because I'm curious.
Photography is just one of the ways I satisfy and feed my curiosity.
I like to see if what I "see" is what I can capture--if what I can dream can be found in the "real" world--not just made real in writing or drawing. I like to look at the world--not just catalog it as tree, house, turn left, then right past the school.
When I got my digital, my world opened up to experimentation--and I sought out a way to re-capture my "seeing". The timing was right, and I ended up at DPC where I can no longer be lazy-minded.
Once, bored as a young spectator at a school event, my mother said, "Look at all the people in the audience wearing red!" My eyes were opened! There were so many people wearing red, I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before! Then she said, "Now look at all the people wearing white...." And I saw.
(And, of course, there is my muse, as well.) |
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